Best school in my subfield, or better school overall?

[omg what do i do]

Note: this is an exceptionally long post! You’ve all been warned. I used school “A” and school “B” to talk about the schools because I’ve posted a lot on my actual account and didn’t want to accidentally offend anyone. 

 

I’m applying to graduate school in the humanities. On Wednesday, I’d been accepted to three schools and I was gearing up to accept an offer from school A (assuming all goes well at the campus visit). I thought school A, a well-respected public university (not Michigan or Texas, where it’s so selective it might as well be private, but probably one tier down from that), offered me the best mix of research fit, reputation, and quality of life. Because I would like to work outside academia, I felt that the program offered me some opportunities to get experience in the non-academic field I’d like to enter. It’s in a large city with a lot going on, and I have family nearby. The major cons of school A are thus: it’s a very good program, but not top-tier (I think it’s “ranked” around ~24, if you put any stock in rankings); the funding is a fellowship from the graduate school + 4 years of TA, and I'm not that enthused about teaching. I was okay with this, because I liked school A better than schools C and D. 

 

Then, school B (another large, state university) decided to accept me. In my subfield, school B is probably the most well-known and certainly the “top-ranked” — school B graduates are teaching at school A, not the other way around. So, not only is the research at this school top-notch, but they also offered me a killer funding package that vastly outstrips what school A offered me (and is still better than the offers I received from schools C and D). 

 

The problem is that this school has some really serious cons. First: I obviously haven’t met the department (their visit day is next month, and I’m planning to go and keep an open mind), but I don’t have a great feeling about it. I felt that they were jerking my chain throughout the applications process, and wanting to know if I was a “serious” candidate before they wasted a fellowship on me. One of my POIs used to teach at my current institution, and I’ve heard that she is not a great adviser — doesn’t get stuff back on time, isn’t interested in her advisees, etc. She wouldn’t be my primary adviser, but she would definitely be on any exam committees — I work on X in region Y, and she works on X in region Z. This comes on the heels of the fact that one of my POIs at school A (who also used to teach at my current institution) is supposed to be a wonderful adviser.

 

Second: the university, on the whole, is not as well-respected as school A. I don’t honestly know if this matters or not. Some people have told me it does, and some people have told me it doesn’t. School B suffers from the fact that it is near some very prestigious schools, so the state’s best and brightest go there and everyone else ends up at school B. I also don’t know if this matters given the fact that I am interested in a non-academic job. The school I’m currently at is somewhere between school A and school B — top research, reputation as a party school. Considering how much the party school reputation has followed me, I was really eager to jump on school A and have a degree that people take seriously. 

 

Third: school B is in a terrible location, and its campus is something straight out of the 1970s. It’s far from my family, and though it’s close to some bigger cities, the town itself doesn’t have a lot to do and is not that nice — it’s made a resurgence, but it isn’t great. The campus is not that nice either. I am sure that judging a school based on its campus is slightly shallow and short-sighted, but I also know that the quality of the campus matters a lot to me; my current school is on a beautiful campus, and I really do like walking across campus and seeing how pretty the town is, how the buildings are, etc. So knowing that at school B I’m giving that up for a campus that hasn’t been updated since 1974 hurts a little bit. Especially because school A is downright gorgeous. 

 

So I feel like I can’t win either way. If I pick school A (or schools C and D, which are similar), I’m turning my back on the prestige, the money, and the departmental reputation of school B, and possibly permanently damaging my professional career. If I pick school B, I feel like I’m giving up some of my personal happiness (and I’m giving up the school-wide reputation and amenities of A). Also, if I pick school A because I don’t want to sacrifice some of my personal happiness, then I feel like a gigantic failure who wasn’t ambitious enough to stay on the fast track -- I can't shake this feeling that if I were really serious about my field, I would just jump on this offer and suck it up for however long. 

 

So, yeah. I have no idea what to do. Thoughts?

