phdincrim2016

I'm pretty sure they did, too.

I completely agree, when it comes to working with an advisor. If the choice is between a "prestigious" school where faculty don't publish with students or there's no clear advisor, and another school with a very well known scholar who is known to publish with students, I would choose the latter. All else equal, I'd go with the higher ranked school. But I agree, the choice of advisor is probably more important.

My opinion - for what it's worth - is that you should definitely, definitely go to the top 5 school. I think the reputation difference would be huge in terms of job options, and honestly the TA/RA work can help to build your CV more than not having a work requirement. [I just got notice of funding from a top 5 school, too... If you want to compare notes or talk specifics, send me a message and we can do it off-board. It's probably the same one.]

Congratulations on the new offer! I would say it depends on (1) how much more prestigious is the other school? and (2) what is the difference in cost of living? If you are open to saying which two schools, it would be easier to have an opinion on it, but I totally understand if you'd rather not.

YES, you should attend every event they host as if you were from out of town (in my opinion).

I think I know what you mean, but can you elaborate? I was admitted at Irvine and have been given indications that I am likely to be admitted at Rutgers. I will visit Rutgers in a couple of weeks, but any perspective you might offer on the differences between the two would be greatly appreciated!

I am with you - I really want this to be decided so I can make plans and know what I'm going to be doing. I don't deal well with ambiguity. I'm sure it will work out well for both of us, but I can't agree with you more. I want this DONE. :-) I have not been hard-recruited by multiple faculty from the same school. I would say to keep your options open and be respectful, but they shouldn't be asking you to commit yet. Faculty don't tend to have the best social skills, I'll admit, but everybody is supposed to adhere to the 4/15 deadline. I don't think it's right to push people to accept before then.

I can't find it either. You might want to just call the department administrative assistant and ask. They'll often at least give you a name, even if they won't give you any additional information.

The only email I ever got was one telling me that a "decision was ready" or something like that. I logged on and there was a place to click for decision letter. If it's not showing up on your screen, I'd contact them to see what's up.

I was also rejected by Penn... Oh well. Congrats on making a final decision! I'm still sorting through things and wish I were already done. I could do without all the ambiguity! :-)

This is not a ridiculous question at all. In my opinion, I'd definitely email them back and let them know how excited you are. I am sure that part of their decision-making is in how likely the admitted student is to actually accept the offer. They are probably more likely to offer admission to somebody they are fairly sure will come. Congratulations!

I got rejected from Delaware, but my guess is that they have kept a group of people as a sort of informal waitlist, and those are the ones who haven't heard. In any case, I think this is definitely cause to send them an email to ask for clarification... If you know people who have heard both positive and negative news, it's only fair for you to inquire. Just my opinion...

OH, okay. That makes sense, sorry for my confusion. That seems like a lot of risk and potentially a lot of money to spend... Ugh.

...so 70% of those NOT funded in the first year get funding later, or 70% of the class gets funding? I'm sorry, my brain is tired! :-)

Darn - not one of my applications. :-) Good luck!!!

Do you mind sharing which school you are referring to? I have several applications still out without a peep about them on the boards, so I am interested to know if this is one of them. I understand if you'd rather not say.

I'm really sorry that you didn't get in. Good luck with whatever comes next. I didn't hear from them, so I probably didn't get in, either. :-(

I agree with the most part with @zephiwho. I know that the boards cause a lot of anxiety, but there's already a lot of anxiety out there about the process. For me, I like knowing when schools send out first acceptances. For example, now I know that I'm not in the first round at Penn State or Delaware, two schools to which I applied. I'm not standing on top of my building about to jump, but actually comforted to know that it's going to be weeks before I hear from either of them, if at all, with good news. It settles my nerves. I agree completely with @zephiwho that we can't let these things get us down. I've been on admissions committees before as a student representative, and it's like watching sausage get made. One year we had an applicant with excellent test scores and grades who matched up with a professor and had research experience - a dream applicant. But the professor with whom he wished to work already had three students working with him, so the committee rejected the applicant. There wasn't "space" for someone with his interests. I mention this not to stoke additional anxiety, but just to point out that it's all so random that you can take it personally when you're not admitted somewhere. You have no idea why the committee decided as it did. I will continue to post on here as I hear back from schools, positive or negative, assuming others would rather have the information than not. If anybody prefers another approach, I'm all for it, but I tend to think more information is better than less information. Good luck to everybody!

Don't be worried! If this is like other fields - and based on what I am seeing so far - a few people are getting admitted at multiple places. Those people can attend only one school each, which means that spots are going to start opening up as soon as those individuals make a decision and turn down offers. Plus, many people are applying to sociology, social psychology, and/or public policy programs alongside criminology, and I suspect we'll see some attrition from people deciding to go for other fields. So, being on a waitlist is not bad at all! I wouldn't be surprised if Rutgers ultimately has to go to its waitlist to fill out its class. All of this is just going to require patience (which has never been my strong suit, personally! :-) ) Rutgers is bringing in 15 finalists, so I would be surprised if there were more than 10-15 on the waitlist. Completely a guess, but why wailist more than that?

Rutgers invited 15 "finalists" to campus for an interview, and those emails went out last week. Nobody has been admitted yet, and I am not sure whether they will go beyond the 15 if they need to do so later on. The interviews are in early March, so I wouldn't expect to hear anything before that. :-/

I've heard from Irvine and Rutgers - that's it. Waiting on a number of others. I am assuming I didn't get into Mason, since I didn't get an email from them. My fingers are crossed on Cincinnati, because I want to do corrections. :-)

I don't know much about IUP, but Sam Houston would be a great option!!! FSU is ranked higher, but those rankings are seven years old and SHSU has excellent faculty. Good luck on USF, UMass Lowell, and FSU funding, and congrats on getting funding from the other two. That's great.

May I ask where else you've been accepted? Did the other schools fund you? If so, you should be really happy to have been accepted with funding somewhere. FSU will do what it does, but you've got options! That's great! I don't think reputation matters as much as some people think.

Thanks, Partinrn!

Another one bites the dust - ugh....