Interdisciplinary Programs, which rating matters most?

[citizenkanye]

I'm strongly considering attending an interdisciplinary PhD program at a university but I've noticed a few nagging caveats that are holding me back from committing. The program is in a department which isn't generally rated very high (around 40-60 typically), but I'd likely end up doing my thesis in another department due to its interdisciplinary nature, which happens to be very highly rated (top 10 in the country). Regardless, the actually name that will be on my PhD will be that lower rated department.

Which one of these ratings matter more? I think the lab I do my thesis should be more important than anything else, but I'm not sure how these things tend to play out in reality. Does anyone have any input to offer?

[rising_star]

Advisor matters a lot when it comes to the PhD, even more so if you're planning to remain in academia. What are your career plans? What is the placement record of the department and the lab you're considering joining?

[citizenkanye]

My plan is to stay in academia. There's a pretty overwhelming tendency for students to postdoc at places Harvard, Brown, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, etc, with a handful of stragglers going into industry. Seems promising?

[rising_star]

Does it? You just described a bunch of your future colleagues as "stragglers"...

[citizenkanye]

Oh, I just meant it wasn't the norm to go into industry.....I think I just used the wrong word. I think the word 'outliers' is a better way of describing what I'm getting at, I sincerely meant nothing by it.

[juilletmercredi]

Departmental rankings matter more in some fields than others, particularly in fields without a strong lab/PI culture (think humanities and some social sciences). That's not to say they don't matter in STEM fields and other social science fields - they do. But your advisor has more prominence in the latter kinds of fields. If you have a great mentor at a 40-60 type school that can make all the difference.

I attended an interdisciplinary PhD program that was nominally housed in one department but took place equally across two departments. My experience is that both matter, but the one that matters more is the one that you're planning to go into more. For example, let's say that you're doing an interdisciplinary biology and engineering PhD with your research focused on biomedical engineering, but your eventual goal is to teach in a biology department. Then the biology department's ranking and your PI in biology are going to matter more for your future career goals than the engineering department - although both may be important. Keep in mind that your goals and priorities also may change.