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<blockquote data-quote="Flipx99" data-source="post: 2945432" data-attributes="member: 562352">I usually don&#039;t seek advice from the ca.com forum, but I wanted an opinion that wasn&#039;t biased by people who know me or skewed by professors.I have the opportunity to begin my PhD in economics in the fall. The work will be quite difficult, yet rewarding.Here is a couple reasons why I am apprehensive.1) There is not an immediate increase in pay, promotion, etc unless I took another job elsewhere.2)Prestige. The school is no Harvard, Yale, etc. It is a John Q Public regional university.I feel a conversation could go like this:Me: &quot;Hello, I&#039;m Josh&quot;Someone: &quot;Hey, I heard you got your PhD&quot;Me: &quot;Yes, I did&quot;Someone: &quot;Where did you go?&quot;Me: &quot;MTSU&quot; [Middle Tennessee State University]Someone: &quot;Oh....meh&quot;It is not that I want to go around impressing and dazzling people. I just don&#039;t want people to think less of me because I went to an average school3) Cost. I told my parents when I went to graduate school I would move out. I don&#039;t really want to move out but I guess I need to since I am going to graduate school.Pros1) I really do enjoy research.2) I think I can get a lot out of it.3) I think I have a lot to offer the field of economics.4) It gives me more time with my current employer so that I am eligible for them to pay for my Master&#039;s at a later time.So...what do you think? Do any of you know people out there with PhDs that went to more local schools? How do people feel about them?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Flipx99, post: 2945432, member: 562352"] I usually don't seek advice from the ca.com forum, but I wanted an opinion that wasn't biased by people who know me or skewed by professors. I have the opportunity to begin my PhD in economics in the fall. The work will be quite difficult, yet rewarding. Here is a couple reasons why I am apprehensive. 1) There is not an immediate increase in pay, promotion, etc unless I took another job elsewhere. 2)Prestige. The school is no Harvard, Yale, etc. It is a John Q Public regional university. I feel a conversation could go like this: Me: "Hello, I'm Josh" Someone: "Hey, I heard you got your PhD" Me: "Yes, I did" Someone: "Where did you go?" Me: "MTSU" [Middle Tennessee State University] Someone: "Oh....meh" It is not that I want to go around impressing and dazzling people. I just don't want people to think less of me because I went to an average school 3) Cost. I told my parents when I went to graduate school I would move out. I don't really want to move out but I guess I need to since I am going to graduate school. Pros 1) I really do enjoy research. 2) I think I can get a lot out of it. 3) I think I have a lot to offer the field of economics. 4) It gives me more time with my current employer so that I am eligible for them to pay for my Master's at a later time. So...what do you think? Do any of you know people out there with PhDs that went to more local schools? How do people feel about them? [/QUOTE]

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