Maleficent999

I can go ahead and get things started since I've made my decision - I'm going to be attending University of Washington next year.

Congrats!

I think it's also useful for future years, in the case that applicants want to find who has picked a certain school in the past and reach out to them. 

It is mainly to post where you have decided to go. We have all been helping each other out and rooting each other on for months now, it's just nice to see how things ended up/congratulate each other and potentially find the people in your cohort.

I hope you don't remind me responding, I'm currently going to Davis so I thought I'd add my insight.  
 
The campus is a good size but not big you can't walk across it, though it's too big to walk across in 10 minutes.  They have a great bus system here, which isn't quite as good on weekends but it still works out if you don't have a car.  
 
People are still around after 5 but it is a bit quieter then.  A lot of people are on campus studying or attending clubs in the evenings.  
 
I hope that was helpful.

Nope I don't mind. The old one has been removed.

Nope I don't mind. The old one has been removed.

As the creator of this thread, I'm just going to ask that we all move on from the topic of funding. This is a place to post decisions. Discussions relating to funding can be posted elsewhere, such as in The Bank or by bumping up an old thread.
 
Congrats, Sociolite! How do you like it?

As simply an observer, I only sense butt-hurtism eminating from one direction, and it's not coming from anyone else here. Maybe you are 100% right and negotiating doesn't help at all. What does one lose from trying? I think it is unfair to attack somebody for asking people to try, based on personal experience of success. 
 
I think our year on GC has come this far without much drama, completely supporting each other and I am only butting in because it pains me to watch it get hijacked for whatever unresolved bitterness lingers from 2013. If you don't have good advice to give us, please be respectful and let other people do so.

Cultsoc, I don't think the downvotes are because we can't "hack the truth."  I think it's because your post came across as attacking another user who was trying to offer some sincere advice to graduate school applicants.  After that, you did offer some advice, but then closed your post with more attacks toward the same user.  You also referred to some grad school programs as "mickey mouse programs." I have no idea what that means because I had no idea that was a term, but I'm assuming it's pretty insulting.
 
Another user than posted their response, and you were rude to her, saying she had somehow hopped on a bandwagon in a thread of ... just a few users.  Hardly a bandwagon.
 
This is why you received downvotes and why your posts are not well-received, and why your advice is not being properly processed.  Advice gets lost when it's wedged within insults.
 
You could have private messaged Darth to let him know what you thought, then offered JUST your advice in this thread, or you could have phrased your sentiment in a less insulting way (e.g. "Darth, I don't think negotiation works in most cases; you have to be careful when doing so ... " etc.) You're absolutely right in that negotiation doesn't work in all cases. That advice was lost in your tirade against the first user, your backhanded comment toward another user, and the rest of our "bandwagon."
 
So ... can we keep this thread about decisions and decision-making advice instead of insulting folks?  

I think I owe it to Davis to at least let them know my concerns regarding funding. If they can't do anything more then they can't do anything. I don't think they're going to rescind my offer for asking questions.

I think I owe it to Davis to at least let them know my concerns regarding funding. If they can't do anything more then they can't do anything. I don't think they're going to rescind my offer for asking questions.

Despite what darth said, I just wanted to point out that there is nothing wrong with officially accepting earlier than April 14 or 15.  I turned down schools as soon as I knew I wouldn't attend, and I put in my official acceptance to my program two weeks before the deadline.  Once you've made a decision, you've made a decision.  Do what feels right to you   

and just like last year, we have mr. darth hijacking a thread and spreading misinformation. as others have noted MANY times in the past, negotiating with sociology programs over funding doesn't work, unless you're a top candidate with multiple acceptances at really top programs, or in extremely rare cases where other factors are involved.
 
and no, ma programs at simon fraser and other mickey mouse universities don't count. 
 
if you are absolutely sure you won't be attending a program, decline the offer asap. if you're having a tough time deciding between multiple acceptances, then feel free to take your time. in either case, forget about "negoiating," programs are not businesses. i will guarantee you that you won't get a dime more than the offer you have already received.
 
go through last year's threads where darth's posted and read about the good negotiating did for him.
 
and darth, seriously, stop giving people wrong advice. 

