Money or Prestige or Everything Else?

[DorisDad]

So, I've been accepted to three Electrical Engineering graduate programs.  Generally, I'm interested in renewable energy/power electronics.  Here's the schools I've been accepted to:

 

University of Washington - Seattle (Master's, TA offer @20 hrs per week, $1650 per month, full tuition).

 

University of Wisconsin - Madison (Master's, on visit day the head of the admissions committee guaranteed me funding, but wasn't sure what type).

 

Iowa State - I was accepted to their Wind Energy Science, Engineering, and Policy Ph.D program with an NSF IGERT fellowship (full tuition, 30k per year) for 2.5 years and an RAship for 2.5 years.

 

I've been rejected from Berkeley, and have yet to hear back from Michigan (Ph.D), Oregon State (Masters), and Cal-Irvine (Masters).  I'm assuming I've been rejected from those three as well, although I may be admitted to Michigan's Masters program with no funding (which they seem to do fairly frequently).

 

Currently, I'm thinking that I will end up getting my Ph.D, even in the programs for which I've only applied for a masters. 

 

Here's the rub:  I have a partner that I've been with for 5 years, and she's committed to following me wherever I want to go.  We both did our undergraduate degrees in Madison, so we know what Wisconsin is like, and we've lived in a small town (10k people) for the last 4 years.  We've really been looking forward to the west coast- I know she really likes Seattle.  I, too, really like Seattle- basically, the quality of life and personal fit is off the charts.  

 

However, Iowa State offered me a load of money and the prestige of an NSF fellowship.  I've never been to Ames (visiting next week), but I would hate to live in a smallish town for another 5-7 years.  They are also generally lower in the "prestige" category as a school, especially when compared to... 

 

UW-Madison. Don't get me wrong, I love Madison.  But I was kind of looking forward to starting over somewhere new and exploring new areas of the country (I've lived in the midwest my whole life).  However, there's no denying the fact that WEMPEC and the Power Electronics group in Madison is outstanding.  

 

I know there's no one who can make the decision but me, but I was wondering if you guys had any thoughts on this situation:

 

Is a fellowship at a normally third-choice school too good to turn down? (Iowa State)

Is the prestige of a school (Madison) really all that important)?

Can I be happy with less money in a more expensive city, doing research that isn't EXACTLY what I'm into (Seattle group does work in power system optimization, I'm more interested in hands-on stuff), as long as I love everything else?  

 

I wish ONE place had EVERYTHING I wanted, but it looks as though I'll have to decide among competing values.   

[justinmcummings]

My money would be on University of Washington, its in an amazing town, it has the prestige, I've seen employers state Umich, Uwashington in job postings in before. Uwisc sounds great! I have been accepted to the PhD program there also just the communications/signals program. They are rubbing me the wrong way so far though...wasn't invited to a visit day...no contact from a professor...and still no word on funding...and all since being accepted in January. I visited Ames Iowa last year for TBP honor society conference. The campus is beautiful, the engineering building was less than impressive but I wasn't allowed to see inside any of the labs. The town is extremely small and from the locals its a bar / football type of town. Personally if you are getting those kind of offers for just a masters, you might want to consider doing your masters at a well known school where you will get even more exposure and I'm betting you can get offers for PhD from the top programs in the nation if/when you reapply for PhD. Just my opinion

[zipykido]

Lower tier programs often offer money to compensate for their lack of prestige. Higher tier programs know that they can get away with not offering as much because people will pay to have that name behind them. Honestly, for a masters program I would definitely go for the funded option, since you can always apply for fully funded PhD programs after and there's no point in handicapping yourself with debt. I wouldn't say you would be less happy in a more expensive city but you'd have to spend more time doing low budget things and managing your finances. Imagine how much travelling you could do with $30,000 that you don't take out in loans. 

[justinmcummings]

PS i don't think you realize how jealous I am about U Washington

[justinmcummings]

Lower tier programs often offer money to compensate for their lack of prestige. Higher tier programs know that they can get away with not offering as much because people will pay to have that name behind them. Honestly, for a masters program I would definitely go for the funded option, since you can always apply for fully funded PhD programs after and there's no point in handicapping yourself with debt. I wouldn't say you would be less happy in a more expensive city but you'd have to spend more time doing low budget things and managing your finances. Imagine how much travelling you could do with $30,000 that you don't take out in loans. 

 

great point, ~20k in Washington would be difficult to live comfortably on

[DorisDad]

Thanks for the input.  In regards to Madison funding, I was there last week.  The admissions chair told me they would have funding offers sorted out this week or next week, so hopefully they'll be sending them out soon. How much you are willing to trust a university to stay on schedule is, however, another matter entirely.

 

EDIT: Also, even with a visit, I had a hard time getting professors to talk to me- and everyone else I've talked to has said the same thing. You're not alone!

Edited March 19, 2014 by DorisDad

[rising_star]

Can your partner easily find a job in Seattle to supplement your grad student stipend? If so, that would rule out the financial concerns...

 

NSF IGERTs are both prestigious and not at the same time. I realize that sounds weird but, that's because they're not as much based on the promise of your research as they are the promise of an interdisciplinary team of PIs at the institution (I've helped my advisor work on an IGERT proposal that didn't get funded ultimately so I have a very good idea of what goes into one).

 

You've already been at UW-Madison so I wouldn't bother with that one. You've got other schools you're waiting to hear from so it's really between those, if they come with funding, and Seattle, imo.

[justinmcummings]

Thanks for the input.  In regards to Madison funding, I was there last week.  The admissions chair told me they would have funding offers sorted out this week or next week, so hopefully they'll be sending them out soon. How much you are willing to trust a university to stay on schedule is, however, another matter entirely.

 

EDIT: Also, even with a visit, I had a hard time getting professors to talk to me- and everyone else I've talked to has said the same thing. You're not alone!

 

have you heard back from Uwisc regarding funding yet?