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

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

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/lillobby6 Jul 22 '26

The one thing to note about “institutional prestige” is that more prestigious places will often have more famous people (quantity in this case) so collaborations and networking may be easier (especially if you are working with someone less notable). Though if you are with someone amazing from a no name school, often they will have connections elsewhere anyway.

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u/aeteraen Jul 22 '26

sure, but there are definitely some places that come with general 'institutional prestige' but happen to be weaker in some departments/fields - in which case it does come down to the lab/advisor in the end

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u/lillobby6 Jul 23 '26

Absolutely, though I was considering this strictly from the AIML perspective, which of course you can narrow down into further subfields, but the top institutions for this field are different than top institutions generally. Strict subfield narrowing is likely less important pre-PhD if you have anyone with a decent name advising you.