LCA_1350

I'm hoping to get more information or opinions on the Syracuse Sociology PhD program. On paper, it seemed like a good fit for my research interests (immigration / migration), and it appears it may be my only acceptance this cycle. However, these posts about the program are extremely troubling, especially given my research interests. I would rather keep working in the non-profit sector than be miserable for 5-7 years and come out with a degree that may be stigmatized (would this be the case? I'm not plugged into the Sociology academic world). I'm also worried about the funding situation - the email from the director of graduate studies said "At this time, we cannot provide funding to cover tuition and living expenses. We are working to try and secure funding for you. It usually takes a month or so before we will know whether we can offer funding to you. We can, however, assure you that we are diligently working on this!" This wording seems suspect, and from the previous post, it sounds like funding has been an issue in the past. I've always been told that a PhD program without full funding is a major red flag. Living in upstate NY is also a concern. My fiance is a STEM post-doc, and we were hoping to "hit" in the same general area - a PhD program for me and a TT job for him. He's a finalist for a position at SUNY Cortland, and will probably get an offer, but during his visit he thought the lack of diversity was concerning, and the deep seated racism in upstate NY was very palpable (the faculty at SUNY Cortland apparently did not hide this). We're both white, but living in a culturally diverse and accepting area of the country is very important to us. Any thoughts/input/opinions on any of these issues would be very appreciated!