PoliSwede

Hey progress It all depends on what type of career that you are planning to have after you're done with your PhD. It sounds as if you want to go into academia? If so, publications and conference presentations are going to be extremely important. For example, one of my (former) professors in my MA program came from a program that is ranked around the 50-mark. He finished his PhD with 4 publications and had several job offers when he went out on the job market. He has now accepted a job offer from a PhD-granting institution and is moving on. Now, if you're expecting to receive job offers from Yale, Harvard etc. you probably shouldn't attend either of those programs. Schools tend to place their PhD students at different tiers, and one can only do so much to improve your resume with publications. "Pedigree" will still matter a whole lot. If you're able to visit all three of the schools, I'd definitely do that. Try to figure out where you will be able to co-author with faculty, receive funding for conferences, etc. Then see how the school that you're currently in love with stacks up against the others. Good luck!

On the topic of departments not replying to emails/attempted contact: I don't pretend to know how much time or money that certain departments have available for the admission's process. I am sure that this varies greatly across schools/programs and is hard to generalize. I do however believe that programs, if they want to maintain a reputation and perhaps even attract students should make sure that they invest time in the process. In one instance, I attempted to contact a DGS on multiple multiple occasions. I called (once) and emailed (twice) without receiving any type of reply. I ended up not applying to that program even though I was interested. I prioritized other programs in its place. I can compare that to my experience emailing BFB. It was very friendly and my questions were all answered! It was one of the reasons I decided to apply even though I didn't quite think that I was competitive enough. I also ended up getting rejected, but I am not too upset about it (probably would've been different if I didn't have other admits!). P.S. I typed this on a phone. Any typos and other errors should be blamed on Samsung.

Stender: I wish you the best of luck in getting into a good Swedish program! I must say that the difference, especially when it comes to weather, seems huge between San Jose and Sweden.

That's awesome!

Making a friendly bump in this thread. Since I might be attending UofI, I am interested in good neighborhoods in CU and good landlords in the area. I am more interested in renting a house than an apartment, so any help on where to look is greatly appreciated! I did get a long list of landlords from the tenant union, but it'd be nice to hear from people who actually have been forced to live with some of the landlords. Thanks!

As Mnemonics said, I don't think that the difference in ranking carries that much weight for your choice here since they are fairly evenly ranked. Instead I would focus on the fit/feel that you have for both of the programs. Where will you feel happy spending your next 5-6 years, what is the atmosphere in the program like, funding opportunities, etc. I can't really speak of the placement for either of the schools, but that's something you should make sure to ask the programs about before you make your decision. Ask for a list of all their students and placements from the past five years or so to get a picture of what it's like.

As long as you have one admit (as you do), it makes all the rejections so much less depressing! You know that you have a place to go no matter what else happens.

You've got (electronic) mail. And by that I mean a private message.

I'm sure that if they've read this forum they've already figured it out. I don't mind at all.

I just returned from my first campus visit. I almost fell out of my chair when I was talking to the Director of Graduate Studies and she metioned the Grad Cafe. I was so surprised I don't even remember in what context. Anyway, for those wondering, they are aware of this place.

What he said

Thank you very much for applying to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale University. I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission. And thus, the dream dies.

I feel like decision day should be like the NFL/NHL drafts. You walk up on stage at Madison Square Garden (or somewhere else), shake hands with your new program, answer questions for journalists, and enjoy the spotlight for a bit. Would be awesome.

Penn State rejects via postal service? I guess what I'm waiting for then.

Alright Yale. Going to put me out of my misery this week? Give it your best shot!

I've not received anything from Penn State. No official acceptance/rejection/waitlist. Maybe they just forgot about me

Huge congratulations!

So Yale might or might not be done (with acceptances). Clear as mud!

I object to Yale finalizing their notifications tomorrow. I want that dream to live just a little bit longer.

Thanks!

When is Penn States' visitation? I am assuming that since I've not heard anything from them, that there's still a really slim chance that I might get an offer if enough of those who have been accepted turn theirs down (I've not seen any rejections posted for this cycle either)

Thanks!

In at Michigan State! I now have a choice to make....feels really weird. And I'm still slightly in shock that any programs wanted me at all.

Congratulations to RiffRam and Titot!

Welp. Hi Penn.