Deciding between programs: Structure vs. Openness

[snes]

One of the biggest differences between the programs I'm considering is the amount of freedom students have to create their own course of study. For me, it might come down to choosing between -

A - a program that is very structured and guided, offering a traditional education in my field that has most of my interdisciplinary interests built into the curriculum. I do have some fear that I could be more or less locked into studying whatever topics I fall into within the first few years.

B - a program that is smaller and with less structure, each student essentially an independent scholar who does whatever they want and freely takes classes outside of the department and the school. The professors are very supportive of this and help you do it. They also allow you to change your mind constantly, and you don't have to specify your subfield until your 3rd year (and even then, it doesn't really matter).

Let's assume all other factors are the same.

My question is, which style would you prefer, and why?

Personally, I can't decide. I'm coming in without a master's, so my idea of what I want to do can and will change. So I feel I'd benefit from some structure, and would welcome a lot of guidance from people who are smarter and wiser than me. But I also want to be open to changing the direction of my research. Decisions, decisions.

[Semester Photon]

How much do you trust your own judgment to decide what's right for you to study? I would go for the open structure program if you are normally a fairly decisive person. Having some options to help guide you would be beneficial. If it were me, personally, I would go for the structured program. I can rarely make up my mind about things, and having the program tell me what to do sounds appealing. Unfortunately, I'm in a field that's largely self-guided, so I just had to pick a direction and keep convincing myself it's the right one.

[MakeYourself]

I picked the open program.

For me personally, having freedom to study what I want in the way that I want is of huge importance to me. In general, I have the mind-set that academia and knowledge should never be firmly structured and rigid. I think that the best programs encouage freedom of thought and freedom to pick your own path. That being said, it is still very important to have support from your advisor (i.e., it shouldn't be a completely open program in the sense that your advisor doesn't even care what you're doing).

I think your second option sounds great in terms of being able to pursue your own interests but at the same time have support from your mentor. Also, if your'e worried about not being able to create your own structure, I'm sure that the mentor in the open program would be helpful if you went to them for help. They might give you suggestions for how to structure your program but let you decide in the end what to do.

Edited March 31, 2012 by spinrah