School Reputation

[Melodrama4Ever]

How important is your graduate school choice in getting a professorship? As my ultimate goal is to become a professor, teach and do research, how crucial is the graduate school and program I choose? Is it solely based on school reputation/program reputation? I am in the process of choosing a school to attend in the fall and I would prefer to go to school locally but I have prospects at "better" schools further away from home. I am going for a PhD in Chemical Engineering. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by Melodrama4Ever

[PsyDuck90]

They matter. Program reputation maybe a bit more than school. Tenure-track professorship is a competitive job market, and if you come from a highly regarded program that will definitely give you a leg up. 

[i_am_freaking_out]

Yes program reputation of your grad school matters. A postdoc with a prestigious lab or program can help increase your standing if you didn't graduate from a name-brand program. I believe reputation matters mostly when it comes to landing an interview. After you land the interview, the job talk and interviews themselves will matter more. 

[Placebo]

On 2/8/2019 at 1:22 AM, Melodrama4Ever said:

How important is your graduate school choice in getting a professorship? As my ultimate goal is to become a professor, teach and do research, how crucial is the graduate school and program I choose? Is it solely based on school reputation/program reputation? I am in the process of choosing a school to attend in the fall and I would prefer to go to school locally but I have prospects at "better" schools further away from home. I am going for a PhD in Chemical Engineering. 

Which colleges have you applied?

[Melodrama4Ever]

Placebo: I have applied to Tufts, Cornell, Brown, Northeastern, MIT, Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth. I have gotten into Cornell so far. I would prefer to stay local at Tufts or Brown if I get in. Also, if this changes things, I want to be a teaching professor, not so much tenue-track. Teaching is my passion.

[T.C.96]

On 2/14/2019 at 2:28 PM, Melodrama4Ever said:

Placebo: I have applied to Tufts, Cornell, Brown, Northeastern, MIT, Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth. I have gotten into Cornell so far. I would prefer to stay local at Tufts or Brown if I get in. Also, if this changes things, I want to be a teaching professor, not so much tenue-track. Teaching is my passion.

Have you heard back from Northeastern?