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PhD in Canada vs. U.S. - which one to choose?


f2019

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Hello,

 

I have 2 offers from University of Alberta and Texas A&M University and both universities are my top choices. However, in choosing one of these universities I have a couple of reservations in my mind and I will be very glad if you could provide some insights.

 

1. Considering the Job Market after completing the PhD, does the ranking of the institution where you get your PhD from matters? If yes, in what degree?

 

2. Again considering the Job Market, PhD in Canada vs. PhD in US? In other words, do the universities in the US have a tendency to hire applicants having PhD’s from American institutions?

 

3. How do you consider Univ. of Alberta in terms of its prestige in the US vs. Texas A&M? Although it’s in top 5 universities in Canada, how it is known in the US?

 

4. Am I even asking the right questions?

 

I am aware of the fact that almost all will depend on how I will improve myself, what I will do in my PhD studies, dissertation, publications etc. rather than the “prestige” of the institution. However, assuming I will have a similar portfolio when I will complete my PhD, I am trying to understand the differences of these schools.

 

Thank you!

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1. Considering the Job Market after completing the PhD, does the ranking of the institution where you get your PhD from matters? If yes, in what degree?

Yes, it matters. Your pub record is the most important thing but graduation from a high-ranking university can kind of make up for lack-luster CVs.

 

2. Again considering the Job Market, PhD in Canada vs. PhD in US? In other words, do the universities in the US have a tendency to hire applicants having PhD’s from American institutions?

Yes - US universities are much more likely to hire graduates from US programs (Unless we are talking someplace like INSEAD). I assume that Canadian universities will generally favor applicants from Canadian programs.

3. How do you consider Univ. of Alberta in terms of its prestige in the US vs. Texas A&M? Although it’s in top 5 universities in Canada, how it is known in the US?

I am not very familiar with University of Alberta. Texas A&M definitely has more recognition/status around here. I go to school in the South though.

 

4. Am I even asking the right questions?

I think you are on the right track. I would go with Texas A&M unless you are interested in getting a job in Canada. Your research interests also matter here though - Which school is going to allow for you to have the best CV in research you're interested in?

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Thank you for the valuable insights! I also feel myself closer to A&M but Alberta (5th best school in Canada) is also a great school and in most of the global rankings Alberta is one step ahead of A&M (except for usnews but I think that system tends to give more credit to US institutions).

 

Academic & University News | Times Higher Education (THE) : Alberta: #132, A&M: #171

https://www.topuniversities.com : Alberta: #109, A&M: #203

USNEWS : Alberta: #137, A&M: #125

 

However, I have the sense that not everyone is aware of the rankings of Alberta and as far as I understand A&M has more and better recognition.

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What research track are you going for (e.g. strategy, finance, etc.)

 

No love for Alberta in here I guess!

 

Take a look here:

List of Graduates | Alberta School of Business

 

You should ask A&M if they can give you a list of placements for graduates from your track. A&M as a whole publishes really well but for whatever reason they seem to under place PhDs on average.

 

Alberta does ok for where it is at -- I can think of very specific scenarios where Alberta would be a really good place to get training (for example if you are interested in OT/qualitative research, Alberta has several good scholars.

 

One advantage of Canada is that you would likely be able to get permanent residence/citizenship during your PhD, which would help you on the (Canadian) job market.

 

 

 

Thank you for the valuable insights! I also feel myself closer to A&M but Alberta (5th best school in Canada) is also a great school and in most of the global rankings Alberta is one step ahead of A&M (except for usnews but I think that system tends to give more credit to US institutions).

 

Academic & University News | Times Higher Education (THE): Alberta: #132, A&M: #171

https://www.topuniversities.com : Alberta: #109, A&M: #203

USNEWS : Alberta: #137, A&M: #125

 

However, I have the sense that not everyone is aware of the rankings of Alberta and as far as I understand A&M has more and better recognition.

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One advantage of Canada is that you would likely be able to get permanent residence/citizenship during your PhD, which would help you on the (Canadian) job market.

Can you summarize the PR process for intl students in Canada? I thought you needed a fulltime job to qualify for the PR process.

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You should ask A&M if they can give you a list of placements for graduates from your track. A&M as a whole publishes really well but for whatever reason they seem to under place PhDs on average.

 

Totally agree with you on the placements of A&M but I also think in the same way for Alberta. When I check the graduates of Alberta, it looks like the target market for the business school is Europe&Canada rather than North America including US. And this gives me the clue that US universities do not favor PhD's from Canadian universities (except for Toronto, B.Columbia, McGill). Additionally, there are few universities in Canada and they do not need new faculty members every year vs. >4000 universities in the US.

 

I am not sure if how I think is right but I think that a PhD from A&M will open more doors including from Canadian universities.

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There are several programs and even variations by province so I wouldn't be able to summarize it here, but it is (or at least, if it changed, until very recently), possible to do.

 

Can you summarize the PR process for intl students in Canada? I thought you needed a fulltime job to qualify for the PR process.
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Its hard to identify causality -- not everyone intends to go to the US, so a Canadian school placing to Europe/Canada might just reflect lifestyle preferences of the students rather than thinking that the US do not favor Canadian PhDs.

 

And likely that A&M would open doors in the US -- but more than Alberta -- you will only know if you can see placements for your research track and where they ended up. For Canadian schools though, by law they have to give preference to Canadian PR/citizens. So if your goal is to go to Canada (but it sounds like that isn't the case), going to school in Texas wouldn't give you a competitive advantage :)

 

Totally agree with you on the placements of A&M but I also think in the same way for Alberta. When I check the graduates of Alberta, it looks like the target market for the business school is Europe&Canada rather than North America including US. And this gives me the clue that US universities do not favor PhD's from Canadian universities (except for Toronto, B.Columbia, McGill). Additionally, there are few universities in Canada and they do not need new faculty members every year vs. >4000 universities in the US.

