Scalia

Quant. graduate student here so any prospective quant. students can message me if they have specific questions.

I think that the standard answer at this point is that since we're past the April 15th deadline, it's probably a "no"

At the first program, the TA/RA mix is a gauranteed for 4 years with chance of becoming full RA later. At second program, the TA is gauranteed for 4 years and not knowing if a later RA is possible.

I have offers from two schools: One offers 6 month RA and 6 month TA One offers year round TA but is a little better school/ a little better fit. Also, would be same classes so wouldn't have to continually do new prep etc. How big of deal if the 6 month RA slot?

Some of these rankings are quite a bit different than some of the U.S. News rankings. Thanks for the link

I'll at an additional question to this thread: Program reputation or subfield reputation: Which is more important? I would note that not everyone one a hiring committee works in the same subfield.

I would normally equate not hearing something back by this point as a rejection. In my experience, I knew that I was going to be admitted long before I got the actual "admittance" package from the department or graduate school. Plus, through contact with my POI, I know that I have been unofficially rejected at several programs even though there hasn't been any official correspondence. Hate to be a downer but I thought I would try to give you an idea of what my experience has been.

Take a look at the USNEWS top 25 in psychology. So if you had a choice between a top (e.g. Minnesota) 10 school and a top 25 school (E.g. University of Virginia) the rank wouldn't matter at all? I think that rank matters because often schools with a higher rank have better university wide and departmental opportunities. Furthermore, I am a believer that if you surround yourself with successful people you're more likely to learn how to do good work and be successful yourself. Just thought I would offer an opposing viewpoint to what has already been said in this thread.

Sent you a pm

No idea. I've wondered about quant. rankings myself as I'm considering a couple of offers. I know that WashU and UNC are good but other than that, what are the top quant. programs?

I think that it might be important to define what is a "top school" for the sake of this conversation? Top 30 psych. department? Top 10?

I'm kind of dealing with this as well also within the field of psychology. One school is a top 10 but not quite as comfortable. One school is top 25 and I'm more comfortable with the advisor. Funding is the same. I have no freaking clue what I'll do.

This hasn't happened to me but I read about this scenario coming up in a graduate admissions blog: What happens if you're not your POI's first choice? Does it bother you if you end up being admitted? Factor in your decision to attend or not if admitted? I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I can say though that I want to go to a program where myself and the POI are equally interested in working with each other.

When students post on this board asking questions about choosing a graduate school, of course most advice is situation specific. That being said, has anyone been checking up on the schools they applied to through various ranking sources (e.g. US News)? Where do you think the ranking between quality schools that you would consider attending would be? Top 50? Top 25? Top 10!? Furthermore, how has the overall reputation of the program influenced your decision to attend/not attend?

What is there aren't any subfield rankings in your area? Go to the school with more faculty members? More published POI's?