The deadline isn’t April. You are referring to the April 15th agreement but that isn’t “the deadline” it’s just an accord between schools to extend funded offers until then, but offers can be made and accepted after that.
Because it’s not going to get you anywhere at best and will annoy people at worst. This isn’t LinkedIn where hustling gets you somewhere. It’s a process, one that is a minuscule part of our jobs. You don’t want to make it take up more by bothering people
Before you do anything, research just how insanely hard it is to get a job as a professor. You realistically need to be at a top tier program and get insanely lucky. It isn’t a career one can just jump into and land a job.
This is definitely what I needed to hear. I didn't realize it would be so intense on one topic. How does one even figure out what they want to study? And is there no way to even be a professor at a lower level, like Community College? I'm still interested in teaching at a higher level.
Most people do research projects in undergrad and grad school to develop their interests. And they generally to be very specific. Something like “I want to study political campaigns” isn’t enough, whereas “I want to study rural queer youth culture as it relates to political participation” is closer.
Because admissions is only part of our jobs and is often not a huge priority relative to other things. You’ll hear back when you hear back. Honestly it can easily take longer than the 2 weeks they said
Okay that makes sense and makes me feel better. I appreciate your insight. In your opinion the longer it takes to hear back the less chance of an admission?
You apply to the number of schools who have faculty that fit your research interests and want students at programs who can place you in the career you want in locations you can see yourself living and can afford applying to
I’ve been a staffer at a program. I’ve been a student at my schools. I’ve been an employee at another. I’ve regularly interacted with graduate students, and of course professors. No, I don’t bear the title you do. That doesn’t necessarily preclude me from acquiring information that I will find valuable as I go through these processes myself.
So you are unqualified to opine on what is required to get a tenure track job. That’s what you just said. You have no experience sitting on hiring committees, evaluating packets, or actually doing the work of a professor.
Sometimes it’s nothing. Like getting that far can easily just mean they liked the way someone else made a joke in an interview. That’s the hard thing about PhD admits, sometimes you can do everything right and still miss out
This isn’t really the place to ask. Talk to current graduate students there if it’s sufficient or not. CoL varies dramatically across regions and even within metropolitan areas.
It is, like it’s an application management system. But someone has to manually go in and select names and move them to the right buckets and such. It takes time and usually departments don’t have a dedicated admissions person, it’s just part of a staffer’s portfolio.
Anytime you are emailing faculty or the department you should have a clear goal and purpose in mind. This isn’t really that, it’s about wanting to give yourself an edge. That’s not how admissions usually works. We base our decisions on the materials you send us and the conversations we have with you. Emails like that come off often as desperate, pushy, or entitled. There is a process that has to take place and an applicants job in the process, once they submit their packet, is to project calm, confidence, and poise.
I’m always inclined to say you don’t want to give other people a competitive advantage by letting them say more than you. But 4 pages is a long SOP. If you’ve truly said everything you can, made all the connections, talked about relevant faculty and research groups, etc. then it’s fine
I don’t know if I would agree with this advice. Being generally interested in things is good, especially in diverse departments. But we aren’t accepting someone because we think they will make smart comments at a department colloquium.
What has your personal research shown? This kind of questions gets asked constantly and if you put a bit of time into researching it, I’m sure you could come up with some good answers.
Generally, I’d say this is an excellent post.
The deadline isn’t April. You are referring to the April 15th agreement but that isn’t “the deadline” it’s just an accord between schools to extend funded offers until then, but offers can be made and accepted after that.
What about the later semesters, are there any stats on this?
No
Why not?
Because it’s not going to get you anywhere at best and will annoy people at worst. This isn’t LinkedIn where hustling gets you somewhere. It’s a process, one that is a minuscule part of our jobs. You don’t want to make it take up more by bothering people
hi can you please elaborate a little bit more on this? how is the school in terms of funding, getting jobs after, etc...
You can find that information easily on your own. I’m not trying to be mean, but if you can’t do that then reevaluate it a PhD is for you
Before you do anything, research just how insanely hard it is to get a job as a professor. You realistically need to be at a top tier program and get insanely lucky. It isn’t a career one can just jump into and land a job.