 

I am not sure if how I think is right but I think that a PhD from A&M will open more doors including from Canadian universities.

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Two things.

 

1. A&M is known for HR. They have good researchers there. You'll be fine there. Similar to many commenters on this thread I don't really know about Alberta which is a mildly negative sign.

 

2. Weather, by god the weather. There's a reason that most of the population of Canada is on the coast or right along the southern border. Edmonton is neither. Do you really want to be cold for 5 years? College Station is personally far too warm for me, but I'd easily take it over Edmonton. You're talking an average 20-30 degree Fahrenheit difference. I'm not joking when I say that should be your #1 factor in deciding. While it isn't the most important per say, it is the factor with the largest difference.

 

Edmonton - Wikipedia

College Station, Texas - Wikipedia

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So if your goal is to go to Canada (but it sounds like that isn't the case), going to school in Texas wouldn't give you a competitive advantage :)

 

Could you give more details on the "by law" part? My goal is actually stay in Canada after the PhD but since there are fewer than 100 universities in Canada, I thought it would be more challenging comparing the Job Market in the US. On the other hand, considering Alberta's placements, it looks like Alberta has a very strong recognition (perhaps stronger than A&M) in Europe which would also my second choice after Canada for a faculty position.

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Two things.

 

1. A&M is known for HR. They have good researchers there. You'll be fine there. Similar to many commenters on this thread I don't really know about Alberta which is a mildly negative sign.

 

2. Weather, by god the weather. There's a reason that most of the population of Canada is on the coast or right along the southern border. Edmonton is neither. Do you really want to be cold for 5 years? College Station is personally far too warm for me, but I'd easily take it over Edmonton. You're talking an average 20-30 degree Fahrenheit difference. I'm not joking when I say that should be your #1 factor in deciding. While it isn't the most important per say, it is the factor with the largest difference.

 

Edmonton - Wikipedia

College Station, Texas - Wikipedia

 

Actually, the fact that Alberta is not known much is my biggest concern at this point. I also totally agree with you on the weather aspect but considering PhD as an 4-5 years investment, I guess I have to consider university, program, faculty and research recognition more.

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Yeah, you will notice the following sentence in every single job in Canada: All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.

 

So how this materializes is that search committees have to create two piles of applicants: Canadians and non-Canadians. Only if there are no qualified Canadians do they move on to the non-Canadians. It is kind of well known that there are 2-3 schools that don't strictly follow this (I am not going to say their names in a public forum, but it would be easy to guess by looking at the composition of faculty). But essentially every other school in Canada follows this pretty closely.

 

So that will help get your foot in the door if you wanted to work in Canada, but you also have been really focused on brand recognition -- what about research fit? Do you see professors at both schools that fit what you are interested in? I think that is more important.

 

 

Could you give more details on the "by law" part? My goal is actually stay in Canada after the PhD but since there are fewer than 100 universities in Canada, I thought it would be more challenging comparing the Job Market in the US. On the other hand, considering Alberta's placements, it looks like Alberta has a very strong recognition (perhaps stronger than A&M) in Europe which would also my second choice after Canada for a faculty position.
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So that will help get your foot in the door if you wanted to work in Canada, but you also have been really focused on brand recognition -- what about research fit? Do you see professors at both schools that fit what you are interested in? I think that is more important.

 

I am trying to understand the importance of the brand recognition in Job Market since from the perspective of research fit these two programs are so close to each other (but if I have to say which program is slightly better in terms of research fit, I would say A&M). On the other hand,

1) I want to live in Canada in long term (Which makes me close to Alberta)

2) While Alberta faculty members try their best to help my decision by explaining the whole PhD process, clarifying the questions in my mind, etc; A&M professors are seem like they do not even care whether I join their program or not. (Which again makes me close to Alberta)

 

This makes me feel that although the research fit is slightly better at A&M, I will not get enough attention from the professors. Besides, A&M has almost 2 times PhD students which also makes me think that I will need to compete with them to get the professors's attention in their limited time.

 

Long story short, I would be so happy If someone convince me on either Alberta has a strong recognition in Canada/EU/US or the ranking or recognition of the university do not matter much.

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It is clearly a difficult choice for you.

 

It is my opinion that becoming Canadian will drastically increase your chances on the job market in Canada. But ultimately what will matter is how productive you can be in your PhD.

 

You need to also weigh specific professors you'd like to work with at each school. Who's in their network? Canadian/EU professors? How well known are they (this IMO is just as important as the reputation of the school itself)

 

Look, ultimately these are both good schools, and they will set up you for success, as long as you do your part and work hard in the PhD and set yourself up for success.

 

I am trying to understand the importance of the brand recognition in Job Market since from the perspective of research fit these two programs are so close to each other (but if I have to say which program is slightly better in terms of research fit, I would say A&M). On the other hand,

1) I want to live in Canada in long term (Which makes me close to Alberta)

2) While Alberta faculty members try their best to help my decision by explaining the whole PhD process, clarifying the questions in my mind, etc; A&M professors are seem like they do not even care whether I join their program or not. (Which again makes me close to Alberta)

 

This makes me feel that although the research fit is slightly better at A&M, I will not get enough attention from the professors. Besides, A&M has almost 2 times PhD students which also makes me think that I will need to compete with them to get the professors's attention in their limited time.

 

Long story short, I would be so happy If someone convince me on either Alberta has a strong recognition in Canada/EU/US or the ranking or recognition of the university do not matter much.

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