readeatsleep

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

I totally disagree with you, LadyL. you treat your acceptance as property, as if its something you own that you can do whatever you'd like with. the reality is that, by sitting on an offer that you know you will reject, you are making life worse for a number of people on the waitlist. so, sure, it's your "right" not to inform the school of your decision just like its my "right" not to be kind to strangers, not to donate to charity, or to throw food and goods away instead of donating them, etc.

the note you received is definitely a little terse, but i think you should consider the positions of others (the department, students on the waitlist) on not just your own fancy in this situation.

there are many successful students who graduate from NSSR, particularly from the philosophy and political science departments. my undergraduate advisor, for example, did his Ph.D at NSSR, and now works in the political science department at Notre Dame. political science in particular has had alot of success over the years placing their Ph.D students, particularly the theory students. additionally, there is alot of success placing m.a. students into Ph.D programs. last year, TWO students were accepted to chicago. you will find, however, that many m.a. students who plan to apply elsewhere end up loving NSSR so much that they choose to stay. one student, a few years ago, got into Berkeley, went for a year, and then came back to NSSR because the atmosphere was much more to his or her liking.

now, here is the rub. because NSSR is strapped for cash, two problems occur.
1. students are not properly funded. this has several implications, not the least of which is that students need to find outside jobs, which distracts from their studies. this mostly only applies to m.a. students, since most Ph.D students are better funded and also able to find jobs teaching at one of the many colleges in brooklyn, manhattan, or new jersey. however, the lack of funding does prevent a certain level of studying sometimes.
2. because m.a. students fund Ph.D students, NSSR lets in alot of m.a. students, few of which are accepted into the Ph.D program. many, many of these students are excellent students, and will get into the Ph.D program at the NSSR or elsewhere. however, some of these students are not at the same level as other students. for this reason, sometimes classes are taught at a slightly lower level, or are not as intense or rigorous as they *could* be. but this is a problem for all classes, even at harvard.

from these problems, a third implication arises.
3. the Ph.Ds that come out of the NSSR are inconsistent. some of the scholars are bar none the best. some are not as strong. for this reason, i believe, some schools might be a bit wary of hiring NSSR students.

finally, NSSR does not do as good a job 'prepping' their Ph.Ds for jobs as other schools do. this 'prep' includes grooming for interviews, going over job talks, etc.

there are some really excellent scholars at the new school, and political theory is taken VERY seriously in the department. the community is very close, very active, and very intelligent. i highly recommend applying to the program, but students should know that the funding is not as good as some other 'top tier' schools.

You will not get funding from a UC. It is simple as that. California won't allow you to establish residency, which means any UC that admits you will have to shell out the full $40,000 or whatever for you each year that you are there. While they are willing to pay that for the first year while you establish residency if you are moving from within the United States, they won't do that for any year if you are coming from a different location.

Better hope for Florida.

By the way, you've been rejected from UCLA. I'm not sure why they haven't told you that yet, but their admissions process is well over at this point.

That's funny - I earned my m.a. Not as a means of garnering prestige, but in an attempt to remove myself from that ambition entirely. Thus, my m.a. Is in philosophy from an unranked, radically left leaning program. But I've become more sensitive to the practical, job-training aspect of the discipline in general, and only applied to top ten theory programs. Happily, there is still some radical thought in these programs too!

I respect the ambition to join the ivies or oxford/Cambridge. But you should know that once you get there, the shine will wear off. One of my best friends just won the Rhodes scholarship and is almost regretting the whole enterprise because he realizes oxford is prestigious but not necessarily where he wants to be. You can be happy (and academically succesful) at alot of great institutions.

That's funny - I earned my m.a. Not as a means of garnering prestige, but in an attempt to remove myself from that ambition entirely. Thus, my m.a. Is in philosophy from an unranked, radically left leaning program. But I've become more sensitive to the practical, job-training aspect of the discipline in general, and only applied to top ten theory programs. Happily, there is still some radical thought in these programs too!

I respect the ambition to join the ivies or oxford/Cambridge. But you should know that once you get there, the shine will wear off. One of my best friends just won the Rhodes scholarship and is almost regretting the whole enterprise because he realizes oxford is prestigious but not necessarily where he wants to be. You can be happy (and academically succesful) at alot of great institutions.

im sorry to hear that brouhaha. you should know, though, that those MA programs are cash cows, and students in those kinds of programs often feel neglected by professors. im not sure it would have been the best choice anyways.

im sorry to hear that brouhaha. you should know, though, that those MA programs are cash cows, and students in those kinds of programs often feel neglected by professors. im not sure it would have been the best choice anyways.

I wouldn't place all those programs above northwestern, actually, all of them are doubtful except Chicago. While usnwr ranks NU around 20, the schmidt and chingos ranking places it in the top ten. I don't think the usnwr general rankings are very reliable - it places alot of emphasis on general prestige that makes undergrad rankings make sense, but not so much sense for graduate school. Additionally, alot of the rejects are theorists, a field in which NU definitely has a serious edge.

...but this is coming from a theorist who will be attending NU, so take it with a grain of salt!

I wouldn't place all those programs above northwestern, actually, all of them are doubtful except Chicago. While usnwr ranks NU around 20, the schmidt and chingos ranking places it in the top ten. I don't think the usnwr general rankings are very reliable - it places alot of emphasis on general prestige that makes undergrad rankings make sense, but not so much sense for graduate school. Additionally, alot of the rejects are theorists, a field in which NU definitely has a serious edge.

...but this is coming from a theorist who will be attending NU, so take it with a grain of salt!

But there are indeed really good schools that aren't ivy league, both in terms of instruction and placement. WUSTL and Northwestern, to name a couple. You should take a serious look at programs without dismissing them as 'not ivy' and therefore not worth your time. Princeton and Yale did not fair very well according to a few of these studies being linked to.
Although I completely agree with respect only applying to study at top notch schools - the job market is nasty and one should not expect to be an exception to general placement trends. I just don't think it's appropriate to refer to this tier as 'HYPC ivy league type' schools.

But there are indeed really good schools that aren't ivy league, both in terms of instruction and placement. WUSTL and Northwestern, to name a couple. You should take a serious look at programs without dismissing them as 'not ivy' and therefore not worth your time. Princeton and Yale did not fair very well according to a few of these studies being linked to.
Although I completely agree with respect only applying to study at top notch schools - the job market is nasty and one should not expect to be an exception to general placement trends. I just don't think it's appropriate to refer to this tier as 'HYPC ivy league type' schools.

i agree. lev, youre simplifying things at an alarming and offensive rate. 'only the super rich attend PhD programs' is a silly thing to say. additionally, proposing that wealth should allay concerns about admission to a top ranked program is illogical and insulting.