Warelin

I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. We don't know what the OP's end goal is. The OP did mention that being close to family is an allure to them. There are universities (like SMU) that have historically placed well in Texas. We also know that not all universities post their jobs (whether this be due to a sudden opening or because they choose not to) on the job market. Some do conduct more local-searches and being at a nearby city could be beneficial. Having family reside nearby could be a very positive impact. However, I don't think any college can guarantee that you'll be considered equally by all colleges because of the way they value different things. I also don't think that interviewing at a teaching college is any easier or harder than interviewing at a research-based college. Rather, I think it's easier about what you're most interested in and I think colleges can pick up on that. This is why you shouldn't try to feign interest in a specific topic if you're not genuinely interested in that subfield. I do think that the colleges you might be considered for might depend on where you go, but I don't think that any reasonable school will turn you down if you present a strong resume and if there is someone on your committee that they trust. This very well could be the reason why some schools prefer to skip the job market and prefer local candidates. We're also not aware of how strong the #18 school is in the OP's subfield. There are programs outside the top 20 which have stronger placements in certain subfields than those in the top 20. It's also possible that the program could be deciding to move in a new direction and eliminate certain subfields. In recent years, Notre Dame stopped admitting people into their Ph.D. in Literature program.

I agree that stats about where students end up only tell part of the story. However, I would argue that students from "top programs" aren't the only ones getting multiple offers. It's very likely that a good candidate is likely to get multiple offers of differing types. Part of that might be based on their school. But it's also likely that certain candidates will get looked over by the hiring school if the hiring university has had a high turnover from that school. I think it's also important to note that not everyone's end goal is to be placed at a school which focuses heavily on research. And I think it's equally as important to remember that we often have very little choice of where we end up if we decide to go on the job market. Considering most schools are not research-focused, being open to non-R1 schools will broaden our chances of being placed. As a side note, there are some fairly well-known colleges that do have a permanent teaching-track. This remains to be a viable option for a fair amount of people and I wouldn't consider people holding these positions to be less deserving of tenure than those on a research-track. Different departments have different needs at a time and it's possible that a person's specific subfield may never open up at the R-1 school they were hoping for. Some students might also have no desire to leave their city. I can't remember how many people I spoke with doing their Ph.D. in NYC and Austin that said they had no desire to leave their city. They said they would rather adjunct than be placed elsewhere. Likewise, there are a number of candidates in my program who have made a decision to stay because they're ready to settle down and start a family. Many have started the process of buying a house. They don't plan on entering the job market but demand from local colleges for permanent positions have always been high here. Likewise, some have expressed interest in alt-ac jobs and have no interest in the job market.Those who put in the extra effort here tend to be well rewarded on the job market. This is not a top 10 program but there are a lot of resources offered to those who do seek it. I agree with this so much. Funding is critical. You won't be rich at anytime during your program. But not having to worry about funding is important. Even if a program guarantees five years of funding, it might be worthwhile to ask what the average time-to-degree is. If there's a difference, it might also be wise to ask them how funding is determined for the additional years and whether you're responible for any additional fees.

