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While I would certainly consider jobs abroad, I think that not getting your PhD in the US is a huge risk, especially as an American who might eventually want to return to the States. American PhDs basically trade a substantial premium and are employable in academia worldwide, while the converse is exceedingly rare. Most foreign academics working in the US got their PhDs here.

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That's not true. Foreign academics working in the US are mostly lured in by high paying job offers, after they have already established themselves as researchers.

The focus on name-recognition in the article was weird to me, but then again I am not from the US so I don't know how it is handled there. From the academic world I know, as soon as you're beyond undergrad level the university does not really matter as much anymore, because you should have published research and other contributions by the time you apply for anything at that point, which is what is being looked at. What's the quantity and quality of your (peer reviewed) published research, was it published in good journals or good conferences, etc.

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