Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) Hi all, I am going to study consumer behavior. I checked the Who When Where but found some info is somehow missing. For example, I couldn't find several schools' recent graduates' placements while the schools (and some people in this area but unrelated to the schools) say that their recent placements are pretty good. I also checked UTD and found confusing results. For instance, A seems to have more publications than B but people in CB area say that B is far better than A. (As for those "people in this area", one I know in person and the other two are people I met in other forums.) I desperately need some advice since it is such a big decision (especially for someone not very familiar with the US and its academic ecology) and schools started to push me to make decisions. Could you please rank (e.g., A>B=C>D... ) the following schools in terms of, say, placements (is there any other important factor that should also be taken into consideration, say, location?)? Your reply would greatly appreciated!! U of Connecticut U of Utah U of Iowa [waitlisted] U at Buffalo—SUNY Iowa State University U of Massachusetts--Amherst U of Kentucky U of Tennessee Edited March 8, 2018 by Hisprincess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanthusARES Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 For CB most of these schools are pretty similar ranking (except Iowa which is higher ranked than the rest). It looks like you did a good job at making your list so as to give yourself the best shot. Because of the subjectivity of this, I have to say that this is my opinion and others may disagree. Placement wise all of these schools will put you at mostly similar locations. Probably a balanced or teaching school. I know that UMASS strongly encourages teaching during the program. They explicitly state you will likely end up somewhere with a higher teaching load. The reason that you don't see some of these schools recent placements on Who Went Where is because of self selection. The people who fill out the survey are the people who did well on the market. It will be biased towards those on the higher end. The schools on your list, in particular, aren't sending a lot of students to top research schools. So that is why you see a discrepancy. Location matters somewhat if you care where you want to be afterwards. People generally place in the same geographic region the school they did their PhD is in. This is just a correlation, many people have many reasons for these placements. But it is a correlation and something to keep in mind. So if you want to be in the midwest Iowa State is the right choice. New England then UConn, Buffalo or UMass would all be fine. All of that to say this. 1. Iowa is significantly better than the other schools on your list 2. I would place Utah and Tennessee next 3. UConn, Buffalo and Kentucky are all about the same 4. Iowa State and UMass Good luck and let us know what you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 For CB most of these schools are pretty similar ranking (except Iowa which is higher ranked than the rest). It looks like you did a good job at making your list so as to give yourself the best shot. Thank you so much for the reply! Thank you for the compliment. I did do a lot of research before applying (still don't think I know the schools well enough but I tried my best) and applied to some dream schools as well. These are the results I got so far. It's sad to know that none of the schools would send me to a research school.. But I guess a balanced one shouldn't be too bad.. I hope. Also, thank you for sharing the role that location would play. After some thought, I think I will still place future placement in the priority for now. I am quite surprised that you juxtapose Tennessee with Utah. The funny thing is that I was supposed to get an offer from Tennessee but because Tennessee and Kentucky are good friends, and K told T that they would give me an offer, T then decided not to give me one.. I still put T in the list as I would like to know how people would rank it. And if it gets high ranking, I may try to get the offer back if possible. Do you think I should inquire Tennessee or just let it go because I've already got Utah? Since some schools have been pushing quite hard regarding decision-making, I started to decline. For now, I just pray that people who got offers from Iowa can have better options so I could get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 For CB most of these schools are pretty similar ranking (except Iowa which is higher ranked than the rest). It looks like you did a good job at making your list so as to give yourself the best shot. Thank you so much for the reply! Thank you for the compliment. I did do a lot of research before applying (still don't think I know the schools well enough but I tried my best) and applied to some dream schools as well. These are the results I got so far. It's sad to know that none of the schools would send me to a research school.. But I guess a balanced one shouldn't be too bad.. I hope. Also, thank you for sharing the role that location would play. After some thought, I think I will still place future placement in the priority for now. I am quite surprised that you juxtapose Tennessee with Utah. The funny thing is that I was supposed to get an offer from Tennessee but because Tennessee and Kentucky are good friends, and K told T that they would give me an offer, T then decided not to give me one.. I still put T in the list as I would like to know how people would rank it. And if it gets high ranking, I may try to get the offer back if possible. Do you think I should inquire Tennessee or just let it go because I've already got Utah? Since some schools have been pushing quite hard regarding decision-making, I started to decline. For now, I just pray that people who got offers from Iowa can have better options so I could get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 For CB most of these schools are pretty similar ranking (except Iowa which is higher ranked than the rest). It looks like you did a good job at making your list so as to give yourself the best shot. Because of the subjectivity of this, I have to say that this is my opinion and others may disagree. Placement wise all of these schools will put you at mostly similar locations. Probably a balanced or teaching school. I know that UMASS strongly encourages teaching during the program. They explicitly state you will likely end up somewhere with a higher teaching load. The reason that you don't see some of these schools recent placements on Who Went Where is because of self selection. The people who fill out the survey are the people who did