Relative Advantages/Disadvantages of Interdisciplinary Degree vs Discipline-Specific Degree I am applying for a PhD and when I was speaking to my potential advisor they discussed the possibility of me applying for an interdisciplinary degree that is offered by the institution as an option instead of the discipline specific degree in applied mathematics. The supervisors field is in mathematical biology and my dissertation work would be as well, and working under the assumption that they will take me on as a student, I am wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of the interdisciplinary degree might be relative to a degree that focuses on a specific discipline.
For example, how would a PhD in an interdisciplinary field affect paths forward for a PostDoc position? There are probably some particular advantages and disadvantages that are not obvious to me, so I am putting this out to the community.
The main reasons are pretty obvious, I think.
A narrow field of study will (probably) make you more suitable for employment in that field and less in others.
A wider field of study will (probably) give you more options, but those who have specialized in something will have the upper hand (again, probably) over you it their specialty.
None of that is necessarily true and you can always either broaden your outlook later or specialize further as necessary. So, I suspect that any effect is most important only for your first job.
But it also depends on the individual program. I can imagine one in which the mathematical techniques are pretty generally useful, but also one in which they are not. This might be worth exploring with you proposed advisor.
On a different dimension, an interdisciplinary program might leave you more grounded in applications, where a straight applied math program might (not necessarily) leave you wondering how to actually use what you have learned.