Mohammed Abdullah Posted July 5, 2016 Posted July 5, 2016 I have an offer to do Ph.D in chemistry in 300th ranked school in this field, Could It possible to have an academic job with this Ph.D or not? and if it is not possible could it is easily to transfer to another top ranked school?
rising_star Posted July 5, 2016 Posted July 5, 2016 Transferring from one PhD program to another is generally not possible. It requires applying alongside all other prospective applicants and it's unlikely that the coursework or research you've done at the first program will count at the second one. An academic job may be possible depending on the type of job you're looking for and where you're willing to live but it will definitely be a difficult since getting an academic position is difficult for those at programs in the top 100.
juilletmercredi Posted July 10, 2016 Posted July 10, 2016 To clarify, what I think rising_star means is that you cannot transfer to another program in the sense that you would get much (or any) credit for the work you'd completed at the first program. You can certainly apply to other PhD programs, and you might even get admitted - but more than likely you'll be asked to start over, or from very close to the beginning. It would be much like getting admitted as a brand-new applicant who had never been to a PhD program before. (You would still want to get a recommendation letter from your PhD advisor, though.) Here's my advice: if you are already thinking about transferring when entering a PhD program, don't go. It's a good indication that the program isn't really for you and/or you don't really want to go there. In my opinion, no, you shouldn't go to a low-ranked PhD program if your goal is academia. It may be possible to get an academic job - as in theoretically possible - but you're making it many times harder on yourself to get the best, well, everything - graduate-level fellowships and grants, publications, recommendations, postdocs - that prepare you for an academic job. The likelihood is low.
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