meowth

Just committed to North Carolina State University.  So excited!

University of Florida.  

Oh yeah, because I'm totally going into sociology for the money. 
 
And I bet going to a non-top-20 PhD is totally worse than my current jobs - working food service part time and working nearly minimum wage at the library. If I go to grad school now, I might be, gasp, underemployed, like I'm not already!
 
I guess what I dislike about this post is that you're not providing any other options or advice. Not everyone has the credentials to get into a top 20. Really, very few do.

Oh yeah, because I'm totally going into sociology for the money. 
 
And I bet going to a non-top-20 PhD is totally worse than my current jobs - working food service part time and working nearly minimum wage at the library. If I go to grad school now, I might be, gasp, underemployed, like I'm not already!
 
I guess what I dislike about this post is that you're not providing any other options or advice. Not everyone has the credentials to get into a top 20. Really, very few do.

Oh yeah, because I'm totally going into sociology for the money. 
 
And I bet going to a non-top-20 PhD is totally worse than my current jobs - working food service part time and working nearly minimum wage at the library. If I go to grad school now, I might be, gasp, underemployed, like I'm not already!
 
I guess what I dislike about this post is that you're not providing any other options or advice. Not everyone has the credentials to get into a top 20. Really, very few do.

I waited until after I graduated to apply because I was already so busy doing an honors thesis. I also wasn't 100% on what I wanted to go to grad school for.
 
Pros:
I get to use my complete transcript, that I graduated with highest honors, and show my honors thesis. Time to gain more experience (like even my last spring semester helped a lot). More time to think about where to go to graduate school and what to go for. Time to see if I just like working or if there's anything else I'd rather do. Cons:
Since I started working I actually still ended up quite pressed for time when application season rolled around again. It took me a while to actually find a job (but you'll be okay there). Might be hard to take time off work to go to interviews to visits. Student loans started collecting six months after graduating.

My parents were both community college drop-outs (so their highest education is high school), so I'm the first to go to college for more than a year, actually graduate with a degree, and now applying to graduate school.
 
Even in high school my parents couldn't really help me with anything beyond basic encouragement because they didn't really know most of stuff I was doing, and they were even more lost trying to understand what I did in college! They're both good in their fields (civil engineering and computer programming respectively) but they've worked up the ladder for a long time (from soil tester and secretary respectively) and that's different than learning the stuff at a university. But, I also think they might've been some of the last of a generation actually able to work their way up without a college degree, and if they ever lost their jobs at their companies, I'm not sure they'd be able to get back into the workforce very easily despite so many years of experience. It's just different. I'm lucky to say I don't think I've struggled very much; it probably helps that I'm white, U.S.-born, my parents were also U.S.-born, etc.
 
I'm doing fine... graduated summa cum laude, found fields that I love, applying to graduate school.
 
Even though my parents didn't got to college, they always expected me to, so that really helped! Yet they also never told me I had to do one thing or another. Like, even if I hadn't gone to college they probably would've been okay (but I was always did well in school so that probably would've surprised them). I've been pretty self-motivated and I liked being given pretty much free reign and very few expectations. They were a little worried that I'm taking a year off post-graduation and working crappy jobs while applying to graduate school, but now that I've been doing fine with that I think they're less worried.
 
I'm still surprised when I hear people talking about their parents going to college, graduate school, sometimes even in the same fields! It's hard to imagine.

99.9% certain I'll be attending University of Florida since I've already gotten all my rejections and said no to my one waitlist and one other acceptance. Guess I'll be staying at my alma mater! Nothing fancy, but I got a great assistantship so I'm happy. Besides, at least I already know the area very well. Already picking out an apartment closer to campus!
 
Time has been going by faster since receiving most of the decisions. August is only five month away! I'm ready to start and get out of working crappy jobs. (Then again, being a grad student probably sounds like a crappy job too, but, you know.)
 
Nice to see everyone making their decisions and ending up at awesome places. Congrats! You made it.

This is hyperbole. There are plenty of schools in the top 50 that have been placing their students. Long story short, look for the job placement stats of the programs you get accepted to, if they don't have it published and/or won't give it to you, be very weary. 
 
Oh and great answer RandomDood

Dear TheTruth,

I am just answering because I mostly disagree with you (although not completely), and I don't want other prospective applicants to read your post and freak out. For full disclosure, I am probably biased because, as you can see, I am not enrolled in a "top 20" program.
There is absolutely no question that as a general rule of thumb being in a top ranked program is better than being in a low-ranked one. 999 cases out of 1000, going to Princeton is a much better career decision than going to CUNY. That being said, I think you are overlooking a few things.

