jmu

If the job market is very different now than it was then, it is going to be even more different still in the next 7-10 years. We should be making decisions based on what will make us the academics, not making concessions in our development for current trends.

Correction, the SAGGSA conference is this Thursday. I'll be working the registration table for some of that and I will be at Saturday's session of the AADS conference. I have a beard that I'm told rivals Kropotkin's. You can't miss me.

That Academic Tim Gunn page is genius.

I accepted a PhD offer my alma matter as well, though under slightly different circumstances as I only spent the last year and a half of my degree here rather than the whole thing. My department is also fairly large because it is interdisciplinary and I have connections with a few professors already (including having a class this semester with my first year mentor when I start the grad program.) These professors have pushed me harder and offered me a lot of advice because they saw potential in me. They expect more of me because of my relationship with them, I certainly don't expect it to be easier. Like you, there are a number of people in the department who I don't really know and they are people I'm interested in working with. The fact that my professors know what I am capable of means that they will push me harder in my coursework because they know what I am capable of. I applied to the program because it is, by far, the best fit for me of any program in the country and it is the only program of its kind that I know of. I feel that I will develop there better than any other program and if after two years I don't feel that way, I will ask for the master's degree and go somewhere else. I was worried about the idea that my work wouldn't be taken seriously for staying but these were alleviated when people (at multiple schools who are on search committees) told me it's an overblown fear if you are constantly presenting and publishing your work while still in grad school. The same goes for applying for national competitive grants and fellowships and association paper competitions. The more you actually get your work out there the less important it's going to be.

AADS at FIU is having a conference this week (Thurs/Fri/Sat) on Tourism in Africa and the Caribbean. Some GSS people will be chairing sessions including Percy Hintzen. He will also be giving the keynote at the grad student conference next week. Both are open to the public. Message me if you want more info.

At the program I'm going to be attending each member of the adcomm is taking a student on as a mentor, making sure they apply for things like the GRFP and that they are prepared for the beginning of the semester. Another program I was accepted at is based on you being selected by an advisor (this is not common in geography) and it was recommended that I contact him immediately to start talking about the program. His, and the DGS', lack of response to any email that asked anything about the substance of the program is one of the primary reasons I didn't accept their offer (this is a highly ranked program for my subfield and the advisor is one of the main theorists on my specific topic.)

I updated mine. It was an easy way to tell everyone where I had decided to accept with as little work from me as possible. My partner was with me when I decided, my mom got a text, everyone else can check Facebook.

Consider the weather as well, as simple and obvious as that seems. I just presented at a conference where there was some snow and, knowing that I wouldn't be able to afford to take a cab everywhere, I brought a pair of less comfortable, but more water and slip resistant shoes. I happened to have shoes that look nice but even if they didn't I would have worn them.

It depends what you're researching. In my field (and the related ones) frequent shorter trips and/or one long trip to your field site are expected. I seriously doubt my dissertation would be accepted if I wrote about what's going on in a country without spending extensive time there to find out.

I didn't study particularly hard. I did a few math problems in my free time and did okay. I scored V162/Q154/AW4 (I think I could have had the AW re-scored and done better but it didn't really affect me.) In getting feedback on my application my Q score could have helped me get a fellowship but it wasn't a factor in my applications otherwise. It should be noted that I turned in a strong, heavily edited writing sample with all of my applications which helped with the low AW. Also, in my discipline, and particularly my subfield, the only quantitative stuff is statistical and I did fine on that. My problem was the pure math stuff almost across the board. I was told that most schools would know that the Q is about 50% pure math and not to worry about it too much.

It seems like Calgary should be the obvious choice. Your cons for UBC are far more substantive.

I just sent a quick email of "Thank you for considering me and extending me an offer to your program. I had a difficult decision when deciding but have ultimately chosen to accept an offer elsewhere. I hope to stay in touch with [you/professor ____] in the future concerning [our subfield]!"

