kbhaven

Never contacted a faculty member, but I was accepted to several good programs. I strongly think that it is unnecessary to contact professors prior to applying to PhD programs. For other majors such as engineering or nature science, they usually have independent labs charged by individual professors. In that case, funding conditions hinge on each lab's varying situations, so you should probably send an email to professors so as to ensure a place. However, in most sociology departments, members of admission committees take precedence over each professor's needs. What's more, sociology doctoral students normally do not solely work under just one professor but collaborate with multiple faculty members to pursue research. It is okay to use email to simply gather some information about the department. But 'sucking up' rarely guarantees your admissions, in my opinion. Some might say that "I contacted a professor then got admitted" - I'd say you would have been accepted, too, without having a conversation with professors because you're basically qualified.

With funding. But I'm not sure I'm gonna go. These days I have been trying to make up my mind among a few other offers.

I think the likelihood of your being funded would be quite high. As I posted above after an interview, DGS said that there would be twenty or something who get admitted to the program. I don't think all of them will decide to go with Rutgers. At least, you are on the funding waitlist, not rejected. Hopefully you'll end up going there. Keep your fingers crossed.

I was accepted too, but received an email on Sunday. The DGS (also my PoI) seems incredibly nice, doesn't she? I think she's sending out very personalized emails to every single applicant. I didn't post this one on the board, so I assume that there will be more guys who think of her as a prospective advisor.

I don't think this question is based on an appropriate dichotomy. Basically I want both.

Rejection from Berkeley - it hurts but honestly I wouldn't prefer an institution that can't guarantee funding for my graduate study anyway.

My prediction: upcoming Monday will be huge!

All along, I think I have to enhance my ability to deal with quant methods, as I got in such a program quite focused on quantitative research. I'd like to quickly be involved with the faculty's research projects and should excel in my graduate training.

BTW, Duke doesn't cover travel for international students Have anyone heard of any university that usually covers flights for international students? Just for fun and comparison.

For today's results - nothing more to hear from any university?

I don't think it is necessary to contact your POI, but the following link is extremely helpful for those who are about to do it: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html

Here's what the DGS said: roughly 40 interview invites, 20 acceptance offers. I don't think I'm gonna go. Got a better offer.

Congratulations! If you don't mind, can I ask your area of interests?

That's what I referred to "Results Search" in here. I think we've got one more - 8 interview invites so far.

There are 7 interview offers posted so far (including myself) - way more than expected. Do you think that it would be quite competitive among those on the program's list of finalists for admissions? I actually thought that the telephone chat with DGS would be very much as the professor explains.