rising_star

You wait. That's what you do.

It's the AHA (American History Association). Their jobs data is linked in various posts in the history subforum. American history is certainly an incredibly competitive field. But also, tenure-track jobs are disappearing all across the academy.

NYU unless there are clear red flags when you visit.

If your plan is to teach, I'd work with the best advisor possible. WVU isn't well-known for human geography...

This is going to be all about pets, fyi. If you're worried about finances, fostering pets can be a great option. I fostered dogs during grad school and my only requirement was no puppies. Why? Well, the rescue group covers the food and vet bills, in exchange for you taking the dog into your home, treating it as a member of you family, and being willing to bring it to adoption events (which, in one rescue group's case, were held once a month for two hours on a Saturday morning). The "no puppies" rule was because puppies must be closely supervised and cannot go without using the bathroom for very long (biologically speaking). My age minimum was 6 months, which gets you to 4-6 hours between bathroom breaks and beyond most of the chewing stage. That said, I also (was) adopted (by) a dog while writing my dissertation. This dog was 8 months old, pretty much perfectly well behaved and already housebroken BUT had far more energy than any of my previous fosters. I structured my dissertation writing around dog care, which basically gave me built in breaks. We would go on a 1-2 mile morning walk, then I'd work, then midday bathroom break, followed by more work, then a late afternoon/early evening dog park trip (followed by doughnuts for me!) and then back to work or to relax depending on the day. I didn't find it any more inconvenient, except that my dog park trips were 2 hours long... I will say that it structures your personal life in its own way. Back when I was dating, having a dog meant that impromptu sleepovers at someone else's house weren't an option for me. Even now, it forces me to think about when I teach (which is to say that I used to have a dog walker because I routinely had 6-7 hours of teaching/meetings on the same day). Happy hours after work can be difficult for me depending on when I left home. Obviously, all of this is easier if you have a doggie door and a dog that will use it but I've never had either of those things so I (or someone else) has to physically come home, put the dog on the leash, and walk them outside. I'm a dog lover but, it does change your life. I wouldn't get a dog during your first year, mostly because of the impacts on travel and social life. It's much, much easier to get a dog once you already have an established network of friends, ideas of who can watch your dog when you're out of town, etc.

A lot of it is going to depend on where you want to store your stuff. Do you want to go ahead and move it to State College? Is there any reason why you wouldn't move your stuff at the same time as you move into a new place to live? I guess I'm confused by your original question.

A department with helpful admins is worth its weight in gold. Seriously. Talk to the admin one-on-one if you can as they're the ones who can save your behind when it comes to things like paperwork and TA scheduling. (Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...) Similarly, look for the unspoken. Is there a cohort that's totally AWOL in your visit? Is it clear that people are shying away from a particular professor? Are there rumors about 2+ dreadful but required courses? Do the faculty seem to get along with one another? (Ask grad students about who is on their committee and what setting that up was like if you want to get a sense of where some of the internal conflict in a department might be.)

Agreed with this 100%. Also, if you want to network, set up a convo where you ask about conferences they'll be at in the future then, in advance of that conference, schedule a meeting over lunch, coffee, or a happy hour beverage. For the funding, you can still use the package to negotiate without actually visiting in person...

Well of course it can affect your chances of getting a formal offer. However, if you truly need more time, you can politely say that you're prepared to decide by the official university deadline but are unable to make a decision any sooner without an official offer in hand. If you want, you can also reiterate your interest in the program/professor.

Difficult to say. Some schools/departments only grant the MA degree, regardless of one's degree focus. While some employers may specify that a M.S. is needed, the only want to figure this out would be by looking at recent job ads.

Short answer, no. Plenty of MA programs in geography are funded and few geography PhD programs accept applicants without a MA/MS (unless they have them earn it along the way). It won't matter so much where you got your MA but your research experience and thesis will matter if you decide to go on to a PhD.

It's going to depend on what the folks who have been offered funding decide to do about their offers. If enough of them decline, you may be offered funding. If you really like the program, you should look into TA/GA positions in other departments on campus (e.g., housing/residence life, student union, etc.)

Honestly, there must be some reason you applied to these other programs. Go back to those and use them to help you decide. You'll never be able to fully know a situation until you're in it but don't let that keep you from making the right decision for you. Good luck!

Take a look at job ads in your field to get a sense of whether they care about what department your degree is in. That's really the best way to figure this out, besides talking to finishing PhD students and recent PhDs in your field. I have an interdisciplinary degree and sometimes find myself wishing I had a degree in a traditional social science field since some job ads specify that your degree must be in X to apply. YMMV obviously.

I'm surprised no one has suggested this but I really think you should talk to a therapist or counselor. They can help you gain perspective on your situation, including why the relationship ended, and think of steps for moving forward. In addition, engage in other self-care activities on a regular basis. For me, that means taking one day a week where I don't do work.

This also depends on your post-grad school plans. If you're planning to stay in academia, then going to the higher ranked program makes more sense.

This is probably due to my personal politics but I wouldn't shy away from a school just because the grad students may go on strike. In fact, that'd be a selling point in that it reflects a union and strong position for grad students overall. If it's a good research fit and the stipend is livable, I'd keep it on your list, at least pending the negotiations the grad student union is doing right now.

Summer funding should be on your list for sure.

I wasn't offering advice. I was telling you how I'd feel about it. I'd feel the same way I did/do when it comes to dating. I'm never going to be everyone's first choice for everything. My partner readily admits that I wasn't their first choice (gee, shocking how that happens when you're past the teenage years!). They even tell me about their previous forays and failed dating attempts and I do the same. We're happy together so it doesn't faze me. For me, grad school admissions, fellowship and grant applications, etc. are all the same way.

If you would go to CMU or Cornell if they admitted you, then don't accept this other offer yet. This is even more true if you aren't coming up on a deadline to accept or decline the offer.

@X.G, assistantships for MA students often have comparable pay to those for a PhD and come with a tuition waiver. And there are definitely more funded MA programs in sociology than what you just listed. @Ericnm, do you have a clear sense of the kind of research you want to do in sociology? From reading your post, it isn't clear why you want to become a professor and how you chose sociology, rather than another field. To do well in a sociology (or any social science) program, you're going to need to have some clear research interests and go beyond the undergraduate courses you enjoyed. Sorting that out might also help you identify funded MA programs (if you decide to do a MA first).

I'm only commenting on this to point out that most professors, particularly in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, are underpaid. 10 years after college (with MA and PhD in hand) my salary finally matched what my BFF made in her first year after college working on Wall Street (note: that's salary; BFF also got a hefty bonus). If you look at the average wages for assistant professors, you'll get a better sense of what I made. There are few other careers where people think it's reasonable to pay someone $45-50K/year after earning a bachelor's and graduate degree. @LeraK, given the skill set you've been developing, have you thought about working for an international NGO or taking the foreign service exam?

Have you ever dated (particularly online), @MixedMethods? (Work with me here.) You like someone and ask them out and maybe they say yes but maybe they say no. If they say yes, does it matter to you if they've asked out anyone before you? Probably not in reality because we've all asked people out only to have them turn us down (or, in the realm of online dating, sent someone a message and never gotten a reply). If you're not the first choice but still get what you want out of it, why obsess over the first part?

None of us can tell you if it matters to you if as a domestic student you'd be in the minority. That is very specific and individual. are you able to visit the program to get a feel for it in person?

@Madelene, your professor did you a disservice by not pointing you toward funded master's programs.