A prospective PhD student writes:
I was wondering if you would mind posting on your blog the question of how a UK phd (not from Oxford or Cambridge) can expect to compete on the US job market compared to how they would compete with a phd from a US department?
In my particular case I have an offer from [a top 20 US department] and one from [a top fivish UK department]. Though [the US department] looks like a great program, I was inclined towards [the UK department] given its somewhat better ranking and better faculty for what I do. However, I'm looking to move back to the US to work after the Phd and so am asking people whether they think I would do better (ceteris paribus)on the US jbo market with a Phd from [the UK department or the US department]. One professor I asked said that he thought I would do better with [the US department] simply because many people on US hiring committees are unfamiliar (compared to their familiarity with US programs) with the strengths /weaknesses of Phd programs outside of Oxbridge in the UK and so would prefer the US Phd. Is this really the widely held view?
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