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thmp945

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    2013 Fall

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  1. I was informed a couple weeks ago that I have been accepted to Florida State University but that funding decisions were still being made. This morning I received an email stating that I am being offered funding (details to follow). I'm still waiting to hear back from 6 other programs, but I'm so relieved and elated that I definitely have one great option on the table! Anyone else apply to FSU? Opinions on their program?
  2. I submitted my last PhD application just moments ago. Feels good to be finished! Now there's nothing to do but wait... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJqg_-wXnuU
  3. Looking through the survey results (http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php), it does appear that UCI sends out rejection letters via regular postal mail. The survey results show that there were a couple rejection letters received last year on 20 Feb and 3 Mar. So it does appear that they stagger their acceptance/rejection notices somewhat. I guess I won't give up hope just yet
  4. ETS Powerprep practice exams are graded exactly the same way as the real thing. Each section is graded on a scale from 140 to 170. Either you didn't use the actual ETS Powerprep software or you are confused about your scores.
  5. If UCI sent out their acceptance letters today I guess that means I didn't get in because I didn't hear anything Congrats to PhDreams though. Do schools normally send out rejection letters too? Or are you just to assume that you've been rejected when you don't hear anything?
  6. For what it's worth, the association of doctoral programs in criminology and criminal justice single out the top 5 programs (as rated by US News) for a separate analysis in their annual report. With that said, in my personal opinion there are some excellent programs that are ranked outside the top 5 by US News. The methodology that US News uses is far from perfect. I had no interest in applying to any of the "top 5" programs with the exception of UCI. Also, I think it's important to remember that there are other ways of comparing programs. For example, faculty productivity: http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/page.php?year=2007&primary=3&secondary=149&bycat=Go You'll notice that UCI (#5, US News) is not in that top 10 list for faculty productivity whereas the University of South Florida (#22, US News) is ranked #7. A more recent (and thorough) analysis of faculty productivity ranked both Florida State University and Arizona State University as #1 and #5 respectively (compared to #7 and #12 respectively by US News). In short, different ranking methodologies may yield very different results.
  7. I've applied to 8 criminology PhD programs. I'd say 6/8 of these programs I disregarded ranking and chose to apply based on program fit alone. The other 2 decisions to apply were influenced by ranking somewhat. I, too, have applied to UCI so it sounds like I'll hear yea/nay from them first. This was one of the programs that I applied to based somewhat on ranking. Speaking of rankings, US News will be updating their graduate school rankings in "late winter or early spring 2013". This will be welcome information since the current rankings are from 2009. See here: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2012/11/08/graduate-school-rankings-data-collection-begins I wonder if the rankings will be updated in time to use them in consideration of offers for fall 2013. Good luck to all of you! I'm sure hoping I'll get an offer to at least one of the schools that I've applied to.
  8. While I was studying for the GRE I wondered how similar the practice tests I was taking were to the real thing... So I thought starting a thread comparing practice test scores vs. actual results on the real GRE might be helpful for those still studying. If you agree, add your information! Princeton Review 1: 158V / 148Q Princeton Review 2: 161V / 149Q Powerprep 1: 161V / 149Q Powerprep 2: 160V / 155Q / 3.75AW REAL GRE: 166V / 150Q / 5.5AW Hours studied: approx 115
  9. Thanks for your thoughtful reply and encouragement Regarding my thesis supervisor: a great academic, but very resistant to offering advice, even when specifically asked for. His standard answer whenever I've asked for advice is, "That's up to you." I've stopped asking at this point. I've since contacted one of the managers from my last (government) job and she has happily agreed to act as a reference. I was confident that would be the case. Unfortunately the fact remains that the reference is still not ideal since some of the schools that I'm applying to specify that they "prefer" the references to be from *academic* sources. But still, better than nothing! Your last paragraph contains some great suggestions but unfortunately none seems to work for me. I don't have any mentors (yet), possibly due to the fact that my undergrad and master's program were both in Sociology (not Criminology) so my ability to associate with Criminologists has been very limited. That's why I'm pursuing a PhD in Criminology, not Sociology. I did get a job in my field at a youth correctional facility since graduating a year ago - specifically for the purpose of gaining professional experience and references - only to have the government phone me up after my second shift and tell me that I couldn't work at the facility due to union rules. In short, I was concurrently working in a government office job full-time and since the government was technically the same employer for both the office job and youth correctional facility job, the union would not allow it. Thanks, organised labour! This was doubly unfortunate because the hiring process for the correctional facility was very arduous, even requiring me to train for several months in order to gain the strength and speed necessary to pass the physical abilities test (I was one of the 6 out of 50 that passed). For a final recommender, I've resorted to contacting a professor that wrote a letter for me over 5 years ago when I was applying to master's programs. Definitely not ideal since he can't comment on my abilities gained in my master's program, but better than nothing I guess. Hopefully he has a copy of the letters he wrote for me 5 years ago, because I'm sure he wouldn't be able to write a new one so long after I was his student. I'm waiting to hear back from him. Assuming that these two new recommenders work out, I'm still wondering if it would be a good idea to include some sort of brief explanation to the admissions committee about why my letters of recommendation (with the exception of my supervising professor) are not from more qualified sources. Thoughts? Thanks again for chatting with me about this!
  10. TL;DR: the professors that knew me best are dead, retired, and unavailable. Advice? And here's the long version: I graduated in late fall 2011 and am currently applying to graduate programs in criminology. I need 3 letters of recommendation. My thesis supervisor is on board. So that's one. For better or worse, most of my master's program was centred on this professor. In addition to him being my thesis supervisor, I acted as his TA for two semesters and as an RA for two related projects both during and after I graduated. The next professor in line worked with me quite a bit throughout my master's program and even referred his undergrad students to me as a private tutor. Unfortunately he died suddenly about 6 months after I graduated. This was a surprise to everyone as he was very young. Next up is the internal examiner on my thesis committee. He strongly encouraged me to pursue a PhD after reading my thesis. I contacted him recently only to learn that he had retired suddenly, was out of the country, and unavailable to write me a letter. This was a surprise to me as I didn't think he was retirement age and it sounds almost as if he left the school on bad terms. He is not listed as a professor emeritus on the program's website so I'm really not sure what happened. Next up is a professor I took two graduate seminars with. Definitely not my first choice, but what else do I do at this point? Unfortunately his wife was diagnosed with cancer my final year of study and he took early retirement as a result. I contacted him anyway only for him to reply that he's retired and will only write letters for students he has supervised in the past. At this point my options for recommenders from my master's program are basically exhausted. I am very hesitant to contact professors that knew me 5+ years ago during my undergrad because they didn't know me that well even back then and I can't expect them to offer a very strong reference such a long time later. References from employers are difficult also. I worked for a company during my undergrad and was quickly promoted to a regional manager position and only had the CEO and CFO to report to. Fast forward nearly 10 years and these guys are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and are not available for something as hokey as writing a meaningful letter of recommendation for graduate schools. After that job I worked as an independent contractor for a while (again, no boss) and then started my master's program. The only other job I've had since was a government job this last summer. Although I know that there are at least 4 managers there who would recommend me to another employer or school, this job was totally unrelated to criminology and I'm not sure how much an admissions committee would care about what they have to say. So I only have a single recommender at this point and time is running out. Any advice? Should I let the schools I am applying to know about my unusual circumstances surrounding letters of recommendation? Or should I not say anything and just submit one known good and two less-than-ideal letters of recommendation? What would you do?
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