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Here's the thing, they're ALL kind of prestigious. Fully funded programs are competitive - period. they have a huge applicant pool to pick from. Yeah, prestige matters but not much. Some agents have their favorites but just like these programs, it's the writing that matters. Most AdComs aren't going to look at your recommenders until they've decided you're already a candidate. If I send something to an agent they don't think they can sell, they couldn't give a fiddlers fart where i went to school. And ALL of them will be able to connect you to SOMEONE. You just have a little more confidence, and yes a bit more standing when say running in to an agent at a writers' conference. but this is as much because they know you're serious as it is they know a tiny bit of legwork has been done for them regarding potential. Having said all that, if you are still interested in networking, know that some schools kind of frown on it while others are brining you into the game all the time. Oh, one more thing... "Three years is no joke and I'm approaching 30[!]" (exclamation mine) Fuck you. (also mine)

27 schools?! you must be crazy.

11/8 CS

This makes sense given my little knowledge. The religion department doesn't seem to a have a shared focus or reputation in any subfield (any longer at least), perhaps with the exception of religion and science (although most of these folks seem to work with people in the School of Theology anyway). Also, the cost of living is so high that between the philosophy department, the School of theology, and neighboring schools (e.g., Boston College, Harvard, etc.) the religion department appears redundant given the economic climate these days.

Hello! Thanks for creating this forum, it was much needed. I'm feeling a little nervous, googling the odds of each school and the likelihood of getting into a PhD program isn't helping haha. I'm applying to 9 schools, some in the California area, some on the East Coast. It's my first time applying to a PhD program, I have a masters and am currently working professionally before I transition into a PhD program next Fall. How about you all?

anyone know when to expect the call

BU suspends admissions to humanities, other Ph.D. programs

i think last year i submitted it through the SAM section just how western wants you to submit your CV through there too... but i think this could've been wrong LOL. i was unsure if it was supposed to be with your letter because there is so little room already to say what you want in the LOI. on their website it says to have it in the second section, but then on ORPAS it doesn't say anything under personal submissions about the experience/volunteering (unless its been changed) if anyone who has applied and been accepted can give us any advice we would all appreciate it!

It makes sense, they've been struggling to place students into TT positions. There's a strong rumor mill going at AAR that BU is aiming to completely shut down the PhD program.

They aren't admitting for the PhD in religious studies this year

I have not heard anything yet.

Can you share what happens to BU?

Luckily, I had decided against applying to Boston early on in the process due to questionable program fit and cost of living in Boston. I did recently have to strike Brown off my application list because my person of interest informed me that he intended to retire and was no longer taking students. Losing programs to apply to makes the whole process more nerve racking.

Sounds like you understand the pros and cons pretty well. I don't see anything in your post that makes me think you really want to be a statistician or even study statistics more. Having an undergrad degree in statistics is not a reason to go to grad school for stats.

Ohhhhh, Hmaxey. That's so lame. I'm sorry that happened to you. I hope, once the real letters go out, you get one. Good luck.

So I just got an email today from GW saying they sent out acceptance letters in error. So I guess I didn't get in after all 🫠

Hello All, I am in search of a Babysitter with speech language pathology background to spend time with my three year old and engage in play with speech development focus. I am flexible in timing. We have a full-time nanny, but I would love for him to spend time with someone who has expertise and speech and language development. He currently attends the Institute toddlers program on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thank you so much for considering.

I suggest you post this question somewhere on Reddit like r/statistics or r/PhD.

where do you see the last updated date? nvm: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/166484-ndseg-2023-2024/#findComment-1058950882. i'm matsci and i also see 11/4

WOW! Congratulations!!!!! That's fantastic. I have not heard yet. Have you heard yet, Mukule01?

Hello! Currently an undergrad at a random ivy league applying to Stat Ph.D. programs. I'm currently debating whether or not to continue with stats and transition to med school. I started doing stats in undergrad because I thought it was pretty interesting, but now I'm realizing that there's a high chance I end up being some random consultant or making dashboards for people, which I am definitely not interested in. There's definitely a lot of interesting things being done in the field, but when I see who's doing them I realize that those people are just insanely smart. In more theoretical stats you have a lot of former physics majors and IMO medalists and I can't compete with them. I thought that statistical machine learning was really interesting (as we all know that machine learning is very trendy right now), but there are so many young Yann Lecun's or mini Ian Goodfellows and I'm not sure if I can really make any solid contributions to the field. There's also the issue of job security (perhaps you guys have a better experience with this having been in the work force). Even if I do become successful and go on to be a research scientist at Meta or Google I could always be fired the next day or during a recession. Also, not to sound shallow or anything, but money is also a factor in my life. I have a very good gpa with some very tough courses, which means I'm still eligible to get into med school. I would just need to take some prereq courses at a local community college and study for the MCAT (this will take around 2 years or longer unfortunately). But getting into med school kind of guarantees you a salary of 350,000+ for the rest of your life if you are academically inclined and a hard worker. I would say I am a hard worker over being super smart, which sounds more in-line with becoming a successful doctor as opposed to a successful statistician or ML engineer. Becoming a doctor also sounds more fulfilling (although many of the forums I've come across talk about how many residents have lost their empathy and only care about being paid a fair wage). Everything in my life just seems to point me to leave stats, but I've already spent 4 years in undergrad studying this subject. I also haven't even gotten accepted to a phd program yet nor have I held a full-time job yet apart from several internships, so I thought it would be appropriate to ask you guys here what you think of my situation, and if getting continuing in stats is right for me? If I continue with stats I'll probably continue on with a Ph.D., assuming a get accepted this cycle, and I would probably want to be a research scientist in industry studying statistical machine learning. If I go to medical school I currently want to be some surgical specialty, but if all else fails I'll probably become an internist (which still makes 350k in some places).

Needless to say, I'm already losing my absolute mind. It's atrocious how anxiety makes time slow down as opposed to speeding it up lol.

@Kiamia Ditto on Yale Combined WGSS, but I'm doing it with AfAm Studies. Best of luck to us both, as that is for sure a dream program!

Hey hey! UK applicant here! I’ll be applying to 4 WGSS programs (Rutgers, Emory, Stony Brook & Yale combined with Anthro). This is my first cycle. Where is everyone applying?

I missed the early decision deadline by about a week. But I had an interview on Oct. 30 and just found out this morning that I got in!!