PhD with Great Advisor or More Known School

[smllbll101]

I have a decision to make between two schools for a PhD program in a humanities field.

The first school, School A, has an advisor who I've worked with extensively and am confident in his abilities, commitment, etc. We have a great working relationship and he's mentored me through virtually all of my career. He even is recently coming off of a Fulbright Scholar assignment. I was able to secure a fellowship through this school that would give funding through summers as well as fall and spring semesters. The downside is that the school is lesser-known, and thus could be perceived as lesser. They would also presumably have fewer resources due to their "ranking" and size. The city that it's located in isn't that great, but it is affordable.

School B is more well known. It's not Top 10 well known but it's bigger, higher "ranked" than School A, and would likely have more resources. I base this off of my time doing my Masters where I attended a large well known school. I've been assigned two advisors who seem reputable, but I've been down the road with my Masters where the professors at larger schools don't have time for students. Is this different for a PhD student/program? Or was this a more school-specific scenario? School B is in a very popular city (read: expensive) that I would love. They're offered me an assistantship (plus healthcare, which is a pretty substantial savings) but summer funding is not guaranteed. So the funding provided by School B essentially comes out to the same amount as School A, but in a location where the cost of living is more than double. 

At either school, on paper, the advisors should provide me with the knowledge and background I need. 

Am I off base in thinking that, after the first two years of courses, I could travel while working on my dissertation? If this is the case, School A might actually provide me more opportunities simply due to the fellowship and cost of living. Is this possible? 

Does a "fellowship" look that much better on a CV? 

I'm looking for any insight, experience, opinions... much appreciated in advance!

[fuzzylogician]

What are your post-PhD plans, and what is the track record of each school in placing students in those kinds of jobs? 

Overall, the school's name is less important than your advisor's reputation and the department's name in the field, if you're going for an academic career. Brand names matter more if you're going into industry. That said, I personally think that fit with the advisor is the single most important factor in choosing a school. A good supportive advisor will get you through the tough times and use her/his connections to help you get a job afterward. They'll be your cheerleader long after you graduate. A bad advisor will make you miserable, and your work will suffer. 

As for the school B situation, I don't think you can learn much about how professors work at large schools from your N=1 experience. You need to find out details about the particular advisors you've been assigned to. Talk to them, talk to their students, ask how often they meet with students and get a sense for their advising style. These things depend entirely on the people involved.

As for funding, it seems pretty clear that school A is offering a better deal. A fellowship looks better on your CV, if it's competitive (and moreso even if it's external). That aside, the COL comparison just straightforwardly means your money will go farther in location A than B. 

As for location, it sounds like school B is in a better location, but do you have a sense of whether you can actually afford to live in a good part of town, or far away (or with lots of roommates, etc)?

As for doing work remotely after coursework is done, that might be possible but it's usually not a good idea. It's good to have a place to go to every day, the ongoing support, the access to one-on-one meetings, the talks and other events, etc. Students who leave to work off-campus have a much higher dropout rate; you will also need to talk to people at school A to find out if that's something they would consider allowing you to do (ask the DGS or similar if it's possible, and talk to students about whether it's actually done). Even if it's possible, I would think that leaving after just two years would be a bad idea for the reasons I mentioned above, but maybe doing part of one year away is okay. Keep in mind, if you're interested in an academic career, that you'll need to get letters of recommendation from at least three professors. It'd be hard to get strong, detailed letters if you're gone for 3 of the 5 years of the degree, and if their impression of you on-campus is as a young second-year student. So bottom line, if you're at school A, I would take it to mean that you're there most of the time, even if you occasionally go away. If there are resources you need that you don't have access to on-site, that would be the time to start thinking about being a visitor for some time at a place that has the relevant resources. 

[smllbll101]

Thank you for your post. You bring up a lot of good points. I certainly see the importance of being around while working on my dissertation, as well. 

My post-PhD goal is to stay in academia. School A's PhD program is relatively new and more explicitly interdisciplinary than School B's. This is one area that leaves me uncertain. However, School A's advisor is one that has already helped me publish my first article and has worked with me even as I was not a student to help me gain advantages when it came to applying to PhD programs. I already know that the faculty at School A truly cares and will be there for the long haul. That said, I feel like familiarity shouldn't be the only factor. I'll reach out to some students at School B to see if I can get a sense. 

Based on my research, I would be spending more than half of my stipend from School B on housing if I chose to live without a roommate (which I would prefer in my adult years). This is especially difficult to justify with the uncertainty of summer funding from School B. 

 

1 hour ago, fuzzylogician said:

If there are resources you need that you don't have access to on-site, that would be the time to start thinking about being a visitor for some time at a place that has the relevant resources. 

I've heard bits and pieces about this concept of being a visitor- would you be able to elaborate on how this works, circumstances that could lead to this, etc.? I fully intend, no matter where I go, to take advantage of opportunities like this where possible. 

Thank you again for your detailed response. 

[fuzzylogician]

1 hour ago, smllbll101 said:

I already know that the faculty at School A truly cares and will be there for the long haul. That said, I feel like familiarity shouldn't be the only factor. I'll reach out to some students at School B to see if I can get a sense. 

Obviously you should actually explore the advising options at school B before you make a decision. 

1 hour ago, smllbll101 said:

I've heard bits and pieces about this concept of being a visitor- would you be able to elaborate on how this works, circumstances that could lead to this, etc.? I fully intend, no matter where I go, to take advantage of opportunities like this where possible. 

Well, you'd get your home department's approval and usually they will continue to fund you for the semester or year that you are away. You'll also get permission from the host department. The host department will usually commit to providing you with work space and access to faculty and resources, but they will not pay your salary. The details of the arrangement will depend on the situation. Likely you'll want to sit down with your advisor and identify a person who might be an external member of your committee and who could contribute some extra strength to your advising team that no one at your own school can provide, or whose location/institution will allow you access to resources you wouldn't otherwise have. You'll reach out to your potential host to get their consent to sponsor you while you visit. There might be a formal application process at the host school. At my PhD department, there was a formal process with two deadlines a year, one for spring semester and one for fall (each about 6 months prior to the semester), and applicants had to submit a statement of purpose, CV, writing sample(s), and LORs. Visitors usually came at a stage when they were done with coursework and were working on their dissertation, though they would also often sit in on seminars and other classes. That's about it.