So what are your criteria for deciding?

[TeaGirl]

Considering that picking a graduate school often feels like you're making a decision outlining your entire future, I'm curious what everyone thinks are the important aspects of choosing a program. I'm we all have certain things we value more in one program over another, and also perhaps priorities change from field to field, or whether one is going for a masters or a doctoral degree.

 

Do you consider either the size of the program or the facilities? Pick the best advisor or best research match? Best funding package? Do you just pick the highest ranking place you get into? Or maybe the one in the best city/location? Do you flip a coin or shake an 8-ball and just hope it all works out ?

 

I'll start, although to be honest, I'm not really sure of my own answer. I'm thinking advisor fit may be the most important, at least for a PhD, followed by the connections and reputation of the university.

I'm sure liking the location/living situation should factor in somewhere too.

[viggosloof28]

Not sure this post quite belongs here, or if it might be better off in the "Decisions, Decisions" thread...but a great question!

 

I'm quite in line with your thought process.  The absolute most important aspect of the program for me is the people there.  Having faculty that are interested and knowledgeable about your research interests, and are well-connected in your field is the single biggest factor in my decision.  After that, the opportunities for funding and professionalization are hugely important, followed perhaps by the collegiality of the department, the prestige of the program, and the locality.   At least, that's how I'm going into the decision process!

[RiseofthePhoenix]

It depends on you an the program. For me, fit was very important because my research interests are in a very small subfield. Next, I looked at places that I knew would offer good funding because I'm 29 and have more bills to pay than maybe a 22 year old fresh out of ug.

Everything else was kind of secondary. One note about rankings tho. I applied to a variety of programs ranging from 5-82 in ranking and got into a mid-30's ranked program that has amazing resources, an awesome funding package, and a perfect fit in terms of methodology. I know plenty of people who are in top-10 programs who are miserable because of the competition per resources, fellowships, and grants. If you feel like you'd be a great fit, by all means, apply to all the top places in your field. But remember that rankings aren't everything, and no ranking or prestige is worth going through 5-7 years of hell in a place where you're not happy or a great fit.

Best of luck!

[kaputzing]

1. Advisor: Sane? Insane? Nice? Not so nice? Someone I can conceivably work with? Open to ideas? A good mentor, both academically and "politically"? Well-connected and liked by the field? Invested in grad students getting good placements? I am willing to compromise on research interests if the advisor is some combination of these things. I would rather work with someone who won't drive me crazy than with someone who shares my interests and does drive me crazy.

2. Funding, up to a certain extent. If all offers are within the same ballpark, then discount this point. (Of course, must factor in cost-of-living into the funding calculation.)

3. Research fit.

4. Resources, both in # of full-time and diverse faculty and # of projects available for students to work on. Also, stuff like libraries/archives and museums are important to me.

5. Tradition/prestige: Sorry to sound shallow, but it's at least a little bit important for placements. Also, schools who continuously place their grads in good positions are often dedicated to getting their grads good jobs, while those that do not may be less dedicated to developing their grads professionally so to speak.

7. Location.

8. Atmosphere. To be honest, so long as it is not overly competitive and toxic, I am not picky. (I am in a department that is known to be highly competitive and a little toxic, and I didn't even realize this until people described the department in this manner to me. It is clearly a function of "this is all I know, so I thought this was normal ..." but I think I may be able to swim in most environments. Which is not to say that a warmer and fuzzier department might not woo me, but it's not the most important thing. )

Edited February 16, 2013 by kaputzing

[ion_exchanger]

This is a great question. I am going to have to make this decision very soon.

 

1. Advisor/research fit - These two are hand in hand for me. I want to go somewhere that if something doesn't work out with my number one advisor, I am still able to pursue similar research interests. The more opportunities to stay in my intended field, the better.

 

2. Funding/location - These two are also hand in hand for me, because no matter where I decide to go, local or out of state, I have to able to move out of the house and afford to live there, and I would like to save a bit of money. Safety is also a big factor. As of right now, the offers/potential offers are not equal.

 

3. Potential lab environment - As of right now, I prefer a smaller, more personal lab. I am very easy to get a long with and willing to help others, but I have learned very fast that sometimes scientists are not that way. I spent a lot of times talking to students and gauging their personalities to see if they are potential matches. I know that it won't be perfect, but I don't want to spend the next 5-7 years tiptoeing around snarky people. I've already had that problem.

 

4. Resources - I like that someone included this on their list, it's a big deal for me. As a potential graduate student, I will be bursting with ideas! I want to make sure that our lab is well funded, and the equipment is there.

 

5. Academic rank - Kaputzing, I don't think you were being shallow. People have applied to schools based on this. I see it more as how successful grad programs are at preparing competent future scientists. Higher ranked programs tend to be well funded, have great resources, and have excellent academic credentials and connections. That's not to say lower ranked programs don't. Take a look at faculty at lower ranked schools, and you'll see that they attended these higher ranked schools. Something that I don't like is people encouraging me to select based on this alone. This is lower on my list.

 

I'm so nervous and excited to make this decision!

Edited February 16, 2013 by ion_exchanger

[katieliz456]

Since mine is just a 2-yr Master's program, i suppose it isn't as big of a life decision for me.  However, I only applied to places where I knew I'd be content living for 2+ years.  I honestly don't expect to get accepted to more than 1 or 2 programs, but if I have to decide, it really comes down to money. I have enough left from my undergrad college savings account to pay for 1-2 semesters of grad school, but I'd have to take loans after that I'd rather not start "adult life" 30k+ in debt!

[zapster]

True Story...even if you skip all the rubbish(!) below, do see STEP 7.

