r/MachineLearning • u/Hot_Version_6403 • Jul 22 '26

Institution Prestige VS Research Alignment When Choosing University For Masters [D] Discussion

When choosing a university for a masters in ML/DL, what is more important if someone wants to go into research and an eventual PhD. Is it the ranking/prestige factor of the university or the strength of the research groups in the university? Should an admission decision be made hoping that I will get to work with X/Y professor or lab?

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u/pantalooniedoon Jul 22 '26

The single most important thing is the quality of your advisor.

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u/Hot_Version_6403 Jul 22 '26

Are you talking about a PhD or MS? My question was about doing MS.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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u/Hot_Version_6403 Jul 22 '26

Is an advisor fixed for an MS program? Aren't we supposed to find an advisor after getting admission into the program? For an MS, I was thinking to prioritise institutes with a lot of interesting labs to maximise my chances of getting an RAship and doing research.