UC Davis

[DGrayson]

Hello all! 

I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on UC Davis's program. I am interested in the work of A. Kate Harris and Daniel Stolzenberg, but the placement there seems to be going down hill. Any advice?

[ashiepoo72]

Where are the stats that placement is going downhill? If you look at the history department's website, the majority of Davis PhDs are in academia or related jobs, including the more recent grads. Keep in mind many people don't stay at their first job out of grad school, but move around several times, so who knows where these people will end up.

I'm at Davis and I love it. For one, the program funds everyone the same (unless you get special fellowships from elsewhere), so it eliminates funding-based competitiveness that I witnessed at other programs (everyone knows who is funded term to term and who came in with a full ride, and trust me, there's bitterness). I'm close to a lot of material for my research...you'd be close to Berkeley, for example, and would have access to material across the UC system. Davis is already ranked pretty high and is one of those 20 programs that disproportionately places people in TT jobs (see telkanuru's multiple references to the study done on placement...Davis is ranked 17 of the 20 I believe). The vibe here is pretty awesome. My cohort is super friendly, engaged and thoughtful. People in the other cohorts are nice. The professors I've interacted with are brilliant, helpful and active in their fields. Granted I haven't met all of them, and I'm sure it's not all roses, but I have yet to feel like an imposter or regret my choice despite turning down some pretty heavy-hitting advisers at other programs to go here.

Davis is a nice, safe, clean little city with a surprising amount to do. If you feel claustrophobic here, Sac is down the street and the Bay Area is about 1.5-2 hours away. It gets really freaking hot in summer, but it wasn't unbearable. Also, wild turkeys and a bajillion bugs. Other than that, this place is pretty fab.

[DGrayson]

Thanks for the response! I've liked Davis for a while now, but I was worried because of the diminishing number of Assistant Professor placements since 2012. 

[ashiepoo72]

I think that's pretty typical in the first few years after finishing. I had a prof who got a PhD at a top 10 in American history, was working 1 or 2 year visiting appointments for nearly a decade before getting tenure. Not saying all grads are going to get a TT job, but a lot of the Davis placements in the last 3 years are as lecturers, visiting professors and postdocs--these are, again, typical positions in the first 5ish years post-PhD. And I should say the list on Davis' site is updated with current jobs, not the jobs people got when they actually graduated. I know this because at least 3 Davis grads teach at my MA institution and their job titles have been updated to reflect their current position. So if you go 10 years back and see a bunch of assistant and associate profs, I wouldn't assume the grads of 10 years ago landed way sweeter gigs than recent grads--they've just been in the game longer.

All that being said, why not contact your POIs and find out THEIR placement? My adviser spoke very frankly about where her students have landed.