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[grad_luke]

After almost two years in my graduate program I am still questioning whether I am in the right place.  I know I want to do research, but I'm not sure I made the right decision to attend the school I am at.  I turned down a highly selective school - Yale - to attend a much less prestigious school after finding out my potential advisor at Yale was a real a**hole.  I guess I never felt confident about my decision, though, because I keep kicking myself for giving up that once in a lifetime opportunity.  Worse, people keep reminding me of my decision and shaking their heads at why I basically threw my life away.  I don't know if my agony is worth going through the application process all over again, with no guarantee of being accepted this time around.  How does a graduate student make a decision like that?? 

[tiooswaldo]

You mean you want to switch programs? Or moving from MA to PhD? Did you get a betterfinancial deal where you are now? How soon could you finish where you are now?

[grad_luke]

I mean I might want to switch programs.  I do not have my MA yet, so I could change institutions for my PhD although that would upset my mentors here of course.  My program is a PhD program so I have 3 or 4 more years to go if I decide to stay.

[hollow_man]

I turned down a highly selective school - Yale - to attend a much less prestigious school

How much less prestigious?

[dr_prephd]

You never know if you've chosen the right program until you've lived with it. Of course, you don't mention anything about your current program, except that it's less prestigious than Yale. Could be that your current program really is a much better fit for you. Do you enjoy it where you are? How is your advisor? Your colleagues? The program?

Of course, you'll never get another chance at Yale if you don't apply again.

[daurousseau]

Existentialism.com says that you choose and there you are. Just go ahead and become an expert in whatever they let you. And don't worry about Yale. Yale is not a good school; it's a preppie school. Yale churns out middlebrows like William Buckley.

[imawakenow]

1. "The grass is greener" syndrome is common for grad students. I spent the first year in my current program thinking about what I didn't have "here" that I could have had "there." My life improved exceedingly when I decided to take advantage of the opportunities offered here.

2. You seem a bit hung up on prestige (as is noted by the thread you started in the job search section). Your department and adviser will be more important to your future success than the name "Yale" on your degree.

Having said that, if you want to teach at many East Coast SLACs and/or an Ivy, you need to do what you can to transfer, as you will likely not get hired without the Ivy pedigree. A lot depends on where you want to end up.

3. People who remind you of your decision while shaking their heads and insinuating that you threw your life away are NOT your friends. You need to distance yourself from them. Seriously.

[copper]

I turned down a highly selective school - Yale - to attend a much less prestigious school after finding out my potential advisor at Yale was a real a**hole. 

A positive relationship with your advisor is absolutely invaluable.  Family may not understand; friends with astronomical starting salaries at financial institutions may not understand; it may not impress at the country club.  But do not regret your decision.  I made a similar decision and every time I end up talking with refugees from Dr. Dickhead's chamber of (highly prestigious) misery I'm glad I did.  Didn't stop me from landing a top-notch post-doc or publishing my diss in top-ranked journals, either.  However, based on reading the forums, I get the impression that the importance of diploma-prestige varies among fields.

Whether you should switch programs for your Ph.D. is a separate matter, to be judged on it's own merits.

[grad_luke]

The school is much less prestigious state school in the midwest.  The program itself is OK, and in my subfield it is pretty great.  All in all, it is not a bad fit for me.  I'm friendly with my colleagues, my advisor is fine - hands-off but invested in me and, for the most part, sane.  But it is a lot of hard work and long hours and I can't stop the grass is greener thoughts.  I do want to end up at a R1 school, though it doesn't have to be an Ivy. Alternatively, I'd like to work outside of academia in industry or consulting.  To have those sort of options I think I need as many advantages as possible, but if I reapply I could end up with nothing. 

[imawakenow]

But it is a lot of hard work and long hours and I can't stop the grass is greener thoughts.  I do want to end up at a R1 school, though it doesn't have to be an Ivy. 

You will have to work hard and put in long hours whether you stay at your current school or switch to Yale. That's part of the deal.

If you publish like hell, you'll get an R1 job.

I agree with copper--do not underestimate the value of a good relationship with your adviser and a positive work environment. My M.A. was from a toxic and dysfunctional department. A student who came in the year I left is still trying to finish her thesis--and I'm working on my dissertation.