@MetaphysicalDrama(really like the username btw) brings up some excellent points. I think a lot of placements also depend on your specific field and adviser. Emprof mentioned that their school places very well in 3 fields and a bit less well in other fields. Likewise, I also think it's important to remember that USNews rankings (for English) were based on 14 percent response rate of 155 programs. Programs that have been around for longer often have more of a reputation because their graduates have had a longer time to have their work published. Likewise, bigger programs might appear to be placing in more colleges because they've had more graduates. Smaller programs might be placing just as well as bigger programs but might get less attention because they don't have as many alumni spread out through different colleges. Prior to these rankings, UC Davis was not considered a "top 20" program. However, I can also say that they've made a lot of interesting changes in the last few years which have allowed them to capture some more interest. However, I don't think all schools are paying attention to every single school and I imagine that rankings would look significantly different if we broke it up into different regions or if a different 14 percent responded to the survey. To some extent, I think ranking could be impacted at schools through no fault of their own. This article mentions that the University of California system might be in danger. It doesn't believe Berkeley or UCLA will be impacted by the changes but it remains unclear of the remaining 8 universities. I think the UC System (outside of Berkeley and UCLA) has been dedicated to undergraduate teaching and I think that the placements (even at Davis and Irvine) reflect that. In regards to placing at the same rate, I think that depends. Cincinnati (Ranked #108), University of Missouri (#67), and University of Denver (#116) might not be as "highly ranked" for literature programs but they are considered really great places by those who are interested in Creative Writing. Rhetoric/Composition would also determine that great schools are different from those ranked. As such, I'd look carefully at what the placements mean. How recent are the placements? Where are they getting placed? What subfield is getting placed? Are they placing in my time period? Do the "better" placements have something in common? Does the school require you to do something extra that could contribute to their success? Can I replicate that if I'm motivated? Would I feel defeated if my school drops rank when it's not ranked?

I did not choose the "most prestigious" program I got accepted into last year. I chose to go somewhere where I felt I could grow and be happy. I chose the environment and department which I felt would allow me to grow my potential and one where I felt that there were several people that I would work very well with. In order to produce the best work, I felt there were several important factors to consider. 1) Living arrangements: Can I afford a 1 or 2 bedroom based on my stipend without needing to live with roommates? How far/close do I want to be to campus? 2) Do I feel the campus/city is bikeable/walkable? 3) How do I feel about the department as a whole? Are there multiple people I see myself being able to work with? 4) Are there additional opportunities outside the department? 5) Are the schools placing in schools you'd be happy in? Getting accepted into a highly ranked school might help your job prospects in some of the better known schools. However, 90 percent of schools aren't considered R1 schools. Schools that focus on teaching make up the majority of universities doing the hiring and they care more about your teaching record than they do about what school you graduated from or about your publication history. (This isn't to say that either group doesn't care about the other at all. Rather, they just weigh thinks differently. Some schools worry that graduates of "elite programs" will leave their school as soon as another opening happens elsewhere.)

Sending all positive vibes your way.

Have you managed to go on visits to any of these programs? Have you had conversations with current students or professors? Have you given thought to how life in a major city (Seattle) would differ from a smaller city (Wellingham)? What excites you about each program? What are your reservations about each program?

CONGRATULATIONS! I hope the funding works out for you.

I think this is really important to note. Equally important is that the college you graduate from determines your initial placement. Afterwards, it depends more on the reputation that you've built as a scholar and/or professor. It's often difficult to transition from a teaching-to-research school because the schools have different objectives they consider to be important.

I'd also like to stress that there's also a chance that you will even get accepted to the same school the following year. There are way too many factors to consider here. How recent are the placements? Are students refusing to take on certain tenure-track positions because they want to stay in their city or closeby due to family or culture? Some students choose to stay in their city even if the job is "lesser" because they really enjoy the feel of the city. Others choose to stay because they like the affordability of where they're living and/or starting a family makes going to the job market a bigger challenge. Some professors within universities really stress R1 universities and might not know as much about teaching-focused institutions. Small note here: Non R1 universities account for around 90 percent of schools and as such make up the majority of hiring. Teaching experience is often more important than research experience for them.

