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RA'ship / Fellowship Offers

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 11:49 pm
by mgf
I received an RA'ship related to an NSF funded project and a fellowship from the same place -- how much would you weight something like this in your decisions? It's not the highest ranked school I've gotten into and it's a small department -- I'm concerned that not going to the best school I get into might limit my opportunities, specifically in academia, in the future. How much would you weight RA/fellowship offers against reputation of the school? I know RA positions are quite rare for first year students as well, so I'm trying to gauge how much of a 'boost' this is. Anyone in a similar situation?
Best of luck with everyone in making their decisions!!

Re: RA'ship / Fellowship Offers

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:19 am
by MathCat
mgf wrote:I received an RA'ship related to an NSF funded project and a fellowship from the same place -- how much would you weight something like this in your decisions? It's not the highest ranked school I've gotten into and it's a small department -- I'm concerned that not going to the best school I get into might limit my opportunities, specifically in academia, in the future. How much would you weight RA/fellowship offers against reputation of the school? I know RA positions are quite rare for first year students as well, so I'm trying to gauge how much of a 'boost' this is. Anyone in a similar situation?
Best of luck with everyone in making their decisions!!
If there's a significant difference in rank between this place and other schools you're considering, this does not make up for it. It's not something that would boost your CV or anything, so the only difference might be that you get paid more or teach less. Unless this is going to *significantly* improve the quality of your work, you should choose the better program. (This is provided, of course, that other offers that don't include RAships are still paying enough to live off of.)