Quickmick

ummm not sure I agree with this one, how did you calculate 4%? You applied to a few programs, I imagine, and you only need to get into one--so I would think you would use Bayes Theorem. Part of this would involve not using the published admission stats, but what you honestly believe your chances are per program. In any case, I would think the odds are significantly higher than 4%. if odds are at say 15%/per and you apply to 10 for one success you are *I think* looking at: pbinom(1, size=10, prob=0.15) [1] 0.5442998 1-54= 46% @7.5% admission rate it goes to about 16% (below) but--in reality--long reach schools will be closer to nil odds and will get better from there so it isn't so clean...but I do think 4% is too low of a guess. pbinom(1, size=10, prob=0.075) [1] 0.8304059

I would agree with the "don't email now" advice. I was in contact with potential supervisors before I applied, and sent them a note letting them know my file was complete (reminding them of who I am) and thanking them for their help in the process--but had I not had the pre-submission contact I would not have reached out to them after. I doubt it would help much (if any) and might--to some--smack of a last ditch effort to get in (certainly not your intention, and your application probably stands on its own just fine). You can always hedge your bet and try it with 25% (you name the number) of your apps. good luck.

Try and factor in everything you don't know is out there!

Yikes! Good luck. One committee of mine might wonder if I want to go to the university, or am warning them of some impending weather event called a "Northwester." After I saw that I quit looking at submitted materials..

@ChloeCriss it sounds like you have a plan! I don't know if this applies to your particular area of interest, but it is something to be aware of generally: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/02/university_hiring_if_you_didn_t_get_your_ph_d_at_an_elite_university_good.html I hope you get in somewhere that gives you what you need and want, and--if you plan to stay in the Deep South--I would think that Alabama has some extra cachet in the region. The article isn't meant to be a downer, just FYI on the risk of caveat emptor. Best of luck!

@ChloeCriss along the lines of @Warelin, what do you plan to do after your MA? I am currently earning my MS and await PhD app results. I have applied to my current school (where I would stay in STEM) as well as to 6 programs in the humanities (History) and one in the social sciences (Anthro). I am in a good spot now at a research institute, think the work I do is important, and the experience can take me to a result I am happy with. That being said, the only way I would switch gears is if I get into a top tier program. Looking at the odds, that type of admit is the only way I can justify switching fields due to the nature of academic employment. For me, there is simply no percentage in getting a degree from a lower ranked institution and hoping to compete for TT jobs in the future.

Too late, hopes are up.

There is a lot to think about. While any way you slice it the numbers are uber competitive, there are some twists. Of the top 10 schools a fair number of the applicants are applying to the same programs. So say for 10 schools at 200 apps each 100 are overlap, and 100 are discrete/per. That makes 1100, and say 1/3 are long reach apps of the 1000. so 750 qualified apps for say 75-100 spots (across subfileds). So maybe 10%? Just pointing out that it might not be as dire as the admission stats suggest prima facie. Though if your field is crowded (or was oversubscribed last year) you might just be out of luck. There is obviously more going on, but I just wanted to bring up the overlap thing... good luck everyone! hmmm... maybe the overlap is smaller? I dont know...just waiting around for news. : o P

@Axelarate regardless of how much you end up using it, quant training will probably make you a better reader and give you a deeper understanding of what other people are claiming in their work. It might also help your marketability outside of academia. Even if you had taken UG stats, grad schools generally want you to take their stats. I am writing to raise a strategic point: quant training will not hurt you if you decide on a PhD in the humanities, but the lack of it will probably hurt you if you choose the social science route. Obviously the opportunity cost is that you would lose out on more classes in the other (ie History), but if you are tying to keep both avenues open it might be worth it. I am in the home stretch of my MS and have tried to frame my quant training as an asset in my humanities applications (I will let you know how that works out in about a month!), and that MS has enabled me to apply to a couple of programs in the sciences, too. I would agree with During your MA you might be able to sneak in an elective or two to explore the 'other,' but ceteris paribus the inclusion of the quant stuff might better help you keep both routes open for the next step. Hope this helps, good luck!

I, like @rising_star, would take the money. When I was deciding between law school and my MS program one thing that helped give me clarity was to not just look at the probable debt in terms of the lump sum, but figure out what it would mean moving forward. For example, 35k at 6% could mean a 400 dollar a month payment for 10 years (this doesn't include your UG number, nor the accrual of interest while in school).

sounds like it is pretty well buttoned up (excepting the fee question). After you get it set up it should be pretty smooth....direct deposit and there will probably an admin of sorts who will take care of the tuition bill. Once you meet this gatekeeper you will probably just hand over your tuition bill and presto magic. Oh, depending on your uni, your pay/tuition waiver may not preclude you from applying to and receiving institutional awards which might help supplement your wages. Congratulations, you should be proud of yourself! That is a good spot to be in, and my understanding of my similar situation is that it is not terribly common for MS students.

