ewurgler

Hate to break it to you, but if you've looked at much public opinion data, you'll see that as education increases so does left-leaning political views. I don't see it changing any time soon.

I am. I think it will be fun.

HAHA!! That is pretty funny. A card for sure. Maybe a tiny box of nice chocolates. I doubt he would take issue with that. I'm sure undergrad letters of rec are relatively "low-stakes" in terms of ethics violations:) If you don't feel comfortable with a gift, a card is plenty.

You won't see it at the university, but you definitely will if you go out dinner or shopping in orange county, or at any starbucks It is an interesting place and redefines "strip mall," "plastic surgery," "blonde," "cougar," "gated community" and "conspicuous consumption." But hey, it could be a place for great research on american excess.

ejuliast: I am also in soc and think there are some important things to consider, and that will make a difference in me deciding: 1) Are you funded? How long? What types of jobs? Any summer funding? 2) Research Match? Who has the people you most want to work with? Will they stay at X University? Do their current students have good things to say about them? Do you click with them personally? 3) Cohesiveness of the department? Does the faculty get along? If you work with X, will Y automatically hate you? Are there major fractures? Do the quant people hate the qaul people? 4) If you want to do mainly quant or qaul, is that respected there? Are they known for that? 5) COurse work: How much is there? Is that how much you want? If you have a clear idea of what your diss will look like, lots of coursework will be annoying. 6) Teaching: Do they ever let you teach your own class? Is that important to you? 7) Size of department: Do you want to have a lot of attention, or do you want a large department? 8) Time to completion: How long is average for this department? (I know berkeley and Madison have a rep for taking longer). 9) Placement: Ask what this years PhDs have waiting. Are they good at placing at R1 AND top liberal arts (if that is something you MAY want)? Are these positions tenure track? 10) Do the graduate students seem happy? Are they well supported? DO they get along/socialize together? (A big one for me as I want some friends ) 11) Can you live in city X on your stipend the way you want to? There are clearly big differences in cost of living on your list. Can you be comfortable with your pay? These are obviously LOTS to think about, but on my last visit to indiana, I asked them to talk about other schools I am considering (some had gone there) and what they think is different about their school. They tended to be honest, saying "its a really strong program, and if you like this type of program, there would be better." For me, it will come done to whether I like my potential advisor (his work and him personally), whether I get along with the grad students, and what department is supportive and not "strike out on your own type of place." I am not totally clear on what my eventual diss would look like, and I don't want to be in a sink or swim place. Also, at my visit to indiana, they all said Berkeley has A LOT of hits, but a lot of misses, and it is a sink or swim department. It is up to you to make it, there is very little support. (I got rejected, but they all felt the need to tell me about it). Also, I am from CA, and LA is incredibly expensive to live in. UCLA is in a rich area, all of LA has horrible traffic, so unless they give you 25k a year, you will be living in a dump or spending 2 to 3 hours a day commuting (seriously!). Berkeley and Stanford are also both in really expensive areas (Stanford in one of the riches areas in the US). I also had an undergrad prof who went to NYU who siad they have big problems with support of grad students and completion times are long. Ok, probably more than you wanted, but there you go. I am a big believer in going somewhere I think I will flourish at rather than somewhere that has produced the most superstars. You obviously have an amazing list to pick from, so now you have the luxury to grill the grad students and faculty while you visit. But trust your instincts on your visit. You will be able to tell whether or not people are happy, enjoying being around each other, etc.

That is a much better measure than any test score or GPA.

You apply to schools (with letters of rec included). If they like you enough, they interview you, you give a job talk (basically a presentation on your research). You aren't really "recruited" right out of grad school, from my understanding. That happens after you are more established and a school really really wants you. I don't know how the judge who you work with vs. where you went, but if you look at who works at top schools, they all come from other top schools (rarely their own). It is extremely hard for those who did get a PhD from a top school to get a TT position at a top school, especially right out of school. Non top PhD will be an uphill battle. Too many PhDs for too few jobs. Average salary for TT position Assistant Prof 1 at top 30, I would say around 60-70k for publics, depending on the state. I have no clue what privates are. UCs tend to be lower, like 55k I think. This is all based on speaking with fresh PhDs who are looking for jobs and a professor I know who is on a search committee this year.

Even if you don't have an official "MA" thesis or anything, they always give you a MA on the way to the PhD. And yes, it seems like they have made an effort to shorten, and I would agree that quantitative people take less time--they just pull data sets that already exist (often). But damn, look at berkeley. They have the highest % at top schools but their people take FOREVER!!! I am not expecting to get out in less than 6 years.

Not reassuring at all. COmpeting with your cohort for funding does not make for a happy and cohesive group in my opinion. It is hard to believe that schools that don't give out at least a 4 year guarantee of funding even have students. So much extra stress would make me miserable!

a) open house: I say jeans and a sweater, or whatever you would wear on a school day. cocktail party: If it were me, maybe a nicer shirt, but still jeans (maybe darker, dressier jeans). I really don't think anyone will think twice about what you wear. But I tend to wear dark colors in unsure situations to fly under the radar. Dark jeans + black sweater + colorful scarf seems to suit me well for any occasion.

