<p>So I've gotten into a couple Applied Math Phd programs. Those programs are very interdisciplinary and would let me work on research work with a physics professor at one of those schools if I wanted to. Neither of them are top-10 in applied math or in physics, but they're more in the 15-20 range. However, in certain subfields, they can be one of the best</p>
<p>I don't know yet if I want to become a professor or not, but I would like to keep my options open in case I want to eventually become a professor. But I've heard that getting a PhD from a top-10 'prestigious' school greatly increases one's chances of eventually becoming a research professor. But for school A that I got into, its very well known in a subfield of physics. It has access to a nearby physics research organization with some Nobel prize winners on staff. Only some of the staff members are also faculty at school A, but they are mostly 'adjunct' professors. </p>
<p>If I work with one of these researchers from this prestigious institute, but he is not a tenured-professor, will that hurt my chances in trying to get a post-doc at a prestigious school and eventually hurt my chances of becoming a professor?</p>
<p>Typically I have been told that you will never teach at a school as good as the one you attend, but there are exceptions to every “rule.” If you go to a less well-known school, you will want to build up your resume as much as possible to increase your chances of teaching at a good school. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about your major, but with mine (psychology) having a long list of publications and presentations is most crucial because larger/“better” schools focus more on research success, while smaller schools pride themselves more on good teaching. This is really something you should chat with actual professors about, namely younger ones who have the most recent experience being in such a position.</p>
<p>In my field, grad schools are very upfront about their placements. They publish the information on their websites (never with the student’s name but often accompanied by a thesis title).</p>
<p>Another glitch in my field is that being from a top school can actually hinder your chances at getting hired by many non-top schools because they know you will move on as soon as you have the opportunity. If you are only interested in working at a top school then I guess that isn’t a concern, but in my field there are 3x as many job-seekers as jobs so being marketable to as many kinds of institutions as possible is on the minds of many.</p>
<p>Most schools prefer to hire faculty from schools equal to or better than themselves, which means that PhD’s from top-5 programs have a much easier time getting a job than PhD’s from 50-60th ranked programs. Aside from program pedigree, the other big issues are the reputation of your thesis advisor, the number and quality of your publications, any awards you have won, and to a small extent the nature of your funding and work experience.</p>
<p>With your thesis advisor, if they have a solid reputation in the field it can open doors for you regardless of the quality of the program - top-5 programs only have so many spots and so many concentrations, so a lot of good researchers wind up at “lesser” schools. They still have a great rep, and people will still want their students. Plus, your professor will typically do a little networking for you as well.</p>
<p>Publications while in school really help. Departments want you to be producing lots of good research and getting it out there, especially since that is advertising the program. You can get a PhD with only a few minor publications but they really want more. Remember also that publications are a major point in tenure decisions, so getting some good ones under your belt is a way to show that you will be able to make that cut down the line.</p>
<p>Universities love awards just like they love publications, and in both cases prestige counts. They like having NSF fellows, they like having people with “Presidential Fellowship” and awards for “Best Paper at XXXX Conference” on their resumes. Go figure.</p>
<p>Funding is a relatively minor issue, but most schools expect future professors to have been on fellowship or RA for most or all of their time in school - the assumption is that if you scraped by on a TA you probably are not good enough to be worth looking at. That having been said, many programs do want a single year of TA experience, just to show that you have some preparation for the distasteful task of teaching undergrads.</p>
<p>Professional experience waxes and wanes in importance. Most programs like to have a few people on faculty who have been in the professional sector (if applicable), especially in fields like engineering. This may not be an immediate help, but it means that if you fail to land a faculty spot it may be something you can come back to later on after working for a few years and gaining some more prestige.</p>
<p>I’ve only talked to a couple professors so far about how the pedigree affects my chances of becoming a professor. Both said that its more important to find an advisor with a lot of prestige than a school with prestige</p>
<p>Anyways, my main question was if I work with one of the researchers from the prestigious institute thats part of school A, but he is not a tenured-professor, will that eventually hurt my chances of becoming a professor?</p>
<p>I don’t see why it would - if the non-tenured prof is fairly well-known for his publications/presentations, etc., no one will care whether he is tenured yet or not. Some really well known tenured profs may up and go to another school for any number of reasons and start all over, but that does not mean that their students at the new school are at a disadvantage for working with them because the prof still has the same background and familiarity.</p>