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I did my Master's from a top 5 school. Now I have to make a choice between these two professors. While the R2 school is a private school with a great track record of research in my field - there's an assistant professor there who's willing to hire me. He has a good network, is very driven - and so - I'll be publishing a lot. Plus, the R2 school works in close collaboration with industry - so, getting a job after the PhD will be much easier.

The R1 school professor is a stud though, and has amazing collabs. But, precisely because he's a stud, I don't think that he's very inclined towards having his students in industry (the whole if you're not in academia you're a failure culture). His students have good postdoc positions or work for research positions for the govt.

Going for R1 school will restrict industry possibilities - he is not very much into industry collaborations. But he has an established lab and an established network - so I'll probably go into academia - and hang out with people who do research for the love of it - with zero industry emphasis. I don't want to get stuck in academia - and want my life to move forward after industry.

Going for R2 school is kinda a gamble. The professor did win a prestigious grant and has full funding - and since he is new, he's more aware of recent trends, and not exactly in his own world (ain't nothing wrong in that). I am very well aware of that fact that I'll be working on the projects that he has grants for and won't necessarily be the guy that has a breakthrough during PhD because of the nature of those grants. But the R2 school is pretty renowned in my field in industry, and the school has a lot of industry collaborations.

I'm hella confused. I also have an offer from my master's school (top 5) but with only one year of TA and no RA currently. Also the research domain is new-ish, so not really excited about the top 5 school.

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    Hmmm. What is a "stud" professor anyway. Or is this in Animal Husbandry? – Buffy Mar 5 '20 at 20:28
  • A stud professor is someone who is very accomplished in her field - has a lot of citations, papers, well established lab, connections and past experience with graduate students and postdocs. – bimbi Mar 5 '20 at 20:34
  • Your question requires personal choices and is a near duplicate of your earlier one. You also have misconceptions. A friend of mine has a doctorate from Stanford and works in industry. Hardly unique. – Buffy Mar 5 '20 at 20:54
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    I'd suggest not using "stud" to refer to a human these days, it's quite dated and has sexist connotations. Other uses are fine (in construction, animal husbandry). – Bryan Krause Mar 5 '20 at 21:58
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    @bimbi Yeah, I figured you picked it up in another context, hence my caution. The issue is less about it being sexual in meaning (though it can be) but in being sexist/gender-biased, because it's not an adjective you would typically use to describe a woman and because it's derived from equating professional success to male sexual promiscuity. "Star" would be a more appropriate synonym. – Bryan Krause Mar 5 '20 at 22:25