100 is actually pretty very big for a class. 15 students per program is actually considered huge for most programs. Most programs also have to accept 1.5 - 3x as many students to obtain their target class size. I imagine that the number is significantly higher for unfunded programs. When I was an undergrad, everyone I knew that applied to Chicago was offered a spot in their MAPH program. As far as I'm aware today, the only people who aren't offered referred to the MAPH program are those who have a master's in the program they originally applied to. Because the program is not fully funded, I imagine the number of acceptances is somewhere between 500-1,500. You're making this sound as if only a MAPH degree from Chicago would get you noticed to get an adjunct job. I can assure you that there are plenty of adjuncts who have obtained their Master's degree elsewhere and have been offered similiar positions. There are ways to stay in academia without adjuncting and without MAPH. I think @punctilious' story does a great job in explaining the success her husband has had. I'm also convinced that @punctilious' husband could have pursued work as a private tutor or writing consultant if he were interested. I think most programs are aware that sometimes life happens. I don't think a program is going to fault you for having to tend to any of life's emergencies. Most people are aware that there are certain things that we have no control over. I also think that it depends on how you handle things. That Starbucks job you had during the summer? You learned how to work in a fast-paced environment, learned the importance of service and how to serve a large diverse group of individuals. Summer spent copyediting? You learned the importance of maintaining deadlines and the true importance of grammar. FWIW, If I were on the adcomm and I received an application like this, I'd flag the application for interest. I'd be curious to know more about you. I'd want to know about how certain yoga techniques would influence your writing and how it might impact the way you approach thinking and teaching writing in the classroom. I'd also be more interested because I know you must have a lot of experience in time management to ensure that you were able to accomplish everything you did. Your experience as a waitress would also intrigue me because this would show that you have a lot of experience in dealing with a large diverse set of people (some who may have little to no respect for you as a server) and it would also showcase to me that you've had your downs and will do anything to make ends meet. I think that would show that you're willing to do anything to reach your end goal and I think that would make an adcomm more interested in learning about you.

I think it's important to remember that different programs have different ways of showing their placement rates which can make it harder to distinguish between placement rates. Some programs consider any employment as a successful placement; others only consider tt-jobs while others count postdocs or visiting positions as well. It gets trickier at times because there are some universities which hire permanent but not-tenured instructors as well. From Rutgers: "Between October 2004 through May 2014, the department conferred 134 Ph.D.s. Of those graduates, 116 (87%) secured college and university teaching jobs in all categories of employment (including tenure-track jobs, lectureships or instructorships [some of which turned into permanent but non-tenured positions], visiting assistant professorships, and post-doctoral fellowships). 91 of those graduates (68% of the total) got tenure-track jobs." While those numbers are impressive, it also includes numbers prior to 2011. (Prior to 2011, the job market looked differently than it does today. It's missing data from 2014-2019 which would be more representative of their current placement. There's also been a recent shift in a number of highly-regarded institutions to have their students pursue alt-ac jobs. As such, these numbers could be all over the place as it gets harder to determine whether or not a student wanted to obtain a professorship in the first place as some strictly want to focus on being a scholar or a teacher. I imagine that both institutions have similiar placements. As @swarthmawr mentioned, they do belong to the same consortium. So, I think the biggest questions I'd ask are: Who do I feel is the best equipped to help me with the work I'm most interested in? If that person doesn't work out, do I feel like there are a number of faculty which could? Do I feel that the culture of the department is right for me?

Congrats @kendalldinniene!

There are some universities that have rules that state you can only apply to one program per cycle. As a precaution, I'd check with the Graduate School to make sure it's something they allow.

