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Currently a undergraduate student planning to apply for PhD programs in a year or less. I have been working with a professor at University of Houston (my current location) for almost a year on machine learning. Everything is great. Our research interests align, relationship is getting stronger. I have some people tell me a university's ranking does matter a lot but heard quite the opposite from others. It makes sense to choose a PhD program by seeing what advisor wants you and how well you fit, which in my case is great. How would one speak of University of Houston? I am planning to join the industry afterwards preferably a big tech company but things change long way to go. Can and should one's H-index be a means of quality measure? I have spoken to his past and current students, all of them said positive things which reassures me as a future possible candidate. Please help me out with some advice and facts that I can use to understand and evaluate my situation.

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    The supervisor is more important than the university, especially one that can generate top publications or has industry connections in your case. A PhD degree from a brand name university gets you a second look, but your publications will be a key factor that determines whether you get hire or an interview. Also, would you want to work with someone you can get along with at Uni of Houston or someone you loathe at a brand name university? In my experience, the latter case usually means you will quit and hence, leave empty handed. Commented Dec 10, 2017 at 9:45
  • @Prof.SantaClaus I agree with you Sir. Your point of view on this matter is correct and I believe at the end of the day that's what important. I also believe, that if I got to e.g. MIT and not be able to find a professor with similar interests, I will suffer. Also, since this professor at University of Houston and I have similar interests, he said it is possible for me to complete my PhD in 3-4 years assuming I keep working hard and focus. Which is good news for me. Also he offered an RA-ship which very few of his students had so far. Commented Dec 10, 2017 at 20:28

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