How would you decide?

[orgirl]

How would you decide on your graduate program? I'm having a dillema. One top school has two really good professors who have agreed to work with me. I have worked with these professors before and I know what kind of work they are doing and we have really good chemistry. A moral dillema for me is that they were the ones who wrote my recommendation, so they were also pretty much responsible for my admissions in other universities.

Another school has also offered admission to me. It is also a top school and it has offered me however with a really prestigious fellowship (which I heard can open a lot of doors afterwards). But I am not too familiar with the work of the professors there.

So my question: which would you prefer, (1) a university with professors you have worked with or (2) a university offering a prestigious fellowship?

[canuck]

A fellowship is virtually irrelevant if the work you do during your PhD is trash. Pick where you think you'd do the best work, everything else is window dressing.

[orgirl]

Yes, I do realize that it's stupid that I base my decision on the fellowship I get, but most of my friends keep saying how good that particular fellowship is. And it's a waste if I don't take it.

[someone]

Professors doing work you are interested in (and that you know you can get along with!) are much, much more important than a fellowship.

[XtraTuf]

Do you like one location better than the other? Do you like the potential advisors equally well? What will make you happy?

[bgk]

You might be a little more objective about it. Go and find out about the research of the `unknown professors' and see what kind of impact it has. Generally, although not always, a better school means more opportunities later. I wouldn't let the fellowship sway you. If you're thinking about teaching after grad school, then a degree from 'fancy name' might be very helpful. That said, the most important thing for me was the advisor. I had to know I was working with someone with whom I could get along and feel comfortable with. `unknown professors' might be a couple of noble prize winners, but very difficult to work with!

[phoenix]

Provided that financially you can afford to go to either, then I would say to forget about the fellowship and judge the schools for themselves.

The question is simply which program is the best for you. This includes how many professors are doing good work in your areas of interest, rankings of the program etc. If one program is clearly better than the other, then go with that if you can afford it. Otherwise, if either one would be great, then go with the fellowship. You need to investigate the work of these other professors. Bearing in mind that you may not get along with one or two of them, are there other faculty you could work with?

I am inclined to think that future opportunites would not come from you having received a fellowship, but from you having completed a very successful PhD at a top institution. When it comes down to it, you make your opportunities by working hard and achieving results. So like someone said earlier, go to the place where you can produce the best work, most likely the one with the best academic support.