Skyride Season

Hey, I really appreciate your taking the time to respond. I think there are a lot of similarities in terms of growth in our fields-- although I'd be lying if I said I still had complete confidence in light of this new political climate we're living in... This school is my first choice definitely because of the faculty. I have met two of them multiple times at conferences and speaking events, and I met several other faculty and members of their first PhD cohort. It was great to be able to ask the PhD students about their experience in the program, as far as the dynamic between students, between students and faculty, between faculty and admins, etc. Something I really value is a climate of collaboration and collective involvement, as opposed to competition, and they confirmed to me that their mutual success is something each of them are invested in. My acceptance letter also indicated that I'd have four years of funding through a teaching assistantship, so that is DEFINITELY hard to pass up... The other schools I applied to will be hard pressed to one-up that offer. The idea of having an influence on the direction of the program is very exciting! I think that is a good possibility with this program, because the faculty who are the foundation of the department continue to impress me with their egalitarianism, inclusivity, and the degree to which they appear to take their students (grad and undergrad) seriously. Hmm, this certainly gives me a lot to think about! It also allays some of my fears about the risks of joining a brand-new PhD program... Thanks, again, for taking the time to reply!

I'm 30+ and just got my first acceptance letter to a PhD program... I am beside myself nervous, excited, elated, grateful, scared witless. I've met a few of the faculty, as well as a few of the graduate students. I got to have a conversation with one of the doctoral candidates about her experience being part of this program's first cohort (it really is a brand-new program). She is also 30+, a few years my senior, I think, and she seemed very confident and calm about her place in academia and in this program. Me, on the other hand-- I am freaking out. Choosing this program will require moving far away from my partner and my family. I don't have kids, but my partner and I have talked about adopting, and this is definitely going to put a kink in our plans... Maybe an irresolvable kink? We ain't getting any younger, that's for sure... The uncertainty of the future is very daunting, and I didn't anticipate how much this decision was going to affect so many people in my life. About the wait, itself-- I had zero expectation of getting in, anywhere. I applied to 3 programs (originally had planned to apply to 8 but Life Happened), and I very much assumed that I'd get 3 rejection letters. So it's really confusing and strange to be put in the position of having to decide whether or not to accept. My default has always been, Of course I would accept! But it feels more fraught than I ever imagined it would. Also, I haven't heard from the other two schools, and even though this acceptance letter came from my first-choice school, it'll be even weirder if I get accepted to more than one and then have to decide between them. x_x How many folks have had to move away from spouses/partners for their program? How did they feel about you having to move? What about those of you with kids in the mix? Have any of you decided to have kids during grad school (masters or PhD)? I don't suppose anyone has had the experience of going through the adoption process while also being in school?

Thank you!! It is very exciting, and nerve-wracking... This is really great advice, I so appreciate your taking the time to respond. Luckily I have a few contacts at a smattering of WGSS programs around North America, so I will definitely get in touch with them to see if I can glean their impression of this school and program. Also, I know that this program just hired a brand-new faculty member, but I don't know much about them beyond their recent publications and scholarly interests. It seems like sound advice to try to find out where they came from! If you don't mind my asking, would you, yourself, take a chance on a very new doctoral program? Thank you, again.

A lot of these questions are totally logical (average run to graduation, retention rate, etc.) but let's say that you just got an acceptance letter to a PhD program that is only a year old... That is, if you accepted, you'd be part of their second cohort ever. That's the boat I'm in. Some of you are probably thinking, "Why apply to that program in the first place?" 1) For me it offers the best of all possible worlds, intellectually-speaking (faculty resources, range of scholarly interests they support, etc.) and 2) for PhD programs, it is slim pickings in my field. There are just a few dozen at the PhD level in the whole world, although more keep sprouting up every year. So anyway... If you were in my boat, what might you ask this program prior to acceptance?