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Alumni statistics

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:56 pm
by Imperate
Hi,

does anyone know where I could get alumni statistics, specifically where grad students went after they finished their PhD at various places (i.e. did they get a postdoc, where was this postdoc at etc)? is this something schools usually make available? would really help me making a decision of where to go.

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:07 pm
by cato88
Not generally available though it should be.

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:09 pm
by grae313
Imperate wrote:does anyone know where I could get alumni statistics, specifically where grad students went after they finished their PhD at various places (i.e. did they get a postdoc, where was this postdoc at etc)? is this something schools usually make available? would really help me making a decision of where to go.
I'm not sure if this is published on a university-wide basis, but I think it's much more useful to find out where alumni of specific research groups end up going. I bet there is a better correlation between your adviser and your post-PhD placement than your university and your post-PhD placement anyways. This information is published on many groups' websites, and when I visited schools and met with professors I was interested in working with, I always asked them to tell me about where their recent graduates went.

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:12 pm
by dlenmn
It's a good question to asks professors when you visit. Departments may keep track of the information, but probably the results by group is what you want (some groups are high powered and have good results... some groups not so much).

I know that I factored this in to my decision. At one school, all the students from the groups I liked seemed to go in to finance. I stayed away from that...

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:26 pm
by grae313
dlenmn wrote:It's a good question to asks professors when you visit. Departments may keep track of the information, but probably the results by group is what you want (some groups are high powered and have good results... some groups not so much).

I know that I factored this in to my decision. At one school, all the students from the groups I liked seemed to go in to finance. I stayed away from that...
On that note, people always say it is who you work with and not the brand name of your school that matters most (at least in academia), and I think there is some definite truth to this. There are of course some very excellent and well known professors at less recognized schools, and working for them and getting good recommendations from them can do more for your placement in academia than working for someone unknown at a better-recognized school.

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:01 pm
by shouravv
Actually, most departments will have a link to "past graduate students" or "where are our graduates" etc. like page, where you will find exact info on the alumni. At least, these pages say what the first post-doc position of each graduate was, and in some cases even track their career. If you can't find the info, just ask the department about where to find such detail.

Check where did the graduates go to in last 10 years, how many of them left the field, and how does the entering class size (average) compare with graduating class size (average). Also, if you are interested into specific professors, check where their students went on to in the past.

Here are some examples:

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/ast/phds.html

http://www.astro.princeton.edu/academics/gradstu_wherearetheynow.html

http://www.astro.cornell.edu/people/doingnow.php

http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/Dept/phd_alumni.html

http://www.as.utexas.edu/astronomy/education/formergrads.html

http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni

http://www.astro.ucsc.edu/graduate/alumni.html

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 2:37 pm
by bryanwitha_y
I too am looking for alumni information. Namely for UIUC, Yale, and U Wash if anybody knows where. I asked in the interviews but neglected to write it down -- and plus, they never tell the *whole* story.

I really do think this to be a splendiferous indicator for judging a school's program. It let's you actually see the products of the specific fields in the departments that you're looking at.

...I just wish I could find it... :(

Re: Alumni statistics

Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:57 pm
by dlenmn
Try emailing the departments and asking if they can provide the information.