Tool
Offer decision matrix
Weigh up to four graduate offers on what matters to you. Stipend against cost of living can be filled in from our data; everything else is your judgment.
Estimate, not advice. This tool organizes your own scores; it does not know your situation. Nothing you enter is sent to us: it stays in your browser and in the link you copy. See our methodology and disclaimer.
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How it works
- Name your offers (two to four). Optionally pick each school so the stipend row can be suggested from our data.
- Choose criteria and weights. Weight each from 1 (nice to have) to 5 (decisive). The percentages beside each weight show how much it counts after the weights are normalized so they add to 100%.
- Score each offer from 1 to 10 on each criterion, where 10 is best for you. Scores are your own judgment.
- Read the result. Each offer’s total is its weighted average, so it stays on the same 1 to 10 scale. An offer is ranked only once every criterion has a score.
The stipend suggestion
When you choose a school, we suggest a score for “Stipend vs cost of living” from two figures in our database: the school’s primary stipend (the low end, if it is a range), divided over the months it is paid, and the city-level median rent for a one-bedroom apartment. A rent share of 15% of the monthly stipend or less suggests 10; about 30% suggests 6; 45% or more suggests 1. Both figures keep their source label, shown under the suggestion, and a missing figure means no suggestion rather than a guess.
The suggestion ignores taxes, utilities, transit, health insurance and whether you would live alone, so treat it as a starting point and overwrite it. The comparison tool shows the full cost-of-living picture side by side.
Reading the sensitivity note
Weights are subjective, so the note tells you how fragile the winner is. If one small change to a single weight would flip the result, the decision really hinges on how much you care about that criterion, and that is worth thinking about before you commit. If nothing flips it, the result does not depend on how you weighted any single criterion.
Frequently asked questions
Is my data saved or shared?
No. Your entries are kept in the address of this page (after the #), which browsers do not send to servers. Anyone you give the link to can see what you entered, so share it only with people you trust.
Should the highest score always win?
No. The matrix is a way to make your trade-offs explicit, not a verdict. If the result surprises you, find out why: that is often the most useful part.
What other things matter when choosing between offers?
See our guides on stipends, negotiation and funding, and confirm funding guarantees and health coverage in your offer letter, since a department’s published figures may not match your offer.