ejuliast

I third this. I've been told this too, so I'm trying to make sure to pick a school where I specifically would NOT want to ultimately settle.

Would you qualify for grad housing at any point at NYU? Their housing is really nice (and cheap) and the location is fantastic. Other than that, if space is a big issue for you, you can also look at places in Queens or Brooklyn - there are a few areas (particularly in Queens, as far as I know) where you might be able to get a 2-bedroom with a working SO pitching in. Just thought I'd throw that in there...not advocating for NYU per se, although I would agree with a previous poster that job market-wise you'd be in a better position coming out of UW or NYU than out of Vandy, imo.

I'm one of them...but I don't know the timing on all the acceptances. Fwiw, I got an email with a letter (PDF) attached.

I do this too. I've yet to run into any uncomfortable situations with this "rule of thumb", but there's always a first time I guess...

Yup, here too. I still have moments where I think that some of the schools to which I've been accepted must've mixed up the paperwork accidentally. Seriously.

For us, it's a bit different from the responses I'm seeing so far. My career (and therefore grad school) will decide what happens to our family. So whichever school is the best choice for my career (my goal is academia) is where we're headed, and my husband will find a job there eventually, once we're settled. We decided that this would be the arrangement way before we got married (we've been together for almost 9 years), before I even knew that this would be my career of choice...

Do you happen to know, are they totally done with all admissions in soc and in soc policy too? I should just email them, but I can't get myself to do it...

Amen to that.

thanks

I'm going to go with the easy answer here and say that it depends on the person. When I graduated from undergrad, I was in no way ready for a PhD program. It took years of work experience - and life experience, for that matter - for me to get to this point. But I completely understand that not everyone needs that level of soul-searching before sending out their applications.

This is a good point. Will that situation ultimately put you in a better position for the job market? Or will a better name/rank lead to more opportunities? I'm debating the same thing.

That was me... They sent an email directing me to log into the application web site, and there was a link there to a PDF'd letter. Apparently the letter (along with funding info) is coming soon in the mail; there were no funding details in that PDF.

I'm 29...

I second that.

Got rejected too... I'm not particularly broken up about it. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have a clue with whom I would have worked over there! Chances are pretty good that they saw that in my application as well...

I'm in the same situation: still waiting, haven't been interviewed or heard anything. I haven't seen anything around here about the Social Policy program, so maybe there is still a chance...?

I think it also depends on how much you want a city near by. At Harvard, you have Boston, and arguably also other cities not far away. At Wisconsin, granted you could go to Chicago, but it's totally different. In terms of the departments, Harvard's cohort is obviously much smaller and so is the department. I would say you should think about what suits you best in that sense. And finally, how well do you "click" with potential advisers? I'm trying to decide between Wisconsin, Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA, and making no good headway in the decision at all... :?

Agreed. It's certainly bitter, but it good to be ready. I've been warned again and again about going into this adventure naively, so I'm mentally preparing for the whirlwind that's going to hit me in September!

OK, that made me laugh! Just to clarify, this is all Sociology, not Social Policy & Sociology, right?

Wow!! Congrats to migrationdude and beeswax!

Hey, congrats!

Me too!! So we're the two who just posted (with similar comments)?

Agreed. My husband and son are coming with me to visit schools; they'll just hang out in the town/city and see what they think.

As far as I know, no one gets funds for visit day - I was offered 5 yrs guaranteed as an RA but am not getting any help with travel funds. On a side note, does anyone have any insight into the hotels they mention? Since I'm traveling with my husband and son, I doubt that grad students will be able to house us.

Wow - your interests are very much like mine! What schools are your top choices? I'm really leaning toward Stanford right now for pretty much exactly the reasons you posted. But I am still anxiously awaiting Harvard's results...