Final Decisions

[Plzacceptme]

Has anyone made their final decision? I’m curious where everyone on this blog ended up deciding.

I was admitted to Michigan State, Maryland, and U of Cincinnati. I was rejected from UC-Irvine. I haven’t made a final call yet, but I’m definitely leaning toward MSU. 

Let me know where you decide! I’m interested to know where people got in, where they’re going, and how they made the final decision!

[R1001]

Congrats, those are all great programs! You’ve got a tough choice ahead. I put this post in the Sociology group as well, but I’ll put it here because it is relevant. Hopefully this helps!

Acceptances: NC State (Sociology PhD), Kent State (Sociology PhD), Indiana (Criminal Justice PhD), Penn State (Criminology PhD), Washington State (Criminal Justice and Criminology MA)

Research Interests: Mental Health and Race in the Criminal Justice System

Final Choice: Penn State

Reason: Penn State is the perfect department for my interests. They’re well established in both Sociology and Criminology and offer the opportunity to get a degree in either. The research being done by faculty and current students is exciting and fits well with what I want to do. The environment seemed supportive and collaborative. The faculty and current students were nice and honest about the program, and I got along with the other prospective students well. They have a history of great placements both in and out of academia and their graduates and faculty are well-respected in their fields. The only concern I had was the cost of living in State College, but the funding package they offered was good enough to offset those concerns. It really was a prefect fit.

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by R1001
Messed up formatting.

[Jinxstar]

This was a weird decision to make, to turn down some really awesome programs. I wish I could take the pros of all of them and combine them. I've always been awful at breakups, so sending those decline emails is really getting to me.

Acceptances: Florida State University, University of South Florida, University of Missouri--STL, University of Florida, Georgia State University--all Criminology/CJ PhD

Research Interests: Social media use--social learning and social control theories, as well as use by law enforcement; informal civic engagement and collective efficacy; IPV and self-representation in the civil and criminal courts. I've done some work with homicide investigation practices, as well, but it's not my "baby", so to speak.

Final Choice:  USF, pending the resolution of some custody matters. FSU is a fallback, as there was no funding, so I have no deadline for acceptance, and I can commute.

Reason: I walked into that campus visit and immediately felt a good vibe of a place where I could thrive. I love the diversity of research, the ability to have multiple mentors for different projects, the camaraderie among and between students and faculty. I found myself gushing over the work of a few of the faculty. The faculty has a strong network of connections through previous employment and alma mater. Tampa is good for me and kiddo, I also have social support. While I received four funded offers varying between $18k-26k, I believe this offer is sufficient. I appreciate how they allow us to focus on coursework/comps instead of carrying a teaching load prematurely. Although I liked the comps/dissertation models of two other programs better, I believe USF will prepare me well for what I do in the future. They are also accepting more of my MSCJ credits than some other programs.