Schopenhauerfanboy

I thought it would be useful to start a separate thread in which we discuss decisions, i.e. what offer we intend to accept and why. Also, for seeking advice and support during the hard deliberations ahead. It might be a bit early in the season, but I imagine this thread could become increasingly helpful as April 15th approaches. 


I'll start by saying that I only have one offer so far, one waitlist (unpromising), and haven't heard back from the other 10 places. If I get rejected everywhere else, then my decision will be made for me. 

Placement record is the most important factor in my decision, so I might end up taking my current offer even if I get accepted into some of the higher ranked programs. What factors are people using to pick between offers?

Accepted at UIUC.

Just got the phone call from Arizona!

1) Changed my dissertation topic
2) Supervisor is apathetic 
3) Program doesn't care enough about placement 
4) Hostility between "analytic" and "continental" faculty, making the formation of a committee difficult for my topic
5) Not enough opportunities to teach your own courses 
 
Tennessee is not ranked as high as my current program, but it does significantly better on all of the preceding, most importantly placement - most (close to 80%) of its grads get TT appointments at LACs or even better (graduate from 2013 got tenured at UI-Bloomington). So I'd definitely take my chances there even if it's my only offer 

For what it's worth: I had below average scores 161/144/5.5, and I got accepted with good funding into Tennessee and got waitlisted at Baylor, and am waiting to hear back from the other ten places - no rejections yet. 
The gamble pays off only if that year's admissions committee members happen to discount lower quant scores. I emailed the DGS for programs to which I applied to ask their perspective on the GRE - many said it didn't factor in their evaluation, others (including Baylor) said it did, which might in part explain why I didnt make the top of their list. 
It may also have helped that I'm already in a ranked PhD program with good grades.. 

1) Changed my dissertation topic
2) Supervisor is apathetic 
3) Program doesn't care enough about placement 
4) Hostility between "analytic" and "continental" faculty, making the formation of a committee difficult for my topic
5) Not enough opportunities to teach your own courses 
 
Tennessee is not ranked as high as my current program, but it does significantly better on all of the preceding, most importantly placement - most (close to 80%) of its grads get TT appointments at LACs or even better (graduate from 2013 got tenured at UI-Bloomington). So I'd definitely take my chances there even if it's my only offer 

Why are you applying elsewhere if I may ask?

Thanks! I "appropriated" it from a popular Twitter account, which, if you've never looked at before, you definitely should!

Love your user name, btw haha!

In at Georgetown! After being totally shut out last year, an offer feels good.
 

Congrats! I did my undergraduate and M.A. there. Feel free to PM me if you'd find the perspective of former graduate student helpful!

Congrats! I did my undergraduate and M.A. there. Feel free to PM me if you'd find the perspective of former graduate student helpful!

Accepted to Calgary!!  I have a chance of staying in my land of healthcare!  I'm not shut out!  Happy day

Syracuse University! Offer with funding. 

I am indeed a Canadian graduate student. It's hard to see how presenting at professional conferences as a graduate student (and especially as an undergrad) would not be viewed favourably. What would the case be for that? And in many cases, federal scholarships are awarded to students with more conferences and publications.

Ultimately, though, the quality of one's work matters more than the number of venues in which it has been presented (obvious point). But, in the case of professional conferences, acceptance into them is itself a sign of the quality of one's work, and I think everyone agrees with that.

I do sympathize with the point that if candidate A's writing sample is better than B's, but B has more conferences, A would still be more likely to get admitted. 

 

Conference presentations (esp., at professional conferences) as an undergrad and graduate student can not only enhance your application, but also make you more competitive for a variety of scholarships that use "research ability" as one of their criteria. In Canada, for instance, the SSHRC competitions consider research potential, and having conferences and publications (even in largely unknown journals) can be incredibly helpful. One of my advisors informed me that my application scored a lot higher because my C.V. showed signs of professionalization and research potential (through having conferences and pubs on it). 

Also, presenting at conferences can help you indirectly through starting to build your professional network early. You might even, as has often been the case, build rapport with a professor who can influence an admissions committee with the great impression (s)he gleaned from your presentation -- "oh! I saw applicant give an exceptional presentation of blah blah when he presented at University Y." 

If you can organize a conference yourself (and invite a faculty member with whom you want to work as your keynote speaker), even better! 

 I have, however, heard that as a PhD student, you should avoid publishing suboptimal representations of your work because it can prejudice people against you (even if you later publish significantly better pieces) -- "academic first impression," as it were. 

Got accepted into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville -  full funding for 5 years!

Haven't heard anything from the 11 other programs to which I applied..

I received the BC offer - very excited  

I was looking up old acceptances, and someone who was rejected from -redacted- posted that he found a video of the admissions committee handling his application: 
 
 

Excellent- congratulations! I'm the Loyola-Chicago acceptance, so we might be neighbors

Got waitlisted at Baylor.

DGS said that someone in my position got accepted three years ago, but not in the past two years. 

I'm on the WL for UC-Berkeley! Very excited. Would love to go there.

I don't have any anecdotes, but here's something I found consoling. 

Suppose you're around the middle of the pack and have a slightly better than average chance of getting in (say, 15%). And you applied to 15 schools.
Then:
1 - (8.5/10)^15 
So, you have a 91% chance of getting into at least one program. 

Pretty good odds, I'd say!

Got accepted into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville -  full funding for 5 years!

Haven't heard anything from the 11 other programs to which I applied..

Got accepted into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville -  full funding for 5 years!

Haven't heard anything from the 11 other programs to which I applied..