A PhD in the United Kingdom or in Texas, help me decide plz (Georgetown: technology jobs, schools)

[Ambtion]

Hi guys,

I find myself hopeless trying to take a decision so can you help please ?

I got my master's from the UK ( from one of the top 10 universities, not Oxford not Cambridge though) and I have then been offered a scholarship to do a PhD in the same university in a topic that invloves a lot of theory than practice. I would not say that the topic is not interesting but it requires alot of theory and Math which I fear I might get bored with after a while. I have accepted the offer and started and now it is a couple of months since I started. I am doing ok . I have also won the Fulbright scholarship to do a PhD in the US and I been placed with a university in Texas which is part of the Texas system. I am having a lot of trouble deciding whether I should go to the USA and start a PhD there in any more practical topic of my choice or to just stay in the UK and carry on working on this rather theoratical PhD topic.

The comparison between the two offer are summarized as follows :

MONEY : The monthly living allowance I am getting in the UK is more than I will be getting from the Fulbright, because here I can save a couple of hundred pounds a month while there in the US the stipend I am offered is just enough to get by.

UNI rankings: The British uni is one of the top 10 in the country while the American one has a less world ranking but as I said it is a part of the Texas Uni System.

CITIES : both the city in the UK and in the US are great places and one of the best places in both countries.

Research Topics : Here in the UK the topic has already been chosen and the scholarship is offered to work on this particular topic while if I go to the American university I can choose whatever topic I would like to work on.

Tuition Fees : Here in the UK all fees will be paid for the whole period of my study while the Fulbright scholarship only funds the first 2 years of the program which means one should find their way of funding the rest of their study but I believe that in the US if one does well in their study a funding could be secured.

I have been thinking for months but I am not brave enough to decide. I would appreciate any help in this matte especially that there is not much time left to make a final decision.

Please note that I am an international student and my ambtion is to work in Canada, US or Europe after I finish.



Thanks in advance.

[FromThereNearHere]

That is a tough decision to make to be honest ! I think if I were in your shoes, I would first consider how good the universities are and also what one would be doing after they finish so reputatuion of the univerity is an important factor .

[awecelot]

Which Texas university is it?

Also, regarding the money, realize that in most areas of Texas, cost of living is lower than it is in most of the UK. Secondly, there is a very favorable pound:dollar exchange rate for you right now, so the money which you have saved will go much further in the USA than it will in the UK.

[Rathagos]

I'm going to give you the advice I'd give my son (no offense intended.. just trying to illustrate the sincerity). What good is the education (especially at your level) if you aren't going to pursue that specific line of education as a career? At your level (that of a PhD), I imagine that whatever the topic you are studying will be your career goal?

So... my advice is forget the money, and forget the location. Those are only temporary for the time you are going to school. My recommendation would be to follow your desire of what you want to do; because, in the end, it's all about your career. You shouldn't be determining your career based on a set amount of money from school, a location of that school, or have the subject dictated to you if you're not interested.

It's your life, take control and do what will make you happy. No use in getting a degree in something you really don't want to do, the money will go eventually, but satisfaction in a job can be a career.

Good luck!

[Ambtion]

Originally Posted by Rathagos

I'm going to give you the advice I'd give my son (no offense intended.. just trying to illustrate the sincerity). What good is the education (especially at your level) if you aren't going to pursue that specific line of education as a career? At your level (that of a PhD), I imagine that whatever the topic you are studying will be your career goal?

So... my advice is forget the money, and forget the location. Those are only temporary for the time you are going to school. My recommendation would be to follow your desire of what you want to do; because, in the end, it's all about your career. You shouldn't be determining your career based on a set amount of money from school, a location of that school, or have the subject dictated to you if you're not interested.

It's your life, take control and do what will make you happy. No use in getting a degree in something you really don't want to do, the money will go eventually, but satisfaction in a job can be a career.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your nice words. The problem is that univerisity I have been placed with in the US is miles behind in the ranking table than the one I already started my PhD in i here n the UK. The topic I am doing is not too bad but it is more theoratical than a practical one.

[GayleTX]

If you plan to work in the US, 'practical' matters! And most US employers are not terribly impressed with names of universities from other countries (mainly because they don't know any )...they want somebody who can produce and make them money. Most people are fairly impressed with the Univesity of Texas diploma, especially in the math/technology fields....especially in Texas, of course, and that's where a big percentage of the technology jobs are right now.

Best wishes on your decision.....you sound very bright and very thoughtful and I'm sure you'll make whatever decision you make work for you.

[loves2read]

this is a list from the Fulbright site of TX colleges involved in the European scholar program---a few of them I fully admit are schools that would lend little luster to someone's CV but UT, TCU, Rice, A&M are not shabby schools...
and I think in certain fields they have reputation outside the US...
Fulbright Visiting Scholar Directory: STATE Index

my question is what do you plan to do when you are "done" with education--
are you going to be teaching on the university level?
do you see yourself getting work in govt agency overseeing or contributing to some theoretical challenge?
do you plan to get job in industry using practical side of your theoretical knowledge---
maybe I missed that--

but you don't seem to know what you are going to be doing--
now that you started this PhD program I think you sound bored or maybe a little afraid that you can't really perform as dynamically as your mentors might expect--
or that going this route will just be spinning wheels and not gaining any real value in the market place...

I have tried to get a list of some of the Americans who have been Fulbright scholars and/or grant winners--there are many, many of them---

this is one I found and has foreign as well as American winners
The Fulbright Program || Prominent Fulbright Scholars of the Past || Cleveland State University
Maya Angelou the poet--the president of Georgetown University--the Secretary General of the UN--a senior VP and counselor at IBM--Nobel Prize winners in Physics from China and Italy--they were all Fulbright winners/scholars--that is some pretty heady company

FULBRIGHT UKRAINE : Fulbright Nobel Prize Winners
37 Nobel Prize winners are Fulbright winners --more than than any other single scholarship organization--which seems reasonable because Fulbright IS a global organization...and it taps all types of disciplines--the arts, scientific, diplomatic, business

there is an alumi organization that you can tap into I think that might serve you well if you want to be employed in the US or Canada--going to school here obviously gets your foot in the door so that you can start making contacts...

[austinnetx]

Its better to follow your heart. The money and other stuff will come if you have enthusiasm for what you do!!!

[teatime]

Have you done any higher education in the States? From what I've seen in comparing higher education in the two countries, U.S. degrees tend to be more structured and micromanaged than in the UK. There is less freedom here to study one's area of emphasis and more "prescriptive" education. At least, that's the way it was for me in English literature. Before I became ill, I had signed on to do a summer programme at Oxford and marveled at the coursework available and the freedom I would have to conduct my own research without having to spend an inordinate amount of time each week in a structured classroom setting.

The university choice is a biggy. You said that the university is in the "Texas system" so I'm thinking along the lines of "The University of Texas at (blank)". While some are good and some are OK, most of them would be far less than what you'd expect coming from a top university in the UK. Frankly, unless the fellowship is at the University of Texas, Texas Tech University, Texas A & M, Rice University or Baylor University, I wouldn't do it. These schools have the faculty and facilities you would require and expect for your studies.

If it's Texas Tech, I know quite a bit about it as my son is a student there and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have via the direct message feature.

[FromThereNearHere]

Tough decision