School's prestige / Publication / PI - to be a professor?

targetwalmart
Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:53:30 +0000

What is the single most important factor in choosing a graduate school if I want to be a professor in the future?

a. School’s prestige
b. Number of quality publications
c. PI’s popularity
d. Postdoc at a top university (if this is the case, then what are the factors that can help me secure a postdoc position)
e. Other

You can rank, combine them, or simply put your thoughts to help me (and other CCers who want to work in an academic setting) decide whether I should wait for another year in case I don’t make it to a top grad program this year or just work with what I have.

Thanks in advance!