Brown vs Princeton: Ranking & Reputation for Future Employment

[alpheridies]

Hi all! During this session, I was offered admission by a few PhD programs in the humanities and am especially considering the ones from Brown and Princeton because of fit. For many reasons, I tend to lean towards Brown (slightly higher stipend, lower cost of life in Providence, freedom to pursue own research topic, proximity to the water, etc.). I know both institutions are well respected (academically) in the U.S. However, I'm from Europe and I plan to continue my personal/professional life in Europe after my PhD. I'm under the impression that Princeton stands out in terms of academic reputation globally. On the other hand, Brown's global rankings tend to fluctuate more and are consistently lower than Princeton's. Considering that when applying for scholarships, postdocs, etc. we are often evaluated by people who aren't from our fields, should such parameters be determinant for admission decisions? Also, Brown seems to me like a strong research institution with a solid, yet comparatively small, grad school -- I wonder if these statistics reflect more its necessarily smaller research output than its overall quality.

Look forward to your input!