Great Advisor Fit vs. Top-Ranked School

[kkbx]

I'm deciding between two schools:

1. At School A are two top-in-their-field professors whose interests match almost perfectly with mine. However, it's lower ranked overall (30-50 ranking, though probably 10-20 within my specialty) and I wasn't impressed at all with the other prospective students. [Also, I'm not sure if one of the two professors I'm interested in working would really be a great advisor... He didn't seem too friendly when I talked with him, and strangely he doesn't list any of his students on his website (which seems a little bleah to me, since isn't part of the advisor's role to promote their students' work?).]

2. At School B are a couple top professors whose work is interesting, although I'm not really sure it's a research interest of mine. But it's a top 10 school, and the prospective students were a lot smarter and more interesting.

What are the pros/cons of going to each? How much does your advisor really matter? It's still a little unclear to me what your advisor does, and how I should be thinking of the advisor-advisee relationship.

[chemgoddess]

hmmm, I had a similar dilemma, but decided to ax the lower ranked school since I'm not sure how settled I am in my interests at this point. if you're 100% sure what project you want to do and you're sure that the prof you liked the best at choice A will let you join their lab, then I'm sure you'll do fine there no matter what the rankings are. however, I think a lot of people change what their focus is after doing rotations, in which case it'd be better to go somewhere where the overall program is stronger. plus, your classmates will make a big impact on your experience, you want to be around peers that will challenge you/be just as excited about science as you are. good luck deciding!

[gsams]

I'm deciding between two schools:

1. At School A are two top-in-their-field professors whose interests match almost perfectly with mine. However, it's lower ranked overall (30-50 ranking, though probably 10-20 within my specialty) and I wasn't impressed at all with the other prospective students. [Also, I'm not sure if one of the two professors I'm interested in working would really be a great advisor... He didn't seem too friendly when I talked with him, and strangely he doesn't list any of his students on his website (which seems a little bleah to me, since isn't part of the advisor's role to promote their students' work?).]

2. At School B are a couple top professors whose work is interesting, although I'm not really sure it's a research interest of mine. But it's a top 10 school, and the prospective students were a lot smarter and more interesting.

What are the pros/cons of going to each? How much does your advisor really matter? It's still a little unclear to me what your advisor does, and how I should be thinking of the advisor-advisee relationship.

When I was in the UK many of my friends who were working as RA's had their work taken by advisors and practically used as their own. Many advisors will NOT go out of their way to promote you. You have to find the right fit. My ex had many troubles with his advisor because while the man was a good guy, they were a lousy fit together and the advisor did little to stick his neck out for him. This sort of thing is a red flag and was the final decision as to WHY I chose the program I did. Many advisors published with students and their students were a definite priority.

In my experience, I would take school 2 and run for the hills. It doesn't seem as though Dept. 1 is really a place you can see yourself in, which is IMO even more important than "perfect fit" for 5 years. You have to look at these people every day and deal with them. IF you are miserable, you will not progress and it will be a waste of time.

[so47]

I would also go with School B, because there is essentially only 1 professor you could see yourself working for at A, which is definitely not enough, plus you did not feel a "fit" with the other students, which is definitely important. I was in a similar situation, and decided that the fit was more important to me, you are going to be spending a LOT of time with these people, and you don't want to miserable. For me, I decided that I could adjust my research a bit for the higher ranked school, because I know that overall, the program was stronger and could give me a better foundation, even though I liked the research at the lower ranked school better.

Good luck with your decision!