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!

[lithourgos]

Hi! I'm an archaeology PhD student at Brown, and I'll say that future employment rests more on individual programs than it does overall school reputation/ranking. For the type of archaeology I do, Brown has much better track record of getting people jobs than Princeton does, but Princeton is almost certainly better in many other programs. Grad degrees are different from undergraduate degrees in that way. Coming out of a PhD, employers aren't looking at a school's reputation or ranking, they're looking at specific programs and professors within those programs. So the question you want is not about schools but rather about departments. Which specific department has a better track record of getting their students jobs? That's something that can only really be answered by asking folks in your field. 

Edited March 2 by lithourgos

[alpheridies]

@lithourgos Thanks for the reply!! I think you're definitely correct about the standing/reputation of specific departments and supervisors. In this thread I'm mainly considering 'brand' value, linked to the specific literary studies departments at Brown and Princeton, as a factor that I should take into account.

Since you're at Brown, would you mind if I DM you about how life is as a grad student there?