ThisSlumgullionIsSoVapid

HIGHLY correlated. One of my advisers whom I took a Social Networks class with provided some data about prestige in departments. Basically, the take home message is this: whatever rank you get your PhD from expect to work for a tier below that rank. The only real exception is top 10 programs; these programs tend to hire each other's PhD's and/or hire their own PhD's. Upward mobility in terms of ranking is very rare....although this isn't to say it doesn't happen but, in all reality, if you graduate from a top 20 school you'll probably get a job 20-40 or lower. It's very rare to see someone jump from a 30 rank into a top 10.

Just have to let you know, I literally "lol'd" in a lecture earlier today when I saw your username.

Fantastic stats. Little by little my self-confidence crumbles more and more.

RunMilw, mind posting your stats and research interests? I'm pretty curious since you're 2/2. Also, congrats!

Woah. I'm really sorry to hear that. That makes things 100x heavier. If I lived near you I would take you out for an old fashion printer smashing http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=528_1301224180

Then I would probably take it as a positive thing. What haven't they received or read do you think? Written sample? I'd imagine this is a good thing though and, in the event that it is a hint at a future acceptance, congrats!

Did you e-mail them?

Did you e-mail them first and that was their reply? I think that would substantially change what it could imply.

Ah, the website I tried hot-linking from denied it I guess. I'll edit it in a sec.

UW, in my opinion, is the same level as UT. Schools 10-20 ranked all seem to be lumped into the same breath and Washington is a top 20 university. Boulder is more of the mid-range (I believe it's high 40's). Either way though, all are good schools and in cool places to live. I also applied to both Seattle and Boulder.

Why no Penn State, Supernovasky?

UW is heavily quantitative, maybe you'll have a shot there. It seems like that would be a good place.

My entire statement was based around religion basically. Religion with power, social movements, and theory. The picture perfectly captures my reaction to that post it quoted haha

I've got that feeling that if you haven't heard back with an acceptance that we're part of the rejection pile.

Sorry to hear that although there is, like you said, some positive to what you found out. Who was your POI?

Oh, and on the topic of contacting POI's one of the professors I contacted from a top 10 university said this in part of the reply "When the time comes, it can sometime help if faculty put in a good word for applicants" So, for future applicants that might stumble across this thread, it's going to help you far more than it would hurt you to contact your POI's ahead of time!

I've been told that's kind of an old school vs. new school debate between professors. One of my advisers who got her PhD 4 or 5 years ago said it's very "old school" thinking that a program wouldn't want to keep their undergrads. She said that it can be a positive for a student if that student is already well known in the department and the professors like/get along well with that student. Her mentality was if you know you can work well with someone, and you know about their personality and various work habits, then it is less of a risk giving a position to someone that you already know well of then some hardly known person. On the contrary thought, I also spoke with a professor at my university that is very "old school" (she's been in the department for 30+ years I believe) and she strongly advised me to not attend grad school where I got my bachelors.

On another tangent, has anyone listened to last weeks 'This American Life'? (The episode is Kid Politics). If not, I highly suggest listening to it. The first 1/3 where the kids have to role play as Reagan was pretty interesting/disturbing.

And some other more sociological things and www.PhDcomics.com - if you've never been there you're sure to waste some time flipping through the archive.

I'm frequenting this site too many times with not enough updates. Figured I'd make some random thread for non-sense while we wait. Thought someone might get a chuckle out of this

I know this thread isn't necessarily active right now but I need to put in my 0.02 since I am an undergrad here right now. For anyone looking for housing: DO NOT LIVE IN GRAND MARC APARTMENTS ESPECIALLY AS A GRAD STUDENT. It is very loud all of the time and is the biggest piece of crap ever. For 750/month (furnished) you can certainly do better in the area considering this place is old, has paper thin walls, HORRIBLE management, and is all around a terrible place. I strongly, strongly, strongly, suggest everyone to live anywhere but here.

I'm sure you can relate...

Done

There are a few new posts in the Results (WSU & PSU). Anyone want to claim them?