New York State vs. Hawaii

[Multiple Infusions]

I have a tough decision to make, these are my considerable options so far:

Syracuse University:

Pros:

-Offered University fellowship entailing

-full tuition and fee waivers

-$22k 9 month stipend 1st and 4th years (no responsibilities)

-minumun $17k 9 month stipend 2nd and 3rd years (teaching classes)

-several thousand available annually for summer assistance

-amazing subsidized health insurance plan (including prescription, dental and vision)

-guarenteed for 4 years

-fifth year of funding available

-small office area (probably cubicle)

-My best friend lives blocks away (with a tenure-track position)

-The department has many strengths in field of interest

-Friendly people in the department

-Closer to family

-Lower cost of living

-Very "collegy" campus

-big lawns

-nice architecture

-Easier to travel to conferences for presentations

Cons:

-Climate

-"The

Syracuse metro area receives more snow on average than any other large city in the United States."

-I've dealt with lots of long, cold winters and am sick of cleaning driveways, cars

-Difficult city for biking (few lanes, lots of hills, ice)

-Crime rate in this city is significantly higher

The University of Hawaii at Manoa:

Pros:

-Climate (duh!)

-Very friendly department

-Still fairly strong in my field of research

-Lower crime rate

-One of the highest ranked cities in quality of life

-TAship (for at least 2 years)

-Full waiver (minus small fees)

-$17k stipend

-3-4 recitation sections per week

-basic health insurance

-given a small office

-policy is to renew on semester-by-semester basis (providing I make satisfactory progress)

-SUPER-M fellowship (planned for 2 years)

-$30k stipend

-tuition, fees payed for by other department funding

-work with talking about research in mathematics in local schools (I'm very interested in doing this)

-Good city for bikes

-Good public transportation

-Farther from family

Cons:

-Cost of Living

-Department is not as strong in what I want to do

-Funding is "essentially guarenteed" but not "actually guarenteed"

-I have no feeling for the campus or area (never been there)

-Inevitable culture shock

I also have a significant other coming with me. She will be going into a graduate program withing 2 years, but plans to work for a while first. When she goes, she plans to stay with me so this decision will be by/for both of us. Syracuse is the better school for her, but Hawaii is comparable. There are more job opportunities for her in Hawaii.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Multiple Infusions

[Multiple Infusions]

Would anyone like to share their opinion?

[phemgal]

What program did you end up going with? I just got into UH

[juilletmercredi]

I mean, this is going to be a personal one. Personally, it appears that Syracuse has a better funding package (4 years of funding, with no teaching requirements in the first year - you don't know how important that is - and in the fourth year, which means you'll have protected time to do exams and your proposal; Syracuse is a lower-cost city; and a fifth year of funding is available) plus it seems that Syracuse is stronger in your field. The only real cons are that it's cold. I would not select my graduate program on the basis of location - or rather, location would not be stronger for me than fit.

Hawaii seems like a decent number two, but with only 2 years of semi-guaranteed funding that requires TAing (which is useful for jobs but also takes up a lot of time), a lot of the pros there seem related to location stuff (better for biking, better public transit). You're not going to live there forever; 5 years is quite a while but it goes by quickly. And with a stronger department, you can be more choosy about where you go for your postdocs and jobs.

[new_to_kin]

I would go wtih Syracuse. Honestly, the snow is not a good excuse. We lived in Rochester, NY and now live in SW Ontario and it is also v snowy here and we bike year round. It can be done. Get studded tires. And I am from Australia, so it's not a case of being used to it.

Hawaii - it's a long way from family, conferences etc. I think it would be very easy to feel isolated professionally and from family/friends.

[pelevinfan]

I really don't mean to be negative, but this thread keeps getting bumped. Wherever this person ended up, they made their decision almost two years ago! All of the advice offered sounds like it would have been very helpful to the OP at the time, but none of us can really help someone whose decision was made in 2010.

[new_to_kin]

LOL