coffeem8

I accepted UCSB's amazing offer tonight. I love the department, the current grad students, everything. I feel very comfortable with my decision. Good luck to everyone still making decisions!

I think it really depends on the program. First, check and make sure that your MA will transfer at Ph.d. programs you are looking at. Most WGSS programs will not take your master's degree, but at UCSB they have been willing to work with me on this score, despite me having a seriously sneered at interdisciplinary master's degree. You need to deal with this on an individual level with the admins at Ph.D. programs.

I heard people were offered four year guaranteed offers of approx. 22k per year.

I am assuming that since I haven't heard otherwise, I have until April 15 to make my decision at both places I got into.

I think it would be fine to indicate that you have time-sensitive offers on the table and need to know a school's decision.

I know Washington's funding situation scared ME off... but I also wasn't a good fit for their department. I am sure others applied. There are lots of "lurkers" on here who don't post.

What makes it funnier is that I don't think, in most cases, it is undergraduates asking for sources, but academics. It's weird because a lot of the topics that pop up seem very "WGS 101"...

morthia, I LOLd when I read this. The WMST-L is, um, interesting. I don't know what to make of it! It seems as though there are some interesting things happening there occasionally, but most of it is just people asking for sources on a particular topic.

Oh my gosh I am so worried about all of these things, and even about how to dress. I am excited but also terrified of having to be "on" all the time. I'm thinking of re-reading my SOP and application materials in order to get a handle on how to briefly but clearly talk about my research interests... because when I get nervous I get tongue-tied.

bahahaha! On another note, at some schools it is standard not to guarantee funding for a full 5 or 6 years. A program will only guarantee the number of years they feel comfortable with in writing, but you might still be able to get funding beyond those 3 or 4 years. You should ask the program what graduate students typically do after they reach the end of their 3 or 4 years of funding. Chances are they are able to secure funding some other way, or the department will still try to help them find money.

Wow, really? That's bizarre. No queer theory at a WGS program? I have heard it is difficult for students to get support at UCLA for anything, just because it's such a huge school and not enough resources to go around. To answer your questions on how to decide, well... location was not that important to me. I was mostly concerned about fit with faculty and my financial package. I need as much support as I can get, too, so I want a very supportive department with a tight-knit community.

hahahaha... honestly, I probably will decline UCLA, but I don't know what the funding package looks like yet. I doubt it will be as good as SB's... I will make my decision by mid-march, and I will be quick about it for those who are waiting. It's hard for me to make my decision because I haven't really heard much from UCLA at all since I was admitted, so I don't know much about the department yet.

Holy s**t!!!!! I got the most amazing offer from UC Santa Barbara! Full funding for 6 years!!!!!!!!!!!

no worries anyway, trying to decode correspondences with grad directors is like trying to read tea leaves, so ymmv. especially at UMN.

dunkel, I've been wondering the same thing! I'm visiting my prospective programs in the next couple of weeks and I'm clueless. I'm having the exact same dilemma! I'm leaning towards bringing a couple of casual outfits and one dressier one in case some of the events seem more "formal."