Weighing pros and cons

[John12345]

So after visiting schools I thought I had a clear idea of which programs I preferred. However, now that I have heard from schools and learned some of the additional caveats, I have found myself second guessing myself. Right now I am trying to figure out how to evaluate two of the schools I have heard from.

School A

Prof does good work, but standoffish and is hard to connect with on a personal level

Prof is well respected within the field

Prof works with birds, which fits my background

Decent/good chance of getting fellowship

Decent department

Unusually high drop-out rate within the lab

School B

Prof does good work and the personality is a great fit

Prof is well respected within the field and his field is also little bigger

Prof generally works with fish, but doesn't care if I want system I chose

Probably gonna have to TA

Department is a little thin in my area with the exception of the prof in question

Prof travels a lot

I like his students and they will be around for a while

I am leaning towards School B based on the my compatibility with the advisor, but there is good and bad to both.

How do you weigh this stuff?

[moonrainbow]

This sounds like a really easy choice to me, unless there are other factors you've left out from the list (Funding?). But based on what you've listed, School A gives off a whooole lot of negative vibes compared to school B. Since your life is so defined by your day-to-day research activities, I think it's definitely crucial to 1. Be comfortable talking to your PI and 2. Enjoy hanging out with your lab mates. The biggest warning sign for me is the "unusually high" drop-out rate from the lab. People coming into Ph.D. programs are usually very committed and serious about their research -- it's going to take a pretty miserable experience to completely drive them away.

If you're still torn, I would definitely try to get in contact with graduate students from both of the professors' labs. Seems like a good way to get the low-down about what your day-to-day life would be like.