I ve recieved an offer from one university along with funding , and I accepted it as I was soo happy with it by that time. A couple of weeks latter, I recieved another offer from another university which is slightly higher ranked but it is the world's number one in my field of research and it is also funded and they want my reply to the offer immediately! I didnt decline the new offer or accept it, however, I have to send my reply this weak.. I m very confused and dont know wat I should do..I am happy with my first choice as I know the Uni and I m quite familiar with it and I know for sure that I cant take my words back ... but meanwhile, the second offer is very lucrative...I am between familiarity in the first case and better ranking in the second case.. Any ideas or suggestions?

Hey there

It's quite hard to say without being you... !! Go where you will be happiest. Firstly, don't feel bad about ducking out of #1 if you prefer the second option - this is your whole future and if you deal with it sensitively and politely there is no need to seriously upset anyone. Secondly, don't go for rank if you would be compromising your happiness. There is a lot to be said for comfort and familiarity when dealing with PhD stress and fatigue!

good luck - and congrats on two funded offers!

Cheers Jayney..
I am just confused because I dont know whether I am taking the right decision by giving up the higher ranked option.. Is ranking that important , if I want to pursue an academic career?
Thanks dear and good luck with your studies

Ranking is pretty important...

Maybe you will really like the new place? Is it worth the gamble perhaps?

Thanks for your comment about my future studies... :) Is rather all over the place at the mo - hopefully it will settle down soon!!

x J

make your decision based on the supervisor - not ranking or familiarity. if you have a friendly supervisor who KNOWS your topic, then go for it. my mistake was I used ranking instead of familiarity with supervisor and i have had problems all the way. familiarity with the uni is irrelevant. you can always adjust.

ranking may only be important if there is wide difference between the two univ (eg no 2 vs no 50). cause better univ have better faculty and research resources...but if there ranking is closer (eg no 2 and no 10)..then go for faculty and environment

infact the two universities are quite close to each other, one follows the other, so its very helpful to let me know that ranking matters only when there is a big difference. I have two supervisors, and I have no clue whom they might be in both cases, ... I think i m going with my first choice..
Thank you all for helping me out

yep because if they are close by in ranking then these will have more or less same quality of resources, in that case, your final output will entrely depend on in which environemnt you can function the best