As sociologists, we often tend to favor structural explanations over individual ones. Yet, contrary to popular belief (and by "popular" I mean "on this board"), going to a great program will not get you a job in itself. It's not like you do well on the GRE, write a great personal statement, get into Harvard and five years later Harvard will find a job for you.
As an academic on the job market, what will ultimately make a real, tangible difference in where you get an interview is a combination of your publication and grants record, as well as your advisor's network/his willingness to vouch for you within his network.
The latter factor is mostly independent from ranking, in the sense that many well-known professors are in good-but-not-top schools, and being in a "lower" program will decrease peer competition and thus increase the likelihood of him/her betting on you as "their" student. Ultimately, I think that it's probably better to have a well-known advisor who treats you as his best student than having a superstar advisor who sees you as one of the many good students he has mentored throughout the years.
Concerning publications and grants, especially within sociology--where review is blind--prestige has little to do with your individual performance. While it's definitely true that certain departments put you in a better situation than others when it comes to publishing--less teaching loads, more funding for fieldwork, but also more departmental pressure to do research and publish early--the quality of your work will mostly depend on your own ability as a researcher, and partially on your advisor's ability as a mentor. If you are disciplined and really make a point of starting your research early on with the resources that are given to you, chances are that you will manage to get more than a few publications out by the time you graduate. Similarly, if you keep track of all the possible funding opportunities, cast a wide net and apply on time, you will probably manage to get your hands on some grant money one way or another. Both factors are, I think, way more important than just having "Harvard" or "Princeton" on your CV, although going to these schools will undoubtedly put you in a better spot when it comes to writing for publication and applying for grants.
As one of the students of my program who got a job at a top university (thus defying the "iron law" that often haunts this forum) told me, it is certainly true that top universities tend to hire people from top programs, but that has less to do with prestige than it has to do with how top programs professionalize their students. In this perspective, a top program will professionalize you, but there is nothing that prevents you from being proactive and learn things your own way if you are in a lower ranked program.

Ultimately, giving a look at who gets jobs in top departments, there is one variable that seems to me way more relevant than where they got their phd from; they all have ridiculously excellent publication and grant records. Like, at least three-four articles, with one article in one of the top journals in the discipline and/or forthcoming books based on their dissertation. Merely "going to a top program" will not get you those jobs, and "going to a lower-ranked program" will not itself prevent you from getting one. Being disciplined, proactive and carefully planning your career will definitely make a difference, and while top programs will encourage you and set you up in an ideal situation to do so, building your own career is ultimately up to you, not to the institution that finances you.

Just my two cents, as usual :-)

Honestly, the abismally low acceptance rate of psychology programs is one reason I decided to apply to sociology programs instead.

Since I was on campus already, I printed out the stuff I was supposed to give to the grad department, signed it, and turned it in. And it so happened both of the graduate coordinator and the person who does the finances was there, and they were excited enough about me making it official that the coordinator asked if she could give me a hug. So that was cool! And I found out through her that my POI would be interested in working with me (though nothing made official yet, it's good to know, since only so many people can work with each professor).
 
So that was nice. I was just expecting to leave it in a mailbox.

99.9% certain I'll be attending University of Florida since I've already gotten all my rejections and said no to my one waitlist and one other acceptance. Guess I'll be staying at my alma mater! Nothing fancy, but I got a great assistantship so I'm happy. Besides, at least I already know the area very well. Already picking out an apartment closer to campus!
 
Time has been going by faster since receiving most of the decisions. August is only five month away! I'm ready to start and get out of working crappy jobs. (Then again, being a grad student probably sounds like a crappy job too, but, you know.)
 
Nice to see everyone making their decisions and ending up at awesome places. Congrats! You made it.

Since I was on campus already, I printed out the stuff I was supposed to give to the grad department, signed it, and turned it in. And it so happened both of the graduate coordinator and the person who does the finances was there, and they were excited enough about me making it official that the coordinator asked if she could give me a hug. So that was cool! And I found out through her that my POI would be interested in working with me (though nothing made official yet, it's good to know, since only so many people can work with each professor).
 
So that was nice. I was just expecting to leave it in a mailbox.

99.9% certain I'll be attending University of Florida since I've already gotten all my rejections and said no to my one waitlist and one other acceptance. Guess I'll be staying at my alma mater! Nothing fancy, but I got a great assistantship so I'm happy. Besides, at least I already know the area very well. Already picking out an apartment closer to campus!
 
Time has been going by faster since receiving most of the decisions. August is only five month away! I'm ready to start and get out of working crappy jobs. (Then again, being a grad student probably sounds like a crappy job too, but, you know.)
 
Nice to see everyone making their decisions and ending up at awesome places. Congrats! You made it.

Since I was on campus already, I printed out the stuff I was supposed to give to the grad department, signed it, and turned it in. And it so happened both of the graduate coordinator and the person who does the finances was there, and they were excited enough about me making it official that the coordinator asked if she could give me a hug. So that was cool! And I found out through her that my POI would be interested in working with me (though nothing made official yet, it's good to know, since only so many people can work with each professor).
 
So that was nice. I was just expecting to leave it in a mailbox.