 

Step 1: Prepared a table including subjective ratings on a scale of 1 to 10 for POI personality(scale of Nice to Awful), POI pedigree, POI publications, POI research agenda (fit), departmental research agenda (fit), departmental ranking / reputation, school ranking / reputation, funding offer, placement record, profile of existing grad students, city/location (livability).

 

Step 2: Built scenarios - experimenting with different weights for different criteria to test variability of results and discarded outlier choices

 

Step 3: Repeated the process excluding outliers

 

Step 4: Repeated steps 1 to 3 by ranking programs for each criteria rather than rating

 

Step 5: Deleted the file and decided to go with gut feel

 

Step 6: Recreated a new file next morning, repeating steps 1 to 4.

 

Step 7: Decided to sit down with the most typical and latest research publications produced by each of these programs (areas similar to that I might be working on if I joined the programs), and spent an hour on each, trying to think through how I might have changed, improved or continued on this line of work, etc. Believe me, after I was done, my choice was made ! 

[RubyBright]

Location already factored in for me long before I heard/will hear anything about decisions. I have a kind of unique situation (long story that would be both boring and useless to recount), so location was most important to me. That was why I only applied to four programs. From there, funding is next most important, and POI is third. Other things are considerations, but they won't sway the decision much. I've already received an acceptance without any offer of funding yet, so, though the POI is good, I'm not sure I could accept it. I can't imagine paying out-of-state tuition for five years! Still hoping they'll come through on funding... 

I guess to summarize, practicalities like location and funding are paramount, and things that come down more to "liking" this or that come after. 

Edited February 17, 2013 by RubyBright

[MadScience]

True Story...even if you skip all the rubbish(!) below, do see STEP 7.

 

Step 1: Prepared a table including subjective ratings on a scale of 1 to 10 for POI personality(scale of Nice to Awful), POI pedigree, POI publications, POI research agenda (fit), departmental research agenda (fit), departmental ranking / reputation, school ranking / reputation, funding offer, placement record, profile of existing grad students, city/location (livability).

 

Step 2: Built scenarios - experimenting with different weights for different criteria to test variability of results and discarded outlier choices

 

Step 3: Repeated the process excluding outliers

 

Step 4: Repeated steps 1 to 3 by ranking programs for each criteria rather than rating

 

Step 5: Deleted the file and decided to go with gut feel

 

Step 6: Recreated a new file next morning, repeating steps 1 to 4.

 

Step 7: Decided to sit down with the most typical and latest research publications produced by each of these programs (areas similar to that I might be working on if I joined the programs), and spent an hour on each, trying to think through how I might have changed, improved or continued on this line of work, etc. Believe me, after I was done, my choice was made ! 

 

Oh my, I love this! And definitely not because I have done the exact same thing or anything :shifty eyes:

 

You gotta love Excel spreadsheets

[TeaGirl]

True Story...even if you skip all the rubbish(!) below, do see STEP 7....

 

Nope. Haven't done the excel file thing at all. Not me

[foucaultmania]

1) The Faculty Members 2) The Funding 3) City/Location 4) Campus facilities

[kiki123]

My main criteria is funding and location.

[veggiez]

I applied to schools that were all pretty good research fits, and I could see myself going in any of the directions my POIs have taken. That being said, at the moment the main things that I am considering are: funding, facilities, success of students after graduation, location, and the general environment with the students and professors. Interviews have been so helpful in narrowing things down. The only problem is the schools that have accepted me without interviews because I can't get a good feel for the environment without having met everyone there.

[woosah]

1. funding

2. research fit (poi) & lab/departmental environment

3. program reputation & track record

[Boril]

Without funding I am unwilling/unable to attend.  Having said that, as long as I have enough income to cover (most) of my bills I'm happy.

 

1: Good community with faculty and fellow students.  If everyone's at least somewhat happy, there's a good chance I will be as well.  I don't want to spend the next few years surrounded by grumps.

2: Research fit

3: Lab resources/freedom to explore

4: Faculty network (within the university and in industry)

5: Location

[Linelei]

I'm going to go ahead and say my real criterion: my gut feeling.

 

The thing is, I went through all the logical, make-lists-of-pros-and-cons stuff when I chose the few programs to which I would be applying. They were all fabulous on paper, and I spent hours and hours learning about the intricate details of the programs. So now it is about my gut, emotional reaction when I interact with the people in the program.

 

There is research to support the gut instinct system of decision-making, too! I'm not nuts! When a. we know a lot about the subject (as those of us who have obsessed over school and lab websites do for grad school info), and b. the costs and benefits are complex yet differences between choices are very subtle, we tend to be pretty good at summing up descriptive information and making a correct intuitive leap. I can't find the article, but I remember a study that found if people were given unlimited time to analyze a situation and assess the pros and cons, they actually made the 'better' choice less often than those who were given a very limited time to make an intuitive decision. Plus they tended to feel less "satisfied" with their choice after the fact.

 

So, basically, as long as I have funding, I'm going with the place that feels the most right. If spreadsheets work best for you, definitely do that, but this is the system that works best for me! 

Edited February 20, 2013 by Linelei

[selecttext]

Only money

[katieliz456]

I'm going to go ahead and say my real criterion: my gut feeling.

 

The thing is, I went through all the logical, make-lists-of-pros-and-cons stuff when I chose the few programs to which I would be applying. They were all fabulous on paper, and I spent hours and hours learning about the intricate details of the programs. So now it is about my gut, emotional reaction when I interact with the people in the program.

I like your approach! If I am accepted to more than one place and have similar financial situations for each, this is what i'll end up doing. I think most of us were pretty intentional in choosing which schools to apply to and, aside from total "safety" schools, I imagine most of us would be pretty darn happy to get accepted to even one of our programs. And it is really important to "feel right" in a program when you'll be spending the majority of your waking hours with those people for the next several years