throwaway-cyberfish

TheAbsurdLife,
So sorry you are having to deal with these awful comments of other posters, I guess your username explains it though... you do have an absurd life!! Just ignore Fuzzy and Disco, they clearly are either 1) bored and procrastinating or 2) needing something to take their frustration out on. This forum is to ask questions, to vent, to rant, and to help us. And that's exactly what you did! You did nothing wrong. So again, I'm sorry these clearly unhappy viewers decided to lash out at you and take our their frustration. Great job not feeding into it too much! Let the unhappy just be unhappy, no need to feed them
Anywho, as of your sticky situation, I'm torn as of what to tell you. Only you can really make that call. IMO, it would definitely burn bridges... but as the other antagonistic replies have stated, that may be a bridge that's worth burning. I'm not too aware of how the funding, etc would be affected for other candidates. Do you have any sort of mentor or adviser guiding you through the application process? A professional in your field that wrote your letter of recommendation perhaps? I have had a couple questions regarding things as such, and my lovely adviser who has helped me through this whole process was willing to help me through them. Let us know (actually... forget Fuzzy and Disco... let ME know...) how everything turns out. Rooting for you!

It still hasn't hit me! I mean I am going to Berkeley with a pretty good package and have yet  to cry or scream out loud. I think it will hit me on my first day. 
I'm kind of upset that it hasn't haha.

I wanted to crowd-source some reasons for how people are making their final decisions. I realize this is a convenient spot for a lot of us to be in, but it is also a very difficult one. I know my pre-submission impressions were that I would not be in this predicament; I wholeheartedly expected to be accepted at just one place. But, here we are. Any advice helps! 


All the best,

Started undergrad at 33, master's at 38, starting a PhD program at 40.  Professors I inteviewed with said my life/work experiences were what caught their attention.  

I fail to see the problem.

This is my opinion after reading a lot on the subject very recently and talking to a few professors about it. I was nominated for a fellowship to stay at my UG for grad school and this particular offer, if I get it, would make it difficult to say no to them. As a result, I'm in a position where I really need to consider this.
 
First, it is going to look bad on your CV but it's not going to kill it. If you are applying for jobs/post-docs and sending along a CV with 6-7 publications in high impact journals, are presenting at conferences regularly and turning those presentations into papers, and, most importantly, are bringing money into the department by way of external grants, you're probably going to be alright. You might not get the top positions but you will be able to do something. Getting a good post-doc somewhere else will also go a long way for improving that particular part of your CV.
 
Second, there is validity to the idea that leaving makes it look like you have not had access to a number of other opinions. If you stay on at your program it might be a good idea to consider having outside faculty to read your thesis/dissertation or sit on your committee. You can then note this in statements with the hopes that it will help alleviate that a bit. The kicker is, it will only alleviate that a bit. The vast majority of your time is spent developing the same ideas you were exposed to in your UG studies. This is where conference presentations (and turning them into papers) is helpful.
 
The idea that staying means you are only familiar with one schools departmental politics is a bit contrived. Few undergrads have any idea about departmental politics so most people graduate only knowing how one department operates anyway.
 
Finally, the advice given to me was, consider your current program like you would any other but always keep it one spot lower than any other program on your list. That is, if you are a good fit, they offer you good funding, etc. then you should strongly consider them but any similar offers, even if they are slightly worse, should be given more weight. A difference of $5000 a year or whatever it is might seem like a big deal right now, but in the long run the position that $5000/yr gives you will be hard to make up.

My personal opinion is that diversity can be good in your educational background, but is not necessarily the only rule to follow.  I did my bachelor's and 1st master's degree at UNC Chapel Hill - B. Music Performance, and MAT.  The master's program I'm applying for now -- speech-language pathology, is actually ranked very highly at UNC, so I did end up applying there again for this second master's, and will eventually apply there for the PhD program, regardless of whether I attend UNC for this master's degree. In my case, I'm switching fields, which may be different than people coming from in-field.  
 
I also chose to apply elsewhere because the new experience, new campus, and different school, will give my CV some variety for when I do apply for PhD programs... not to mention the competitive nature of the admissions process and "no guarantees" even if it is your alma mater. Perhaps this is something to consider in your case.  
 
So... I guess it just depends on the circumstances.  If your grad institution specializes in your area of research and is the right fit for your PhD research, I don't see anything wrong with doing the PhD at the same institution.  There are several MA-to-PhD programs that people pursue simply because they WANT to have all of their research run concurrently, giving them an enriched experience (musicology at UNC is one program I know about, as well as the SLP program at Boston).  The diversity can be beneficial, so I would at least consider other universities to check for those same things - fit, area of research, etc.  

Sometimes it's the things you mention. But it's possible that aspects of your underlying assumption (quoted) are wrong. The people who have applied 3+ times and are still unsuccessful might not have the aptitude for graduate studies--or are consistently aiming higher than their aptitude would allow. Sometimes there are factors that more RA experience just won't fix, like hitting a ceiling on GRE scores, having an undergraduate degree from a middling institution, or unknowingly resubmitting unremarkable reference letters (in content or source). Not everybody is cut out for graduate school (or medical school, or dating a supermodel, etc.).
ETA: I am curious why it's scary that not everybody can get what they want, career wise. I absolutely understand why it might be personally uncomfortable to think that one can't have one's dream, but why in the more general sense that "people" won't be able to do it?
 

You might want to rethink how you treat people who ask honest, harmless questions on a forum meant to help others.
 
Maybe people like you are the problem.
 
In your very first post, you imply that I'm someone that thinks I'm more important than everyone else. 
 
Everyone else was extremely helpful--you are the only one who hasn't been.
 
Right back at you.

...but, your condescending attitude aside, I do agree and will try to actually cut it down to 500 words.

Hello,

I have a question regarding word and page count guidelines. Some Statement of Purpose guidelines say to keep it under 500 words, but people on this forum have indicated that it is not necessary to strictly adhere to these restrictions. Some program websites have also gone out of their way to say it is not a strict cutoff, while others don't specify. The same applies for word/page counts on writing samples. If this is the case, what would you say the limit is? For example, for a 500 limit, is 600 too far over the threshold? 700? 800? 

I typically follow the rules provided, so I automatically don't feel extremely comfortable submitting anything over 500 in this case. My current letter as stands is ~700 words and I am not eager to cut any of it down any further, but I am also hesitant to submit something ~40% larger than requested.

Thanks!