<p>I would love any input from current grad students who 'have been there'. My son applied for PHD Electrical & Computer Engineering programs to 7 universities, and so far has received offers from 5 of them (Purdue, U of Michigan, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Northwestern). One is for admittance only, 3 are for fellowships (and research assistantships) with full 5 year funding, and one (with the highest ranking) is for full funding through an instructing assistantship. He is very grateful but feeling rather overwhelmed with such an unexpectedly positive response, especially in the midst of one of his hardest semesters. He hasn't felt comfortable discussing this with his peers because so far none of them are in such a situation, and he doesn't want to discourage anyone.</p>
<p>He will be visiting all of the universities in the next 4 weeks. Please can you give advice on the main factors he should consider and questions he should ask. How important is ranking? How important is the personal contact he has received from a couple of professors? How significant is a fellowship vs the higher-ranked school that 'only' offered funding through assistantship (plus full tuition/benefits). Are there questions you insiders would suggest he ask at these visits to professors or other grad students that you know would be valuable for him to learn? Three of the schools have already described the research in which he might be involved, but the highest ranked school hasn't yet said -- does this matter, especially when currently it all sounds fascinating to him?! And lastly, he is wondering if it would be a good or bad idea to let the universities know that he is considering multiple schools with generous offers--would there be any value in letting them know?</p>
<p>Thank you and good luck to all the hard-working students still awaiting responses!</p>