wknd_worrier

I've been reaching out to whoever my primary point of contact has been (i.e., who informed me of my acceptance, answered questions, etc.). For most programs this has been the grad director, but for one it was the department chair so that is who I reached out to inform of my decision. I've also been sending a quick email to any other faculty at each program who took the time to talk to me just to let them know and say thank you for their time etc.

I don't know much about Soc/crim focus programs, but I'd recommend looking into Penn State if you're looking at C/CJ programs and aren't sure if you'd rather explore sociology. It's ranked #5 in the criminology rankings but the program is housed with sociology as one department and its structured such that you can apply to either program and then once you finish the Master's portion of the program you can decide to switch to the other one if you think you'd prefer it. Many if not most of the faculty in the criminology program there have cociology degrees and I think you have to take at least one sociology elective as part of the curriculum so you kind of get the best of both worlds with that

Out of curiosity, what were some things that made you guys so confident in your decision? Any insight on post-admit visits/what to expect/things to look out for? I'm just in a position where I formally declined one offer I felt certain wasn't a good match, but still have 4 schools that I don't feel ready to cross off the list (2 stand out ahead of the other two right now, but I was offered a university fellowship at one school I applied to that was much lower ranked than all the others and spoke to my POI there and I really liked her and got along well with her, but my POIs at the two programs I'm leaning toward are a bit more in line with my interests and were very nice via email so I'm a bit conflicted). I'm visiting the two programs I think my decision might ultimately come down to in about a week and my only comparable experience is UCI's pre-admit interview weekend so any insight would be much welcomed— if you don't mind of course

I can't speak to the experience of being unfunded at a program (neither directly nor based on someone else's experience), but the one consistent piece of advice I've gotten is to not go somewhere unfunded (from ~8 faculty members at an "applying to doctoral programs" panel at a conference who were all in consensus on this, my undergraduate mentor, my supervisors and coworkers at my two jobs (both research assistant positions so working with people who are phds), and my professors who wrote my letters of recommendation) so I feel like there has to be a reason for this. I first heard this at that panel and there was more discussion as to why that is, but that was last September, but I'm afraid I don't remember what was said now and after that I've just kind of always accepted the advice without asking for more information whenever I've been told that :/ Sorry I can't give you more concrete advice or answers, but I would say if you really like the other two that are offering you funding maybe focus on them since those offer more certainty.

Thanks! I made one last week or so I'll be doing the same.. hopefully it'll get some action at some point haha

I figured I'd make a post in case anyone wanted to discuss/ask questions about anything related to the decision stage of this process (e.g., deciding factors, campus visits, post-admitted communication w/ POI, grad directors etc., meeting w/ POI, informing programs of decisions, etc. etc.) I know for me personally I'm still a little nervous about campus visits and meeting w/ POI just because I'm horribly shy and I'd also like to hear others perspectives about factors that have made them lean towards/away from certain programs and for those who have already made final decisions how they came to that

Anyone like the idea of making a new thread for decisions? I know there's lot over in the general decisions forum, but it might be helpful to make a thread within the C&CJ forum to discuss stuff like factors being taken into consideration w/ choosing, post-acceptance communication w/ faculty/DGS/etc., & other miscellaneous stuff related to the post-waiting stage? I just feel like with this being centered a lot around waiting for decisions it might be shitty/annoying to have this thread used for those types of discussions simultaneously. Just a thought! What do you guys think?

Thank you :))

I got into Maryland on Friday- but that doesn't necessarily mean anything! I heard back from Cincinnati a few weeks after others on here got in and I'd been convinced that I was waitlisted when I first saw those posts!

None of the other schools I was accepted to did that, but to be fair outside of that my knowledge about any part of this process is minimal so I wouldn't really know haha

I'm not sure where I'll end up yet! I didn't mean the official acceptance it's a little odd you have to indicate your acceptance of the admissions offer within a few weeks to "indicate your continued interest" but that's not the same as actuallyyy accepting the offer if that makes sense

@AspiringScholar17 @RoadtoPhD @aml149 (caveat: this might be a stupid question but I figured rather ask than mess it up somehow) Did you guys accept the admissions offer from Cinci by signing the first page of the offers attachment you received or did you "indicate your acceptance of the admissions offer" via email or something else?

I was going to ask if anyone had heard ab funding yet too. I was notified that I was accepted on the 14th and she said that official acceptance letter and offer of financial support would follow but haven't heard anything since then!

One is mine!

Thanks you guys