NYU or Northwestern...HELP!

[chillinlikeavillain]

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[slothy]

Hmmmm.... my initial reaction would be to say NYU to increase the odds I'd get into Northwestern on the waitlist, but I'd probably have to turn them down at this point given that there's just a week left. It would be helpful to know more about your interests here. For example, if you were into org theory Northwestern would be an obvious choice in terms of reputation and productivity/placement - I really don't know much about NYU's strengths, but I'm sure there's people here who know more than me. I've been struggling with Cornell versus Duke and one of the professors I've been corresponding with had two suggestions that I think have helped me "break the tie" over the last couple days (particularly the later suggestion) - your mileage may vary with this approach:

1. email a few of the best "fits" at both schools and ask them to send you the abstracts for their most recent projects or works in progress (i.e., stuff that might not be on the website). Read them and ask yourself which you'd be most interested in working on - even if there isn't RA work available on a particular project, it might help you sort through the nuances of particular professors' current interests and approaches.

2. ask yourself what skills and competencies you'd like to achieve outside of core sociology coursework, and compare the opportunities for both at the universities you're considering. For example, are there any languages you think you might like to learn? Would a strong econ or poli sci department be an asset to you? Any specific advanced quantitative skills you want to pick up? I have a feeling that you would be able to draw significant distinctions between NW and NYU here.

Also you could ask yourself what enabled you to count out Michigan. Ask yourself what about Michigan didn't appeal to you - was it too big, too little faculty-student interaction, too heavy service requirements, ect...? Then ask which program is most like Michigan in those respects.