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Emory vs UC Irvine for Pharmacology


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I was just short of signing the dotted line for UC Irvine, when suddenly I got an interview from Emory after being waitlisted. I honestly thought I had no chance with Emory, so I'm completely taken aback. I was really getting into the idea of UCI, and now I've got this curveball offer. Emory is ranked significantly higher than UCI for pharmacology, like top 10, whereas UCI is somewhere in the 40's. I know ranking isn't everything, but it's really hard to ignore. They both have a serious focus on neuropharm, which is what I'm most interested in. UCI is only accepting one (or maybe two they said) new PhD student into the program this year, whereas I know Emory is accepting several. I'm not sure which is preferable. I was assuming that being one of the only students entered into the program would mean that I would get a lot of personal guidance and attention at UCI, but I'm not sure what downsides there are to that. There's also the weather. Atlanta has great weather, but Irvine has arguably perfect weather (to me, I like the dry heat). Location is a big thing too. They both have awesome locations, but it seems like there's a lot more diversity of things to do in any given direction in Irvine. Though I'm pretty sure the vibrant culture of Atlanta stomps the rich white bread culture of Irvine and the rest of Orange County. And cost of living will be much more manageable on the east coast than the west. Another factor is that my boyfriend is coming with me and he's in the food industry (10+ years in fine dining, planning on eventually starting his own restaurant), and everyone seems to be telling me that SoCal has the best opportunities for cooks/chefs in all the country (except maybe NYC).

 

There's so many thing to consider. I don't know what to do. There's tons of pros and cons to each school and each area and I just can't decide. Any insight from anyone here?

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Before suggesting anything I would wait until Emory has made you an offer. If need be you could ask UCI for an extension on making your decision since the Apr. 15 deadline is approaching. From what you've said it looks like you would enjoy UCI more (and you could always apply to Emory for a postdoc if you do choose UCI), but I wouldn't freak out until you have both offers on the table. Relax, you have one offer waiting for you  :)

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I'll preface this that I currently go to Emory and I have not visited UCI, or Irvine for that matter but I have been to SoCal numerous times. I'm going to say that a smaller cohort is good but sometimes TOO small is not great. You have to remember this is your cohort who you will be taking some of your beginning courses with, who will be your friends and the people that will be able to most understand what you are going through. Having just one other person (hopefully you get along great!) can change that dynamic. My program is small, we have 6 total in our class but trust me, when you have a question about what the hell you are doing or someone to study with having 5 others to look for is great. I'd encourage you to really think about the research you are hoping to do and the opportunities of faculty in each scenario. Having a lot of attention being one of two students is great, but not if everyone's research isn't QUITE what you want. If you are looking for diversity, and again take this with a grain of salt but Atlanta is very diverse. I'll also encourage you to think about some of the things that Atlanta has that UCI may not have. This includes collaboration with Georgia Tech, CDC, UGA, etc. There is also the georgia research alliance which also works with biotech. As a side note, I'll assume you didn't get to see a lot of Atlanta because the dining here is crazy its a super big foodie city and there is a lot of top chefs here as well as many fine dining opportunities. One of my close friends who got her PhD from Emory has a chef as a husband who was trained in France and Germany and cooks for some of very high caliber restaurants here. I'd be willing to bet that Atlanta food scene is much more robust than Irvine. The cost of living will be lower and I'd be willing to bet your stipend is higher on top of that. Meaning your stipend + lower cost of living is going to go much further in Atlanta than California. Please feel free to message me if you have any further questions about Emory/Atlanta.

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Thanks for the perspectives  :) I think I'll end up going with Emory if I do well in the interview and they make me an offer. It will be really hard to give up SoCal though! Living there is sort of a dream to me.

 

Now I just have to figure out what to tell UCI, since I pretty much guaranteed them that I'd attend, just short of putting my John Hancock down... they were so nice to me, too  :( I hope I don't burn bridges and hurt feelings.

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