Where you want to live and how affordable it will be will depend on which campus you are one. The MMC campus, which is where most of the psych department is, is out in the west side of the county so you'll want to consider travel/transportation as part of what constitutes affordable. You could live in parts of Coral Gables on $20,000/year (the downtown Gables area in particular) but, to be honest, the area is expensive and you probably would be better off looking in other areas where you don't have to travel to afford entertainment. There are a couple cheap bars in the area but they can take on a nightclub vibe really quickly and get really crowded (I'm thinking specifically of The Local and The Bar.) On the plus side, though, you are in the Cars2Go area so getting to cheaper, quieter bars and cafes and stuff wouldn't be difficult. If you want to stay closer to campus I would look in the West Flagler, Westchester, Fountainbleu, University Park, and Sweetwater areas. They tend to be more affordable working and lower-middle class areas and there are still places to get away and eat or study (Specialtea, A&G Burger, etc.) I live in Sweetwater right now and plan on staying in the Sweetwater/UP area because I like it so much. Anywhere you go in Miami there will be crime and it will range from petty crimes of necessity (robbing a store), crimes of passion (there was a murder in Sweetwater a little while back but it was a jealous lover), to terrorism (a right-wing Cuban Liberation group firebombed a travel agency in Coral Gables last year.) It is more common in other parts than others. For example, I have a friend who lives in Little Haiti (not the main strip on NE 2nd or the gentrified neighborhoods of Buena Vista or the Design District, but parts closer to Liberty City) and people will break into his house and steal little things, steal plants from his yard, and he will occasionally be woken up by gun shots. This is one of the realities of the city that you will come to learn. Most acts of violence are not random, however, and I generally feel safe no matter where I am. If you have questions about a specific area let me know and I can give you more info. http://classifieds.fiu.edu has roommate matching and house searching for students. UM has an off-campus housing website also that may be useful if you are seriously considering the Gables or South Miami (I would also recommend looking at Shenandoah if that is the case.) Until the housing situation on campus improves I would not even consider applying for it. There is no dedicated grad housing, instead it is a grad floor in undergrad dorms and as there is already an on campus housing shortage (until the new dorms are built there is only housing for 5% of students) it is really hard to get. Everyone gets on-campus parking and there are several bus lines that run to the campus.

Congrats! I will respond with some details in the morning. I'm native to the area and will be staying.

There is nothing on the grad school website where I accepted about it either, but it is stipulated in my contract. I would contact the department(s) and grad school(s) to find out for sure.

Zch, contact the programs you applied to and ask for feedback on your application. It's possible your app is fine and you're just applying to the wrong places. It might also be that you lack a formal background. The programs will tell you what, exactly, it is.

I use dropbox. I edit files directly from my dropbox folder so they sync every time I save.

As for joining AHA, I joined AAG and AAA because they offer cheap undergraduate memberships. If it's cost prohibitive I wouldn't but it's not a bad idea to join.

Most CVs have a section for published book reviews. I wouldn't include any that aren't already published as they don't usually take as long to go through.

I was told by multiple people on adcomms not to waste time or space with that but to tailor the SOP to each program. I did that by mentioning connections between my work and people there and connections to other departments that could supplement the department where my fit is not as good. For example, if they didn't have a Caribbeanist I would mention one in a related discipline at that university.

It depends. I was wait listed at one program while they figured out ways to arrange their funding so there was more available. The other was because they loved my app but others were a better fit with the people taking students. They wanted to accept me but couldn't justify it right away given limited funding.

Make sure your CV is solid. Include the articles you have submitted in a section called something like "Manuscripts in Preparation, Under Review and In Press." You can include your extracurriculars under a "Service" section but don't expect it to factor in. I have honor societies listed under "Professional Affiliations and Honor Societies" and list them with my AAG and AAA memberships. Again, it's information but it probably won't help.

Every syllabus I've seen, from multiple colleges and universities, has had an academic honesty clause.

Didn't see or find a thread so I figured I'd get one started. I put the schools together because I don't imagine there would be a large group at either program and we are all in the same area (and through the UM-FIU exchange I will probably try to take a course or two over there.)

When I got the unofficial notification I was sitting in a cafe upset about just being rejected by another program.