pinwheelb00kshelf

In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "safety" in PhD admissions. I (perhaps foolishly) applied to fifteen programs, and my rejections, wait lists, and acceptances had absolutely no relationship to their respective program rankings. I don't regret applying to so many programs, because as you say, the process is a crapshoot. However, I did get accepted to the programs I was most excited/intrigued about (not necessarily the highest ranked), which is telling.

Hey all, I'd highly recommend emailing a current student in your program (maybe someone who's advanced past the first couple years) to ask about this sort of thing. I had a great conversation with a third year today who told me that, basically, it doesn't matter. Any operating system can run basic stats software, and you only need worry about hardware if you're looking to work with really big data sets. The major qualitative softwares are available on either mac or PC platforms. Having something small, like an iPad or Chromebook, seems to be a personal preference, and only necessary if you enjoy the aesthetic of those devices. I don't have money to blow, so I'm going to invest in a lightweight, standard-equipped laptop and go from there. After all, the first year won't be that different (in terms of schedule, computing needs) from college. One last piece of advice given to me by the student, FWIW: "One last piece of advice that you didn't exactly ask for: Many students are in the habit of bringing their laptops to class for note-taking, but I really strongly feel that this isn't wise. All you have to do is look around the room and you'll see students checking their email, shopping for shoes, etc. I think it's simply too easy to get distracted during class time if you have access to the internet. I have always used a good ol' spiral notebook and pen to take notes, and I find that I tend to remain much more absorbed in class discussions that other people. The process of hand-writing notes is also great for my memory too. I keep my notebooks organized so that's it's very easy to look up notes I took on a particular lecture or assigned reading, and I really don't think I miss out by not having my notes in digital form."

This has been my general attitude on the subject throughout this harrowing admissions season: On one hand, the social capital transmitted by top 25 programs do not themselves guarantee a successful outcome. The way it seems to shake out is that highly ranked places churn out highly-accomplished graduates, 50% of which (roughly) land a nice tenure-track position or a really nice post-doc immediately, and the rest take a few years detour (not counting the students who have been weeded out before completion). Lower-ranked places will maybe have two or three place immediately, and a significant amount of students who are underemployed out the gate. This is to say: not everyone at top 25 programs gets a job. It's just that your chances are a bit better. On the other hand, the rankings may be deeply flawed (and they are), but here we all are talking about them. I don't mean to go all Durkheim here, but the rankings have real effects regardless of their methodological rigor. Don't make the mistake of thinking that the elitist structure of higher education comes crumbling down just because everyone on gradcafe has realized that USNWR cares more about making money than about the integrity of academia. For me, it comes down to this: don't choose a lower-ranked school to make a point, and don't choose a higher-ranked school to get a job. Do what you enjoy, and work your butt off.

Unfortunately, I'm a prospective student, not a current student, but if there's one thing I've heard consistently from everyone who's been through this process, it's this: don't go to a department for one person. You simply don't know if they will leave, die, retire, or what. On the plus side, if you've already had positive communication with this POI, there's nothing to stop you from keeping in touch and collaborating (unless this department is particularly territorial). One of my POIs from a program I know I won't attend has already told me to keep in touch with her, regardless of my choice.

Penn has been pretty quiet about their visit days, but in my acceptance email, Emily Hannum indicated that they are planning a visit day on March 26. That is a Wednesday, so I don't know whether it's a one-day event in the middle of the week (seems unlikely) or if it's that weekend. That is all I've heard on the topic. I was accepted last week. I hope that helps!

I can claim one of the Penn acceptances, about which I'm very excited, but I don't understand why anyone at Penn would say that decisions haven't been made (in reference to a recent post on the results page), knowing that forums like this exist. Seems deliberately deceptive.

I'll claim the UCLA waitlist, since reading this thread has been so helpful to me in the past few weeks. I got a note (emailed) from Tanya Stivers, basically saying they couldn't admit me right now but inviting me to their visit days. I think I'm going to go, just to give myself the best possible chance at securing a spot. I have a BA in sociology from a small liberal arts college, honors thesis w/ original research, 3.6 undergrad GPA, 166 verbal 161 quant, two conferences, no pubs. Good luck to everyone going forward!