captiv8ed Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 How many top schools vs mid vs low? And how significant is ranking for your field? For my field, I have read it is good to stay in the top 30 if you want a job. Below that and you have to make a name for yourself outside your school. And of course, job placement is horizontal or vertically down. I was originally applying to all top 30 with one under 30 thrown in. As time has gone on, I have shifted. Now I have 3 top 30 programs and 4 30-50 programs. One even falls below 50 on one of the scales, I think. So now I am wondering if I am leaning too heavily in the wrong direction. How is your balance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a fragrant plant Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 (edited) There is no national ranking for my field (if you know of one, please let me know) so I can only tell you the national ranking of the universities I'm applying to. School ranks TOP 20 - 4 between 30-50 - 3 between 50-70 - 3 I have no safety school. They're all competitive programs that admit less than 10% of the total applications each year. You didn't say why you want to apply to the school below 50. Do you treat it as a safety school or do you find a fit between your research interests and theirs? If it's the latter reason that prompts you to apply, I'd encourage you to stick with your decision. If you apply to the below 50 school just because you want to be accepted by somewhere, I'd save the money. There is no point of going to a school that you doubt. Edited November 19, 2009 by peanuttheanthro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captiv8ed Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share Posted November 19, 2009 (edited) That is a bummer, that there isn't a breakdown. Of course in my field, there are two rankings that I find online, and the variations are HUGE. I am applying to the sub 50 program because my advisor knows the dean well and has heavily suggested it. The program is a good fit. And the quality of life there is incredible. This is a very important factor because I am going to be going there with my husband and 3 kids, who will be in middle and high school before we are done. Also, the dean (that my advisor knows) is new, so there is a chance that it will turn around. Honestly, right now I live in the PNW and I would be happy to stay here for eternity. My low end school is in the PNW and should be able to net me a job here after. So it is funny, my first choice is a top 3 school and my second is something like 58. Edited November 19, 2009 by captiv8ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a fragrant plant Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 That is a bummer, that there isn't a breakdown. Of course in my field, there are two rankings that I find online, and the variations are HUGE. I am applying to the sub 50 program because my advisor knows the dean well and has heavily suggested it. The program is a good fit. And the quality of life there is incredible. This is a very important factor because I am going to be going there with my husband and 3 kids, who will be in middle and high school before we are done. Also, the dean (that my advisor knows) is new, so there is a chance that it will turn around. Honestly, right now I live in the PNW and I would be happy to stay here for eternity. My low end school is in the PNW and should be able to net me a job here after. So it is funny, my first choice is a top 3 school and my second is something like 58. The program sounds fantastic! I'd definitely apply. I do agree with you that the Pacific North West is hard to beat. Besides, 58 is not bad. One of the programs I applied is ranked below 60 nationally but the department has consistently produced professors who teach at places like Stanford and Berkeley. Who knows what things will be like in a few years? There are many factors that can influence a school's ranking. Take Indiana for example, I bet they have received more applications to their political science department this year when Elinor Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acup313 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 My rankings are somwehat based on a few different rankings I have seen for my field. 1 in the top 10 2 in the 20-30 range 2 in the 30-40 range 2 in the 40-50 range Yeah I went for a mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSwedeShoes Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 My rankings are somwehat based on a few different rankings I have seen for my field. 1 in the top 10 2 in the 20-30 range 2 in the 30-40 range 2 in the 40-50 range Yeah I went for a mix. Where do you guys find these ratings? Are they only done one some specific general fields or are there detailed breakdowns? I haven't seen any rankings for the programs I'm applying to. Then again, since I'm applying to both engineering and psychology (and engineering psychology in some cases) I guess they aren't comparable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acup313 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 For me I googled "the top 25 Accounting PhD programs" and I found a study done by a few different schools that ranked them using a few different methods. I don't think similar results are available for every field, but you may find something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthaspirant Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 There is no national ranking for my field (if you know of one, please let me know) so I can only tell you the national ranking of the universities I'm applying to. Have you not seen this? http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/area35.html The NRC rankings are 15 years old, and they're not specific within the "4 fields," but it's certainly a decent guide to overall reputations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexis Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Social Psychology: 1 ranked in top 10, 1 ranked in 60-70 range. Based on NRC rankings. Management: 1 ranked in top 10, 1 ranked 50-60, 1 not ranked, based on US News & World report (Limited by geography hence the weird spread, but believe it or not all of them I'm interested in & feel would be a good fit. One thing I'm interested in is actually to going back and teaching at the current master's program I'm a student at, and I know they'd be happy to have me even if I attend a lower-ranked school. I wish they had a PhD program there so I could just continue at the university I'm currently at.