US or UK

[JosephConrad]

I've managed to narrow down my choices to two graduate programmes: one is a top ten US school (but not an Ivy-league one), the other is Oxford. Both are fully-funded programmes, and that's making it really difficult to choose between the two. I'm an international student and I've heard that the job-market in the UK is awful, and even worse for international students because of very strict immigration laws. Further, I've aso heard that UK PhDs find it hard to get tenure-track positions in the US, where the job situation is only perhaps slightly better, because they're from a different system, have less or no teaching experience, etc etc. I really love the US university, which I visited recently, but Oxford is, well, Oxford! On the other hand, the prospect of being eternally unemployed isn't particularly heart-warming.

Any thoughts on this, those of you who have been studying in the US?

[ComeBackZinc]

I think you owe it to yourself to solicit more information from Oxford. Do they publish placement rates? What are the odds that you'll get some teaching experience? That is a big, big name, and a lot of the caveats about British schools go out the window a bit when it comes to a name that big. At the same time, the concerns you've voiced are legitimate ones, and if the other school is indeed in the top ten, that's the safer play. You need more info: are Oxford grads getting hired? And particularly at US universities? What are the teaching opportunities like?

[JosephConrad]

They have some tutoring opportunities - you get to work with an undergraduate one-on-one, but I've heard from friends who are at Oxford that the vast majority of students don't get to teach at all. I've seen DPhil-ed people on university faculty pages, but they do seem to be older 1970s to early 90s kind of people: I've heard that a lot of British students are just sitting around waiting for something to turn up after their DPhils. They don't seem to have much placement information on their website either, but will perhaps write and ask about it. Thanks!

[the giaour]

To be fair, aren't most American-holding PhDs on university faculty pages also hailing from the 90s and earlier? The job market is awful at the moment, but it's awful whether you've got a degree from Oxford or a degree from an excellent American program. I think you ask a very good question--and I'm not sure which institution is more likely to get you a job immediately after graduation--but I seriously doubt you'll be unemployed forever with a DPhil from Oxford. I'm at a top-10 (non-Ivy) US institution now, and I love it, but job prospects aren't looking good for my colleagues even with the stellar American degree and teaching experience. ComeBackZinc's advice is sound: make sure you've got all the information you can possibly find before you make your decision. Oxford is an enchanting place to study, after all. Congratulations on your success!

[lolopixie]

It has been explained to me that if you do not aquire teaching experience in your PhD program, your degree is practically worthless. I would opt for the program that gives you the teaching experience. School name will not get you everywhere; you need to be competitive overall in order to get a job. If Oxford does not give the opportunity for you to teach, then I, personally, do not think it would be worth going there. Yes, I understand the authority of the name of the school, but is it going to offer you any additional benefits? Job placement is our ultimate goal - choose the program that you feel will best offer you the ability to obtain employment when you have finished.

[bigrelief]

I'm not sure the big name will help when teaching is such a problem--my tutor at Oxford during my study abroad was American and had done his PhD at Oxford, and was having a terrible time finding a tenure track job even though he'd made every effort to teach during his degree.

[Stately Plump]

Once you start talking about top ten schools, whether or not the school is Ivy League doesn't make much difference. Stanford and Berkeley aren't Ivy League, and they're ranked higher than most of the other Ivies. I would pick the school that most closely matches your interests; where do you think you'll be able to pursue the work you want to pursue, and where would offer the most support for your interests? Which offers the most support for your secondary interests? Are grad students publishing? Do they have funding to travel to conferences? Are they using the funding to travel?

The job market is obviously a major concern, but it's bad no matter where you go, whether it's Oxford, Harvard, or another top ten. In picking where you want to be for the next 5-7 years, I would focus on what you'll be doing during that time. The job market will be bad no matter what, so I would go to the institution where I feel I can best meet my professional goals until I have to face the market. From there, at least, you'll know that you've done all you can.