RabbitFood

I was originally not going to try and negotiate funding but my undergrad mentor advised me otherwise, I just didn't want to deal with having to disclose specific amounts and try to negotiate or whatever. Plus being a first generation college student and thinking I wasn't going to get into any grad programs made me thankful to have just gotten in anywhere and I didn't want to feel like I was being a brat in trying to get more money ha. What I ended up doing, and what I think helped in making the process easier, is that once I had narrowed down my decision to a top 3 is when I decided to disclose the amounts to those top 3. I had been asked before but did not want to stress them out in trying to secure additional funding for me if I wasn't legitimately considering the program. For example, with UCI I had a very good initial funding package (including a fellowship) but once I let them know that they were in my top 3 choices the grad directors mobilized and applied on my behalf to secure some additional sources of funding. They asked that whenever offers were updated for my other two choices that I please let them know and they also checked in quite often. A friend of mine who is also a first year in my program is annoyed with herself that she accepted her offer so quickly when she had much better offers from some of her other top choices. She says if she could do it again she would definitely say something. As some have said before, it also does vary depending on the program. Some are going to be able to offer you extra money right away, some might have to jump through hoops to get you more. Feel free to pm if you have any specific things you might want to discuss.

UCLA

I couldn't attend the UT Austin visit day and finally visited the program last week. Anyone wanna share their thoughts with me via here or PM on what they thought about the program and life in Austin? Thanks!

If I didn't get in anywhere my plan was to get in on some work/research experiences. Just to be a better candidate on the next round

Still loving my last two visits <3 of course though, loved even the car rides

Yeah I was told the same. I ended up wearing what was the most comfortable for me. If you've been accepted into the program don't worry too much about it. That's what the grad students told me at least. If you're in be yourself :]

Not much change....

I still have not made my mind up obviously. I had an AMAZING visit from my visit <3 before the last one

I actually did not go to the CUNY visit because of the lack of visiting/overall funds and the fact that I kind of forgot about it. I did talk to somebody, however, who went to the visit. They told me that they had both good and bad experiences there, but ultimately, that CUNY was probably not the best experience for them. They have a quite a few talented faculty (for me anyways) depending on what you are working on but things are not always the easiest. Even if its not the best funding the best they can still be pretty good overall. For me they fell off the list pretty fast, just off of funding. If you have better offers, consider them over what you have gotten so far. PM if you have any further questions at all :]

I attended the visit a few days ago as well and absolutely loved it. Spoke to quite a few graduate students and everybody I spoke to seemed to have only good things to say. They did say that it is a rigorous program but that there is plenty of help to make sure everyone succeeds. The faculty and graduate adviser seem to genuinely want all of the students to thrive as well. In regards to living in LA it seemed like it might be a little hectic and fast paced but very manageable. It didn't seem as crazy to live in as other parts of LA, to me anyways. There's a lot to do in the area as well so if you ever have free time you are surely to be able to get out and have a good time. I was very impressed overall and are strongly considering them even more now. I have a couple of visits left to go but they did a great job of winning me over.

Anyone claiming the USC acceptances??

I expect I will be waiting until the last possible second to make a decision. I still have a few visits to go but I have a tentative top three.

I ended up leaving them all in for my visit to Notre Dame! Thinking I may just do the same for the rest of my visits, didn't seem like it hurt my chances at ND. But we will see what happens haha

From my own personal experiences so far I would say yes. When I was applying to programs I knew that my research experience was something I lacked compared to most others and I was scared that I wouldn't get in anywhere because of it. I have gotten into a few programs and I suspect that my LORs, grades, and personal statement were strong and made up for it at least somewhat. Also extensive personal experience with the field of Sociology I want to study may have been in my favor. I do believe, however, that the lack of research experience hurt my chances of getting into the higher tiered programs, like Princeton and Berkeley, both places that were very high on my list.

During my visit to ND last week one of the prospective students told me she called USC earlier in the week and asked when notifications would be going out. They told her they were finalizing their decisions and would be letting everybody know sometime in the next couple of weeks. So we should be hopefully hearing from them soonish.