Since I was on campus already, I printed out the stuff I was supposed to give to the grad department, signed it, and turned it in. And it so happened both of the graduate coordinator and the person who does the finances was there, and they were excited enough about me making it official that the coordinator asked if she could give me a hug. So that was cool! And I found out through her that my POI would be interested in working with me (though nothing made official yet, it's good to know, since only so many people can work with each professor).
 
So that was nice. I was just expecting to leave it in a mailbox.

99.9% certain I'll be attending University of Florida since I've already gotten all my rejections and said no to my one waitlist and one other acceptance. Guess I'll be staying at my alma mater! Nothing fancy, but I got a great assistantship so I'm happy. Besides, at least I already know the area very well. Already picking out an apartment closer to campus!
 
Time has been going by faster since receiving most of the decisions. August is only five month away! I'm ready to start and get out of working crappy jobs. (Then again, being a grad student probably sounds like a crappy job too, but, you know.)
 
Nice to see everyone making their decisions and ending up at awesome places. Congrats! You made it.

99.9% certain I'll be attending University of Florida since I've already gotten all my rejections and said no to my one waitlist and one other acceptance. Guess I'll be staying at my alma mater! Nothing fancy, but I got a great assistantship so I'm happy. Besides, at least I already know the area very well. Already picking out an apartment closer to campus!
 
Time has been going by faster since receiving most of the decisions. August is only five month away! I'm ready to start and get out of working crappy jobs. (Then again, being a grad student probably sounds like a crappy job too, but, you know.)
 
Nice to see everyone making their decisions and ending up at awesome places. Congrats! You made it.

Got an email from Albany telling me to check their website for their decision (previously I've been on the waitlist) and the website said I was accepted. But they said info about funding would be communicated separately. Considering they said I was waitlisted in the first place because they said there wasn't enough funding, I'm not really sure what to think about it yet.

Meoweth and DarkVegan are two of the best aliases I have ever seen on the Internet.  Just wanted to point out that important fact.

E-mailed Albany and turns out I'm still on waitlist for funding, so I guess the acceptance didn't mean much after all? Oh well. I was hoping to visit, consider all options, but I suppose this still isn't much of an option besides a long-shot. They said they probably won't know more until early April, and even if I did get funding by then, I can't imagine agreeing to move across the country without even visiting. But I'm content with what I have. (And since I was inquiring about visiting, they offered to chat on the phone at least, so they've been very nice, but if I'm a decent way down the wait list still, I think I'm probably good? It's hard though because I just hate to rule out anything unless I'm 100% certain.)

I am incredibly skeptical of cis men in my women's studies courses, but have been won over by some. Same as 2520s in Africa American studies, or any other person who is part of the supremacy entering into subjugated spaces. Talking about masculinism as if it were equatable to feminism is how you'll get some side-eye though. That shows you don't have a true understanding of the patriarchy or oppression, and also that you're stuck in a gender dichotomy. Understand your privileges (esp. when it comes to dominating classroom discussions) and make sure you know what your endgame really is in taking the course. Susan Bordo does some work on critical masculinities, and may be a great starting place for allies. 

@meowth

I am at USF right now for their visitation (PhD). Last night I arrived early and sat in on a class with one of my POIs and it was fantastic. Small class and the students were engaged and bright. And POI was really great!

I suggest visiting campus it's probably the most beautiful campus I have ever set foot on (coming from north east cost schools and Texas gradschool)

It is a qualitative program, they won't even pretend to be quantitative (which is good for me). And then faculty are doing amazing work.

However, the PhD program is new (6 or so years) so there is no job placement history and it's un-ranked. It's a risk. It could be one that pays off. It's probably not such a big risk for your MA. But I am having a very hard time making this decision because I absolutely love it here but I know it's a little risky.

Good luck. Hope this could help.

Wow, this thread is dead. I feel like mine all just came really late. Just waiting on Boston now!
 
So, today I got accepted to University of South Florida's Master's program. They offer funding, but only half as much as I've been offered from University of Florida's PhD program. But, I do really like several of the professor's work there, and I've never hung out in Tampa, so I still want to go visit. The e-mail also said they encourage master's studies that do well to continue in their PhD program, so that's good. I also have to consider that it's better not to go to the same school you got your undergrad degree from. Except that UF has more prestige too, so.
 
Anyway, since I haven't gotten accepted anywhere else, I figure I should at least consider this as my other option. Maybe I'll fall in love the the school and area and figure it's worth it despite less funding, prestige, and only being guaranteed for master's? You never know. And even if I don't end up going, maybe I can connect with some professors that could serve as some long-distance mentors, second readers, etc.
 
At some point I also want to get more info on the potential of transferring from one PhD program to another (like applying during your second year so you'd be getting your master's at least), but that's probably for another thread. Because it'd be cool to be able to still consider schools that I either got rejected from this time around, or one's that I felt were so out of my league that I didn't even bother applying.