When I went through that process the funding was discussed separately from the admissions, and was dealt with by someone other than my advisor. If funding is key to your decision there are a couple of things I would point out. Funding can mean different things...my first semester I was a TA with a teaching obligation which paid me, but I had to pay the school for tuition/fees. I then moved to an RA and am on fellowship money so my tuition/fees are paid and I get paid, too. In both cases my family health insurance was generously subsidized. A TA/RA-ship can pay you without covering your cost of attending (or may get you instate rates if your are not normally classified as such). Then, if your tuition is covered you want to know if your fees are covered too, as they (I'm sure you know) can be a decent chunk of money. While this might not give you specific advice, I am just trying to give your some of the things that might be of concern to you. You might start by asking the PI about this, and if they are not funding you with a grant of theirs they may be able to point you in the right direction. It is not unreasonable to want to know what the situation is, how else can you make plans? Good luck!

@hopefulPhD2017 oh, that makes sense. Luckily the programs I applied to let me check that stuff online, and my apps served as my aid application too. @GeorgeC07 again, that makes sense. I only applied to schools where I had spoken with faculty ahead of time, so I see why you would want to be in touch with them. I was thinking that your intention was to contact them solely for information regarding how soon they would be scheduling things, and I was mistaken. Good luck to you both (and everyone else)!

soy kaas? hmmm maybe wine, too. Oh! And cats, lots and lots of cats.

As another who is 'switching fields' from MS to PhD I would contribute something to the 'credits in' discussion. With a minor in history I had 20ish cr from UG and the one program I applied to that had a stated cr requirement showed me something about this. First of all, when I spoke with the graduate coordinator, they said to speak with my poi (who is head of the program) and see what they want. So I initiated that conversation, and the person said, "wait, we have a cr requirement?" I did take one more class, but was told that I have plenty so not to worry about the stated number. My point is that even in cases where there is a stated requirement--at least in one case--it may not be a hard and fast rule, so if there is a program that interests you and you are short of a stated requirement you might want to ask how strict they are in that regard.

Just curious, @hopefulPhD2017 and @GeorgeC07 what would you hope to gain by contacting schools? I would guess they are pretty busy around this time of year and, personally, wouldn't contact them unnecessarily--but that's just me!

Just be grateful and graceful and it will be fine. Frankly, they will probably appreciate your candor as it will prevent them from wasting time/money, and might even help a fellow candidate by freeing up a spot. I wouldn't worry about hurting any feelings, its just business and we are all big boys and girls.

I would agree with @fuzzylogician about STEM possibly being different. Finishing up my MS (one course left in the spring) and picked up my first B this past fall (ouch!). I had the same feeling of B = kiss of death (or at least dire warning), but after talking to a STEM colleague he felt that the B as death knell is more in the humanities.

Maybe I am missing something, but I don't see the PSLF as some magic bullet. Playing around with the repayment calc. (https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action#view-repayment-plans it really doesn't seem that wonderful. Using the average debt for a 4/yr public institution I found the (attached) following. Under standard and graduated payment plans PSLF pays zero. With REPAYE and PAYE you save 10-15%, which, while nice, isn't a huge number. The ICR/IBR numbers get up to 15-25ish%, but only come into play if you meet poverty guidelines (up to 150%, I think). It doesn't appear to be a massive burden to keep it going, and if it goes away it would not (in most cases) add tens of thousands of dollars to an individual's obligations.

I think you will be ok. Some of that variability is just a product of the nature of the writing, though the PV thing is probably universal. For example Space counts 'unique' words, which might include terms that are common in a particular discipline but alien the the pleebs...dunno. If it reads well and is not on par with Curious George you will probably be fine. Really, all we can give them is our best and see how it goes.

Interesting link @kadee, there are metrics on Word that you can enable--which are some of those on the link you provide. The Flesch-Kincaid score was higher on the link than on Word (I ran both), yet the reading ease score was lower on word. In any case, a Prof (and former adcomm) shared with me some info which seems inline with most of the metric "scales." Flesch-Kincaid: lower score = higher education with <30 the ideal, though my sample is 37-41 and the Prof mentioned above thought it was fine. The grade level stuff is pretty obvious except, as mentioned, the grade level score I got on the linked site was higher by a couple of grades then the Word evaluation. I am only pointing out that if an adcomm used the Word metric for ease of use, they might be seeing a different number than you think they are. One thing you didn't mention is passive voice count. There is a "meter" of sorts on the link you provided, but Word will tell you in percentage terms. Same fellow told me that <20 is OK...mine was at 12% and he thought it was fine. For a more precise number I would have to eliminate quotations, which I didn't do, though in % terms they shouldn't move the scores too much, except possibly the passive sentence count. In short, I was looking for around 30 on F-K, the higher the better on grade level, and under 20% for voice. Hope this helps!

@Neist on the heels of Origin of Species you might consider Kolbert's The 6th Extinction.

I tend to try and look at this process as involving business decisions, not personal decisions. If you sent out your best packet that is all you can do. If I don't get in anywhere it would sting, but if 8 adcoms are telling me I don't belong...well maybe I don't.

FYI, if the secure PDF things pops up on you again, you can strip it easily and for free (I had to do this for transcript purposes, too). Just google strip PDF security or look: http://www.wikihow.com/Unlock-a-Secure-PDF-File Hope it helps someone and good luck everyone!

As an ice cream lover I had to chime in. If you like spumoni, this is the closest Ive found on the shelves--and it is dangerously good. http://cdn.bluebell.com/IceCreamFlavor?fid=135