Job Placement vs. Intellectual Environment

[Leafytea]

I currently have two potential advisers, one of whom has an incredible reputation for placing students in good jobs, but is a little more conservative; and one whom I find more intellectually exciting, and is good at fostering an environment of high level discussion among his students. This is from having sat in on both their seminars. (I'm in the humanities). The latter is well respected, but much younger, so not as much of a track record to look at in terms of placing students.

What do you think would be a better choice in the long run?

[jacib]

I currently have two potential advisers, one of whom has an incredible reputation for placing students in good jobs, but is a little more conservative; and one whom I find more intellectually exciting, and is good at fostering an environment of high level discussion among his students. This is from having sat in on both their seminars. (I'm in the humanities). The latter is well respected, but much younger, so not as much of a track record to look at in terms of placing students.

What do you think would be a better choice in the long run?

I was just talking to my old man (a professor) about this today. He teaches at a really small school that only accepts 2 or 3 students a year. Though its ranked I think something like 50 or 60, he has had a few students transfer from or turn down offers from places ranked in the top 5. While he wouldn't recommend this for everyone, he says these two specific students he was thinking of it was the best thing for them. Job placement between the two departments these kids turned down (Michigan and Chicago) and where my father works are probably miles apart. That said, they just wanted a smaller department with more one on one mentorship. They wouldn't have done well at the larger departments. Think of how you fit with the department, if you could imagine working with the person for years, etc. Talk to both of their current graduate students, and recently graduated ones, especially. If the younger guy is at a highly ranked department, I also think it won't matter as much that he personally has less of a track record. You could compare track records of the departments as well.

[fuzzylogician]

These are advisors in the same department? because then it's not a real problem, you can have them both on your committee.

If not: personally I'd choose the professor that I think I'll do better work with, which in this case is the less experienced one. I *might* choose the professor with the better placement record if I could find other stimulating professors at that school to be on my committee. But generally I wouldn't pass up an overall better-fitting offer for just the one professor, however good his placement record is. I want to produce the best work I can, and I want to enjoy grad school as much as possible. Both of these are likelier to happen under an advisor I get along with better.