How to choose a university ?

Question

to admit for PhD.

i mean there is about 150 universities listed in my research field and offer PhD Programmes. how to start exploring them?

Answer 1

In all fields, the key thing to look for are the faculty who teach in the Ph.D. program. How active are they in publishing, do they publish in the best journals and (more difficult to tell) do they publish jointly with their Ph.D. students? You can also tell something by where and when they go their own Ph.Ds; too recently, and they are focusing on their own tenure; too long ago, and they may be outdated. In some fields, like the sciences, you also need to know about facilities (labs) and equipment. If they are not up to date, it will hamer your ability to learn.

Look at current grad students: Where did they get their earlier degrees? What are they working on?

Look at the ratio of faculty to Ph.D. students; I've heard of programs in which students had difficulty finding a dissertation advisor because the school got greedy and took in more students than they could realistically handle.

Look at teaching expectations. While it is useful for a Ph.D. student to get some teaching experience, too much and it becomes clear that the school is using you to cheaply augment their faculty. You won't get a chance to work on your own projects.

In some fields, you need to look at access to data. For example, a Ph.D. in business or education at an urban school is surrounded by a laboratory. One at a rural school is limited to things like on-line or mail surveys to gather data. This, of course, is irrelevant if you are an English major.

Find out about library access. This, of course, has become less of an issue given access to on-line resources, but a slow access to the things you need can slow down your work.

If you get a chance to visit, get a feel for the overall atmosphere. Is there a sense of intellectual curiosity? Do faculty talk about research, beyond assignments, with the students, or is it all about last weekend's game or the theater performance they recently attended (unless, of course, the Ph.D. is in Theater!).

Answer 2

Professors, facilities, location, program. I'm not sure what order I would put them in.

What instructors are at the university who can be of value in your field? Are they known for being able to communicate and motivate students?

What facilities does the university have? What toys do you get to play with?

Location should be pretty self-evident. Tuition and ease of travel to/from the school can be significant factors.

How does the program work? What are the expectations of the university? How flexible is it?