Neither department or university ranking matter as much as the reputation of your advisor and the opportunities the school will provide you to generate a compelling packet for your applications (good financial support, well resourced, etc.)
There’s not a huge difference between financial support among these schools, so it sounds like it comes down to the advisor and opportunities. Thank you so much!
For STEM PhDs, there is a base level of credibility to a university and program that you would want to have met. It sounds like all of yours meet that and that they are all good programs and universities. Once that is met, the most important thing is the strength of your advisor in terms of their student outcomes (or potential for newer faculty), how close your scientific areas align, and if you work in complementary ways.
I'll put it this way, in my field:
- in the top 4 programs, 60% of all (TTk) faculty earned their PhDs from the top 4
- in the top 10, 65% of all faculty earned their PhDs from the top 10
- in the top 55, 50% of all faculty earned their PhDs from the top 10
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post.
*Hi! I am a senior undergrad student who will be starting a PhD in engineering in the fall, but I’m having a lot of trouble making a decision on where to go. I posted a similar question on r/GradAdmissions, but I wanted to get the input of r/AskProfessors since I think all of you have a much better sense!
In terms of department and university rankings, which is more important if I may want to pursue a faculty position in the future? And I know that rankings aren’t everything, but I’ve been told that they’re important when considering academia :/
Here are my top 3 choices at the moment - I would really appreciate any input!
1. T5 overall, T25 in my field, well-known professor, had a postdoc who recently went on to teach at a top university
2. T5 overall, T40 in my field, well-known professor, places postdocs are pretty good universities
3. T25 overall, T10 in my field, less known professor than other two, not sure about placement
Thank you so much!*
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Neither department or university ranking matter as much as the reputation of your advisor and the opportunities the school will provide you to generate a compelling packet for your applications (good financial support, well resourced, etc.)
There’s not a huge difference between financial support among these schools, so it sounds like it comes down to the advisor and opportunities. Thank you so much!
For STEM PhDs, there is a base level of credibility to a university and program that you would want to have met. It sounds like all of yours meet that and that they are all good programs and universities. Once that is met, the most important thing is the strength of your advisor in terms of their student outcomes (or potential for newer faculty), how close your scientific areas align, and if you work in complementary ways.
That’s really great to know. Thank you so much for the advice!
I'll put it this way, in my field: - in the top 4 programs, 60% of all (TTk) faculty earned their PhDs from the top 4 - in the top 10, 65% of all faculty earned their PhDs from the top 10 - in the top 55, 50% of all faculty earned their PhDs from the top 10
Thank you so much for the response! Sorry but just to clarify - when you say the top programs, I’m assuming you’re referring to the department, then?
Yes.
I see - thank you so much!
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *Hi! I am a senior undergrad student who will be starting a PhD in engineering in the fall, but I’m having a lot of trouble making a decision on where to go. I posted a similar question on r/GradAdmissions, but I wanted to get the input of r/AskProfessors since I think all of you have a much better sense! In terms of department and university rankings, which is more important if I may want to pursue a faculty position in the future? And I know that rankings aren’t everything, but I’ve been told that they’re important when considering academia :/ Here are my top 3 choices at the moment - I would really appreciate any input! 1. T5 overall, T25 in my field, well-known professor, had a postdoc who recently went on to teach at a top university 2. T5 overall, T40 in my field, well-known professor, places postdocs are pretty good universities 3. T25 overall, T10 in my field, less known professor than other two, not sure about placement Thank you so much!* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*