qualiafreak

Attending UConn!!

Turned down Fellowship offer from GSU, funded offer from UMSL, and wait lists from CU Boulder and UW Madison

I've declined offers from Indiana Bloomington and UMass Amherst, and will be attending Northwestern University in the fall. 

Declined UCSD and removed myself from the waiting list at Cornell. Attending Notre Dame!

the long wait ends...I will be attending Western Ontario next year.
 
My best wishes to all of you !

Attending Western Michigan University for their MA.

Attending UConn!!

Turned down Fellowship offer from GSU, funded offer from UMSL, and wait lists from CU Boulder and UW Madison

I'm still wait listed at UW Madison and CU Boulder! I contacted Madison and they said I'm with a group of people at the top of the waitlist.
 
 
I'm deciding whether in my situation it might be useful to pursue an MA first at GSU. It's hard because UConn is excellent for what I want to do and has such great placement. GSU is also great for what I want to do but obviously I want a PhD eventually. But there's a tiny part of me that likes the idea of having an open future after 2 years where I can apply again to PhD's in Philosophy, perhaps I will decide to also apply to PhD's in Psychology or Neuroscience too since i find myself at the intersection between the disciplines mostly. Then I flip around and think if I just go straight into PhD I will be done more quickly, or if I decide I hate it (very unlikely) could always get the MA on the way and transfer out, etc etc. All my weighted decision tables come out exactly equal +/- 0.02 utility points and so I'm asking my "gut" for help but it's being conveniently silent.

I'm trying to make my decision on UConn. It's such a great program but I keep going back and forth in my head. I will do my best to figure it out today overoverover. Rooting for you.

I'm trying to make my decision on UConn. It's such a great program but I keep going back and forth in my head. I will do my best to figure it out today overoverover. Rooting for you.

I'm still wait listed at UW Madison and CU Boulder! I contacted Madison and they said I'm with a group of people at the top of the waitlist.
 
 
I'm deciding whether in my situation it might be useful to pursue an MA first at GSU. It's hard because UConn is excellent for what I want to do and has such great placement. GSU is also great for what I want to do but obviously I want a PhD eventually. But there's a tiny part of me that likes the idea of having an open future after 2 years where I can apply again to PhD's in Philosophy, perhaps I will decide to also apply to PhD's in Psychology or Neuroscience too since i find myself at the intersection between the disciplines mostly. Then I flip around and think if I just go straight into PhD I will be done more quickly, or if I decide I hate it (very unlikely) could always get the MA on the way and transfer out, etc etc. All my weighted decision tables come out exactly equal +/- 0.02 utility points and so I'm asking my "gut" for help but it's being conveniently silent.

I'm still wait listed at UW Madison and CU Boulder! I contacted Madison and they said I'm with a group of people at the top of the waitlist.
 
 
I'm deciding whether in my situation it might be useful to pursue an MA first at GSU. It's hard because UConn is excellent for what I want to do and has such great placement. GSU is also great for what I want to do but obviously I want a PhD eventually. But there's a tiny part of me that likes the idea of having an open future after 2 years where I can apply again to PhD's in Philosophy, perhaps I will decide to also apply to PhD's in Psychology or Neuroscience too since i find myself at the intersection between the disciplines mostly. Then I flip around and think if I just go straight into PhD I will be done more quickly, or if I decide I hate it (very unlikely) could always get the MA on the way and transfer out, etc etc. All my weighted decision tables come out exactly equal +/- 0.02 utility points and so I'm asking my "gut" for help but it's being conveniently silent.

I'm still wait listed at UW Madison and CU Boulder! I contacted Madison and they said I'm with a group of people at the top of the waitlist.
 
 
I'm deciding whether in my situation it might be useful to pursue an MA first at GSU. It's hard because UConn is excellent for what I want to do and has such great placement. GSU is also great for what I want to do but obviously I want a PhD eventually. But there's a tiny part of me that likes the idea of having an open future after 2 years where I can apply again to PhD's in Philosophy, perhaps I will decide to also apply to PhD's in Psychology or Neuroscience too since i find myself at the intersection between the disciplines mostly. Then I flip around and think if I just go straight into PhD I will be done more quickly, or if I decide I hate it (very unlikely) could always get the MA on the way and transfer out, etc etc. All my weighted decision tables come out exactly equal +/- 0.02 utility points and so I'm asking my "gut" for help but it's being conveniently silent.

I'm still wait listed at UW Madison and CU Boulder! I contacted Madison and they said I'm with a group of people at the top of the waitlist.
 
