tmor6
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Posts posted by tmor6
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Passed on Univ of Oklahoma and Louisiana State
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top departments = best placement
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I am in a similar situation to yours except my School 2 has me waitlisted for funding but I am at the top so they believe I will be awarded their full-funding package with stipend. The other big difference for me is that the city for school 2 has a higher cost of living than school one so the money offered at school one will go a lot further while with school 2 I can still go into debt.
So I am very interested to hear how people respond to your query.
Yeah, that's about the same. School 1 is offering way more money AND the cost of living is a about hald of School 2...
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How much weight do you place on the offer of funding? I've narrowed it down to 2 schools, both are national universities but the offers are quite different
School 1 is flagship state university (think awesome football program), the program has great people, but is not a "ranked" program (I'm sure it's "ranked", but it is below top 50). They have offered me full tuition/fees/health insurance plus a stipend of $15,100 and two fellowships worth an additional $9,500 for four years. My areas fit perfectly with this department and it's apparent they really want me (two fellowships!).
School 2 is ranked between 40-50 and does have an established reputation in the discipline. Obviously it isn't an ultra prestigious program, but they have a great track record for placement and are known for my area (crim). They've offered tutition/health insurance and a stipend of $16,000. School 2 is much more competative (120 applicants vs. 30 for school 1).
I've visited both programs and they would both be great. Is the extra money worth it? I'm curious as to the thoughts of others on this board--any insight would be great.
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The national poverty threshold for 1 person was recently $10,830 a year, so yeah I'd say it's gonna be pretty difficult to live anywhere on that stipend alone. Loans suck, but that may be an alternative to barely scraping by.
Sure, but in some areas you can live on the $12,700 where the cost of housing is cheap; however, Raleigh has a rather expensive CoL compared to say, Norman Oklahoma.
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My brother and his wife live in Raleigh and I know the cost of living is quite high, at least in my opinion. They pay $925 for a 1 bedroom apartment (including utilities). That stipend amount seems very low to me.
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I believe it is totally appropriate to check on the status of your application. That's exactly why there are the designated "Graduate Program Secretary/Coordinator/Other name of a similar position." They expect to receive those types of questions, and they do not have to reply if they don't want to. You have nothing to loose--no one is the history of this painful process has ever been, or ever will be, eliminated from serious consideration because they asked about the status of their application on February 23. Go for it!
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In at Delaware. F*** Yeah!
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Northwestern=Rejection. Didn't really want to go there anyway...
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I am extremely nervous...I haven't heard anything from any of the programs that I've applied to (7). Is it too much to ask for word on one of them-yay, nay, or waitlist??? I know for a fact that one of the programs that I applied to has accepted one of my friends and they're flying him out for a visit on their dime, and yet I hear nothing. I am happy for him, and everyone that has been accepted, but I just want to know something so I can move on. I can't check my mail enough...do you think it is a bad sign that I haven't heard anything from anybody other than all of your application materials have been received?
I was in the same boat you are in last year, and I completely sympathize. It's a tough position to be in. The best thing you can do now is be optimistic and hope for the best. Have you contacted the graduate director? If not, I would suggest you do that to check on the status of your application. Who knows, maybe the acceptance letters are on there way to you right now.
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Me, too. Hurry up and reject me! Have mercy!
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I direct you to this thread:
I think it's a good base to start with, assuming you like numbers! But you still have your visits to go, and I think you'll have a rapid change of mind when you visit each one. It's surprising how much you may or may not like a place once you visit.
Thank you for the link--I've been trying to best quantify these programs. Although the poster used relative values, and I substitued absolute values. I think it's cleaner:) That really helps!
I appreciate the other input, too. I hope the fit will become more clear during the visits.
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I know they haven't graduated anyone yet. I'd be wary, it is a new program. Unless it's your only choice, then go for it!
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I'm having a really tough time norrowing my list. I'm trying to decide between Louisiana State, University of Oklahoma, and University of Delaware. All are with funding.
My area is criminology, of which there are great people at each school I could see myself working with. The offers are all about the same (minor variation in stipend amounts corresponding to relative cost of living). I have no ties to any of these states, and no relatives. I tend to enjoy warm weather (LSU) but also enjoy a change in seasons (UDel, and OK).
I will be visting each program in the next few weeks, although I expect to be impressed by all of them. I know "fit" is important, but how much "fit" can one really ascertain over a one day visit? I've been in touch with current students in all three programs and they all say similar things (this program rocks, the faculty are great! ect...). I've also been in touch with some faculty at each program, they all same similar things to (the work is great, we love students, blah blah blah). I've also begun enlisting the help of my mentors at my current instituion. So I am trying to proceed accordingly, and in an informed fashion.
I'm looking for any advice on these programs--ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME! I know there are people here deciding between Harvard or Princeton (boy, how terrible I feel for you...), but these middle-of-the-tier school choices are tough, too. HELP! Which one's would you go to? Which one would you eliminate?
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I haven't heard anything from them at all, I'm waiting on their Master's program (fingers crossed). I wonder if I should e-mail them or just wait?
Yeah, I haven't heard anything either. When I spoke to their Graduate Program Director, she told me they notify everyone by the 2nd week of March. Well...that's pretty much now. I will be e-mailing them on the 15th if I haven't heard anything. Let me know if you hear anything in the meantime and I'll let you know if I hear anything too.
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Got my rejection yesterday via email.
Thanks for the info...I haven't received anything yet.
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Hmm I saw someone just posted a Umass rejection on the results page. I just checked my application status online and it still says "applied". Does anyone else have any info?
Mine just went from applied to "waitlisted" this afternoon.
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Has anyone heard anything from the University of Delaware? The graduate coordinator told me they usually contact folks in the second week of March. Granted, the Sociology program is ranked in the mid-60s, but the Sociology and Criminology departments are one and the same and Crim is ranked number 15.
Any news would be great!
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Has anyone else heard any word from UMass Amherst? Their website says it takes 5-6 weeks after the January 15th deadline to release decisions. We're now at the end of week 7... I emailed them twice, but have gotten no response. Does anyone know anything?
Ha! I haven't heard from them either and their website does say the make decisions at the end of Feb.
Sociology Ph.D., Applying Fall 2011, Few Basic Questions
in Sociology Forum
Posted
+1: I completely agree. You are really making a commitment to the Ph.D program. And Prestige isn't everything. YOU will make YOUR career by researching and publishing. Our discipline is a very small world.