The ASA has exact data on this. From the last stats I saw, of all the social sciences, sociology had the best job prospects save for maybe economics. I don't have the link, maybe someone else here will. Job placement is rough for sure, but it's not that bleak. If you insist on getting a job at an R1 in a major urban city, your outcome may be bleak. If all you're looking for is a tenure track job, the outcomes are better if you go to a good program with a good history of job placement. Myself, I only hope for a tenure track job in either North America or Australia, I am not pickier than that. 

I haven't officially accepted. I'm just pretty sure I will. There's only one program I'm still waiting to hear from that would make me change my mind, and I'm fairly certain I'm on the waitlist at best. I intend to heed your advice and wait until later in the process to formally accept though. I still need to attend the visiting day and that could potentially sway me as well.

Might be a bit early but I'm impatient  I'm sure some people already have an idea of where they'll be going even if they haven't officially accepted yet.
 
I'm 99% certain I'll be at UC Davis next year and I'm pretty excited about it.

I believe you. I'm in a relationship and it's been a generally shitty month. Having "the talk" about how you are moving for grad school and being told by your SO that they won't be coming with you (after making plans to do just that, and after you moved once to be with them) really f-ing stinks. Good riddance February, on to March!

Might be a bit early but I'm impatient  I'm sure some people already have an idea of where they'll be going even if they haven't officially accepted yet.
 
I'm 99% certain I'll be at UC Davis next year and I'm pretty excited about it.

I believe you. I'm in a relationship and it's been a generally shitty month. Having "the talk" about how you are moving for grad school and being told by your SO that they won't be coming with you (after making plans to do just that, and after you moved once to be with them) really f-ing stinks. Good riddance February, on to March!

I believe you. I'm in a relationship and it's been a generally shitty month. Having "the talk" about how you are moving for grad school and being told by your SO that they won't be coming with you (after making plans to do just that, and after you moved once to be with them) really f-ing stinks. Good riddance February, on to March!

Now the real trouble begins: HOW WILL YOU CHOOSE!? 

Fully funded at Binghamton. Can't believe I have three acceptances!  

So I have recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (honors). My CGPA was not exceptional (3.38 out of 4.0), however I won the best student and the best project awards from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (UK) and I was also selected as the best student in the engineering department. I am the type of guy who refuses to copy the assignments or cheat/ memorize for the exam. If I don't enjoy it, I refuse to listen to the lecture. Grades are useless anyway. I have spent most of my time in the lab doing research on my own for over 4 years now. 
 
I have published 3 ISI Q1 papers as the corresponding author (in the field of nanomaterials), and I have 6 more under review (all as corresponding author). I am also a referee for several high-ranking international journals in Materials Science. 
I have won a number of international design awards and my works have been featured on USA Today, NBC News, ABC News, The Economist, Daily Mail, CS Monitor, etc. I have co-founded a company with a former CFO of Nokia and a former senior executive at Qatar Airways in which I also serve as the CTO.
 
Since my senior year, I have been also appointed as a research fellow (same ranking and salary as an associate professor in our University). As part of my work, I co-supervised (and still do) PhD students (yeah, undergrad supervising PhD students!).
 
Anyway, I am the first person to have synthesized this new material that was predicted to exist some 20 years ago. Think of graphene, but superior in every aspect, especially when it comes to industrial scale applications. We are still working on some of the details before we publish the results. One of my collaborators, a professor in Taiwan used to do his post-doc at UC Berkeley and he convinced me that I should apply for a PhD, so I can use the high-tech equipment at LBNL and make things go faster. So he introduced me to the professor. The professor said that he is going to take 2-3 students this year and depending on the outcome of my application, we need to talk more about my works. 
 
I had 3 very positive recommendation letters; one from that professor who was a former post-doc, another from my collaborator who is a research director at CNRS and lastly, my former supervisor and colleague who is an associate editor for one of the leading journals in the field of ceramic and composite materials.
 
I received a rejection letter yesterday from Berkeley. How on earth do you justify that? They say in their decision letter that there are so many other well-qualified candidates and I cannot be recommended for admission. I talked to the professor and he said that he was not part of the committee this year and he is very sorry. 
 
Is UC Berkeley located on another planet inhabited by highly intelligent species and comparatively, I'm actually very dumb?
No, seriously. Who makes these decisions anyway? I demand full transparency!
 

This. Everything about this lol. (Expect something else in place of House of Cards, cause my bf tried to get me into it the other day and I did fall asleep to his extreme annoyance.)