This is definitely what I needed to hear. I didn't realize it would be so intense on one topic. How does one even figure out what they want to study? And is there no way to even be a professor at a lower level, like Community College? I'm still interested in teaching at a higher level.
Most people do research projects in undergrad and grad school to develop their interests. And they generally to be very specific. Something like “I want to study political campaigns” isn’t enough, whereas “I want to study rural queer youth culture as it relates to political participation” is closer.
Because admissions is only part of our jobs and is often not a huge priority relative to other things. You’ll hear back when you hear back. Honestly it can easily take longer than the 2 weeks they said
Okay that makes sense and makes me feel better. I appreciate your insight. In your opinion the longer it takes to hear back the less chance of an admission?
Sometimes. Sometimes not
You apply to the number of schools who have faculty that fit your research interests and want students at programs who can place you in the career you want in locations you can see yourself living and can afford applying to
I’ve been a staffer at a program. I’ve been a student at my schools. I’ve been an employee at another. I’ve regularly interacted with graduate students, and of course professors. No, I don’t bear the title you do. That doesn’t necessarily preclude me from acquiring information that I will find valuable as I go through these processes myself.
So you are unqualified to opine on what is required to get a tenure track job. That’s what you just said. You have no experience sitting on hiring committees, evaluating packets, or actually doing the work of a professor.
That’s exactly what I’m pointing out. You’re generalizing.
That is quite a lot of stuff to say.
Literally no way to know. It’s entirely dependent on internal processes and factors
It is fine. Don’t waste their and your time
Sometimes it’s nothing. Like getting that far can easily just mean they liked the way someone else made a joke in an interview. That’s the hard thing about PhD admits, sometimes you can do everything right and still miss out
This isn’t really the place to ask. Talk to current graduate students there if it’s sufficient or not. CoL varies dramatically across regions and even within metropolitan areas.
You are asking if you are overthinking the fact it’s been just over half the time they said it might take?
Because they are manually updated and those people have other duties as well.
Thank you! I always thought it was a computer system so this makes a lot more sense.
It is, like it’s an application management system. But someone has to manually go in and select names and move them to the right buckets and such. It takes time and usually departments don’t have a dedicated admissions person, it’s just part of a staffer’s portfolio.
Nope. Just wait.
i appreciate your pov (as ive been leaning on not emailing again as well). however, id like to know why you think it might not be a good idea
Anytime you are emailing faculty or the department you should have a clear goal and purpose in mind. This isn’t really that, it’s about wanting to give yourself an edge. That’s not how admissions usually works. We base our decisions on the materials you send us and the conversations we have with you. Emails like that come off often as desperate, pushy, or entitled. There is a process that has to take place and an applicants job in the process, once they submit their packet, is to project calm, confidence, and poise.
Clarification about what? Go look at the admission requirements for the department, what kind of transcripts does it ask for?
You wait.
Yes, I'm referring to the Great Valley campus
Okay so you understand that the QS ranking you saw isn’t for Great Valley, right?
Did you confuse Penn State and Penn State Great Valley? They aren’t the same school.
4-8 weeks. You have awhile. There is no reason to expect updates
https://www.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/s/IyEbF9usyN
By how much? Like it says 2 pages and you’re at 1.7 or you’re at 1?
It says four pages and I’m at the bottom of three.
I’m always inclined to say you don’t want to give other people a competitive advantage by letting them say more than you. But 4 pages is a long SOP. If you’ve truly said everything you can, made all the connections, talked about relevant faculty and research groups, etc. then it’s fine
I don’t know if I would agree with this advice. Being generally interested in things is good, especially in diverse departments. But we aren’t accepting someone because we think they will make smart comments at a department colloquium.
Good job
No. If you have no research overlap then it’s likely an administrative thing
What has your personal research shown? This kind of questions gets asked constantly and if you put a bit of time into researching it, I’m sure you could come up with some good answers.