weirdalsuperfan

Thanks everyone who's responded. So a little more specifics, there are certain things that are very essential for me to afford, like semi-frequent cross-country travel (probably $5000/year) or, alternatively, depending on which school I choose, a car.(price?) and only about $2000/year in plane flights, and my first year I'll probably have startup costs for furniture and things. If I'm willing to not live very lavishly otherwise, do you think both stipends are sufficient for what I want? I don't care how big my place is, and I would prefer a tiny place alone to a large 2 person place. It's more like a $3000 difference ( about $15800 compared to about $18500) and at UCI I'm already guaranteed an extra 3600 (so $6600 more) for the first summer, plus I think I was told I can expect to earn at learn that much ($3600) each additional summer by working as a TA. I have no information about UMD so far in that respect, so right now it looks like it could be as much as a $7,000 difference. Also, UMD is #1 but UCI is #5 so that's still pretty good. And as far as prestige and things go, not to sound like a douche or anything (really, don't mean to), but I go to an Ivy League (I'm not studying criminology) right now so I already have the reputation in my college degree and I'm already quashing my ego by considering places like UMD and UCI. Are UCI and UMD really that far apart? Also, I'm not trolling. I think UMD very well could be an excellent fit for me, but UCI also has a lot of things I'm interested in (albeit more like a ton of slightly lesser interests compared to UMD's couple big interests). To make the difficulty of my decision a little clearer, I'm also considering a specialized Master's program at MIT in a related but much more technical field (but I'm trying to compare like degrees first, so I'm trying to determine the best Ph.D.). Do you have any recommendations for UCI vs UMD if the stipend difference ends up being as big as like $7,000/year? Of course, it might end up being exactly the same if I can earn money over the summer by working at UMD or tutoring, like you said (and I'm sure I could tutor at UCI as well), which I did consider. Do you have enough free time to tutor a few hours a week, especially in the first 2 years with classes? And I guess I'll find out about summer work at UMD's open house, but I would like to get an opinion on the cost of living and what a reasonable amount to get paid is and what a reasonable difference in payment is, mostly considering what I mentioned at the beginning of this reply. Thanks!

Hi, I'm a Ph.D. applicant. I heard from UMD (Maryland, College Park, but apparently nobody else knows it as UMD?) a couple days ago. Same as in doubt, I got in with ~$16K. Is that a lot? I want to be able to live by myself and afford a lot of plane tickets to visit my girlfriend. UCI is giving me over $18K plus like ~$3600 or something for the first summer, and it sounds like I can make that kind of money in subsequent summers by being a TA. And UCI is covering fees unlike UMD. But I heard, when I visited UCI, that what you make isn't that much and if you want to live on your own on that budget it will be tough. I was doing the math and I'm thinking where does all the money go? Food? I'm also being considered for a little extra money ($5K, just for the first year, not renewable) at UMD. I'm not yet sure how summer work works or any other details, but do any of you go to UMD or UCI and know about money stuff? I'm coming from undergrad so I've never lived on my own like this before. Of course I'm talking to other people about this stuff, but I would like as many informed opinions as I can get. Oh and I got into the Master's at ASU, but I applied for the Ph.D. so I'm turning them down. Haven't heard from Penn yet, but I'm guessing I'm either waitlisted or they forgot to notify me about my rejection/acceptance. I applied to a couple non-criminology programs as well (both Master's programs), but that's outside the scope of this forum I guess haha.

Hi, I just wanted to add my two cents/personal experience. I know this is an old thread. I'm applying for the Fall 2015 cycle, and I've already gotten into a good Criminology Ph.D. program, and I expect to get into even more. I'm coming straight from undergrad with a B.S. in Computer Science, a couple psychology courses, a couple political science courses, a lot of chemistry and chemical engineering courses (I changed majors halfway through college, and I'm graduating on time) and an Applied Math minor. I have significant research experience in Materials Science/Chemical Engineering (and some Computer Science), some professional programming experience, and a government consulting internship. I'm hoping to do a policy internship this summer. I also applied with a 3.45 GPA...disclaimer, I'm from an Ivy League and have great GRE scores, but I think that just speaks to my credibility, and not my "qualifications" for a Ph.D. program. I have absolutely no criminology or sociology background whatsoever, just an interest and a lot of ideas in myriad areas across the field (not just in computer stuff - in fact, I de-emphasized that significantly in my applications). What does all this mean to me? It means that you don't need to come from the "right" background, and it means that like many fields, criminology is an evolving and interdisciplinary one, especially in the 21st century. Your background seems more relevant than mine, and although everyone is different, I don't think you need a Master's to go for a good, funded Ph.D. program. Perhaps I come from such a non-traditional, though arguably useful, background, that people saw value in me. I chose this path with graduate school in mind, so my recommendation would be to figure out your education and career path in undergrad and make sure what you're studying will lead you down that path. Then, if you want to go into criminology, you'll already be sure that you're pursuing your goals your way. I'll report back to this thread later in the semester about my final prospects. But I think if you pursue your interests in undergrad and know what you want (I've known for a couple years that I wanted to go this route, but I didn't really do much about it except go to a couple seminars in a couple of my areas of interest), then you can do whatever you want. I suppose it is a gamble for a Ph.D. program to pick me, but I honestly never expected to get rejected, because in my mind, what I'm doing in undergrad all fits together, even if it doesn't fit into some curriculum dictating how the study of crime should be approached. That's all.