US or international PhD?

[pterosaur]

This is a debate I've seen come up elsewhere and I was wondering what opinions are from people with some grad school experience: As a US student with a bachelor's degree from a US institution, is there an advantage or disadvantage to obtaining a PhD abroad (in say, Europe or Australia)?

 

I have had professors tell me that with a US bachelor's it's better to get a PhD in the US because there is a course component that would already have been obtained before starting a PhD if you were entirely within the European system, for example.  One professor specifically told me that for US undergrads, having a US PhD is more valuable than an overseas one because of this difference.

 

I have had other people who vehemently disagreed with this perspective.

 

I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with international PhDs in general, but from the perspective of an American student in the biological sciences, what are your thoughts?

[St Andrews Lynx]

I have had professors tell me that with a US bachelor's it's better to get a PhD in the US because there is a course component that would already have been obtained before starting a PhD if you were entirely within the European system, for example.  

That I think is mostly true. In the UK & a lot of European countries you do your undergrad & Masters...then start the PhD, jumping straight into full-time research with no coursework.

 

In contrast, American science PhDs have a "in-built" Masters in their first two years. I imagine that if you obtained a Masters degree in the USA then went abroad to do your PhD that the end result would be the same.

 

If you have the bug for going abroad, then maybe wait until you have your PhD and get a postdoc somewhere exotic. That's quite a common thing to do.