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captiv8ed Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share Posted November 19, 2009 I am going with the NRC and US News and World Report rankings. Good to know that NRC is 15 years old! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I'm applying to programs in history, religion, and various mixes thereof. My history programs are all 30-40 (US News), for some reason--this is just where the people with my speciality happen to teach. Religion rankings are...screwy, and don't really apply to my sub-subfield, but in the overall accepted hierarchy it is one undeniably top 10 (where I will be rejected; yay for app fee waivers or I wouldn't bother) and one top 30ish (where I am fairly sure I will be accepted). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captiv8ed Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 I had planned to apply to more high ranking schools, but then I took all California schools off my list because of their budget issues. As a low income family with a husband that is undergrad and kids in pubic schools, California is too scary right now. But that blew a big hole in my list. And also with a family, I am trying to avoid cities as much as possible, due to housing costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskinner Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 According to US News... The specific rankings of mine are: 1, 1, 6, 7, 11, 24 I really only have one safety school, but that's because I don't want to go out of California for a safety school, and Davis is really the only OK safety school for me in California. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modernity Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Have you not seen this? http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/area35.html The NRC rankings are 15 years old, and they're not specific within the "4 fields," but it's certainly a decent guide to overall reputations. Its good as a general guide, but I would imagine that some of those schools have moved up the ladder (ASU comes to mind now that Johanson is in residence there, among other factors). Also, like you mention... this would vary wildly depending on field. I had another ranking bookmarked somewhere but I've since lost it - it was from 02 I believe. If I find it I'll post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eucalyptus Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I'm in Developmental/Cognitive Psych, and rankings are based on US News: 2 top 10 3 in the 10-20 range 1 in the 20-30 range 2 in the 40-50 range and 2 in Canada I'm really not sure where my Canadian schools would fit in compared to the American ones... my guess is that one would be 15-25ish and the other would be somewhat lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LateAntique Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I have no idea what mine are. I didn't even look, nor do I really care. I just looked at programs that have faculty doing work I want to do and figured, "Hey, I'll apply there." Probably impractical, but then again...my majors are Classics and Religion. I'm not exactly a paragon of practicality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captiv8ed Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Probably impractical, but then again...my majors are Classics and Religion. I'm not exactly a paragon of practicality. Maybe this isn't very supportive, but that just really made me laugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryLandis Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Aside from knowing that one of the places I'm applying to is tied for number 1, I don't know. Ranking doesn't really make a difference for me anyhow, because my sub-field is so tiny that most top 10 institutions would be horrible places for me to attend. Unfortunately, I am only applying to super-competitive PhD programs, because they are the only 3 places with relevant faculty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melusine Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 i'm not sure of their place in the rankings. but mine are all very competitive (all Ivies except Rutgers and NYU). my reasoning> 1- i need automatic full funding which i found hard to find in other universities, 2- if i'm going to spend 5+ years somewhere, it had better be somewhere i really want to be (I'm an all or nothing kind of gal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rising_star Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Its good as a general guide, but I would imagine that some of those schools have moved up the ladder (ASU comes to mind now that Johanson is in residence there, among other factors). Also, like you mention... this would vary wildly depending on field. I had another ranking bookmarked somewhere but I've since lost it - it was from 02 I believe. If I find it I'll post it. Here's the caveat I always give when it comes to using those NRC rankings. They came out in 1996 (the data were collected in 94 and 95). My advisor earned his PhD that year. Since then he has become one of the most cited young(er) academics in our subfield and the program he's now at wasn't even known for work in our area when those rankings came out. We consider ourselves a top 10 program (and fully expect to be so whenever those new NRC rankings come out) but that isn't reflected in the old ones where we're somewhere in the mid 20s (for reference, there are only like 60 PhD programs in the country in my discipline). So use them with a grain of salt since there's been a lot of faculty movement and up and coming stars since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a fragrant plant Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 No offense, but I found the NRC rankings quite outdated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newage2012 Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 For my field, I have read it is good to stay in the top 30 if you want a job. Below that and you have to make a name for yourself outside your school. In my opinion it doesn't matter. The higher ranking the school, the more restrictions on your research topics. A lower rank school might allow you to do weird topics. As for making a name for yourself, if you consider yourself good researcher, you can pretty much make you name for yourself and "pull the stunt" anywhere you go. My philosophy is, "Do the most with the least". Again, your mileage may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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