Edited February 14, 2015 by omg what do i do

[geographyrocks]

One important thing that you haven't mentioned is connected.  How well connected is the department?  The connections you make through the faculty and the department are what will REALLY help you after you graduate. 

Another thing is, how well do you work when you're miserable.  You already stated that you would have to "suck it up" to go to school B.  That doesn't sound to me like it's a place you want to be.  Grad school is hard on its own.  You shouldn't add being miserable in your precious free time to that. 

 

My biggest piece of advice is to try not to stress until you meet the faculty at school B.  I think your decision will be easily made after that.  Really focus on who your advisor will be and how well you two will get along.  It seems like both schools have good things to offer, but I feel that advisor fit is the most important. 

[omg what do i do]

One important thing that you haven't mentioned is connected.  How well connected is the department?  The connections you make through the faculty and the department are what will REALLY help you after you graduate. 

Another thing is, how well do you work when you're miserable.  You already stated that you would have to "suck it up" to go to school B.  That doesn't sound to me like it's a place you want to be.  Grad school is hard on its own.  You shouldn't add being miserable in your precious free time to that. 

 

My biggest piece of advice is to try not to stress until you meet the faculty at school B.  I think your decision will be easily made after that.  Really focus on who your advisor will be and how well you two will get along.  It seems like both schools have good things to offer, but I feel that advisor fit is the most important. 

 

Thanks for the reply! I hadn't thought about the connections aspect, but I'll ask around; I think my professors are familiar with both departments and I can see what they think. As for the campus visit, I'm looking forward to that, as I think it will help clarify some of these issues: are the negatives as negative as they look, and are the positives as positive as they look? I'll try not to go completely crazy in the meantime. 

[TXInstrument11]

 

Then, school B (another large, state university) decided to accept me. In my subfield, school B is probably the most well-known and certainly the “top-ranked” — school B graduates are teaching at school A, not the other way around. So, not only is the research at this school top-notch, but they also offered me a killer funding package that vastly outstrips what school A offered me (and is still better than the offers I received from schools C and D). 

Hm. For me personally, I would investigate this aspect further. Placement is the # 1 factor for me besides fit. I honestly think that this is especially true for someone like you in the humanities. The social sciences already have a hard enough job market. It's even worse for you guys. 

 

Since adviser at school B is such a jerk, I would go ahead and see if you can get at least semi-official numbers on her student dropout rate. If it's not all that high, the ill treatment may be crappy but tolerable. All in all, if you think the crappiness of campus B's location and this lady's poor advising wouldn't outright cause you to drop out, I would go with school B for better employment. 

 

Also, according to a study discussed the psych forum, department ranking usually trumps the school's and almost always trumps adviser rep. Just wanted to put that out there so you could get some actual numbers to look at instead of hearsay. 

Edited February 14, 2015 by TXInstrument11

[Vene]

A couple thoughts I have, how does the funding of each compare to cost of living? After all, $25,000 is great in Iowa City, but poverty in New York City.

Do you see yourself as being happy at B University? If you'll be happy at one, but not the other go where you'll be happy. Graduate school is long and difficult, being miserable is just asking to drop out.

And most definitely do go to the interview with an open mind. Keep in the back of your head that they are putting on a show, but the show they put on can still tell you a lot about what they offer.

Finally, it does look like you'll be in good shape with either school, the question you have seems to be maximizing your time spent. If possible, maybe look to see who former students are in each program and where they are now.

[TXInstrument11]

A couple thoughts I have, how does the funding of each compare to cost of living? After all, $25,000 is great in Iowa City, but poverty in New York City.

Do you see yourself as being happy at B University? If you'll be happy at one, but not the other go where you'll be happy. Graduate school is long and difficult, being miserable is just asking to drop out.

Finally, it does look like you'll be in good shape with either school, the question you have seems to be maximizing your time spent. If possible, maybe look to see who former students are in each program and where they are now.

These are my principal concerns. If I were to rank them, dropout rate>placement rate>debt vs expected salary post-grad