None offered, and I expected they wouldn't. I all asked them before if they felt comfortable writing me a letter of recommendation. Two of mine were from major hot shots who are extremely ethical--they wouldn't agree to write for me if it wasn't going to be positive. I don't expect they said I was the brightest person they have ever come across because that is clearly not going to be the case. But, I've done respectably thus far. I'm sure they were good and I have no issues not being able to ever see them.

Yes, you are being unrealistic. For a social science PhD, 7 years is about average, but 6 is not unheard of. 5 is unrealistic in my opinion, unless you have very little coursework, hardly a qualifying exam, and know right away what your diss will look like. Don't bet on anything less than 6.

I would bet it is probably an english test, but perhaps they are a very close department and want to see if you would mesh with everyone. They just want to get to know you.

scsuh: Congrats!!!! Definitely try to visit if you can. Yikes!! about that woman! When was that? Recently?

ready for change: They don't give you any money to visit even for accepted students, but if you want to pay to fly out, I would bet they could put you up with current grads. Email patricia and shana and ask about it. They really want everyone who is considering to visit, so I'm sure they would be happy to have you.

For the new one: does he/she have tenure? If she does, and has had it for 1+ years, they are most likely sticking around. If they don't have tenure and your program is great but not very top, they may end up moving. FOr the older one: how old? Is there a chance they will retire in the next 4-5 years? FOr me, I prefer younger ones who are energetic, want a "protege," aren't jaded and/or sick of advising, and are still in their most productive years. The ideal time would be soon after they get tenure, as they are secure, not so crazily busy, and can now focus on mentoring.

I just visited a school (not during an official visit weekend) and wore nicer jeans and a sweater. Most faculty were similarly dressed. I don't think it matters at all.

So I visited IU this weekend and really had a fantastic experience. Shana, the graduate coordinator asked me who I wanted to meet with faculty-wise, set up a bunch of meetings, scheduled lunch with grad students, had me going to a talk, and had me stay with a 5th year current grad with similar interests. The girl I stayed with was amazingly sweet and helpful and we got along really well. All of the faculty and students I talked to said similar things about the program: there is a bit more coursework than a lot of programs, you teach your own class starting your 3rd year so you get lots of experience, everyone gets along and there are no real feuds or sub-field fractures, and you are very much supported throughout the time you spend in the department. Even in this economy, 5 of 7 of this years PhDs on the market already have a job for next year (including Penn state and a few high ranking liberal arts schools). I went to a happy hour the grad students have once a month (about 25 of them were there) and they were all super friendly and eager to talk to me and give me all the information I needed. Generally, they all had good things to say about the department, the school and Bloomington. As for Bloomington, I really really liked it. The campus is BEAUTIFUL, with most buildings being made of local limestone. The "downtown" area has lots of ethnic restaurants, cools bars, lunch places, etc. The farther out of the center you go, the more "indiana" it feels with Chili's and applebee's-type places. The neighborhoods are really beautiful as well and rent and/or houses are SUPER CHEAP!!! Overall, I had a really great visit, and I encourage everyone who got in to try to go even though there is no visit day. I think it may even be better without a visit day, as I was the "center of attention" and everyone wanted to talk to me I was really thrilled and it will be a tough school to beat for me.

Depends. Michigan told me Mid-april, meaning they want to know EXACTLY how many are coming before they make any new offers. Others said as soon as they can. I had a few current grads at my undergrad say that some people were notified in the summer, which makes it sound like someone dropped out, the department scrounged up enough funding for another offer, etc. I think it really varies, but I am not even considering the schools I am waitlisted for, partly because they're not high on my list and partly because I don't think they will let me know either way until after I need to make a decision.

I was at ucsd for undergrad in the social sciences and I really loved it. BUT, if you want to eventually settle down in san diego or possibly get a job at UCSD, I can tell you now--they rarely if ever hire someone who got their phd from their school. UCSD has some good faculty in inequality (maria charles off the top of my head) and are very strong in culture and gender, if either of those interest you. But, if Johns Hopkins is a better fit, go there. The UCs don't give ANY preference to job candidates who got degrees in the UC system.

You are probably for sure on a waitlist now.

I think the only way you are going to finish a dissertation is if YOU are deeply interested in and passionate about the topic. There is no way I could spend 2+ years writing something that is geared toward getting a job/a "hip" topic rather than geared toward impacting a discourse that is important to me. I think the more important thing is to not necessarily cater to what is in demand, but make sure that you are researching something that merits further research--clearly address a "so what" that cannot be denied. If there is no answer to "so what," there is little case to be made for employment. Perhaps I am very idealistic, but the type of department I would want to be a part of is balanced, but not concerned merely with volume of articles published or what research will bring in huge grants, but quality intellectual production that elevates the discourse to a new and provocative level.

I had a few really terrible panic attacks after the first notification was a waitlist at the lowest ranked school I applied to. Once I had an acceptance, they subsided. I still don't sleep all that well, though.

I was pleased with my SOP, GPA, and letters, but I probably would study more for the GRE, contact more people and do more research about the programs. There are at least 2 schools I would have nixed and 2 I would have added. Oh well. I'm in at one of my 2 top choices so far, so I won't be doing this again.