strangepeace

Hello,

I've been looking into various schools and programs focusing on the environment and climate change and came across the Emmett Program at Stanford University. Does anyone know how competitive the PhD admissions are (i.e. how many students they accept for their cohort)? And what kind of placement they have (academic, federal, NGO, private sector, etc.)?

Thank you in advance.

My impression is that the NYU MA program is not a great stepping stone to PhD programs, for the reason I spell out below. Others should feel free to correct me on this issue, and of course my comments here should not influence your choices unduly.
 
Based on what I know about the MA program, it is not staffed by the faculty from the PhD program, and courses are offered separately. See, for example, this list: http://politics.as.nyu.edu/object/ma.scheduleFall2014 of courses for Fall 2014. None of the folks teaching MA only courses, except Cohen, are regular faculty. Other courses are open to MA students only by permission, and many of the PhD courses are not even listed here as options for MA students. Students in this program won't interact much with the NYU Politics faculty, won't get letters from them for re-applying, and won't get NYU training.
 
All that said, NYU may be the best option for you. But I wanted to put my impressions forward in the interest of starting a conversation that might help you and others make a more informed decision about the program.

OK, you got me. When I was on faculty at Harvard, we held regular pagan rituals in which babies were sacrificed on fiery altars, and the flames of those altars were fed  by the files of job applicants from non-top-10 departments.
 
My recommendation would be to take a look at job placements for just about any top department. I'm in the process of doing so at OSU, and our placements run the gamut from junior faculty at Harvard all the way to places you've never heard of. If our rank as a department or our connections with other faculty members were as determinative as you and others here and on PSR think they are, placement records for top departments would be far, far more consistent than they are.
 
Don't mistake certainty for truth. The truth is, there's a lot of noise, and anyone who tells you something different probably has either never been on this side of the process or has an axe to grind.

The graduate program coordinator at Harvard confirms "no notifications have been made as of yet. We hope to have admissions decisions available sometime next week -- most likely toward the end of the week."

Yes, some of them are really mean spirited too. "What!??! This is a joke, right? That's okay I'm going to f*#$ing Harvard!" 
 
So what do we get out of this? You weren't going to attend anyway, apparently. And now you're demeaning what might be someone else's only choice? 

I was thinking: singing telegram 

This was me; I emailed DGS and this is the response they sent to me. Sorry for the confusion!

To be honest, if I do get accepted anywhere...I'm not so worried about my productivity as much as finding a mic to drop in front of my boss and walking out.
 
Edit: I have a perfectly lovely job.

Whichever program I end up attending.

Yeah. I feel like I should get a bottle of champagne and a bottle of bourbon, to be prepared in any scenario. I'm like a Boy Scout.

I am still expecting the vast majority of Michigan admits to go out early next week. The offer that's already gone out is a bit of a special case, because of the whole public policy thing.

I heartily agree. I have job applications floating around to maneuver into another position in my field, I'm afraid to sign another lease on an apartment in case I have to break it, and even if I don't get in anywhere, I have to make decisions about this stuff! I think we all would like to know what is happening to us in six months. So, with that in mind, maybe it's not totally irrational to be anxiously checking all the time!

I'm irrationally devastated every time I hear my phone's email "bing" and its something from work instead of my gmail.
 
Then, whenever my gmail is the cause of the "bing," I'm irrationally angry at whoever/whatever is emailing me because it is never a school.

I already freaked out about this last week and inquired with the department if it was normal. Apparently, it's a technical problem and ALL applications are marked incomplete on Wolverine Access. I am sorry I didn't make this known earlier if any more people are freaking out.

I heard back from UCLA, this was their entire response (I asked if all of the acceptances had been sent out):
 
"Work in progress."
 
Not sure what to make of that..

I would fail.

Here in America, it is easy to afford a replacement of that book.  Our purchasing power parity is so good.

Seems like we're all getting a little cranky pants.

Xanthe, I understand what you are going through. I know that it is tough and it sucks. It also sucks that everyone has to deal with it himself/herself . Even when there are people around you who care about you and trying to console you, they will likely have no idea how it really feels. 
 
That said, you are not alone in this. Many people, including a number of the members of this community, have gone through the same phases and felt the same pain. You are not the first or -unfortunately- the last one who has to handle such emotions. I am not saying this should necessarily alleviate the pain, but it is something. 
 
I am sorry about the (presumed) rejections. Sorry that you had to relive the disappointment. Unfortunately my -or anyone's- words are not going to help you mend the wounds, it is you who has to find a way to move on. Still, there are three important things that you (and everyone) should be reminded of:
 
1) Hang in there, the cycle isn't over. You only need one. Postpone the pain until the end of the cycle. 
 
2) Not getting into grad school is not the end of the world. It sure as hell not. In fact, even in the worst case scenario, there is a pretty high probability that you will be really glad you didn't have to live through the long and impoverished years of grad school, the abysmal job market, and the tenure marathon. Life goes on, and no one apart from the academics, grad students and us hopefuls gives a damn about this process and what comes out of it. 
 
3) Hang in there, the cycle isn't over. You only need one. Postpone the pain until the end of the cycle. 
 
Chin up!

Sigh. Chicago has traditionally had a bad reputation with how they treat applicants during this period but this is some real shit. "As I am sure you are aware?" Well, Chicago, I am aware that you are truly bad at treating applicants you don't immediately love with any kind of respect and understanding. Seriously they have a rep of waiting for a very long time, and sometimes not even bothering to reply or replying with this kind of snarkiness. It made me not wanna apply actually. My favourite proff at undergrad did his Phd at Chicago and spoke wonders of it and really he is the reason I applied.
 
Well thanks for asking for all of us, I suppose. We'll wait till the 18th. Here's a toast to you hoping the next correspondence with them makes them seem a lot less like the dicks they seem right now, cos they're coming back with an acceptance for you.

Congrats to all the admits over the past couple days!!! These are all excellent programs!
 
I have to confess though, it's getting old finding an empty inbox with all of these notifications going out, as I'm sure many others on here can confirm. Here's to a more successful rest of the week!

Why get a PhD from Pitt?

I don't want to be that asshole that gets an offer at SUNY New Paltz...

Whywhywhywhy do my schools take so long to issue decisions. Whywhywhywhy.
 
 
...why?

Congrats on your acceptance!