[Congenial]

I was offered admissions to the PhD program of the following universities, which one is the best ? My interest is in organic synthesis and plan to do Postdo and then pursue a faculty position universities.


Temple university
University of Louisville
University of Arizona
 University of Nebraska- Lincoln
University at Buffalo,  SUNY

Please give me some comments. Thank you all!

[movies]

You have to talk with faculty and grad students to know which place is right for you.  It's a bad idea to make your decision just based on what faculty is at what university.  Your going to commit a big chunk of your life to working for someone in one place, so you need to make sure you are comfortable there and you like the way the professor runs things.  Every university has a different feel.

I would definitely take any opportunity you get to go and visit these places and talk with people.

[Congenial]

Thank you Movies. The problem is I am not in US so it's not possible for me to pay visits to these places before I make a decision.   I'll take your advice to talk with people. Thank you for you *delete me*

[Yggdrasil]

For choosing a grad school, you aren't really choosing a school.  You are choosing a department, and more importantly, a professor with whom you will be working for the next five years.  So, you should look for professors whose research interest you and whose group you would like to join.  Also, you should look for a department with a good breadth and depth of knowledge where you think that you will be able to learn from the faculty as a whole (e.g. if there is only one professor doing work that you are interested in, you would not have as much resources as in a school where there are ten professors doing work in your field of interest).  Now, as to how to find out more about the professors and their research I would suggest e-mailing professors and their students to find out more about their research, the professors' styles of management, as well as the environment at the school (is it very collaborative? do the students enjoy it there? etc.).

[movies]

I agree.  If you can't go to visit, definitely try to get in contact with the profs you might want to work for, either by phone or email.  See if the prof can suggest a grad student or two for you to talk to as well.