# The importance of getting high quality research mentorship in college > Source: > Published: 2026-07-12 14:54:49+00:00 I wonder** how much attending different universities matters if we focus solely on the quality of research mentorship **available to an EA-oriented student who hopes to reduce AI risks. I plan to study dentistry at a medical university because I believe having earn-to-give as a backup option is important. However, my ultimate goal is to become an AI safety researcher.** I therefore plan to collaborate with computer science professors at a nearby university** and may spend around 40% of my time in college on AI-related research. Suppose Medical University A is located near University C, which has a top 5 computer science department in Taiwan and around 60 professors working in CS-related fields. Medical University B, meanwhile, is near University D, which ranks around the top 10 and has approximately 35 professors in relevant fields. University C is clearly stronger overall and would probably give me a better chance of finding a lab doing a more EA-aligned research topic. This gives Medical University A an advantage, but A is also more difficult to enter. For example, suppose I were admitted to Medical University B through the first entrance exam. **Would it be worthwhile to spend around three months preparing for another exam in order to enter Medical University A for better research mentorship?** (assuming that I would get in medical university A on the second exam and that the two medical universities are otherwise similar?) Even if you are uncertain, your 1-minute gut intuition about this topic would already be very helpful. Thank you very much for your time.