Comments | applyingtograd: Take only offer or try again?

beckalex in applyingtograd

Take only offer or try again?

Apr 02, 2011 17:51

I applied to many Ph.D. programs in history and I was only accepted to my bottom choice school. At this school I'd be able to work with a professor who researches my interests and I'd be able to design my major focus in pretty much the exact way I want. However, the school does not offer secondary and minor fields in my interests. I was not offered ( Read more... )

decision, declining admission, acceptance

Comments 11

_delly_ April 3 2011, 13:39:09 UTC

Last year it was the same for me: I got into my bottom choice school only, no funding. I spent a year there, reapplied and this year got into my top choice and received a fellowship with the recommendations from my new professors. I'd say you should also consider how good you are in working all on your own. If you are really good at managing your own time and are sure that oyu won't spend a minute of this following year in vain, then you probably should just work on your application all by yourself. But I'm the kind of person who needs being stimulated :) So I guess this was the best choice for me.

anonymous April 3 2011, 14:37:08 UTC

I would think long and hard before going even to a top choice without funding. Conversely, I would think long and hard before going to a school even with funding if I feel apathetic at best about it. Considering you neither have funding nor love the school (you said in other comments that almost didn't apply there), it sounds like you know deep down what you need to do.

I know it's tough to let go of what seems to be an opportunity (an acceptance to any program in these times), but don't let that compel you to go to a program that is a bad fit for you because of a sense of obligation.

It sounds like you have a solid idea of how to improve your application for the next time around and I wish you the best of luck!

roseofjuly April 5 2011, 03:12:03 UTC

1. I would never accept an offer to do a PhD with no funding. That means you would have to borrow for at least your first year of attendance (which, at my school, is easily $65,000+) with no guarantee that you will not have to borrow thereafter. Even if you only have to borrow for 2 years, that's six-figure debt already. The payoff for a life in academia is not great enough to justify such debt. So even if it were an otherwise fantastic program, I would still turn it down ( ... )