<p>So now that the dust is settled, and grad school accepts/rejects are mostly in (except one in my case, will get to that). The two PhD programs I have been accepted to and am considering are Brown and Carnegie Mellon. Both would be a drop in ranking from the undergraduate program where I study, which bugs me since the last school you attend is the one that matters. I could possibly convince my present school to keep me aboard for a Master's, but that will be a lot of debt. Should I keep going with this PhD program, or would it be a waste of 5 years? And if I should go to grad school, which school would you recommend?</p>
<p>Don't mistake me as not loving my field, as I do. But I don't want to close more doors than I open.</p>
<p>Just checked the rankings, and it appears that Carnegie Mellon is top 10 for almost every single engineering specialty, and #6 overall. Is that really something to scoff at?</p>
<p>Getting a PhD anywhere constitutes closing as many doors as it will open–you’ll become overqualified for many entry level positions that you currently qualify for. Also, graduate and undergraduate ranking are not the same thing and can vary wildly by department. While the school name does matter somewhat, what matters more will be the prestige of your PI and your own work: academia is a small world, and if you do good work anywhere people are likely to notice.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d go with Carnegie Mellon since it has the larger graduate school. If I recall correctly, Brown is largely dedicated to undergraduate education, not graduate education.</p>
<p>Don’t pay for a master’s. It’s a complete waste of money and will drown you in debt so much you won’t be able to buy a house or start a family. If you aren’t getting a PhD, work in industry and then get your company to pay for a master’s. You’d be surprised, in industry no one gives a sh^t where you went to undergrad for your degree after 3 or 4 years work experience. </p>
<p>If you have to really question whether Carnegie Mellon, one of the most premiere institutions in the world for STEM fields, is good, then maybe you shouldn’t be graduate school.</p>
<p>But you make me feel better about it. I guess I just feel bad because several of my peers got into schools ranked higher, and been bummed. Which is stupid of me, because I didn’t even apply to most of the really top schools.</p>
<p>If you’re not 100% sure you want at PhD, I’d proceed cautiously because as was posted, it can close as many doors as it opens and you really need to decide WHY you want to get your PhD. If you’re really jazzed by the PI & work you’ll be doing, that should help you make a clearer choice. Congrats on your acceptances–good luck in figuring out your next steps.</p>
<p>Fretting over the 11th top ranked school, REALLY? If you want a PhD. in Engineering go, if you only want it to brag about how you got a PhD. from XX ranked school, then you probably shouldn’t go.</p>
<p>The ranking of your school isn’t everything. I went down a couple of steps from my undergrad and turned down top 5 ranked schools in order to go where I am. Don’t regret my decision at all.</p>
<p>If all you are going to do after finishing your Ph.D. is go to work in industry, the difference in salary between a MS engineer and a Ph.D engineer could be about 20K. But if you are going to stay in academia, then go for the Ph.D.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re in Materials Engineering and coming out of NU for undergraduate.</p>
<p>Look at the research being conducted at Brown and at CMU – there’s a lot of overlap, but there’s surely a lot of differences between the two programs. Advisors and whom you know go a lot further than ‘USNEWS rankings’ will. If you’re fretting that something ranked #11 isn’t a “top” school, then you need to take a step back and and re-control your perspectives.</p>