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Short and simple question: as a prospective PhD student, should I consider applying to universities which aren't as good/prestigious (still top 500 worldwide, for instance) in my area, in order to study with a professor who is well-renowned, or should I try for better standing universities, but study with potentially young and less established professors?

I struggle especially because, often, there is a single (if that) professor in my area in most universities, so it's really a case of individual versus institution.

If it helps, I'm going for a PhD in pure math, but the questions seems independent of the area.

Thanks in advance!

Michael_1812
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Gauss
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  • Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/90/university-rank-stature-how-much-does-it-affect-ones-career-post-ph-d (and further posts linked therefrom) – Buzz Oct 03 '23 at 21:29
  • What are your (potential) goals after your PhD and in which country do you intend to pursue them? – Jochen Glueck Oct 03 '23 at 21:51
  • @JochenGlueck I intend to pursue a career as a professor of mathematics at some university (I’m not sure if that’s what people call “tenure track”), hopefully in Europe, although I’m still unsure about that. – Gauss Oct 03 '23 at 22:13
  • Since this question is closed, I left my answer here. – Michael_1812 Oct 04 '23 at 02:39
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    @Michael_1812, thank you! Not sure why the question was closed - it’s undoubtably related to the linked questions, but none of them involve the importance of the supervisor, which is what I really wanted – Gauss Oct 04 '23 at 10:54
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    Your title was about the institution rather than the supervisor. I would recommend using the search feature if you want questions more specifically addressing choice of supervisor. Added one more possible duplicate, too. – Bryan Krause Oct 04 '23 at 13:42
  • What's more important in choosing a PhD program, advisor or institution? does address the topic more directly, but there may be some caveats about how applicable the answers are to mathematics. – Anyon Oct 04 '23 at 13:49

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