I think there are a number of different factors you have to consider here. Let's start with the simplest of them all. You have to think not only about the schools but about their location as well. NYU is in a huge city and it's likely that a fair amount of places will always be crowded. I imagine that rent here will be the highest and the odds of finding an affordable studio close to the university is lower than the chances of finding it in Rochester or Penn State. How do you feel about living with roommates? How do you feel about very big constant crowds? How do you feel about not being able to partake in the entire culture of the city? On the opposite end, Penn State is located in rural Pennsylvania. As such, I imagine a fair amount of life in there revolves around the College. Depending on the time of year, there might be a lot to do, but if it's like other college towns, it might mean that there's very little to do during the summer. Are you able to handle quietness when there might not be much to do. Rochester is somewhere in between the two but doesn't have anywhere near the transportation system that NYC does. A car in Rochester may or may not be needed depending on how far within it you want to go. I don't think graduate programs consider where you obtained your Master's from as something they give much weight to. I also don't think having thesis experience is something they consider important either. There are plenty of people that have accepted into a Ph.D. program without any thesis experience. However, as someone with a Master's degree, certain programs might have higher admissions standards they set for you. They might expect you to show your interest in the profession in certain ways. This might mean that they could expect any, some, all or none of the following: teaching experience, higher test scores, experience related to the major field you're interested in, conference experience, etc. The thought process there is that you've had 1-2 more years to develop your interests and as such, they want to make sure that everyone is on level playing grounds. What are their costs? Are there opportunities to obtain a fee waiver by doing work on campus? What are their total costs including living expenses? Is it a number that you'd feel comfortable paying back? What about the culture of the programs? How does studying under each of these professors make you feel? Do the classes that have been recently offer excite you? I wouldn't consider rank here because Master programs aren't ranked. A school that is ranked highly for their undergrad programs might not be as highly regarded for certain PHD programs and there are programs that might be incredibly well regarded in certain fields for their Ph.D. program but might not be as highly regarded overall. How do you feel about doing an internship vs completing a thesis? Jobs are a bit more tricky. It's likely that you'll need to obtain a Ph.D. in order to stand a chance to obtain a tenure track position. However, these jobs are relatively rare and will to some extent be based on the experiences you obtain while going to obtain your Ph.D. I think it's wise to consider this now, but I wouldn't bank on obtaining a specific job in a specific location. As such, I think this might be a better question to ask if you do decide to continue on to obtain a Ph.D. later on in life. If you decide that a Ph.D. isn't right for you, there are a number of jobs that don't require more advanced studying.

I'd like to expand on @mandelbulb's point here and add this: If you choose the one year option, it's highly likely that you'll need to take an additional gap year before applying. I think most professors are aware that European professors write differently from professors in the United States and they adjust for that. However, I think the concern is that a professor wouldn't know enough about your ability to succeed in grad school if you're asking them for a recommendation letter after only a few weeks in a grad program. It takes time to form relationships with professors and for them to see your growth as a student so they can write you the best letter of recommendation they can. I think this is true for any 1-year grad program with the exception being if you've previously attended the school as an undergrad and wanted to develop your research interests more and have had previous interactions with the professor. Another strong point is brought up here. It's important to remember that any loans for grad school are unsubsidized. It's also unlikely that you'll be able to afford to use much of your stipend to pay back student loans. This often means that your interest could go up a fair amount while you're attending grad school. This is concerning because there is no guarantee of a job at the end of the degree no matter where you decide to go.

Examine dissertations being done at a variety of institutions. You'll start to notice certain trends by schools and the way they approach dissertations (At least within the Humanities. Not as familiar with the Sciences.) USNews rankings change every few years. There were several changes last time which had newcomers to the T10 as well as several schools which left the T10. I don't think that's surprising. Nor do I think that more traditional work being done at a top 10 is surprising. It's not a bad thing. It's just what is generally seen as what research is today and they have easier to access to people who have thrived with that type of work. There are exceptions to that but finding someone who supports nontraditional work at a T10 school might prove to be more difficult.

This is going to vary a lot by subject matter. I'm aware of certain well-known institutions conducting a faculty search right now and am aware that they've invited individuals outside of the top 10 to fill a position. All of the schools are within the T50 within their field but the T50 within this field mostly does focus on Research; where schools outside of the T50 have a heavier focus on teaching. As I previously stated, the type of institution you initially get placed at might depend on where you attend. R1 Universities (which are the colleges that are research-heavy) only account for ~10 percent of universities in the USA. As such, it's immportant to note that most colleges that have openings will be at undergraduate-focused institutions. These institutions often place lesser value on where you obtain your degree from and more emphasis on your ability to teach. Other institutions might place more emphasis on your publication record. This is a good point to bring up with a few notes. Rankings are a good way to distinguish T10 from T50 to the T100/T150. However, even the top tier schools have certain specializations that they have a great track record on and other areas in which they're considerably weaker in and that other colleges ranked "below" them do a much better job at. I think there is change coming within the field of academia. New scholars are more likely to be allowed to take risks at universities outside the T10. There's a stark contrast in the dissertation work being conducted at universities outside of the T10. Work at a T10 is more likely (but not always) to be considered traditional. Scholars who want to take more risks are deciding to go elsewhere and it's been producing an interesting shift in how colleges are being ranked by the small percentage of director of graduate studies that choose to participate in USNews' rankings.

