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I am interested in doing a PhD from a third tier school in Electrical Engineering Ranked about in the 60's in North America.

I have degrees (Bachelors, Masters) from a Top 20 North American School.

Is this advisable or even worth it ?

The supervisor is not very well known in the industry in this field but is somewhat known in academia in this field.

In my field, companies will only hire from Top 20 schools.

I would like to stay in academia after graduating after being in industry for a few years.

So is this going backwards then ?

Thank you.

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    Do the graduates of that program (and more specifically, students of that supervisor) go on to get jobs you would want?
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Jan 10, 2020 at 20:19
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    Top 60 according to who? I bet there are 60 schools that say they are in the top 20. What type of ranking has 60 as third tier?
    – StrongBad
    Jan 10, 2020 at 20:37
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    I think you are mistaken about rankings. The total output of the "top 20" schools is so small that all those companies would close with no one left to hire and salaries would be in the millions. It is a tiny number of doctoral graduates you are talking about.
    – Buffy
    Jan 10, 2020 at 20:42
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    The ranking of the school isn't what makes your career. I've known people from CMU that I wouldn't hire. I know of people from Harvard and Yale that I'd never consider for any responsible position.
    – Buffy
    Jan 10, 2020 at 20:57
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    Well, I would never call a R1 university a third tier, and also, there are some research groups, and specially lab/institutes, in the 100s range that put forth a lot of research and are well know in their field. Looking for a best in EE university will not give you the same results as a best in identification of nonlinear systems subject to data rate constrains, PhD are incomparable by ranks alone.
    – jDAQ
    Jan 10, 2020 at 21:51

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I am interested in doing a PhD from a third tier school in Electrical Engineering Ranked about in the 60's in North America.

In my field, companies will only hire from Top 20 schools.

I would like to stay in academia after graduating after being in industry for a few years.

Assuming all of the above are true, then clearly this is a bad idea, because if you go to this school then you won't be in the top 20 and won't get hired and have no chance of "being in industry for a few years".

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  • A sound application of modus ponens, indeed. Although it is reasonable here to question the OP's hypotheses...
    – Jair Taylor
    Jan 12, 2020 at 20:43
  • True, it might be flawed logic, but I am just going by the evidence.
    – user4434
    Jan 13, 2020 at 2:05

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