[fergard26]

Hello everyone!

I'm happy to join this forum and I will be even more happy if someone gives me some piece of advice in choosing a graduate program.
I have applied to several graduate programs this year; I decided to choose programs, ranked from 10-th up to 100 with a little increment since I was not sure to be admitted to any. Now it turns out that I dramatically underestimated the strength of my application because I got into almost all the programs..
Anyway, now I am hesitating between two universities: UCLA and Yale. I'd like to describe pros and cons.
UCLA.
Pros: Very big public university = many opportunities to collaborate. The lab I'm interested in is involved into a research which is very close to what I was doing during my undergraduate studies. Supervisor is a young professor, with whom I spoke already and liked very much personally. The lab itself seems to be very friendly. LA - a big city with many opportunities. The weather in CA is one of the best in the world.
Cons: Big university = much disorder. No grad students obtained a degree from this lab. LA itself is a very expensive city, it's hard to get anywhere without a car. Poor public transportation. LA is exactly on the other side of the world globe from my coutry = very expensive flights to my home place. After graduation I'd like to work in Europe = few chances to get European scientific bonds.
Yale.
Pros: A classical Ivy League university. The ranking in my field of chemistry is very high and the program itself is strong. The Professor is experienced and (if it can be applied for a professor) famous in his field = recognition of both Professor and University in Europe. The position of the university is close to NYC, so it's possible use the advantages of a big city. Flight to my home place are two times less expensive. Life in New Haven is much cheaper than in LA.
Cons: The lab seems to be less friendly and grad students have few articles. The professor seems to be rather strict... The research is a little bit far from what I'm really interested in.


I'm getting crazy choosing between these two programs...
Thanks in advance!

[Jorriss]

Have you visited both yet?

[fergard26]

I've not, unfortunately( And I'm not able too(
I just had a conversation via Skype with the Professor from UCLA - this is the only 'personal acquaintance' I had.

[lifefun]

Just wondering which school you ended up choosing and why? Also, I'm looking at schools to apply to and I am not sure of my range, if you don't mind sharing what were your academic qualifications?