Importance of School in regards to PMF

[LRPolicy]

Hey all,

 

I was wondering if anyone could advise as to how much importance a school really is in placing PMF finalists. I know there's a lot of data and statistics about which schools place the most finalists--but how much of that depends on the school really? As far as I can tell, the school no longer has to nominate students, and your initial qualification to semi-finalist stage is based on a standardized test. Do certain schools really offer much more in terms of preparing students to be a PMF finalist?

 

I guess my question would be: if you really like a program/school and also really want to be competitive for the PMF, should you be dissuaded from that school if they have a poor history of placing finalists?

[vincehoward]

PMF placement is really finicky and contingent on the availability of jobs in each dept and the depth/experiences of the applicant pool. If you think you have a great resume then your choice of grad programs really doesn't matter all that much. I wouldn't let marginally better or worse historical placement numbers weigh heavily on my decision of what program to attend.