<p>Hokay, so... let's assume that fit at each school is exactly the same-- I like the cities equally, I have professors whose research I really dig and who want to take me on as a student, cost is equal (both are basically cost-less).</p>
<p>Which do you think matters more: overall general prestige, or USNews specific field ranking (which, in this instance, corresponds to what folks who are "in the business" feel about the university)? Specifically, I am trying to decide between Yale (Ranked 16th @ 3.1 pts) and University of Washington (ranked 4th at 4.5pts). I know I can't go wrong at either, but what are your thoughts? </p>
<p>I'm also curious to know what folks think in general about general prestige vs. "in-the-know" prestige. </p>
<p>1 - Industry Perception (can you get a job after)
2 - Quality of Education (good professors and programs)
3 - Individual Fit (do you like it there because if you don’t you may fail)
4 - Prestige and all that other pretentious crap. (Because it’s crap!)</p>
<p>You would have to be [stupid] to turn down Yale for Washington, Yale is one of the best schools in the country and on a completely different level than washington.</p>
<p>1.Industry Perception (can you get a job after) Yale by a mile
2 - Quality of Education (good professors and programs) probably the same
3 - Individual Fit (do you like it there because if you don’t you may fail)
4 - Prestige and all that other pretentious crap. (Because it’s crap!) Yale by a mile</p>
<p>Go for Yale. It’s still extremely high for “in the business” people, and much higher than Washington for everyone else. You get to impress everyone, including the “in the business” crowd. Besides, schools rise and fall (evidenced by Yale’s #16) but Yale will always make people say “ooohhhhh”. And not ALL the “in the business” people participated in ranking the schools. And you don’t know what business you’ll actually end up doing in 15 years.</p>
<p>What?!? This may be field specific but I can’t believe anybody would have a hard time picking Washington over Yale. If it were me I would make the obvious choice and buy a sturdy umbrella before I moved.</p>
<p>Did you try comparing [PhDs.org:</a> Jobs for PhDs, graduate school rankings, and career resources for scientists and engineers](<a href=“http://www.phds.org/]PhDs.org:”>http://www.phds.org/)
to see how Wash and Yale compare in the field you will be studying?
for instance, the % of grad students in your program that work as TA’s vrs RA’s at Washington and Yale, job placement % after obtaining your degree, etc, etc.</p>
<p>probably one of the best put questions I’ve seen on CC…</p>
<p>I cannot give an answer, and responses on CC will only give one side of the story namely the ‘general prestige’…</p>
<p>but you point out an important observation in your question. My field of study (engineering) exhibits this conflict of ‘general prestive’ vs. ‘in the know prestige’ the Ivy types’ fair very low in rankings with dartmouth(70), Brown(50), Yale(50), Harvard (20), Princeton (20)…whereas schools with far less general prestige like purdue(10), michigan(5), illinois(5), Wisconsin(10), Texas (10) are top ranked in all engineering categories. It’s an interesting question.</p>
<p>Wow. Great responses-- thank you everyone for your thoughts/advice/suggestions! Keep 'em coming!</p>
<p>@menloparkmom: I checked out that website, and it’s absolutely fantastic. Great suggestion!</p>
<p>@cyclone: Seems like we’re in similar predicaments/ weird vortexes of the academic world. Good luck (if you’re trying to make a decision, too)!</p>
<p>@geekmom: Yeah, it’s definitely important to have those ducks in a row before jumping to prestige issues, me thinks. =)</p>
<p>@ josh66: It’s funny. I’ve spoken with some professors (at UCLA and Berkeley) who have both more or less said “I’d chose UW in a heartbeat,” because it’s a powerhouse of research, and is home to some brilliant professors (they pay well, allure students and faculty with a wonderful city, and allow for solid interdisciplinary opportunities with ties to several other very strong departments in their school). So for researchers who are “in the know,” it seems to be an easy choice in the other direction.</p>
<p>@belevitt and tortfeasor… are we talking about the same schools here? haha.</p>
<p>what program did you apply for? when I went to the US News & World, it said Yale = 7 and UW = 18 for general biology. for biophysics Yale = 4 and UW doesn’t rank. so I guess it depends on what you’re into. for how a degree from there will be percieved by people in the field, just ask the professors and post docs in your department what their impressions are.</p>
<p>I would go for the better program rather than the ‘more prestigious’ school. Ideally, you’re going to get hired after school by people in the industry who know the programs, not by random people who only know general prestige. </p>
