futureprof Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 I'm currently making the choice between two schools and am looking for creative ways to systematically compare them. Does anyone have any techniques that have worked particularly well for them (ie. spreadsheet, aggregated rankings, etc)? I'm thinking of doing doing a pro-con list, but I'm sure there are better ways. Also- what categories have you used to compare schools? I'll start us off: Ranking # of Profs in research area Placement record Location Funding Retention rate Cost of living ....
rising_star Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 I use weather as a category and also football ranking. But that's just me. :wink: Seriously though, my spreadsheet lists funding amount, work required, health insurance, any additional fees, etc just so I can really compare the money being offered. I luckily applied to schools that all have a similar cost of living so I don't really need to factor that in. I would definitely factor in faculty, placement record, external funding opportunities (and success rate), summer funding, and any fellowship support you might get.
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