Popularity and prestige is one of the factors most people consider when applying to schools.
When I joined subreddits like graduate admissions and PhD, it took reading a number of posts to figure out that t20, t50 and the likes mean top 20, top 50, and so on. I had no idea what an R1 institution was or why it was important to know which institutions are ranked R1 or R2.
This post is about demistifying the dilemma of choosing between a high ranked school and a great or reputable program. I’ve seen people who got admissions into multiple schools facing a new challenge of which one to go to. And in most cases, it’s a challenge because they’re faced with choosing between going to a very popular and prestigious (say t20) school to enroll in a mid program against going to a less popular school for a stronger program.
The interesting thing is that is that you’d think that top 20 schools have the best programs all round, and that programs at less popular or ranked schools generally just suck. Whiles this could be true for some schools, I believe it’s very rare.
Schools normally have programs for which they’re best known for. This could be because of they have state-of-art facilities for that program, or because they have the best faculty for the program. For instance, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is known for it’s outstanding Engineering programs. That is not to say the social science program at MIT is weak, but that their focus or strength is in Engineering and Physical Sciences. Some less popular schools can have stronger social science programs than some high ranked schools.
Faculty Reputation
As I earlier mentioned, a program’s strength could be due to the experienced and revered professors teaching the program. In this case, the program’s popularity is because of the professors, and if such professors were to move to say a lower ranked school, their reputation would rub off on the program there, strengthening it as well.
The ultimate decision boils down to the program’s reputation
I think this is why in most of the cases I see where people get admitted into multiple programs, funding secured for all, most end up choosing the school with the best program, regardless of the school ranking.
That is not to say that a school’s ranking or reputation should be completely disregarded. Just that it should be considered as a secondary factor if you’re faced with choosing between that and a program that is reputed to be the best or one of the best in your field.
Of course, a school’s reputation still holds value in terms of opening certain doors for you that otherwise would be difficult to get access to if you didn’t attend, but the same can be argued for great programs as well.