Did your "top choice" change at all during the application process?

[zabius]

So now that many people have [hopefully!] heard back from most of the schools that they've applied to and are in the midst of making decisions, I thought this would be an interesting time to run a little poll about "top choices."

Before even submitting the applications, most people have a "top choice" program in mind-- the one program that they think is the best fit for them and whose offer they'd accept in a heartbeat. But throughout the application process, one's top choice can obviously change-- interviews/recruiting weekends, correspondence with PIs and other students, and many other factors can bring new information to light, causing us to change our preferences. I'm curious, though, as to how often this happens. So, did your top choice change during the application process, or is your top choice now the same as it was back when you first made your list of schools? If you did change your mind, what was it specifically that caused you to?

Edited April 5, 2013 by zabius

[zabius]

Oops... I forgot to add my own perspective!

 

My top choice definitely did change. Going into this, there was one school in particular (let's say "School A") that I was really excited about, because there was a POI there doing research that was very closely aligned with my own interests. After talking with him and visiting the school, though, my enthusiasm died down a little-- the research was still fascinating, but there were many other things about the program that weren't so great (the department's small, the curriculum is very generalized, funding was iffy at best, and the lab I was interested in was already overcrowded). Then I visited a second school ("School B") and was completely blown away by how much I was impressed by it. This second school had tons of resources for me, a fantastic department, and a POI that really seemed to want me in her lab. The research fit wasn't quite as good as it was at the School A, but it was still very good.

 

When it came time to make my decision, School B seemed like the obvious choice for so many reasons. And I knew that too... but part of me was still getting hung up on the fact that School A was my original "top choice." Basically, my top choice had changed from A to B, but I was having trouble accepting that for a little while. Eventually I decided on School B and am very happy that I did; I continue to have many good exchanges with the people there and am genuinely excited to attend. But it was still hard acknowledging the fact that my top choice had changed, because I had told myself for several months that School A was where I wanted to be and suddenly I found that to no longer be the case. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

 

I'm hoping that this thread will be useful for people who are debating between their original top choices and other good offers, as I've seen a lot of people here recently who are struggling with that very dilemma.

Edited April 5, 2013 by zabius

[katieliz456]

Yep! My top choice from the beginning was UNC.  The location seems amazing, and my program there is really strong with lots of opportunities in the Triangle Area.  However, the department (faculty/staff) hasn't been very friendly or welcoming, and they haven't made an effort to sustain contact The current students seemed to *like* the school, but they don't LOVE it, and weren't very persuasive.  This was also my most expensive option, especially since I probably won't have NC resident status by my 2nd year.

 

Now, my top choice is Baylor! Everyone has been super friendly and enthusiastic; the director even called me and spent 30 minutes chatting.  I'd get to start in June and spend the summer helping with the literacy camp for local kids. Now, I'm really excited to be moving to TX next month  

[ion_exchanger]

Thanks for posting this thread! My top choice absolutely changed during the process. Before interviews, School A was my top choice. I just knew that this was my dream school and knew that I would reject all offers to go to this school. I had an unofficial visit to the school, and I hated it. It was so cold, the staff was far from warming. This turned out to be a great thing, as I was not even invited for an interview! School B, which I thought I had no shot at whatsoever, became my number one contender, and stayed that was for about 5 weeks. Even though I felt intimidated by the program, the faculty was amazing, the students seemed to genuinely love the program, university, and city, and everyone was intelligent and very relaxed. I was in love.

 

Five weeks passed between my acceptance and interview with School C. I liked school C, but knew that they were really going to have to knock my socks off for me to accept after my amazing School B. School C was not over the top amazing, but I just felt so comfortable there. Even when I interviewed with school D (too many schools!) after interviewing with School B, I was just a bit nervous. School C was amazing. The students seemed really happy with the program. The faculty were great and cared about my grad school journey and listed ways that we could help each other. I felt like I got along very nicely with the prospective students interviewing with me. I got along with the other group of interviewees at my other interviews, but it was more of the "we're being polite to each other because 'duh' we have to be", you know? It was very easy to make small talk with everyone at School C, and I'm not really a talker. For a while I was incredbily torn with my dilemma of turning down School B, which I had loved and was very highly ranked, for School C. I have committed to school C, and I couldn't be happier with my choice. What makes it so crazy is that applying to both Schools B and C were last minute. I didn't think I could get into School B, and I thought I wouldn't like School C. I was totally wrong with both!

[zabius]

Interesting results so far! As of this posting, 50 people have voted, and 2/3 of them say that their top choice school did change during the process. That's more than I was expecting; if anything, I thought that there'd be a near 50-50 split between "yes" and "no."

 

I guess this goes to show that you really should visit all of the schools that you applied to, even if you think that you already know where you want to go! There's a good chance that the visits could change everything.

 

Thanks for sharing your stories, katieliz456 and ion_exchanger! I'm glad that you both are so happy with your final choices.

Edited April 6, 2013 by zabius

[nesw4314]

Hi, I'm in Entomology as well! 

 

My top choice did not change. From the beginning I knew I wanted to study a specific aspect of entomology, and a lab at UC Berkeley was a perfect fit for it. Though UC Berkeley does not have an actual entomology program it has entomology faculty members and an entomology museum within the ESPM Department. This was my top choice, even over schools with actual entomology departments.

