Stay at okay school, or try for better?

[Anonanimal]

Hi everyone,

I'm in perhaps an odd situation, and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar, or has some advice for me.

I graduated from a fairly average (ranked, say, in the top 60) state university (let's call it School1) with a B.S. in 2009. At that time, I threw together some grad school apps and got funded offers from several pretty good (say, top 40) Ph.D. programs in Computer Science. I accepted one of these offers, moved to a new state, and began the program at School2 in Fall 2009. Earlier in the year, I had met a girl back home who I really liked, and as the days went by, I realized that I couldn't live apart from her, so I withdrew from my new program halfway into the first session, and moved back.

Anyways, long story short, that girl is now my fiancee, and I have been readmitted to the aforementioned Ph.D. program at School2, starting Fall 2011 (we are planning to get married this summer, and move there together). The only problem is that I'm starting to wish I had planned my academic pursuits out more carefully. During the time away from school, I've been doing some research, working with some professors at my undergraduate School1, and doing industrial internships, and I'm starting to realize that I want to pursue an academic career (say, a tenure-track faculty position). My interest area is programming languages, especially in regards to program verification (formal methods, etc.), and I'm seeing that most of the academics in this area come from top 5 schools like CMU, Berkeley, MIT, Stanford, etc. So I'm wondering if I need to think about connecting with one of those schools instead of School2.

I have pretty good stats, lots of interesting items on my CV, and some research experience in my interest area, which should lead to publication(s) pretty soon. I also know some interesting people in the formal methods world, and should be able to get pretty solid recommendations. Should I just finish up my M.S. (instead of the Ph.D.) at School2, and then apply to the top programs (and the Ph.D. program at School2, as well as some safety schools, of course)?

If so, how do I go about doing that in an above-board way, considering that School2 has been incredibly nice to readmit me to their Ph.D. program? Also, from a practical standpoint, I want them to write me good recommendation letters, so I do NOT want to offend them.

Another important consideration in this situation is funding. I don't want to risk my funding by switching to M.S. (I need the stipend to pay living expenses). Also, I've applied to the NSF and NDSEG fellowships, and there is the remote possibility that I will win one for the Fall session at School2. If I were to switch to the M.S. program, would that cause problems in the case that I win a fellowship? Should I wait to take action until after I hear back regarding these awards?

Thanks very much!

[Amogh]

My two cents. take with a pinch of salt:

are you interested in working with any one professor at school2? is there a person whose work is along the same line as your interests? if so, you needn't shift for it isn't about the college but about the individuals you work with. if you cannot identify any such person then you might want to apply elsewhere. but the academic community is close-knit so professors will talk. so you should offend anyone and you shouldn't put it across to them that you perceive their institution as inferior etc. Also, if there is nobody with remotely similar interests as you, i'm quite sure that the professors themselves will be able to advise about what to do. why don't you also ask some professors from school1?

I don't know anything about fellowships, so i will leave it to someone else to help you there.

Hi everyone,

I'm in perhaps an odd situation, and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar, or has some advice for me.

I graduated from a fairly average (ranked, say, in the top 60) state university (let's call it School1) with a B.S. in 2009. At that time, I threw together some grad school apps and got funded offers from several pretty good (say, top 40) Ph.D. programs in Computer Science. I accepted one of these offers, moved to a new state, and began the program at School2 in Fall 2009. Earlier in the year, I had met a girl back home who I really liked, and as the days went by, I realized that I couldn't live apart from her, so I withdrew from my new program halfway into the first session, and moved back.

Anyways, long story short, that girl is now my fiancee, and I have been readmitted to the aforementioned Ph.D. program at School2, starting Fall 2011 (we are planning to get married this summer, and move there together). The only problem is that I'm starting to wish I had planned my academic pursuits out more carefully. During the time away from school, I've been doing some research, working with some professors at my undergraduate School1, and doing industrial internships, and I'm starting to realize that I want to pursue an academic career (say, a tenure-track faculty position). My interest area is programming languages, especially in regards to program verification (formal methods, etc.), and I'm seeing that most of the academics in this area come from top 5 schools like CMU, Berkeley, MIT, Stanford, etc. So I'm wondering if I need to think about connecting with one of those schools instead of School2.

I have pretty good stats, lots of interesting items on my CV, and some research experience in my interest area, which should lead to publication(s) pretty soon. I also know some interesting people in the formal methods world, and should be able to get pretty solid recommendations. Should I just finish up my M.S. (instead of the Ph.D.) at School2, and then apply to the top programs (and the Ph.D. program at School2, as well as some safety schools, of course)?

If so, how do I go about doing that in an above-board way, considering that School2 has been incredibly nice to readmit me to their Ph.D. program? Also, from a practical standpoint, I want them to write me good recommendation letters, so I do NOT want to offend them.

Another important consideration in this situation is funding. I don't want to risk my funding by switching to M.S. (I need the stipend to pay living expenses). Also, I've applied to the NSF and NDSEG fellowships, and there is the remote possibility that I will win one for the Fall session at School2. If I were to switch to the M.S. program, would that cause problems in the case that I win a fellowship? Should I wait to take action until after I hear back regarding these awards?

Thanks very much!