unwelded

Thanks for the insight. Do you know if generally schools are able to pull from the waitlist (if they have one) after April 15? Or is everything finalized at that point and post deadline rescind’s screw then over?

Anyone?

I had two fully funded PhD offers this cycle. I did not get to visit School #2 because of COVID-19. I ended up choosing school 1 because I felt like it was a better fit, I knew the people there, and because it is closer to home - despite knowing that the second school was much better ranked program with better placements. This was induced panic related to COVID-19 (I lost a family member, and just the general anxiety of this current moment) and I defaulted to what was familiar. It is now 4 days after April 15. Let's say I ask School B (the one I rejected) and they inform me that they can still offer me the spot - how BAD would it be to then rescind my acceptance to School 1? Even if I were to explain myself and my situation, would this burn bridges? Do you think there is leeway for these things because of everything going on ? More Info: -Both schools knew I had acceptances from them both. So this isin't a case of accepting one school and then getting off the waitlist of another after the deadline. It's a matter of just nerves and changing mind. (yikes). -I have personal connections to both schools, but more so school 1 (the one I already accepted). A mentor of mine who is close to many of the big names in the department vouched for me, which is what I'm sure played a large role in getting me in (double yikes). Advice?

Don’t think too much into it. Just thank you and looking forward to working together

From what I’ve heard (didn’t end up in AmStudies myself): NYU is considered to be the top ranked program right next to Yale in terms of scholarship, reputation, and placement. Brown and Harvard have the Ivy League gleam but they don’t have a strong reputation nor rank. Harvard’s hires might indicate a change, but seeing as how the scholars you mentioned were hired in disciplinary departments, it’s unclear. Furthermore they’ve come under scrutiny due to the recent tenure denial of Dr Lorgia Garcia Pena and general lack of support for ethnic studies. Aside from that, I haven’t heard good things about the program culturally. Brown is sort of an odd ball and not a very strong program. USC has a great reputation especially if you’re interested in Latino and Asian American studies. Michigan has a solid program but it’s not seen like it used to be. I have never heard much about the other programs (which should tell you something)

Accepted into one of my top programs in history and about to accept

Be sure to check the placements of both programs but esp the area studies. There are a handful of ones that place exceptionally well, but outside of that, meh

Seconded. I think taking time off is a better plan than throwing money into one of these cash cows which may or may not end up helping you.

Depends on the kind of work you wanna do but generally , Rutgers. Congrats on amazing offers though.

This

You can accept an offer and then drop out - but it’ll likely burn bridges with faculty there.

This is actually a pretty crazy situation. Can you give more details? Are you going to stick with Berkeley?

A campus tour is fine-if it was a recruitment visit day with the program and faculty and potential cohort then no.

A program is taking their sweet time in coming back w funding information

What is the reputation of the first program? You saying your two potential POI’s are old and that younger scholars aren’t doing cutting edge work could be something to consider if this is a widely held perspective. Try to parse through reputation vs online rankings (which aren’t as helpful). Also, the great fit of the two advisors at the second school sounds like it could be promising. You should speak to more students and see if they’re simply hard to get a hold of sometimes or if they’re completely inaccessible. If it’s the former, it shouldn’t be an issue-it’s just a matter of your capacity to be intentional in curating your relationship with them.

Thanks for the replies everyone. A lot to think about. It's a hard choice. On the one hand is a school with a cutting edge reputation and great fit, but places its graduates mostly into american studies/ethnic studies departments (which honestly makes me nervous because it feels like im pigeonholing myself into the most precarious sector of academia) On the other is the ivy which dosent have the top reputation within "___" studies but places its alumni well into history and english. And also offers a terminal MA in those fields (not that history or english are doing well right now lol). Plus the institution carries more weight in the very likely case that I have to pursue work outside of academia.

Would you say this still holds even for an interdisciplinary field? The nuance that makes this confusing for me is that - I probably won't get a job in that field anyways as there are less ethnic/American studies programs than there are English, so I feel like the top leading rep of the second school will matter less...or be completely lost on job committees than Harvard since I likely won't be getting a job in ethnic/american studies anyways.

Thanks for the detailed and great responses. And thanks @Glasperlenspieler for the elaboration. When you explain it, you're right that grouping dosen't really make sense. Reason I'm asking is trying to figure out the right choice between aforementioned schools. My field is interdisciplinary (ethnic studies, american studies, WGS, etc...) so what I found interesting is that the Harvard program places most of its graduates into traditional tenure track positions (mostly English and History), whereas the second school places most of its graduates into tenure track spots in interdisciplinary departments. the second school is undoubtedly seen as the "cutting edge" and current leader of the field, - and would also fit me *slightly* better, I still wonder if a place like Harvard is the more strategic choice simply because somehow it makes most of its students legible to traditional disciplines which means a larger pool of job options (outside of academia as well as many of you said, as Harvard is more culturally recognizable). Furthermore, I feel like the future of interdisciplinary programs is much more precarious than History and English. I don't know, I feel like I'm trying to find certainty where there is none. Maybe the second school will grow even larger and interdisciplinary programs become the hot thing. Or maybe it'll fade out. Who knows.

By "any benefit at all" I meant benefit that comes solely from the brand name/pedigree and not necessarily the elements of the program itself (reputation, your advisor, etc)

Let's say you get into two similarly ranked programs. One has that top ivy brand name (Harvard/Princeton) and another elite school (like U Chicago, UCLA, U Michigan, etc). Assuming there are no major red flags and both programs fit relatively well - is there any benefit at all to going to the Harvard institution when on the job market? I'm trying to figure out how much utility pedigree has within academia where its more department focused. The other department fits me slightly better and students also seem happier (but how much can you really know from visit days), but I'm wondering if I'll be kicking myself for turning down a name like Harvard or Princeton.

I'm choosing between two PhD programs right now. Both are top ranked, but school 1 has a reputation of being the leader in the field. It also fits me better intellectually and socially. School 2 fits me as well, but there would def be some major adjustments, again intellectually and socially. The appeal of this school is that while it dosent have a reputation within American/Ethnic Studies as the cutting edge - its offering more money, its at the most well known ivy league in the world (more on why i even think this matters), and it has an interesting placement record. Whereas the hot trending school 1 places most of its students into WGS/Ethnic/American Studies departments, school 2 places most of its students into traditional disciplines (especially History) and at damn good schools too. Furthermore, school 2 offers a terminal masters in a traditional discipline. My thinking is that, while school 1 is where most of the "action" is at, school 2 is more of a strategic choice because of the prestige of the school (useful if I go outside academia) and that I can become legible to traditional disciplines which is where most of the jobs are. What if the market for Ethnic and American Studies becomes even worse than it is now? What if what makes school 1 hot right now dies down? This is all conjecture so I don't know if I'm thinking about this right. Looking for opinions