Probably the most important thing to look at is how much your advisor fits what you want. How hands on you think they would be, how much hands you want on you, etc. How much within-dept. collaboration you see going on/how important that is to you. For example, its huge here, especially within our group (but it was created with that in mind), so that is a really nice thing. But on the flip side of that, when you have a group with lots of people working on similar things, its harder to stay as focused on your research goals without getting distracted.
And University City is really nice. Even the neighborhoods that people consider not particularly "safe" aren't that bad. Especially since recent urban renewal trends have resulted in the low-priced "bad neighborhoods" becoming filled with gay property entrepreneurs. Its a really weird mix, from my experience. Also, they are cheap.
There certainly is a lot to be said for the connections you get from an established professor. My advisor is very young (Her first phd student is a first year postdoc right now, and her second is my 3rd year lab mate), but has big time connections through her primary collaborators, so its kind of a balance.
As far as size is concerned, I can't comment on it too much. The program here is kind of big, but I almost never interact with like 85% of it...the group I am in (the social insect one) is in its own building, and has like 10 faculty, but there is a tight community therein, which I find really nice. So I guess my experience thus far is with a small group with very close research interests, which is kind of anomalous, I think.
My work is going well so far; I have a meeting with my (effectively) 3 advisors (my main one, my second main one, and the big man)to discuss experimental designs for the next few months, so that's pretty exciting.
You should probably just pick the one that pays you more.
yeah, if i worked with jon, i'd definitely have connections with some big people, as his advisors are huge (and i already know one from when i was at kbs) and they stay in close contact (write books, etc).
yeah, actual vs. effective size is important, but the nice thing about big departments is at least having the option of interacting, say, if you decide you want to add a technique to your repetoir.
who's your second main advisor? one of the jurgens? i imagine it's a bitch to get all three scheduled together in one place at the same time. do you have any more field stuff coming up, or just lab shits?
as for the payment, it's not even fair. washu's stipend is ridiculous, cause it's tied in with the med school. and given the cost of living there, ha!
:( we really wanted to come but the weather was shitty and i needed to be back the next day for sure since my family was coming for my birthday. i hope i get to see you again next time!
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And University City is really nice. Even the neighborhoods that people consider not particularly "safe" aren't that bad. Especially since recent urban renewal trends have resulted in the low-priced "bad neighborhoods" becoming filled with gay property entrepreneurs. Its a really weird mix, from my experience. Also, they are cheap.
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As far as size is concerned, I can't comment on it too much. The program here is kind of big, but I almost never interact with like 85% of it...the group I am in (the social insect one) is in its own building, and has like 10 faculty, but there is a tight community therein, which I find really nice. So I guess my experience thus far is with a small group with very close research interests, which is kind of anomalous, I think.
My work is going well so far; I have a meeting with my (effectively) 3 advisors (my main one, my second main one, and the big man)to discuss experimental designs for the next few months, so that's pretty exciting.
You should probably just pick the one that pays you more.
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yeah, actual vs. effective size is important, but the nice thing about big departments is at least having the option of interacting, say, if you decide you want to add a technique to your repetoir.
who's your second main advisor? one of the jurgens?
i imagine it's a bitch to get all three scheduled together in one place at the same time.
do you have any more field stuff coming up, or just lab shits?
as for the payment, it's not even fair.
washu's stipend is ridiculous, cause it's tied in with the med school.
and given the cost of living there, ha!
hey, did you see this shit?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6385071.stm
crazy.
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joe understands.
joe thinks you have your priorities all fucked up.
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