<p>I was accepted for a PhD in MIT and Stanford for geophysics, and Im not sure which one to choose. Stanfords geophysics program is much stronger and they have more great faculty members than MIT, but MITs name is more prestigious. </p>
<p>What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>I am not sure that MIT’s name is more prestigious than Stanford’s</p>
<p>Congratulations! They are both excellent schools, reputation-wise. I don’t know anything about the department of geophysics; I assume if one were significantly better than the other, you’d have a strong feeling for the one. Assuming the cost of both is comparable, what about the sort of place you want to live? MIT is in a small city, while Stanford is more suburban.</p>
<p>MIT=easy access to Boston
Stanford=not so easy access to San Francisco</p>
<p>any more suggestions?</p>
<p>Stanford geophysics is amazing partly because of all the earthquakes. The 1906 earthquake spurred Stanford to focus in it and as a result it’s easily one of the best.</p>
<p>MIT also isn’t more prestigious than Stanford - see [url=<a href=“Harvard Number One University in Eyes of Public”>Harvard Number One University in Eyes of Public]this[/url</a>]. Within academia, they’re equal.</p>
<p>I am not sure that you can lose by choosing between these two schools. If your focus is geophysics, I would go with the stronger program. Not to mention the better faculty, as you said yourself.</p>
<p>i mean phd from mit sounds nice for job outlook. id consider it.</p>
<p>Go to the program with the top people. In geophysics that means Stanford , not MIT.
The academic geophysics world is pretty small, and the best profs and researchers tend to cluster together, so you want to work with profs that are best known . There are many more at Stanford than MIT , as you have found out.
DS was Fortunate to be accepted into the geophysics programs at both Stanford and CalTech . He never even applied to MIT’s program because the geophysics is so weak there . </p>
<p>dS</p>
<p>[Best</a> Geophysics and Seismology Programs | Top Earth Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/geophysics-seismology-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/geophysics-seismology-rankings)</p>
<p>MIT’s geophysics and earthquake sciences is #2. Stanford is #3. I was sure MIT is not “weak” as menloparkamn suggests. MIT is definitely the most prestigious school in the world when it comes to science, tech, and math. MIT has been ranked as the number 1 earth sciences school by many different rankings for a long time.</p>
<p>another geo-sciences ranking: [QS</a> World University Rankings - Topuniversities](<a href=“http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/natural-sciences/earth]QS”>http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/natural-sciences/earth) MIT is #3 here, Stanford #8, with a difference of 13 points of the total score (out of 100). GO to MIT buddy</p>
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<p>This is a bit off-topic, but given that much has happened since this article was published, do you think that, nearly 9 years after it was published, this article still reflects opinions within academia?</p>
<p>Thank you all for your great input. I just would like to let you know that I went with Stanford.</p>