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Fall 2015 Official Decisions Thread


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I know this may be a bit early in the season to start this thread, but I do know that people are starting to accept offers and make decisions, so...where are you going this fall?!

Not sure yet, I have a few programs to hear back from still and some recruitment events to attend...what about you? 

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I still have to hear from a few other places, but it looks like I'm gonna be at York U doing geography next year, if the funding can be worked out.  Saint Marx doesn't seem to want me to be a sociologist, it's too bad.

You could do Critical Geography... I'm only now learning about it but I here it is pretty powerful stuff. Karl would be your main man!

Edited by MaxWeberHasAPosse
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Karl is THE main man, always. Wish more soc programs had a Marxist lean, tbh.

Love Karl and Friedrich.. Have you looked at Kevin Anderson at UCSB? He wrote this *amazing* book called Marx at the Margins. It's about Marx's writings for the New York Tribune; Anderson constructs Marx and Marxism as a world-historical social philosopher/philosophy and not merely one concerned with Western modernity. You should check it out.

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Love Karl and Friedrich.. Have you looked at Kevin Anderson at UCSB? He wrote this *amazing* book called Marx at the Margins. It's about Marx's writings for the New York Tribune; Anderson constructs Marx and Marxism as a world-historical social philosopher/philosophy and not merely one concerned with Western modernity. You should check it out.

I didn't get into Santa Barbara, among alot of other US schools. Anderson and Robinson responded to my intro emails, but John Foran was the most helpful in his email reply to me when I wrote to him. I liked Robinson's approach especially and I targeted all the Marxist sociology programs in the country (except nyu for a specific reason I'd rather not say publicly), it's just hard getting into all of them as I've said on the accept/reject thread. But thanks for the suggestion I'll look.

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I didn't get into Santa Barbara, among alot of other US schools. Anderson and Robinson responded to my intro emails, but John Foran was the most helpful in his email reply to me when I wrote to him. I liked Robinson's approach especially and I targeted all the Marxist sociology programs in the country (except nyu for a specific reason I'd rather not say publicly), it's just hard getting into all of them as I've said on the accept/reject thread. But thanks for the suggestion I'll look.

A gazillion of us applied to work with Robinson. Sometimes you just gotta go down a different path.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been watching this forum like a hawk the past couple months, and am now in need of some feedback. I have a few offers on the table at this point, one of which excites me the most. I have narrowed down my choices to either University of Pittsburgh (17k/yr for 5 years) or McGill University (21k/yr for 4 years). I already have a master's out of field, and McGill has admitted at the PhD2 level, meaning I would be able to finish in 4-5 years, whereas Pitt has admitted me at the basic level, meaning it would take a minimum of 5 years to finish, most likely 6 or 7. I have read it is typical for Canadian universities to make their stipends higher because they do not pay your tuition for you, which is true in my case, and would even out to be an average of about 11k/yr for my personal living expenses for the 4 years when all is said and done. I should mention I am married, so my husband's potential income would offset some costs.

 

My main question: is it a reasonable decision to attend McGill over Pitt for my doctorate? The department at McGill focuses on research topics I find more exciting overall, they have a gender studies option, and they have much more rigorous training in quantitative methods, which would certainly better prepare me for academic and/or non-academic jobs in the long run. Pitt does not have much in the way of quantitative training, and it would take longer to finish. With money I have saved and the stipend, I should have enough money to get through the program at McGill without any extra help, and worst case scenario I have to take out a loan for 8k or less total. 

 

Thoughts? 

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My ultimate goal is to be a professor at a research university, where I'm spending time doing both research and teaching. From what I can tell, Pittsburgh does not have as good of a placement rate/record as McGill does with this. I am not so worried about being placed in the top tier of universities in the US, as teaching and researching internationally is very attractive to me, in which McGill seems to have a great placement record. My main concern is passing up an offer for which I would not have to pay anything for one that I may have to shell out ~8k or so. 

 

If I am considering ultimate professional goals and placement in my desired positions, McGill is the better option. ~8k is not so much at the end of the day, and I don't have any other debt to pay, but I cannot get the voice out of my head to "not pay anything for your doctorate", although this may be irrational.

