<p>I've been admitted to Stanford and Yale for their Ph.D. programs in Genetics and MCGD (umbrella program) respectively. I've visited both and I can't decide on one, so I've come here looking for a little anonymous advice to put things into perspective. Most of my work has consisted of developmental biology and genetics. I am interested in genetics and bioinformatics, but currently lack high level computational and mathematical skills, but I am highly interested in learning more about both and am looking for a program that can foster this. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Which school has more faculty members with whom you'd like to work?</p>
<p>The advisor whose lab you join will be more important for your publishing and career prospects than the program you choose, so even though Stanford's program is a bit stronger than Yale's, choose the program which has more faculty members doing work that interests you.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Choose a program with faculty members doing work that interests you.</p></li>
<li><p>Check out the internal politics of the programs. You don't want to end up a pawn in departmental political battles.</p></li>
<li><p>Find out whether the people you'd like to work with, at both schools, have reputations of being good advisors. Do their students get out in a reasonable amount of time? Do their students feel as though they were treated fairly by the advisor? Did they feel well-guided, or neglected?</p></li>
<li><p>Find out how both the program and the prospective advisors do at job placement.</p></li>
<li><p>Find out the attrition rates of the programs. No sense in stacking the deck against yourself before you even start. I have heard that Stanford bio has a low attrition rate, but I don't actually know, and I have no idea about Yale. Also, find out the pass rates for quals.</p></li>
<li><p>Find out the general treatment of grad students. Are they able to get affordable housing? Are they treated as junior colleagues, or are they condescended to? Do they have a sense of community? Are they given guidance and adequate resources for their teaching, if they teach? Do they get adequate health insurance? Is counseling easily available when they are stressed?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I agree with the advisor comments. Ph.D. programs are a little like a job search -- the firm/school is not nearly as important as whether you have a good mentor lined up.</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations! Finding the right mentor is the most important among all criteria for selecting a grad school. Talk to other graduate students in the labs of professors who's research interests you the most. Are those labs of a close-knit community kind or do they resemble a meatgrinder? It is your life, and you will be there for 5-6 years. Some schools have "research rotations" where first-year graduate students do a couple of month worth of research in different labs in the department to test out compatibility and interests and select their lab based on that.</p>
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Talk to other graduate students in the labs of professors who's research interests you the most. Are those labs of a close-knit community kind or do they resemble a meatgrinder?
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I think this is a fantastic idea. It's usually easy to find the emails of students and postdocs from a lab's webpage, and graduate students are generally more than happy to dish whatever they can -- I know I've been contacted by people interested in rotating in my thesis lab, and I've answered their questions to the best of my ability.</p>
<p>If a lab doesn't have a webpage, the PI should have no problem giving you the emails of one or more of his/her current students.</p>
<p>I know absolutely nothing about bio programs, but I do know that Stanford is exceptionally strong in computational math and also encourages interdisciplinary work. Besides looking for the computational people in your bio program, you might check out the faculty of the Institute for Computational Math and Engineering (ICME) and see whose interests lie in biology.</p>