TylerD7

Hi all, Anyone that applied for Quebec's FQRSC award? If so, any idea if / when they would announce a second round of offers? Looking at past years, they seem to do so sometime between late May and early-mid July... For those who were wait-listed in previous years, how up on the waiting list do you typically have to be to expect an award?

Thanks for sharing your story. Do you think that your in case changing departments has improved / will improve your odds once on the job market? You say you made a lateral move... so I would assume the transfer would have a limited impact in that regard, no? What's kind of freaking me out is seeing that even small schools without a PhD program like the University of Richmond or Villanova have faculty from the likes of Berkeley and Harvard...

I agree with Zahar Berkut. Your reason for transferring almost seems like a no-brainer - it's hard to comprehend faculty not understanding this. Then again, that's what kind of worries me - if your faculty had a hard time accepting you transferring for that reason, I can't imagine they'd react very positively to someone transferring because he/she's afraid of placement... Was your coursework not easier at your ''new'' school? I imagine a lot of the material you covered you had already seen, no?

Would you then say that the odds are realistically good for someone to start his/her career teaching at a small liberal-arts college and transfer to a research university a few years in?

Eponine977 - thanks for the feedback, which makes complete sense. The decision may indeed have to come to personal/relationship matters. Coachrjc - how is the process ''un-fun''? In your personal experience, did it cause much friction with faculty at the school you were transferring from? The faculty at the school I am at is great - placement really is my only concern (although it's a pretty significant one). And what made the situation at your first school dire? Was it placement as well?

Thanks all for the feedback. Let me throw in an additional curve: do you think it would be worth it to transfer from a top-75 school (e.g. Houston) to a top-40 school (e.g. Johns Hopkins) after having completed 2 years of coursework (and potentially having attained ABD status)? For the sake of the argument, let's say the person would then have to take half the coursework at Johns Hopkins (the other half being credited), take the comps, defend the prospectus again. Thoughts?

Hi, What are your thoughts on eventual job prospects for a Ph.D. student in a so-called ''second-tier'' program? Obviously one can't expect to be hired at Harvard with a Ph.D. from Tulane, but what are the odds of, for instance, getting hired at American U with a degree from the University of Houston? In other words, could one expect to have a chance to be hired at a comparable, respectable ''second-tier'' university, or is he / she condemned to a job in a tiny and obscure university or college? And how do you think the quality of the job market (which is so bad now it almost *has* to improve) over the next few years is likely to have an impact? Any input / feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!