<p>And if only going by what your professors say, choosing program prestige over general is a pretty easy choice.</p>
<p>(Also it rarely snows in Seattle, as opposed to New Haven )</p>
<p>The problem is that you’re judging ‘better program’ by USNews rankings, which is a horrible metric. If your professors all say Washington’s program is much better, that is what you should be listening to. If you’re doing an industry-oriented degree, you’ll probably have better post-grad employment options in Seattle than in New Haven. If you’re doing academia, program strength matters more than overall school prestige, but prestige is not completely unimportant. However, you need to be asking people who know about these programs which is stronger, not basing your entire decision on ridiculous rankings.</p>
<p>Edit: One more thing to think about. I think I read recently (last few months) that Washington was having serious faculty retention issues because the state passed something that didn’t allow the school to make retention offers. I’m not sure if that is still happening, but that is something to find out; losing your top faculty to competitors is bad news. Yale’s not doing outstanding financially, but its in good shape compared to many schools.</p>
<p>Have you made sure each of those professors at Yale and Washington are willing to take you into their lab? Do you have a backup professor (or two!) at each school in case their funding dries up, there’s a personality conflict, or someone else nabs your spot in the lab?</p>
<p>Are you speaking about a PhD program or an MA program?</p>
<p>For an MA when you are planning on working in the corporate world, the overall prestige may matter more. If you are getting a PhD and planning to do academic research, then the program ranking is more important.</p>
<p>I’m guessing the program you are referring to is the Public Health program which is a masters program if I’m not mistaken.</p>
<p>Regardless, like someone else said, US News rankings aren’t a great metric to decide which school is better on any level. I suppose you really have to evaluate what you want to do with the degree and then figure out which school allows you to achieve this goal. Prestige and rankings will play an important role in all of this but it is heavily dependent on what you want to get out of the degree.</p>
<p>For instance, if you want to get a masters for a masters sake and might want to work in another field (i.e. an engineer that wants to get into i-banking or management consulting) prestige might matter a great deal. If you want to work in industry school A might be better than school B at getting you there, whereas if you want to work in academia school B might be better than school A. I’ve found that a lot of times, individual schools can be phenomenal at very different things, for instance the industry vs academia example. Rankings aside, certain schools are just better suited to do different things.</p>
<p>@ variola-- haha, unfortunately, I am snowfiend. Also, fortunately, the cascades/olympics are right across the way!</p>
<p>@neurograd-- Well, its’ tricky with Public Health (my field) rankings, because they are based solely on surveys administered to professionals in the field. So, in essence, the USNWR Rank corresponds to what professionals in the field think of the program, ergo, a “better program,” according to those who may be looking to hire me (in the field) in the future. And (I can’t remember if I mentioned this originally), but the USNWR Rankings correspond almost exactly with the responses I have gotten from (many) professionals/professors/researchers in the field with whom I have spoken. So that in combination with the PH ranking methodology has led me to believe that PH USNWR are fairly spot on as far as school reputation goes. That said, I agree that basing ones grad decision solely on USNWR is nothing short of lunacy.</p>
<p>And, good point about funding-- Washington has a 3 BILLION dollar deficit, I believe.</p>
<p>@racinreaver-- good call. In fact, I just visited Washington, and it turns out I’d have to sign on with professors in another (closely) related department. Fortunately, they seemed to like me, haha.</p>
<p>@viennariver-- very good advice. It’s definitely hard to compare schools, even if they ARE in the same field, because every professor/department has their niche. Fortunately for me, UW and Yale seem to have niches both very similar to my interests. It’d be a pickle of a decision if the professors I had hoped to work with weren’t retiring (which I found out last weekend, haha)! But it looks like it’ll be an easier decision after all. Yay for fate!</p>
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