samoth

Does anyone know if they have a visiting day?

Decisions from Indiana? On a Sunday???

And if the weather's any part of your decision, you probably have a big dilemma...

It's a good question. Departmental stars certainly have good chances of networking as early as possible in their careers. However, it might be even more important to consider potential advisers - especially, having more than one potential adviser in the department. Finding yourself orphaned, even in the best departments, can be very bad for your progress. A good adviser with good connections and human relations can be very valuable and can greatly improve your placement options, even if you're not the star of the department.

Yeah it's definitely the toughest part. You shouldn't assume it means bad news, though! Out of 5 universities I received notification from only one (and I applied to different programs than you did). I don't think your departments notified anyone (except for UCSD, if I remember correctly). Just keep an eye on the results search...

Thanks. I guess this makes talking to current grad students before accepting offers a very good idea. By the way - does anyone know what attrition rate is considered "normal"?

Is it just me, or are most of the links broken on that site? It's obvious that this person had a horrible experience in grad school, but whenever it comes down to the actual details of what exactly happened all I get is broken links...

In a hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst way, yeah this is great and I'll have it in mind when I visit the university.

She's a bit embittered, don't you think? did you read the previous page?

Roaring silence, I'm afraid. To the best of my knowledge they don't hold interviews.

lol Yeah, and he'd appreciate it if I didn't apply there again

yeah, I'm too anxious for my own good

They started notifying last year's applicants right about now... has anyone heard anything about their status...? even unofficially?

Thanks! I'm sure you'll be sharing good news in no time.

Thanks! it's great.

It's definitely a good sign, I think. My guess is that you've made it to the short list, so you're definitely being seriously considered. You'll just have to wait a few more days to find out...

Congratulations, first of all! Blackwell have a reader called "Classical Sociological Theory" which includes essential texts not only by the "fathers" but other important writers such as Mannheim, Du Bois, Marcuse and such (not to mention Parsons, of course - many understand the larger part of sociological writing from the 60s on as being directed against him so it's a good idea to be familiar with him). As for more recent writers, again from Blackwell - "Contemporary Sociological Theory" (if I remember correctly) - Bourdieu, Foucault, Baudrillard and such. Good luck!

I'm wondering about the same thing... I guess honesty really is the best policy. I think emails are generally a better way to do this because you can think over what you're asking and how you're making yourself look. Ask about anything that's on your mind, though - especially if you have other offers (you're going to spend quite a while with these people... best to be informed).

Thanks! sbrown: I also applied to the other Annenberg, but the UPenn one was one of the top choices (also - I'm an east coast type). I'm glad to hear you have other offers w/ full funding.

I just got an acceptance letter from Penn (with full funding). None of the departments I applied to require interviews. sbrown - where do you have offers from?

Penn.... nothing like a recession to make a gradschool with full funding so attractive

The same thing's on my mind too... One department I applied to normally receives 200-250 applications and this year they received more like 350 (since they offer full funding for 5 years).

I'm not quite there yet, but I've been told and I've read on several FAQs on university sites that it's in very bad form to back out on an offer after you accepted it. I think it's best to wait until you're sure you want to go there.

I considered submitting a co-authored paper too, and I was told by the admissions office to make sure that it is accompanied by an explanation (written by the other author if he or she is a professor) about what your personal contribution to it was. I understood that they do read it, but they're interested in which of your skills it exemplifies. I'm sure this differs between universities, but if there's no explanation of your contribution to the article maybe you should ask the other author to send an email to the department you applied to about that.

Berkeley started notifying students already, so I guess there are no interviews (someone would have mentioned it). As for the others - I have no idea. Since it appears that Harvard conduct interviews, and I didn't get one, I guess I can strike them off my list...