<ul>
<li><p>What are the parameters that one should look for? <br>
Number and quality of the faculty working in your area of choice or related areas, ease of finding an advisor, opportunities to collaborate with different people in the program, how well funded the program is, quality of the students, how successful are graduates in finding jobs/positions that you would be interested in after graduating, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>What are credible sources other than institute website/provided materials to get information about the course or program?<br>
Other students in the program are one of the best sources of information. Most schools should have an Open House for admitted students. Highly recommend you go to them.</p></li>
<li><p>Do brand names really matter? (As in if you had to choose between one with a global and better brand name and other with a strong research focus)<br>
The story I've heard is that brand names matter in the sense that you'll likely find an excellent and diverse faculty body making it easier to find an advisor and do good work in your field. In addition, on average, the quality of students at such universities is likely to be higher which can be important as at least in my experience, I tend to learn a lot from my peers and work harder if people around me are working hard too.<br>
You'll also have an easier time getting a good CS job and can also help when looking for a postdoc/faculty position if only because it would be easier to collaborate with a well known faculty member who could write you a great rec.</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T21:53:55.487Z
2011-02-21T21:53:55.487Z
Opt
<p><strong>Edited Version</strong>  </p>

<ul>
<li><p>What are the main characteristics and qualities that <em>you</em> would consider if you were going to choose a PhD program in theoretical computer science (or related areas) today (based on your experience) and why would you consider them important?</p></li>
<li><p>What are the credible sources that I can get information about those characteristics of PhD programs?</p></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>Especially I would like to hear your opinion about the following two issues:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>If you had to choose between a program with a global and better brand name and another one with a strong research focus, which one would you choose? why?</p></li>
<li><p>Which of the following two is more important in your opinion: availability of specialization one wants vs general teaching/research quality of faculty?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T17:33:46.137Z
The question is too broad.  Voted to close as not a real question.
Tsuyoshi Ito
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T18:52:53.263Z
Tsuyoshi is correct. StackOverflow type sites work much better with narrow questions. If you ask any of your bullet points as its own question (even the first one; I've been persuaded that's OK), you will be likely to get some good answers.
Peter Shor 
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T20:34:21.390Z
I have mixed feelings about this: we entertain many questions about career development. I realize that this question could get controversial, but there are general principles that are useful to enunciate.
Suresh Venkat
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T21:53:07.780Z
While we are discussing whether to close this or not, shouldn't we at least CW this?
Jukka Suomela
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T21:54:21.130Z
@Suresh: My reason to vote to close has nothing to do with the scope.  The question basically asks for anything about evaluating doctoral programs, which is simply too broad a topic to discuss in one question.  In its current form, it is a topic for a blog post, not a question on a Stack Exchange site.
Tsuyoshi Ito
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-21T22:07:33.403Z
@JukkaSuomela: just flag it :)
Suresh Venkat
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-22T04:18:49.530Z
I agree with Peter and Tsuyoshi, I am (virtually) voting to close the question, it is too broad and subjective in its current form. I think OP needs to be more specific about what is important for her/him. Otherwise the general criteria are mainly those listed on [CRA](http://www.cra.org/statistics/nrcstudy2/rankcs.html)'s (outdated) evaluation of PhD programs. Also see Lance Fortnow's related [blog posts](http://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2007/02/graduate-student-guide.html).
Kaveh
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-22T05:02:58.617Z
[Meta-discussion about this question](http://meta.cstheory.stackexchange.com/q/996/186)
Kaveh
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-22T15:14:01.183Z
Hi, I guess the post violates some rules in here. I have no idea how remove the post, I did click the delete link but, it seems, it does not allow question with answers. If some of you have privileges please go ahead. Thanks!
check123
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-22T19:59:42.373Z
Questions with positive-score answers cannot be deleted for reasons, and I do not think that moderators should delete this question.
Tsuyoshi Ito
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-23T06:55:18.387Z
I agree with Tsuyoshi, I would prefer if you edit it to make it less subjective/argumentative. Check [this post](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/good-subjective-bad-subjective/) for some tips about good and bad subjective questions. Try to address the issues raised by commentators here and in the meta discussion.
Kaveh
CC BY-SA 2.5
2011-02-25T04:37:38.950Z
@check123, I tried to rephrase your question such that it does not become a ranking question about programs but one about making personal decisions based on experience, feel free to rollback to previous version if you don't like my edits.
Kaveh
<soft-question><advice-request><career>
Deciding between different PhD programs
check123
# Deciding between different PhD programs

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-02-21)

**Edited Version**

* What are the main characteristics and qualities that *you* would consider if you were going to choose a PhD program in theoretical computer science (or related areas) today (based on your experience) and why would you consider them important?
* What are the credible sources that I can get information about those characteristics of PhD programs?