 
I'm deciding whether in my situation it might be useful to pursue an MA first at GSU. It's hard because UConn is excellent for what I want to do and has such great placement. GSU is also great for what I want to do but obviously I want a PhD eventually. But there's a tiny part of me that likes the idea of having an open future after 2 years where I can apply again to PhD's in Philosophy, perhaps I will decide to also apply to PhD's in Psychology or Neuroscience too since i find myself at the intersection between the disciplines mostly. Then I flip around and think if I just go straight into PhD I will be done more quickly, or if I decide I hate it (very unlikely) could always get the MA on the way and transfer out, etc etc. All my weighted decision tables come out exactly equal +/- 0.02 utility points and so I'm asking my "gut" for help but it's being conveniently silent.

I'm trying to make my decision on UConn. It's such a great program but I keep going back and forth in my head. I will do my best to figure it out today overoverover. Rooting for you.

I'm trying to make my decision on UConn. It's such a great program but I keep going back and forth in my head. I will do my best to figure it out today overoverover. Rooting for you.

You can also try applying for outside fellowships

Same goes here. Still not sure where I'll be but obviously I'll know by Wednesday. Best of luck to everyone in these last couple days of deciding!

It's crazy! But if someone rejects an offer at 11:59 on the 15th what's that school to do?

that's true! Ugh, today- I have become this blob just refreshing my email and the gradcafe!

It's crazy! But if someone rejects an offer at 11:59 on the 15th what's that school to do?

Thanks to those of you who gave me your thoughts!  Here's a general question, with perhaps some relevance to me.  How true is it in terms of job placement that "oil rises to the top."  Do talented people come from top programs because the program made them that way or because they were talented to begin with?  As I write this, I realize its probably a case of both nature and nurture.  But supposed somebody was talented enough to go to NYU (i.e. was admitted) and opted to go with unranked PhD instead.  Could we expect him/her to do pretty well in terms of job placement?
 
I guess as this applies to my own case, is there reason to believe that I'll sort of "naturally" (with a lot of hard work, of course) end up placed with a job which reflects my potential?  (Note: I do not claim to have high potential, I merely mean a place that reflects my talent whatever that is.)   I guess can I (and flickering.light and the rest of us) have lest angst about getting into a top program and this concern for getting admitted into the best place we possibly can?  Can we have some hope that things will work themselves out in the end, the oil will separate from the water, and we'll end up with a job in a place that is on our level in the end?
 
Interestingly, I was looking at the placement for one of the unranked PhD's I was admitted to, and one of its graduates recently was hired at my alma mater (a top 20 department).  That's by far an exception, rather than the norm, but it does show you that outstanding talent isn't going to be kept down.

GSU is a rolling deadline. 

Congratulations!!! That sounds like it will be a great experience!!

Have that phone handy on April 15. I got a call three years ago on April 15, from SLU's chair, offering a fully-funded PhD. If I felt at that time as you do now, I would have taken the offer. I agree with the view expressed above, that if you're admitted to a PhD program which you like, it's often best just to take the position. If you have doubts about the program, I think the calculation changes.
 
I can't help you too much on the UK versus US master's-level programs, except that I can say that either Georgia State or Brandeis would probably help you do well in PhD admissions. If the goal is something like a SLU, and if you're already wait-listed at SLU this time around, I just have to believe that you'll very likely do just fine after Brandeis or Georgia State. A lot of people who go to Brandeis or Georgia State don't apply very widely. I'm an extreme example of someone who attended a strong MA, didn't apply widely, and ended up without an offer. The candidates who do apply widely are typically admitted somewhere. I know of no candidates who applied widely and were not admitted somewhere.
 
Just a note to everyone, generally: If you are still on a wait-list and sort of don't have any idea where you stand as of right now, I wouldn't be afraid to contact departments early this week to see whether you're still well-positioned (or positioned at all) on the wait-lists. Also, it probably goes without saying that, when you are admitted to more than one place, at this stage (April 12!), it's time to narrow the list to that one.
 
The rule of etiquette is: "Hold onto as few offers as necessary, and by early April (or the absolute earliest point at which a reasonably prudent person could have learned all the relevant information to make an informed decision), hold only just your favorite offer, until either (a) April 15, or ( b ) you remain on no wait-lists, at which point you should make a final and irrevocable decision." This rule permits full investigations of all offers and maximizes the speed at which departments are permitted to work through long wait-lists.

Please do NOT consider DePaul. I say this because you seem like an intelligent and possibly unconventional person. It may have once been a reputable school, but it is now becoming a veritable degree factory. I wasn't aware this school offered PhDs (I guess you would know more about your specific program than me), but it won't even matter if your program is excellent: The culture here is the lamest and most mainstream that you could find anywhere in the U.S. If you are in any way unconventional or artsy, DO NOT consider DePaul as an option. You will be suicidal. I would say the only exception to attending this U is if someone was attending the theatre school. However, I even know people who disliked their time in that program mainly due to the lame overall culture at DePaul. Lots of sorority/frat-type people.
 
I hope to deter anyone from reading from attending this university. I would argue that the typical DePaul student wouldn't think critically enough to even go on this site, so I don't really fear any backlash. Feel free to PM me with more info.