well on the market. It will be biased towards those on the higher end. The schools on your list, in particular, aren't sending a lot of students to top research schools. So that is why you see a discrepancy. Location matters somewhat if you care where you want to be afterwards. People generally place in the same geographic region the school they did their PhD is in. This is just a correlation, many people have many reasons for these placements. But it is a correlation and something to keep in mind. So if you want to be in the midwest Iowa State is the right choice. New England then UConn, Buffalo or UMass would all be fine. All of that to say this. 1. Iowa is significantly better than the other schools on your list 2. I would place Utah and Tennessee next 3. UConn, Buffalo and Kentucky are all about the same 4. Iowa State and UMass Good luck and let us know what you decide. Thank you so much for the reply! Thank you for the compliment. I did do a lot of research before applying (still don't think I know the schools well enough but I tried my best) and applied to some dream schools as well. These are the results I got so far. It's sad to know that none of the schools would send me to a research school.. But I guess a balanced one shouldn't be too bad.. I hope. Also, thank you for sharing the role that location would play. After some thought, I think I will still place future placement in the priority for now. I am quite surprised that you juxtapose Tennessee with Utah. The funny thing is that I was supposed to get an offer from Tennessee but because Tennessee and Kentucky are good friends, and K told T that they would give me an offer, T then decided not to give me one.. I still put T in the list as I would like to know how people would rank it. And if it gets high ranking, I may try to get the offer back if possible. Do you think I should inquire Tennessee or just let it go because I've already got Utah? Since some schools have been pushing quite hard regarding decision-making, I started to decline. For now, I just pray that people who got offers from Iowa can have better options so I could get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 For CB most of these schools are pretty similar ranking (except Iowa which is higher ranked than the rest). It looks like you did a good job at making your list so as to give yourself the best shot. Thank you so much for the reply! Thank you for the compliment. I did do a lot of research before applying (still don't think I know the schools well enough but I tried my best) and applied to some dream schools as well. These are the results I got so far. It's sad to know that none of the schools would send me to a research school.. But I guess a balanced one shouldn't be too bad.. I hope. Also, thank you for sharing the role that location would play. After some thought, I think I will still place future placement in the priority for now. I am quite surprised that you juxtapose Tennessee with Utah. The funny thing is that I was supposed to get an offer from Tennessee but because Tennessee and Kentucky are good friends, and K told T that they would give me an offer, T then decided not to give me one.. I still put T in the list as I would like to know how people would rank it. And if it gets high ranking, I may try to get the offer back if possible. Do you think I should inquire Tennessee or just let it go because I've already got Utah? Since some schools have been pushing quite hard regarding decision-making, I started to decline. For now, I just pray that people who got offers from Iowa can have better options so I could get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 Thank you so much for the reply! Thank you for the compliment. I did do a lot of research before applying (still don't think I know the schools well enough but I tried my best) and applied to some dream schools as well. These are the results I got so far. It's sad to know that none of the schools would send me to a research school.. But I guess a balanced one shouldn't be too bad.. I hope. Also, thank you for sharing the role that location would play. After some thought, I think I will still place future placement in the priority for now. I am quite surprised that you juxtapose Tennessee with Utah. The funny thing is that I was supposed to get an offer from Tennessee but because Tennessee and Kentucky are good friends, and K told T that they would give me an offer, T then decided not to give me one.. I still put T in the list as I would like to know how people would rank it. And if it gets high ranking, I may try to get the offer back if possible. Do you think I should inquire Tennessee or just let it go because I've already got Utah? Since some schools have been pushing quite hard regarding decision-making, I started to decline. For now, I just pray that people who got offers from Iowa can have better options so I could get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 For CB most of these schools are pretty similar ranking (except Iowa which is higher ranked than the rest). It looks like you did a good job at making your list so as to give yourself the best shot. Thank you so much for the reply! Thank you for the compliment. I did do a lot of research before applying (still don't think I know the schools well enough but I tried my best) and applied to some dream schools as well. These are the results I got so far. It's sad to know that none of the schools would send me to a research school.. But I guess a balanced one shouldn't be too bad.. I hope. Also, thank you for sharing the role that location would play. After some thought, I think I will still place future placement in the priority for now. I am quite surprised that you juxtapose Tennessee with Utah. The funny thing is that I was supposed to get an offer from Tennessee but because Tennessee and Kentucky are good friends, and K told T that they would give me an offer, T then decided not to give me one.. I still put T in the list as I would like to know how people would rank it. And if it gets high ranking, I may try to get the offer back if possible. Do you think I should inquire Tennessee or just let it go because I've already got Utah? Since some schools have been pushing quite hard regarding decision-making, I started to decline. For now, I just pray that people who got offers from Iowa can have better options so I could get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanthusARES Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 Let me be super clear about this. None of the schools will necessarily keep you from going to a research school. Just historically they've placed mainly at balanced or teaching schools. If you do well at any of these programs and get some good research out, you'll have a shot at a research school. I don't want to discourage you or make you think that you definitely won't be at a research school. You definitely will have a shot from any of these schools, but would obviously have a higher chance at better ranked schools. In reality the ranking I used isn't exact. Tennessee and Kentucky are pretty close in terms of ranking and placement. I put Tennessee higher because they've had some absolutely phenomenal placements in the past. Same with Utah. Location wise Tennessee and Utah are very different. So even though they are similarly ranked, you can make a decision based on where you want to live. Iowa is definitely the best ranked school on your list. