cellec

I know this tends to be true but I've done my research and PhD is what I need if I want to go private or stay in academia so that's how I'm here. Thanks so much for your feedback y'all!

Hey again Thought I'd come back with a more fleshed out scenario. My subjects of interest are American Politics and Methodology, focusing on voting behavior and attitudes (sort of broad, I know). School A: Top 35 School, Full Tuition (Guaranteed for 5+ years), Benefits, Summer funding. RA/TA maximum 10 hours a week. All said, stipend just under 25k. Good fit. Small Program School B: Top 25 School, Full Tuition (Guaranteed for 4 years), Benefits, No guaranteed summer funding. RA/TA minimum 20 hours a week. All said, stipend just above 15k. Large Program School C: Top 100 School, Full Tuition (Guaranteed for 5+ years), Benefits, No guaranteed summer funding. RA/TA work maximum 13 hours a week. All said, stipend just below 23k. Okay fit, but they are starting a national poll in the fall. Medium Program. School D: Top 10 School (top 5 in subfield), Full Tuition (Competitive Funding for 6 years), Benefits, No guaranteed summer funding. No information on RA/TA work yet. All said, stipend just below $23k. Good fit, opportunity to work on a national, representative poll. Small Program. I know school D seems like a no-brainer, but I am not dead set on entering academia (still toying with the idea of working in corporate, political research/ polling). I'm uncertain about the competitive funding. What about School A? School B is a great choice but they are offering basically nothing compared to the others. I'm just a little lost and would love any advice anyone may have...

Around 10 spots (not too sure if that's splitting hairs)...

Not sure if anyone else is experiencing this but I wanted to reach out in case anyone had some insights. Currently, I am faced with the challenge of selecting a program based on its prestige (ranking) vs their pay (financial support), with the higher ranked school not offering as much support as the lesser ranked one. They are located in similar areas, as far as cost of living goes so I'm just having a hard time picking, as they both are a great fit. Anyone have any thoughts or advice on this?

Mine (WUSTL) was real! I'll be sure to reach out- I'd love to hear more about the area! Thanks!

That's another concern for me as well...

Let me know if this has already been covered. While I know the advantages of going to a program with a big department and the disadvantages of going to one with a small department, what are the downsides of going to a big department/ the pluses to going to a small one? Is there one "better" option?

One of the UCSDs is mine! American field (just to give y'all some more information to pour over) Good luck to those still in the hunt!

After some serious nail biting, I got an email from UT about an hour ago--I'm in for Methods! My status hasn't changed either on the site and I was surprised the email came so late at night! Thanks for putting up with my questions!

Wise words, thank you!

My UT-Austin app is still with the committee...am I a pessimist for thinking this is a bad sign?

I haven't from UNC- I assume that means I'm out of the running?

Since I like to post questions a little late in the game I thought I'd ask: How do you rank/ tier the programs in the South? Do you go exclusively of USNWR or what you've heard from professors? Note: programs in the south refer to programs south of D.C. and east of New Mexico

Seemed like a pretty standard email but I'd figure I'd share whatever news I came across

Per an email from Vanderbilt's DGS, they had 170 applicants and will only be taking 10. Applicants will be notified of their status no later than March 3rd.