Vanderbilt or Yale???

[Danny Cell]

Hi everyone,

 

I am facing the toughest decision in my career here, as everyone admitted I guess.

 

I have applied to different places and thankfully have been accepted by a couple of universities.

However, I have narrowed my choices to the last two: Vanderbilt and Yale.

 

Vanderbilt was my top choice since I did an internship there in the VISRA program and found myself extremely satisfied with the Nashville lifestyle and the faculty members.

 

Nevertheless, I was also accepted by Yale and after a four-day visit for interviews, I was pretty amazed by the program as a whole and the different oppotunities provided.

 

I really need some advice in this difficult choice.

 

Program:   Ph.D. Immunology

Status:      International Applicant (Both programs provide full stipend)

[phdcandidate022014]

Given that you appear to give equal weight to your fit in the program, and that you are receiving funding from both, you have to go with Yale. Just consider your networking opportunities and the gravitas that the Yale name carries - that will give you a leg up for the rest of your career. Vanderbilt, while a fine school, does not have an academic reputation in the same league as Yale, and it's not even close. 

 

I'm an American that lives in the south and as much as Vandy likes to call themselves "The (insert Ivy here) of the South", they don't even have that reputation in the south, let alone anywhere else in the country outside of perhaps Tennessee.

[Danny Cell]

Thank for the info phdcandidate022014. I will consider your opinion!

[zipykido]

I worked as a lab tech in the immunology department for two years at Yale. You've got a ton of big names there, Ruslan Medzhitov, Richard Flavell, Akiko Iwasaki,  Pete Cresswell, Eric Meffre, David Haffler are probably the biggest names. Also a couple of really strong up and coming PIs, Stephanie Eisenbarth and Martin Kriegal. Yale is incredibly high stakes though, most of the PIs there are focused on big name publications (Cell, Science, Nature) but they have really strong facilities and research. I did not like New Haven very much as it never really felt "safe" but I lived in a less than ideal part of town. You can always do a Postdoc at Yale as well if depending on your goals after graduation. 

[Danny Cell]

Thanks for the info zipykido. I know about the big names and the outstanding research at Yale, and it would have been otherwise my top choice. However, the VISP program at Vanderbilt provides constant advising to international Ph.D. students and their careers. This is why I am so dubitative.

 

Thank both of you for your advice though.

[emguth]

I would say choose the program where you feel the most comfortable and who's research you like the most. Both schools are incredibly well regarded, and while I don't know too much about Yale, I do know that Vanderbilt is doing some of the best biomedical research in the country. I worked in the biology department at Vanderbilt this past summer, and it was incredibly relaxed and no one seemed to be under too much stress. 

And when you're looking for jobs down the line, it's the work that you do, not that your mentor does, that gets you that job.

[Danny Cell]

That is so true emguth, I also worked for a summer in the Immunology department at Vanderbilt and I know what is the environment there that is why it was my top choice. I will dig a lot deeper about the research done by each school and make a choice.