PhD dilemma/Cornellians insights needed please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Hello ladies and gentlemen,</p>

<p>I am in a kind of dillemma and hoping to get some good advices in this forum.</p>

<p>Background:
MA from a developing country university (one of the top 3 graduates), MPA from Cornell (3.3 GPA), GRE 83% percentile ( in quantitative and verbal), now a PhD student in business school of a university (USA) which is the second best in the state, 3 years of professional work experience. </p>

<p>My dilemma:
The department I am in now has been ranked one of top 26 (ranging from 10 to 26 in various ranks) consistently for past three years and the business school ranks within top 100. The overall university ranking is much lower (not in top 100) and the PhD is young to appear in any rankings, the first cohort of the program is now in the job market. Of course the school of business boasts this as one of the best PhD programs in the world in that area. The best part of the program is that some of the authority figures in that field are in this school and we have external faculties who are regarded as the field's founding scholars. It's been a month. The coursework is very rigorous (although it's a different level, I can say that it is equally demanding like Cornell). I like the place except that I can see some faculty politics going around. The field interest is a match and their financial support is good, say in upper 25% of the business research programs. I landed up in this school for I missed the deadlines to apply in some top-notch programs and I needed to start in 2008. Some of them have highly encouraged me to apply in 2009. As you all know, the encouragement means you are just in that big-big pool. My friends are suggesting me to apply in those programs. They suggest although your specific program is great, the university brand matters, particularly if you are considering academia (research one institutions) as your goal. Even with more than average publication record, they tell me, it will be hard to sell the credentials to such institutions. Some, including my professors for sure, disagree. Since I will have to put a lot of effort, especially amidst the demand of the current program, I am not sure if it is worth to apply in those schools. What do you suggest? Will the liability of newness and the university brand militate against my goal and affect my career throughout?</p>

<p>Thank you, I will really appreciate your insights.</p>

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<p>Academia cares much more about the departmental standing than the overall university standing. If you come out with a good series of publications and recommendations from "authority figures" in the field, I doubt you will be overlooked.</p>

<p>Of course, getting to that point is half the battle.</p>

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<p>I am a PhD student at a top 6 (US News) business school. My impression is mostly from admit days, senior students, and faculty. </p>

<p>There seems to be some consensus that the most important thing on your CV is your publication record in top journals. Then comes your job market paper, then your advisor, and <em>then</em> your department's reputation. The brand of your b-school matters little, and your university (independent of the others) matters <em>very</em> little. Of course, these things tend to be correlated, but not always.</p>

<p>You can think about the actual recruitment process in two steps: (i) get invited for interviews, and (ii) get hired. If you're from a second tier program and without an impressive publication record, you might not get to opportunity to present your awesome job market paper. If you're from a top program and have interesting pre-publication results to share, then you might get that opportunity coming from a top program. Otherwise, you may be able to get a position at a second tier university, be very prolific, and work your way into the top. Also, recall that business schools imperfectly substitute with PhDs from the disciplines, but generally not vice versa; you may have to compete with PhD graduates from the social science disciplines. </p>

<p>There's also another liability, and that's getting letters of recommendation from your current faculty, thereby making them suspicious about your commitment and whether they want to invest in your training. </p>

<p>I would talk to job market candidates in your program and see how they're faring. Make sure you can assemble a productive, reputable committee that would go on the line for you.</p>