---

Especially I would like to hear your opinion about the following two issues:

* If you had to choose between a program with a global and better brand name and another one with a strong research focus, which one would you choose? why?
* Which of the following two is more important in your opinion: availability of specialization one wants vs general teaching/research quality of faculty?

Thanks.

**Tags:** soft-question, advice-request, career

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The question is too broad.  Voted to close as not a real question.  
> **username_2**: Tsuyoshi is correct. StackOverflow type sites work much better with narrow questions. If you ask any of your bullet points as its own question (even the first one; I've been persuaded that's OK), you will be likely to get some good answers.  
> **username_3**: I have mixed feelings about this: we entertain many questions about career development. I realize that this question could get controversial, but there are general principles that are useful to enunciate.  
> **username_4**: While we are discussing whether to close this or not, shouldn't we at least CW this?  
> **username_1**: @Suresh: My reason to vote to close has nothing to do with the scope.  The question basically asks for anything about evaluating doctoral programs, which is simply too broad a topic to discuss in one question.  In its current form, it is a topic for a blog post, not a question on a Stack Exchange site.  
> **username_3**: @JukkaSuomela: just flag it :)  
> **username_5**: I agree with Peter and Tsuyoshi, I am (virtually) voting to close the question, it is too broad and subjective in its current form. I think OP needs to be more specific about what is important for her/him. Otherwise the general criteria are mainly those listed on [CRA](http://www.cra.org/statistics/nrcstudy2/rankcs.html)'s (outdated) evaluation of PhD programs. Also see Lance Fortnow's related [blog posts](http://blog.computationalcomplexity.org/2007/02/graduate-student-guide.html).  
> **username_5**: [Meta-discussion about this question](http://meta.cstheory.stackexchange.com/q/996/186)  
> **username_0**: Hi, I guess the post violates some rules in here. I have no idea how remove the post, I did click the delete link but, it seems, it does not allow question with answers. If some of you have privileges please go ahead. Thanks!  
> **username_1**: Questions with positive-score answers cannot be deleted for reasons, and I do not think that moderators should delete this question.  
> **username_5**: I agree with Tsuyoshi, I would prefer if you edit it to make it less subjective/argumentative. Check [this post](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/good-subjective-bad-subjective/) for some tips about good and bad subjective questions. Try to address the issues raised by commentators here and in the meta discussion.  
> **username_5**: @username_0, I tried to rephrase your question such that it does not become a ranking question about programs but one about making personal decisions based on experience, feel free to rollback to previous version if you don't like my edits.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2011-02-21. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

* What are the parameters that one should look for?   
  Number and quality of the faculty working in your area of choice or related areas, ease of finding an advisor, opportunities to collaborate with different people in the program, how well funded the program is, quality of the students, how successful are graduates in finding jobs/positions that you would be interested in after graduating, etc.
* What are credible sources other than institute website/provided materials to get information about the course or program?  
  Other students in the program are one of the best sources of information. Most schools should have an Open House for admitted students. Highly recommend you go to them.
* Do brand names really matter? (As in if you had to choose between one with a global and better brand name and other with a strong research focus)  
  The story I've heard is that brand names matter in the sense that you'll likely find an excellent and diverse faculty body making it easier to find an advisor and do good work in your field. In addition, on average, the quality of students at such universities is likely to be higher which can be important as at least in my experience, I tend to learn a lot from my peers and work harder if people around me are working hard too.  
  You'll also have an easier time getting a good CS job and can also help when looking for a postdoc/faculty position if only because it would be easier to collaborate with a well known faculty member who could write you a great rec.


---

