Help me pick my school

[Sageofpain]

Hey all, I need input on me picking my graduate school for immunology.

So i have four interviews University of Alabama Birmingham, Case western reserve, University of Pittsburgh, University of Arizona. I have already been accepted to Birmingham and case. If i don't get accepted to Pitt, should I go to UAB where I like the school and the research but my reservation is that Birmingham is dull and lacks interesting things to do. Or should I go to case where the PI's are cool well establish and there are some with interesting research to me, I like Cleveland a lot more but i feel less of a connection with the research and PI at case. any input is appreciated.

 

[rising_star]

I have questions before I can provide answers.

1) Have you visited all the schools? Have you had a chance to actually sit down with the PI and grad students at Case and UAB to discuss the research they're doing and that you might be doing? An in-depth conversation might be helpful here.

2) Have you talked to grad students at UAB about what life in Birmingham is like, whether they like it, what there is to do, etc.? Seems like an essential step prior to making a decision. 

3) How is the funding at each place? I'd be comparing packages based on the cost of living in each place, in addition to comparing years of funding, number of years of fellowship, summer funding, etc. What's the broader research support like in terms of writing grants? In terms of publishing?

You've got time to decide so I encourage you to do a lot more research and (re)visit the schools to get a better sense of your fit in each place.

[kenz]

As someone who did my first year of undergrad at UAB and currently makes pretty frequent trips to Birmingham, I don't find the city dull or boring at all. I don't know what you like to do for fun or what kind of city you currently come from, and Birmingham certainly isn't the most eventful city in the world, but you'd be hard pressed to run out of things to do. I've found that a good bit of UAB students are into outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and rock climbing. Birmingham also two very large malls (one outdoor, which has more high-end stores, and one indoor, which has more middle of the road stores), bars, breweries, coffee shops, the BJCC (where major artists hold concerts), diverse restaurants (Middle eastern, Thai, Mediterranean, etc.), record shops, independent book stores, new age shops, etc. etc.  UAB also has a considerable amount of international students as well as students with very diverse interests and backgrounds. Again, I can only speak from experience as an undergraduate, but if you have any specific questions about UAB or the Birmingham area, I'd love to answer them. I'd hate to think of anyone passing up a program that's a good fit for them just because the city it's in may appear to be a little dull! 

[maurmaur]

I can help with any Tucson questions you may have. I know very little about the department about in which you are applying except to say the U of A has really been trying to up their research. I was in the neuroscience department and everything seemed to be growing well while I was there.