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I don't think it's a good idea to communicate uncertainty; you definitely have to show that you have some specific research project in mind. Of course, that project can change, but i think programs still want to know that you have some kind of direction (and some background or special interest in it). Having said that, you're perhaps right in the sense that it's also important to demonstrate a variety of interests in the discipline, which signals that you're flexible and well-rounded. In my program, you have to take exams in two subfields, so it's probably a slight advantage if you can show both a narrow research interest and a broader openness.

Yeah, just adding my voice to the chorus: terrible idea practically and ethically. I think it's hilarious that you're worried about plagiarism but not this plan (or at least not enough to immediately think it's terrible).

Were the schools you applied to in Canada? If so, I have a hard time believing that the 'less prestigious' school is really so much so that you'd consider not going with funding and, as you say, a good fit. Relatively speaking, there aren't that many PhD granting schools and the range is much smaller. There must've also been reasons why you applied in the first place. Why would it be a conflict to talk about it with your current advisors? It's not any more so than getting letters of recommendation from them for their own department, as I assume you did, and which happens all the time. It's perfectly legitimate to talk it over; yeah, they might try to hard sell the program, but there's nothing wrong with that, and it's ultimately up to you.

GopherGrad, you had comps for your MA? That's hardcore...

I think one of the other concerns with 'inbreeding', whether it's legitimate or not (probably not in general), is that it suggests an applicant/job candidate could only be accepted by people who already knew and were personally familiar with them, not 'blind reviewers', as it were, who only knew them through their work. That is, there's a slight, perhaps unconscious, feeling that some sort of favoritism or, perhaps, unfair advantage, was at play. Again, I don't buy it in most cases, though I have to say I know some people who I feel this would apply.

Frankly, I think it's different when you're talking about choosing between two programs based on funding and working 'on the side' while in a PhD program. The expectation is that if you're a 'full-time' PhD student that that is your job. I'm not saying it's impossible or unwise to have another job, but I don't think it's illegitimate for departments and faculties to be concerned enough to mandate reasonable limits or strongly discourage it. I completely disagree with the above re: TAing, not only for myself but for others I know. Yes, it can be frustrating and sometimes tedious but it also can be very fulfilling. I enjoy interacting with students and helping them achieve things, and I think TAing also tends to create stronger connections to the department and the broader mission of what's going on at a university, not just your own small corner of research. Obviously, YMMV. For the OP, you mention you have financial constraints, so that's probably the most important thing to consider in the short-term, + the fact that your goal isn't necessarily academia, leads me to think the better course of action is continuing to work.

Well, unless someone here is actually in the (music, I'm guessing from your name?) faculties at UBC and Calgary, it's kind of hard to know. I'd say generally UBC is a bigger school with probably more going on. As for the original question, yeah, the top 25 thing doesn't mean much, especially when you're talking about two well-regarded Canadian universities. There's much less difference among schools up here than in the US.

I haven't heard anything at all.

One very easy way of at least getting a sense of the more concrete aspects is to look at a syllabus or two of the kinds of courses you'd be interested in (or, if you know where you're going, checking that dept website for the actual syllabuses of courses you'll be taking). So, yeah, in general, more reading (which, if you haven't learned to by know, should generally NOT be read all the way through linearly - you're probably never going to get through it all, and you'll retain even less). There's greater expectation of active and intelligent participation in class discussion, though the extent of that difference depends on your particular undergrad experience. I would say that six courses / semester is atypical; I don't want to assume things but if the above poster's 'location' is accurate it may be a Europe/North America difference. We had a lot of presentations - nearly every week, which usually took the form of presenting and critiquing a book or set of readings. I think the actual quantity of written work is highly dependent on particular instructors - I had some courses that required a 5-6 page paper every week, others that did the standard term paper. On the other hand, I never had any kind of final exam, either take home or in class.

You should receive results by e-mail; as far as I can recall (from a few years ago), both UBC and U of T sent me notices that way. I don't even remember checking my application status after that. I think the comment about U of T was meant to be less about the 'prestige' of the program and more about the actual dept environment and support for graduate students. I've also heard some negative things about this, though I don't doubt that it's still an excellent program.

Yeah, I agree, totally unnecessary. I'm pretty sure 'ability of applicant to adjust to the location' would be somewhere between the kind of car they drive and their astrological sign on the list of things they look for. (Obviously, it's more important to the applicant).

I can't speak precisely to the US case, since I know there's a greater range of quality in programs than up here, but I'd say: 1) that your excitement about the faculty and program at UMass is very important - you're going to spending years of your life there, 2) look at the program's placement record - if you can see yourself working at such places then it shouldn't be an obstacle (though you have to be realistic about getting that tenured prof job at Harvard - read this: http://www.educationnews.org/uncategorized/in-political-science-11-schools-generate-50-of-researchers/) 3) As St Andrews Lynx said, university rankings are extremely dubious, which is very unfortunate considering the outsized role they play in everything from admissions to the job market.

I agree with everyone else that doing the whole 'silent protest' thing isn't going to help. I'd bet a lot that nobody will even notice. And I also agree that if you have real concerns you should bring them up with the prof. Contrary to a point you made in the OP, I think it IS the job of the prof to ensure useful and equitable class discussion. IMO, at the graduate level that's their only essential job, since, as you say, discussions are student-led. I also think that if at all possible you should try to engage the colleagues you're 'annoyed' at, not only to help in the class specifically but because a supportive, congenial (if not friendly) atmosphere is a much better place to spend years in than a poisonous, antagonistic one.

