Confused about USA and UK.

[dey17]

Hi,

I am a first-year Graduate Student in Chemistry at the University of Illinois Chicago. I got admitted here in Fall 2018. I basically work on MD Simulations. Now I got an offer to study Machine Learning at Cambridge for PhD with a very well-known professor. However, I am somewhat sceptical about moving to UK from USA since I am unaware of the grad life in UK. The monthly stipend at Cambridge is also quite less. Please offer me some advice. I seem clueless right now.

[AP]

Many things to unpack here. 

First, just to be on the same page, I assume you are not making your decision based on this survey. This is an important decision to make and you wouldn't want strangers in the internet making it for you.

Second, I am a bit confused. People do not get offers to do a PhD in Cambridge (or anywhere) out of the blue. In other words, you applied to that program and, since you do not provide any other piece information, I can safely assume you applied when you were already in the program at UIC. Are you doing a PhD or a Master's at UIC? 

• If you are doing a master's, and assuming it's a two-year master's since you are asking for advice, I would reach out to Cambridge to see if you can defer admission for a year. 
• If you are doing a PhD already, well, that is very problematic. Based on you profile, I am assuming you are doing a PhD. Leaving a PhD program for another one for no good reason (like harassment) is not ideal. It is not impossible, of course, but you would certainly burn a lot of bridges (while, granted, Cambridge will open a few doors!). You need to carefully weigh in the good, the bad, and the ugly of each program, taking into account, as you mentioned, advisor, stipend, what you want to do after the PhD, support, research facilities, conference activity, networking, healthcare benefits, etc. Think about the costs (financial, emotional, and intellectual) of leaving your program. Remember these costs many times have an impact on your future and are not limited to the people at UIC. 

Third, being unaware of graduate student life at Cambridge is a silly reason not to go, sorry. You can find that information virtually anywhere. For example, you can reach out to current or former students, you can reach out to your network to see if they know anyone, you can find some forums/reddits, etc. 

Finally, a disclaimer: I based my answers on the information you provided, making huge assumptions. If they are erroneous, I recommend contextualizing your situation a bit more so that the feedback you get is useful. 

Good luck! (and congratulations on being on this fortunate situation!)

[dey17]

Hi AP,

I made up my decision to stay here in Chicago. I thought a lot and felt that it would be unwise to start afresh in a new group when I already worked here for a year. Yes, I applied in Cambridge seeing an opening last year when I was kind of not satisfied with my life here.

 

Thank you so much for such a nicely explained answer.