fireandice

I think this is really important to note. Equally important is that the college you graduate from determines your initial placement. Afterwards, it depends more on the reputation that you've built as a scholar and/or professor. It's often difficult to transition from a teaching-to-research school because the schools have different objectives they consider to be important. 

I'd also like to stress that there's also a chance that you will even get accepted to the same school the following year.
 
There are way too many factors to consider here. How recent are the placements? Are students refusing to take on certain tenure-track positions because they want to stay in their city or closeby due to family or culture? Some students choose to stay in their city even if the job is "lesser" because they really enjoy the feel of the city. Others choose to stay because they like the affordability of where they're living and/or starting a family makes going to the job market a bigger challenge. Some professors within universities really stress R1 universities and might not know as much about teaching-focused institutions. Small note here: Non R1 universities account for around 90 percent of schools and as such make up the majority of hiring. Teaching experience is often more important than research experience for them.

@Warelin is certainly right that this is complicated, but I would suggest there are some patterns at work here. I think some programs do quite well at placing their students in permanent, TT positions, but rarely, if ever, place a student at an R1. Other programs might be more hit and miss in terms of placement, but the students they do place often end up at R1 universities. If you look around, I wouldn't be surprised if a handful of PhD programs produce 70+% of professors at R1 institutions (this is certainly true in my field, which is a non-anglophone literature). Academia can be pretty incestuous and this is especially true at the upper echelon of research universities. The catch, however, is that students from these programs often get overlooked for more teaching focused jobs. Someone with a PhD from an elite private university which does quite well at placing students suggested that people from that program rarely, if ever, got interviews from smaller, public universities. There are also other factors, such as regional notoriety (some programs place quite well at universities in the same part of the country but don't have as strong of a national reputation) or religious affiliation (PhD programs at Catholic universities tend to place quite well at other Catholic colleges/universities, all else being equal).

I was notified by the DGS when the person in my field accepted their spot (meaning that I would not be getting an acceptance off the waitlist.) I found this very helpful and hope the DGS would do that for other cases so as to not leave people hanging. 

I was notified by the DGS when the person in my field accepted their spot (meaning that I would not be getting an acceptance off the waitlist.) I found this very helpful and hope the DGS would do that for other cases so as to not leave people hanging. 

Aw, thanks for asking!
First: this is a professional decision, and you are not going to hurt anyone's feelings. Admissions committees will indeed be disappointed when we fail to recruit our top choices, but no one will be personally upset or offended. Don't feel awkward or hesitant about informing programs in a prompt and direct way. As others have suggested in the forums, institutions that maintain waitlists often depend on admitted students turning them down before the April 15 deadline in order to admit anyone from the waitlist. So if you know that you won't be attending, you are doing the program (and waitlisted students) a favor by informing them promptly.
Second: you are not obligated to explain your reasons for your choice, especially if that hinges in part on private factors that you would rather not disclose (such as the decision to relocate a partner and/or family to a particular geographic area, for example). That said, if there was anything about the program that gave you pause--the stipend was lower, or the placement seemed weak, or the teaching responsibilities weren't what you hoped, or the graduate students you spoke to were unhappy--and you feel comfortable sharing that information with the DGS, or whoever has been communicating with you about your status: that information will be deeply appreciated by the program (at least if it's a program that knows what's good for it). We are constantly reviewing and refining our recruitment practices as well as our graduate program. If there are issues that are going to make us less appealing to students, we really want to know about that earlier rather than later! (Also: some programs I know of issue an anonymous survey to prospective students who turn them down, giving them an opportunity to express such feedback without having to worry that they are causing offense. But even if you don't get this formal opportunity, please know that your thoughts will be taken seriously and appreciated, so long as they are expressed cordially.) You can express your concerns collegially, along the lines of: "I'm writing, regretfully, to let you know that I won't be matriculating at X University. While I so appreciated the chance to speak with your wonderful faculty and students, the lower stipend combined with the higher cost of living in your city ultimately led me to another decision." And so on. 
Third: I think most programs have online portals where you can record your decision electronically, without requiring any explanation. But if you've corresponded at any length or spent a significant amount of time with specific faculty, you can't go wrong with a brief and professional email thanking them for their time and saying how much you look forward to seeing them and their work at conferences and in print. (In fact, you can't go wrong with a brief thank you to such faculty at the school you do choose to attend! Keep it short and sweet: thanks so much for your time, enjoyed talking to you, look forward to working with you in the coming years.) 

I think this greatly varies depending on the university.
Some of the universities I visited had already taken note of the professors I had expressed interested in working with and had ensured that they had scheduled time for me to meet with them and discuss my interests. Some of the departments remembered very clearly who I was and what my interests were without having to look at their notes. These meetings were conversational in nature. The professors were really looking to hear more about your research and seeing how they best fit in within the scope of the project.

Some departments gave a more general agenda and it was up to the applicant to have scheduled time with any professors.

Hi all! I'm a lurker (and let's be honest, now GC addict) who has finally been drawn into posting. 
I'm wondering if anyone can give insights about what to expect or what to be asking during 1 on 1s with POIs during admitted student campus visits or skype calls? Beyond asking about the professors' current and past research and teaching and then questions about the broader program I am feeling a bit unsure. 
Thanks for any help/thoughts!! (This whole board has been a huge help so far)