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 Thank you so much for your encouragement and precious opinions!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) Further advice is needed.. I have narrowed down my options to 3 and would like to make my decision soon. Which follows is the info. about the 3 schools I investigated and collected in that past few weeks. I am a bit struggling among the three and hope to have some constructive and sincere comments or opinions. Would really appreciate! Uni A Recent placement: not ideal Research interests fit: 90% with one of the faculty members, who will work with me if I join. How do I feel about the faculty: Nice people Research resources (e.g., lab): fewer Teaching load: 4 semesters Uni B Recent placement: not ideal Research interests fit: 78% How do I feel about the faculty: average Research resources (e.g., lab): better Teaching load: 3~4 semesters Uni C Recent placement: good Research interests fit: 55% Their own research is trendy and they are very quant people even though they are strong in CB. It's great for people with strong quant or coding background but I am not.. However, they are very open to all kinds of issues. Basically, I guess it means that it would take me more time to explore my own interest in my own space, compared with if I had chose Uni A. How do I feel about the faculty: ？ I only had a Skype talk with the coordinator, who seems to be an efficient and a bit harsh prof. As for some other faculty, I only contacted them via email. Research resources (e.g., lab): better Teaching load: 1 semester (very attractive to me) Edited April 6, 2018 by Hisprincess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hisprincess Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 (edited) Further advice is needed.. I have narrowed down my options to 3 and would like to make my decision soon. Which follows is the info. about the 3 schools I investigated and collected in that past few weeks. I am a bit struggling among the three and hope to have some constructive and sincere comments or opinions. Would really appreciate! Uni A Recent placement: not ideal Research interests fit: 90% with one of the faculty members, who will work with me if I join. How do I feel about the faculty: Nice people Research resources (e.g., lab equipment): fewer Teaching load: 4 semesters Location: Northeastern Uni B Recent placement: not ideal Research interests fit: 78% How do I feel about the faculty: average Research resources (e.g., lab equipment): richer Teaching load: 3~4 semesters Location: East South-central Uni C Recent placement: good Research interests fit: 55% Their own research is trendy and they are very quant people even though they are strong in CB. It's great for people with strong quant or coding background but I am not.. However, they are very open to all kinds of issues. Basically, I guess it means that it would take me more time to explore my own interests in my own space, compared with if I had chosen Uni A. How do I feel about the faculty: ？ I only had a Skype talk with the coordinator, who seems to be an efficient and a bit harsh prof. As for some other faculty, I only contacted them via email. Research resources (e.g., lab equipment): richer Teaching load: 1 semester (very attractive to me) Location: Western Edited April 2, 2018 by Hisprincess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hngu178 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 (edited) I think you already have enough information to decide yourself. You know your strength ,weakness and your willingness to learn more. Good of fit with prof interest is only initial feeling, you may not know until you actually work with them. In my opinion, if University A, B, C are equal for you, I just encourage you to go with the most productive professors on Top A journal, who have diverse background research. You will learn a lot of thing from them and your graduation will become smooth. "Staying away from prof that have few good pubs, less research experience, and do not assume you can do research yourself without a good advisor." my prof recommended. This way can reduce the risk of getting into the wrong place. I guess Uni C is Utah! Edited March 31, 2018 by hngu178 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanthusARES Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 It sounds like you have a strong bent for choice C. That being said, I'm concerned about your research interests matching at C. If they aren't specifically doing things that you would like to do, then it's not really worth your time to go there. Like you said either you'll spend a lot of time doing things that you don't like or you'll spend a lot of time getting them on board with your interests. Either way the mentorship is likely to not be ideal. It sounds like a tough decision. But it's a problem of excess. For my money, and all else being equal I would suggest going with a school with less of a focus on teaching (i.e. choice C). Teaching is extremely important and valuable, but teaching requirements make it difficult to get research done. While this is obviously an issue you'll face when you're a professor, the longer you can push that off, the better. However if you spend an equivalent amount of time in trying to get the department on board with your research interests, then you've not really saved any time at all. What I'm saying is that is doesn't sound like all else is equal. One thing to keep in mind about recent placements, they can be a strong indicator of a program, but nothing is set in stone. I know of a few CB programs with relatively poor placements recently because students all chose their jobs for reasons other than prestige. I also know of some programs that have placed well recently because of fantastic mentors and students just killing it. Take hngu's advice. Go with the place with the best research fit with the best faculty. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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