hippityhop123

@viewsonic You bring up an important point about time and distractions. I've been thinking about that more & more as the decision looms closer. I haven't talked to anyone yet about the curriculum program at CUNY you mentioned, something I'll have to do when I visit. Same goes for the teaching requirements...

@Calliandra What are your research interests? They're both good fits for what I want to study (financialization, immigration, remiittances, cryptocurrencies), perhaps UM having a bit of an upper hand

@montanem thanks for the feedback. I'm still coming to terms with the fact that this is the next 5 years of my life *cue cognitive dissonance* I think I will be content living in either city (finished my MA at NYU + grew up in the Midwest), and I've only heard good things about Minneapolis. And I 100% agree with what you said about the rankings vs. quality of work and publications. They are ranked closely enough that I don't think of UMN as necessarily 'better' than CUNY (the difference is quite negligible), even though UMN squeezes into the top 20 for hiring departments (or at least according to this Cornell Pipeline Report): https://blogs.cornell.edu/facultydevelopment/files/2016/01/Sociology-Pipeline-Report-1jh8i9h.pdf Living in NYC is an intangible plus for establishing relationships with other departments (SUNY, NYU, Columbia, Brown, etc) but I would anticipate the potential for decent 'networking' (God I hate that word but realize it's indispensable in academia) at most conferences, workshops, and seminars I would attend anyways. UMN has a ton of research centers that complement what I want to do, so I'm leaning towards it more & more. https://cla.umn.edu/sociology/research/research-centers At this point I'm hoping my visits will fill in the blanks & push me over the fence for one over the other.

My end goal is to teach at a top 40 university. Trying to weigh the pros/cons of attending: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - I've had more contact with the faculty (plus one of my recommenders insists it's a better fit) - better funding package (with graduate assistantship + nominated for an award = possibly more funding) - higher ranked (#20 vs. #28 according to the USWNR) --> can anyone speak to the validity of this claim? - houses an Immigration History Research Center and the Minnesota Population Center (two programs related to my research on financialization + immigration) - 94% teaching placement rate (2002-2016) CUNY - potential for more robust networking (faculty, NYC/East Coast lecture circuit) *flip side: expensive living costs - the Immigration Working Group, Sociology Colloquium Series are draws for me - 72% teaching placement rate (2005-09), although their site says the "placement record has markedly improved in the last few years, and we expect that this trend will continue." http://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Sociology/Job-Placements Anyone have thoughts they would like to share or is facing a similar decision? I will be visiting both within the next 3 weeks.

My end goal is to teach at a top 40 university. Trying to weigh the pros/cons of attending: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - I've had more contact with the faculty (plus one of my recommenders insists it's a better fit) - better funding package (with graduate assistantship + nominated for an award = possibly more funding) - higher ranked (#20 vs. #28 according to the USWNR) --> can anyone speak to the validity of this claim? - houses an Immigration History Research Center and the Minnesota Population Center (two programs related to my research on financialization + immigration) - 94% teaching placement rate (2002-2016) CUNY - potential for more robust networking (faculty, NYC/East Coast lecture circuit) *flip side: expensive living costs - the Immigration Working Group, Sociology Colloquium Series are draws for me - 72% teaching placement rate (2005-09), although their site says the "placement record has markedly improved in the last few years, and we expect that this trend will continue." http://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Sociology/Job-Placements Anyone have thoughts they would like to share or is facing a similar decision? I will be visiting both within the next 3 weeks.

I'm strongly considering the University of Minnesota (fully-funded offer, good fit, cool city, excellent resources, e.g. Minnesota Population Center, etc.) According to different ranking systems (USWNR, Princeton), they're consistently in the top 20-25 and have a 94% placement record. I also came across this PhD pipeline report from Cornell: https://blogs.cornell.edu/facultydevelopment/files/2016/01/Sociology-Pipeline-Report-1jh8i9h.pdf Btw, what are "pipeline calculations" exactly? Universities that are given first/priority considerations when hiring new faculty? Basically, I'm looking for v general input: -from anyone who goes here on what they like/dislike about the program - department prestige (likelihood of securing a faculty position after graduating) - Minneapolis as a place to spend the next 5 years - anything anyone thinks that can be critical intel in this decision-making process (considering one other school in NYC)

I'm hoping to graduate (History MA) in September 2016 and apply for History PhD programs that would begin the following year (2017). I'm not sure what to pursue in the year I have in between - what sort of job/fellowship would be most useful to me in the future? Where can I find one-year job opportunities? Thanks in advance!

I'm deciding between two History MA programs and wondering if I can/should ask the schools about the possibility of TAing. Are these positions reserved for doctoral students exclusively?

At this point I've already decided on school A. Is it protocol to email other schools I've been accepted to & decline their offers in writing? What's the best way of writing that note - should I specifically state where I'm going instead or nah?

Thanks for the replies! Since I've been accepted to all of my top schools, I'm like "gah why didn't I just apply for PhD programs as my mentor said?!" Then again, MA & PhD admissions are very different, and while I have a lot to be thankful for w/the MA decisions, I still don't believe I would have been accepted into a strong, and more importantly, fully funded PhD program this cycle. One of the schools gave me 50% off tuition for my MA (which everyone says is amazing), so I'm leaning towards doing the MA in the next year... costs of housing in NYC are causing me to recoil in fear tho.

Here's the story: I graduated college last year. I've been thinking about earning a History PhD for the last year or so. After graduation I wanted to spend some time working in the real world, so I took a government job. I didn't apply for PhD programs (Fall 2015) because I didn't feel like my application was strong enough (several poor grades, average GREs, etc.) I've been applying to MA programs instead, & I've been accepted at several of my top choices (American, NYU). Does earning an MA first strengthen my application for when I apply to PhD programs in the future? If my MA program is a year, when would I apply for a PhD? I've been hearing the phrase "cash cow" in reference to MA programs, thus me trying to weigh the pros/cons :/

That's what I was thinking - the worst they can say is no. I just need an eloquent way of asking.... Do I bring up other offers? Or can I just simply say I would benefit from more time to make my decision?

The school I was admitted to is providing some funding, but I'm hoping to receive more. I asked the 2 other schools to expedite my review, and they both said they'll have a decision this week. However, the school I was admitted to wants a decision by this Wed. 4/15...I would commit now, but I want to see if I'll get any funding from the other schools. GAH. Should I just email the school asking for a week extension?

Kind of in a pickle here. One of my top choices wants an answer stat (cue panic attack), but I'm still waiting on 2 other schools....womp. How does one ask schools to expedite application review?