How important is quality of life in choosing schools?

[hejduk]

I have two admission offers, both with full funding. I'm married with no kids, but my spouse's happiness is definitely important to me.

School A is out west with plenty of outdoor things to do, close to a huge metro area airport, would allow me to remain active &eat healthy as well. The area is more expensive, but more better quality of life.

School B is in the south, with no major cities around it, and no interstates to travel much of anywhwere. There arent many recreational activities, and the local food/health scene is quite bleak. This school will pay more than school A.

$$ is definitely not everything, but quality of life is important, right? Any recommendations on this topic?

[FingersCrossedX]

Have you visited the school in the South? From how you described it it seems like you didn't. College towns are often not what you'd expect. A constant influx of young people has a distinct impact on an area. You might end up liking it more than you think.

If you have, I say go with your gut. Your happiness is always important so if you think you couldn't be happy there, I think its a pretty big strike against that school.

[fuzzylogician]

Money should not be everything. Especially once you know that you'll be making enough to get by, other factors can enter the picture and sway your decision. Location, job opportunities for your partner, weather, options for going out, general 'compatibility' with a place - these are all important, and you should consider them together with your partner when you decide where to go. It really would be advisable to visit both schools/cities before you decide, but in general if you feel like one place will make you happier than the other, choose it.

[jmacnomad]

This is 4-6 years of your life you are talking about. It's very important for you and your spouse to be in a place that makes you both happy.

[adinutzyc]

Still, visit the school in the South if you can. The South has certainly impressed me positively in almost all respects! It is certainly not what others around me told me they thought it was!

[rising_star]

It doesn't sound like you've visited the school in the South. Depending on where it is, you may have access to a better local food scene than you think, particularly because of the large number of co-ops, CSAs, and farmer's markets. Visit or, if you can't, have some frank conversations with current grad students about the quality of life. Having attended grad school in the South and out west, I can say that they each have their advantages and disadvantages.

[Eigen]

I was also married with no kids when I applied, and I found the spouses opinion meant a lot to me- it needed to be a place that both of us were going to be happy for 4-6 years.

IMO, both of you should visit the campuses if at all possible, and see where you think you'd both be happiest. Your wife can explore the areas while you meet with faculty/students.

[mechengr2000]

What is the difference in ranking between the two schools?

[hopetoI/O]

Visit both schools before deciding you may be sorry if you dont. Also just because a school is in the south does not mean there are no activities or good food. It is very easy to find local home grown food in the south and there are plenty of state parks and such. It really just depends what your idea of recreational activities and good food is. If you want shopping malls and 5 star restaurants then maybe go to the city.

[OldGrad2012]

Yep, I agree with most of these advices; you and your spouse both need to be happy when making a decision of where to go to grad school. I make my decision based on my spouse opinion also.

[TakeruK]

I'm also married with no kids. When we made our decision, it was 50/50 research fit and quality of life fit. For the nearby school, my wife visited with me to see what the city was like. I think it's really important to visit before choosing, if that is possible.

Is your spouse a student? Mine isn't and from my MSc experience, we learned that college towns could be pretty bi-polar, with very different student and town-resident populations. So, my experience so far in this city (interacting with other students, 90% of whom aren't from this town) has been very different from what my wife is experiencing (interacting with local residents). We also tried to avoid a college town for my PhD because there seems to be tension between the town residents and the student population. I'm just mentioning it because it might be good to keep in mind that your spouse may have a very different experience of the same city!