Well, you should have some idea of your project now, so there's no harm in reading and studying up on areas you think useful - but as I said earlier, I wouldn't treat it as anything like a full-time job. As for coursework, I guess that really depends on the particular structure of the program you end up in. In our program, you have to take two core courses in two subfields and a methods course, so much of what I read was not especially directly useful for my thesis, though mostly very interesting.

Yes, congrats! I did my MA at McGill. It's a great place (and Montreal a great city), and some interesting theorists there (though I'm not in theory). If it's your choice ultimately, you won't regret it.

Are you sure it was the actual SOP? On some applications there's a 'short' form where, obviously, you give a brief statement, and then there's a page where you upload a document, which is your full SOP (as well as your CV, other documents, etc.). BTW, I replied in your other thread; so you are applying now? If so, best of luck!

Of course, as with anything, it depends, but I'd actually say no, at least not heavily. You're going to have plenty of time to work on your thesis during the time you're actually IN a program, you're going to be doing coursework for at least the first year, and exams after that (others may disagree, but I didn't do any meaningful thesis work during either of these phases), and I can almost guarantee that your project is going to change. It also depends on how you feel about your application profile right now. But if your application profile is solid, I'd say find related work, do some travelling, just relax a bit. Once you start your program, you're going to treasure the year you actually had free time. EDIT: Case in point... this is my first post here in probably 2 years! I recently remembered how helpful this forum was to me when I was applying... hope to post more from now on!

This. And even if you have those, so will one or two hundred other people. Obviously, I know nothing about your credentials or plans, but I'd advise you not to put all your eggs in the Harvard basket.

Thanks fuzzy and lyoness for those words, they really mean a lot. I'm certain that I'll look back on this time and wish I had this much idle time. As for the family situation, it probably won't involve me having to go home, unless things take a bad turn, but it's hard to shake the feeling of abandonment and guilt. But I've no choice but to soldier on, so that I shall!

So, I don't know if this is taking the thread too off-course, but I guess I'm just in need of a little encouragement. I moved to my new city on Monday, had the baggage problems, got a lot of things set up, and my overwhelming feeling right now is that I just want to go home. I learned today of a family-related problem back home and really feel that I should be there, but that's prohibitively expensive. I also don't know anyone here and don't have internet access at my place; I know the latter seems like a small thing but it's kind of frustrating to have to go out to find a wifi spot just to check things. It's also the long weekend so a lot of places are closed. i'm just feeling extremely homesick, much more so than when I left for my master's a few years ago. I hope and imagine this will start to change when courses get going and I have things to work on, but right now it's just a very empty, almost guilty feeling, like I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Any advice, encourangement, whatnot, would be great.

Well, I think I would have to file a claim and go through a whole bureaucratic process. I don't think the hassle is worth it, especially right now, and I can't honestly claim that there was substantial harm done; I had all the necessities with me and going a couple days in the same clothes isn't the end of the world.

Thanks. I got the bag yesterday. I suppose it was a bit of an overreaction emotionally on my part, but as I said, it's never happened to me before and for some reason the thought of my bag being lost somewhere out there combined with moving to a new and unfamiliar place just got to me. Objectively, nothing in it was all that valuable, but perhaps for the books that were for courses.

Has anyone else had their baggage lost on the way to your new home? I've never had problems with bags before, so this was not fun and quite stressful. So, I've been here two days and they've been, especially the first, exhausting, more from worry and anxiety than from any work, which doesn't start until next week for me. I'm looking forward to actually getting started on things; the downtime even between today and next week seems daunting.

It seems like in general history courses require more reading than in my field, political science. I'm actually taking a course in the history department in my first semester at my new school, and the syllabus indicates that it will indeed be a book a week, which is not only something new for me, but also darn expensive. Do you guys in history actually buy all the required books? Adding up the book list comes to $354; I actually already have a couple of the books, thankfully. With those, it would be upwards of $400. That's... a lot.

A bit of a tangent, but I wonder if this discussion suggests that the heavy reading loads some profs and some fields require are counterproductive in the end. Nobody with 'ordinary' abilities, i.e., Without eidetic memory or some such thing, is going to be able to read and retain the contents of however many dense and sometimes convoluted books consumed in such a compressed time, especially when a sizable portion isn't within one's interests so that it's harder to contextualize or situate the information. Perhaps it would be better to assign smaller, more manageable chunks which can be read completely and carefully, and lessen the strain that the OP and others have brought up. Grad school should be challenging and we should expect to work hard, but I don't think it ought to wear one down to the point of sacrificing mental health or quality of life. On the other hand, I know one of the main functions of courses is as prep for comps, so being familiar with the literature is important. But there's also usually plenty of time (summers, terms with no courses, etc.) when one can concentrate on the material without the burden of three or four courses, each with heavy reading loads, possibly TAing which means its own reading loads and prep time, other program duties, general getting accustomed to a new situation (especially in one's first grad term), and so on. Thoughts? I'm just putting this out for consideration. When I did my MA, I never found the reading load to be excessive or burdensome, but I also didn't TA my first semester, which had the most reading, and I didn't have to prepare for exams.