Notre Dame or UNC Chapel Hill?

[TGPrez3]

Should I choose Notre Dame or Chapel Hill for a PhD in History? I like a lot of aspects of both.

The first is offering me more funding for a longer period of time. Although money is far from my only consideration, it is an important factor. All the graduate students accentuate how easy they live and how much money there is in terms of funding. I loved the school’s congeniality. Notre Dame is also known for having legendary networking. I really like the mentors I met. The average person is also very impressed when I tell them I got into Notre Dame. It is ranked 18 in the nation as an institution and 27 in History. South Bend is also fairly cheap to live although North Carolina is comparatively speaking. 

I like Chapel Hill, because it’s considered one of the best history programs in the country. It’s ranked number 11. Nearly everyone in my field tells me I should go and emphasizes that it’s top-tier. I’d get to study under an Atlanticist and an Africanist, which is cool because both fields pertain to my research. It also is close to Duke, which has a professor who is very knowledgeable in my subject matter. I could presumably meet and take classes with him. Chapel Hill’s archival resources are also superior to those in South Bend, especially in the fields I am interested in. Chapel Hill’s Ph.D. placements are also superior to Notre Dame and I would probably be more competitive with a degree from there than Notre Dame.   

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by TGPrez3

[TGPrez3]

Thoughts?

[sc9an]

I study in a different program but had the same choice to make last year. Even the pros and cons are similar to your case. The academic fit should certainly weigh the most, and maybe the prestige, depending on the discipline. I chose Chapel Hill because of the academic style fit after all, and it seems that within a 30-min drive, Triangle area is relatively more lively than South bend. Taking classes at Duke is a thing in my program. Though at the end I did have the trade-off of having more financial constraint, i.e. less funding, the need to secure summer funding, and the uncertainty regarding the funding source the next year, but I guess there will be just trade-off in either way. 

If you still have time, maybe relaying your questions to the graduate student in the program, or even your current adviser, and see what they say.