School vs. Program

[peligrietzer]

I've had the good fortune to get admitted for Comp. Lit at Ivy's X and Y. Haven't visited yet, but it's relatively clear that X has the more exciting department, while Y is the more exciting school in terms of intellectual environment, neighboring disciplines and so on. Any similar experiences\thoughts?

[peligrietzer]

[Good fortune indeed - that would be *Ivies*]

[rising_star]

Personally, I'd visit both departments to see what vibe you get from the faculty. While one may seem to have a more intellectually-stimulating environment across the university, it may help to remember that you are going to be a part of the comp lit department and make sure you'll have valuable experiences there. Good luck!

[za232]

I have another similar question.

Everybody seems to talk about rankings a lot. Even my current professors tell me that I will never get tenure at an institution "higher" than where I went to grad school. What about when the ranking of the program is way higher than the ranking of the school?

Example: CU-Boulder is ranked 22nd in Applied Math and Harvard is ranked 21. Does this mean that a graduate from CU has the exact same job opportunities as a Harvard graduate?

This doesn't really effect anything for me, I am just curious. (As a future CU alumni)

By the way, I don't know what "rankings" everyone is talking about, but US News seems to be the most exhaustive.