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My ultimate goal is to be a professor at a research university, where I'm spending time doing both research and teaching. From what I can tell, Pittsburgh does not have as good of a placement rate/record as McGill does with this. I am not so worried about being placed in the top tier of universities in the US, as teaching and researching internationally is very attractive to me, in which McGill seems to have a great placement record. My main concern is passing up an offer for which I would not have to pay anything for one that I may have to shell out ~8k or so. 

 

If I am considering ultimate professional goals and placement in my desired positions, McGill is the better option. ~8k is not so much at the end of the day, and I don't have any other debt to pay, but I cannot get the voice out of my head to "not pay anything for your doctorate", although this may be irrational.

I'd go with McGill. It sounds like the best program for your future intentions.

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I'd go with the American school

 

 

I'd go with McGill. It sounds like the best program for your future intentions.

 

After some conversations with faculty, it will be very feasible to work out the funding, and I'll most likely only come out needing to pay ~8k. It fits with my research and goals better in the long run, so I will be attending McGill in the fall. Thanks for the feedback!

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I have been watching this forum like a hawk the past couple months, and am now in need of some feedback. I have a few offers on the table at this point, one of which excites me the most. I have narrowed down my choices to either University of Pittsburgh (17k/yr for 5 years) or McGill University (21k/yr for 4 years). I already have a master's out of field, and McGill has admitted at the PhD2 level, meaning I would be able to finish in 4-5 years, whereas Pitt has admitted me at the basic level, meaning it would take a minimum of 5 years to finish, most likely 6 or 7. I have read it is typical for Canadian universities to make their stipends higher because they do not pay your tuition for you, which is true in my case, and would even out to be an average of about 11k/yr for my personal living expenses for the 4 years when all is said and done. I should mention I am married, so my husband's potential income would offset some costs.

 

My main question: is it a reasonable decision to attend McGill over Pitt for my doctorate? The department at McGill focuses on research topics I find more exciting overall, they have a gender studies option, and they have much more rigorous training in quantitative methods, which would certainly better prepare me for academic and/or non-academic jobs in the long run. Pitt does not have much in the way of quantitative training, and it would take longer to finish. With money I have saved and the stipend, I should have enough money to get through the program at McGill without any extra help, and worst case scenario I have to take out a loan for 8k or less total. 

 

Thoughts? 

 

I'd definitely go with McGill. I did my masters there and may be going back for my PhD. The 11k for living expenses is pretty good. For such a major city, cost of living is super low. Aside from that, Montréal is an awesome city. 

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Deciding between UC Irvine and UCLA. Area of interests are immigration, race and ethnic relations, social stratification, cultre. Especially focusing on Asian American community. Both programs are very good fit and very well established! However I have heard rumors like "UCLA expects you to drop out," so I'm a little worried about the program culture there. Any suggestions?

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Deciding between UC Irvine and UCLA. Area of interests are immigration, race and ethnic relations, social stratification, cultre. Especially focusing on Asian American community. Both programs are very good fit and very well established! However I have heard rumors like "UCLA expects you to drop out," so I'm a little worried about the program culture there. Any suggestions?

What do you mean "expects you to drop out"--i.e., not complete the degree?

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Deciding between UC Irvine and UCLA. Area of interests are immigration, race and ethnic relations, social stratification, cultre. Especially focusing on Asian American community. Both programs are very good fit and very well established! However I have heard rumors like "UCLA expects you to drop out," so I'm a little worried about the program culture there. Any suggestions?

 

I would not be surprised if this was true. I found the below link when I first started to apply  to programs. According to the document, the rate of completion within 10 years for UCLA is 56%. I don't know how accurate this number is, but it seems that the other information on the document is pretty accurate. With that being said, I still decided to apply to UCLA and would probably still attend if given the opportunity. I don't know how much weight you can put on this, but every encounter I have had with Wendy Fujinami has been really positive. I'd definitely be a little bit worried about the culture at UCLA, but I'd also not rush to any decisions. It seems that your a good fit for both programs, so perhaps the safest option is UC Irvine. But, I wonder what is driving the low completion rate at UCLA, if true, and how your fit with the program might influence your experience with the program. 

  

 

http://tinyurl.com/pu2feyv

Edited by sdr2659
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