I think this advice is dangerous in how we approach things. There are plenty of schools not in the T20 producing great scholars that are being placed in different programs. Studies have shown that the school that you graduate from determines your initial placement only. And depending on where you hope to end up, there are some universities that would not consider students from "the top ranked university" because they've been burned by previous alumni in the past because the students were chasing the next big thing. There are also some universities that place a greater weight on teaching than research. The top programs don't always dedicate as much time to teaching as they do to research because of how they professionalize their students. Additionally, there are students that decide not to enter the job market that come from already smaller programs which impacts representation within the job market. A top school might make it easier to network, but professors today are more dispersed at different types of universities than they had been previously.

I think it's important to remember that prestige and "admissions standards" varies greatly between a PHD and an MA program. NYU's English PHD is a very competitive program. However, I imagine their MA program is considerably less competitive and selective to get into because they don't provide a full tuition waiver and a stipend to offset costs of living in NYC. It is important to remember that no college can guarantee that you'll be admitted into a certain (or any) Ph.D. program. A program's reputation at the MA level is different from what it is at the Ph.D. level. Those in academia are more aware of the reputation of different programs at different levels.

I think it's important to remember here the advice that has constantly been given on this forum: Departments have reputation and Institutional prestige does not extend itself to programs. There are a lot of "lesser-known" schools that are incredibly respected within fields. Before making any decision, I would heavily consider the amount of debt either would put you in and the amount of time it would take to repay those debts.

This is great news! You (should) have a great chance of being accepted off from the waitlist and it shows that they're interested in you!

Conference funding varies a lot by institution. Some programs offer as low as $0. Some programs offer funding only through applying for it. Some offer a set amount per year. Some offer an amount of up to X, which can be used up until graduation. I've seen guaranteed numbers vary from as low as $250 to as high as $2,500. It's also possible that schools have additional venues to obtain more conference funding which could make the total conference funding amount higher than those with a set rate.

FWIW: The unsubsidized Graduate direct student loan rate was 6.6 percent in 2018-2019. There are no subsidized loans for Graduate Students. Let's assume you decide to go to this unfunded program and take out a total of 60,000 for tuition and living expenses. Let's also assume that you can't afford to pay any of this loan back while in school because you're focused on writing great papers and developing deeper connections with your professors. You finish your 1-year program and take a gap year while working at a new job and paying for applications. After the deferment period of 12 months, the new loan balance is $64,059.09 , including $4,059.09 in accrued interest. Let's suppose you manage to make interest-only payments during your gap year. You work hard; save up money for grad applications and get accepted into a Ph.D. program. Your stipend isn't high enough to cover payments though so you defer. After the deferment period of 72 months, the new loan balance is $88,864.53 , including $28,864.53 in accrued interest. Without the interest capitalization there would have been 120 payments of $684.34 , for a total payment of $82,120.80 (including a total of $22,120.80 in interest) plus an additional $23,760.00 in interest paid during the deferment period. With the interest capitalization there are 120 payments of $1,013.57 , for a total payment of $121,628.40 (including a total of $32,763.87 in interest plus $28,864.53 in interest accrued during the deferment period). But: I will pay that off in 25 years, you say. Without the interest capitalization there would have been 300 payments of $408.88 , for a total payment of $122,664.00 (including a total of $62,664.00 in interest) plus an additional $23,760.00 in interest paid during the deferment period. With the interest capitalization there are 300 payments of $605.58 , for a total payment of $181,674.00 (including a total of $92,809.47 in interest plus $28,864.53 in interest accrued during the deferment period). (Information grabbed from FinAid's calculator) Costs not covered: Conferences, Moving Expenses, Emergencies, Private loans if unable to find work, etc.

https://www.cfplist.com/ (Which was created by a member of this site)

Congratulations! Such great news!