Choosing between three English PhD programs

[Shao]

Hi all. I am an Asian student applying for English PhD (literature major) program this year (all unfunded). Now I have mainly three offers to choose from, and it's really a difficult call for me.

My three offers are from...

1. Arizona State University: Compared to NY, I l think I am best fit to the local climate. The ranking of ASU is rising strongly in recent years, which seems very promising for prospective students. But the department's graduate classes are fewer and less appealing to me compared to the other two.

2. SUNY Buffalo: Best ranked among the three schools. Excellent faculty members. Abundant and attractive courses. But it's mandatory for full-time student to take four courses each semester, which is a formidable workload for international students. Besides this, UB is really a

wonderful choice for me.

3. SUNY Albany: Friendly DGS and nice faculty members. Less classes options compared to UB but most of them look interesting and inspiring. But its ranking is the lowest among the three. I am strongly interested in one professor's research field but he's an assistant professor

(since 2007) and accordingly cannot be my advisor if I need him in the future. Also I don't know if he will obtain tenure in the future (I know he's completing a book, and it's going to be published very soon) and don't know if he will stay at Albany if he gets tenured. It was originally

my first choice because of the similarity between my research interests and the professor.

Please give me some suggestions. Any advice will be appreciated.

[lyonessrampant]

Are there people you want to work with at UB and ASU? If so, I'd probably take either of those, probably UB. Since you're paying on this (crazy for an English Ph.D. in my opinion), I'd factor in money though. Which school is cheapest for you? What is the cost of living comparison? Which school provides you the best support to finish early? That sounds like UB since you'll get through your course work in two years for sure. Money would be an important part of the game for me in this decision, but all that aside, I'd probably say go UB.