 

I am currently a Master's student in an actual entomology department now  (and I did my Bachelor's in an entomology department as well -- different school) and I've learned that it's not a good thing being in a small department. Everyone knows too much about both your personal and academic life. In other words, the fact that I already knew these small entomology departments would offer an unfavorable environment for me (based on previous and current experience in such departments) prevented me from considering any of them a top choice over this larger program at Berkeley. I am glad to be making the transition to a much larger department where I can still study what I want. Good luck to you though!

Edited April 6, 2013 by nesw4314

[zabius]

Hi, I'm in Entomology as well! 

 

My top choice did not change. From the beginning I knew I wanted to study a specific aspect of entomology, and a lab at UC Berkeley was a perfect fit for it. Though UC Berkeley does not have an actual entomology program it has entomology faculty members and an entomology museum within the ESPM Department. This was my top choice, even over schools with actual entomology departments.

 

I am currently a Master's student in an actual entomology department now  (and I did my Bachelor's in an entomology department as well -- different school) and I've learned that it's not a good thing being in a small department. Everyone knows too much about both your personal and academic life. In other words, the fact that I already knew these small entomology departments would offer an unfavorable environment for me (based on previous and current experience in such departments) prevented me from considering any of them a top choice over this larger program at Berkeley. I am glad to be making the transition to a much larger department where I can still study what I want. Good luck to you though!

 

Hey! Nice to meet a fellow entomologist… we're relatively rare (here and everywhere)!

I'm glad that you were able to get into a lab that is such a good fit for you! In small fields like entomology, that's sometimes hard to arrange. Congratulations!

I did my undergrad in an actual entomology department too (sadly, there aren't too many of those these days). I loved it-- the coursework, the people, the general atmosphere all worked for me. Then I went and did an MS in a general biology department which wasn't so good. The curriculum was so generalized that it wasn't really useful to anyone, and the different labs rarely interacted because they just didn't have anything in common. After that, I decided that I preferred being around other entomologists… but whether that's in a dedicated entomology department or in a different department that just has a bunch of entomology faculty doesn't really matter as long as the research fit is good. Berkeley sounds like a a great place for you!

 

For me personally, the entomology department that I decided on is a better fit than the general biology department at former top choice ("School A"). And oddly enough, it's also much larger than the department at School A!

 

[nesw4314]

Hey! Nice to meet a fellow entomologist… we're relatively rare (here and everywhere)!

I'm glad that you were able to get into a lab that is such a good fit for you! In small fields like entomology, that's sometimes hard to arrange. Congratulations!

I did my undergrad in an actual entomology department too (sadly, there aren't too many of those these days). I loved it-- the coursework, the people, the general atmosphere all worked for me. Then I went and did an MS in a general biology department which wasn't so good. The curriculum was so generalized that it wasn't really useful to anyone, and the different labs rarely interacted because they just didn't have anything in common. After that, I decided that I preferred being around other entomologists… but whether that's in a dedicated entomology department or in a different department that just has a bunch of entomology faculty doesn't really matter as long as the research fit is good. Berkeley sounds like a a great place for you!

 

For me personally, the entomology department that I decided on is a better fit than the general biology department at former top choice ("School A"). And oddly enough, it's also much larger than the department at School A!

 

 

Sounds like you found a great program! Everyone's experiences are definitely different! The program at Berkeley has entomology coursework (it used to have an entomology department but it got merged into a larger department) so that won't be a problem for me, though there really aren't any insect-related courses I need to take at this point because I've completed them all at the BS and MS levels 

 

Glad to see another entomologist!

Edited April 6, 2013 by nesw4314

[Chai_latte]

Yes.  Some extra background research on the dept./uni. and a visit can make a huge difference.  The school that had been my #1 for ~6 months wound up being #4.  And the school that eventually surged to #1?  It just came out of nowhere (from #5, maybe?).  I'd sometimes forget to mention it when ppl would ask me where I had applied.  But, after the acceptances rolled in and I gave everyone a second look, there were quite a few "switcheroos" on my list. 

[DStory247]

Hey Zabius, I like seeing the results of your poll and comparing them to this poll:

 

My #1 definitely changed throughout the process as I got a more accurate feel for each department and how each place would prepare me for my career. However, my top 3 stayed my top 3 until the very end, and I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to choose between two of them.

[k3ithk]

I had three that were constantly vying for #1 in my heart, and they changed depending on where I was applying at the time, which I had most recently been accepted to and where I visited.

[Denisse]

My top choice definitely changed too. Originally John Hopkins SAIS and Georgetown GHD were my top choices. That said when I applied, I wanted to focus more on international development with a more specific focus on education development. While international development is still my focus, I'm more interested in economic development/emerging markets (not completely out of left field, my career experience thus far has been in education, but in undergrad I got an B.S. in business administration and B.A. in international relations.

 

When my focus was the former, the two above programs seemed like good fits. Then, as I redefined, I started looking more closely at Columbia SIPA and Fordham's programs. When I got the acceptances to both of these schools I was almost certain I would attend.

 

I think my shifting top choices are really due to me changing what I wanted to get out of the programs/do right after. I also really liked that Columbia's MPA is so internationally driven as that is still the area where I would like to work and customizable. I could do economic development/emerging markets, the language study I want, and the regional focus I want.