mbrown0315

Yup.

GSU is currently ranked 76 and Tennessee is, I believe, 84 (I thought you meant a higher ranking when you said R1). The lower you go in the rankings, the less of a presence T20 grads have in general. I did not intend to suggest that T20 grads dominate all the way down. There are definitely openings out there for non-T20 grads, though I would maintain my recommendation to not enroll below T40.

That is odd, indeed.

Depends on what you mean by top 40. Are we comparing 52 to, say, 38? In that case you might as well go with UConn. Still, you have to keep in mind that you'll be in grad school for a long time, and many students end up changing their research plans. It's true that many students do not plan on teaching at a top 20 university, but graduates from T20 schools tend to dominate faculty positions at lower-ranked schools, as well.

To prospective grad students: Don't get hung up on individual rankings in the top 10-15. You'll be in grad school for probably at least five years. Lots can happen in five years. A professor here at UChicago recently explained to me that Princeton does so well in placement because they undertook a major "professionalization" initiative a while back to encourage their PhD students to specialize and finish relatively early. One of the more controversial developments here at Chicago is the recent effort to do the same--lots of administrators (and some faculty) are pushing professionalization. So, maybe in five or six years some other school will occupy the #1 position and will be known for wonderful placement. You don't know, and trying to make predictions is a waste of time. That said, there is little dramatic change over time in terms of which schools occupy the top 10 or so. So, if you get into the top 10-15, stop thinking about the rankings. That's especially true if you crack the top 10. If you're going to enroll in the 20-40 range, make absolutely sure that you know statistics and have experience (including summer internships, unpaid if necessary) with data analysis. I would say do not enroll below the top 40.

Good things have happened since that article was published. UCLA has been placing a lot of grads at prestigious departments.

UCLA has very good placement.

About a half hour of market research would answer that question. Look at departmental websites of programs ranked sub-40 or 50 and note where recent hires (assistant professors) got their PhDs. Stony Brook University (ranked 42) is a convenient example: http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/sociology/people/faculty.html My advice would be to make sure you have a strong command of statistical software and methods if you dip below top 20. The academic job market seems particularly unkind at this level, and knowledge of quantitative methods makes finding a job outside of academia substantially easier. In reality, though, you should leave any program with a strong command of stats.

Depends on how you're measuring performance, but I think it's probably better to be a top performer at a mid-ranking program. If you leave a mid-ranking program with three publications in top journals, a book contract, and a smattering of awards, you're set.

You should feel comfortable yet challenged at your program, so fit is important. Judging fit by your interests, however, is a questionable strategy. Many students change their research interests after the first year or so of graduate school or find that there is enough opportunity to interact with faculty on other campuses (conferences, summer fellowships, email exchanges, etc). Rank, for better or worse, is important, though that importance fluctuates with your own aspirations. Look up a few schools you'd be happy to be employed by in the future and check their academic faculty listings (putting more weight on more recent hires). Where did they get their degrees?

Most people will start hearing back in February.

Not me. This was practically my home page, I'm sorry to say.

The protests over the men's rights speeches? I did see those videos. Pissed me off, too.

Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of people like this at other schools. I just thought UChicago peeps would be interested in the goings-on.

http://dailysophist.com/stories/280-is-uchicago-full-of-hidden-bigots To those of you going to UChicago, read the posts and comments on the Facebook page. I can't wait to TA classes with some of these undergrads.