<p>I'm a first year biochemistry PhD student. I was accepted into a decent program (my PI is well respected in our field, the university itself is "up and coming"). I have a 3.2 GPA and a 312 on the GRE. I like the program for the most part, but I don't like the reputation of the university. Many of my fellow students are lazy as are some of the faculty. I don't get the impression that graduates have gone on to do anything spectacular and I honestly don't want my PhD to bear the university's name. Even though my PI is well connected, I'm not how much his reputation matters.</p>
<p>I have been considering dropping down to an MS and getting my PhD elsewhere. Would this ruin my academic reputation? I expect to maintain an A average in all my courses, so would this fact overshadow my poor GRE and undergrad GPA? I'm not aiming to get into Stanford or Harvard, but I would like to get into a school with a better reputation. Am I shooting too high? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Try if you must. The five most elite programs in the country crank out everyone necessary to staff all the professional research positions there are to fill. 80% of those researchers will never really discover anything worth discovering. Some of the top programs’ grads will go underemployed. </p>
<p>Cry, grieve, eat, pray, love, reassess whether you really want this ratrace, and godspeed.</p>
<p>Transferring typically won’t hurt your reputation, no, if you transfer for the right reasons - changed research interests, bad fit, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that transferring is necessarily the answer for you. In many science fields, the reputation of the university isn’t what gets you the job - your adviser, your department, and your productivity do. I mean unless you’re at a really low-reputed school or some kind of for-profit diploma mill, I’m having a hard time imagining why you wouldn’t want your name attached.</p>
<p>Do you want to do something “spectacular”? If so, ask your PI about your chances. Do people from his lab, and your department, ever go onto to research positions at top R1 departments? Do they go into the top places in industry? Where DO they go?</p>
<p>In graduate school the programs matter more than the school as a whole. The best psych program may be at one school, while the best business program may be at another. No one at Harvard or Stanford was doing research in my area of interest, so I never even considered those programs.</p>
<p>If your PI is well connected and his name bears weight in your field, then you could be in a good position. However, if your PI is carrying the weight of the department and your coursework and other opportunities are not challenging you, then you may do best to aim higher if there is no room to create opportunities. It is good to look at placement rates of your program and where those in your similar position end up. And yes, getting all A’s at the graduate level can overshadow some of your weaker undergraduate stats as you’ll be proving that you can excel at that level academically. </p>
<p>…Also, if the other students really are “lazy” and you see the placement rates aren’t good, that could be why. Look at where the high-achieving students end up. You could have a chance to really shine in your department. Ask your PI where his former advisees are now to get a feel for your opportunities.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. My PI is relatively young so while she’s established a name for herself within the field, only three students have graduated so far, all with master’s degrees. Two of them went back to Asia and the last one works as a primary education teacher. I’m not quite sure about the fates of previous students in the department. The older faculty seem less motivated, while the younger faculty (my PI included) seem very ambitious and less egotistical (which I’m sure also has to do with striving for tenure). As such, you can see why it’s harder for me to gauge the situation.</p>