AppInfo

There is certainly no definitive list and I'd argue that it is not even something you "just know from being in a particular country." My own program may or may not be top ten depending on who you talk to. I think that is true for half of the programs in any person's top ten. BrazilianPhD's advice is solid. Generally it is about finding a good match. Just about any school in the top 25 schools is going to give you a similar education and should position you well on the job market.

Like the above comment suggests, transfering is fine as long as you have a good reason. There are a couple of students in my own department that transfered from other schools (one moved up, the other was a lateral move). The downside is they had to start over taking classes again. The upside is they had an extra year of research under their belts.

Well said TM. I'm reminded by this discussion that we are all biased by our own pasts experience, personal circumstances, and pre-existing beliefs. I think the system (i.e. the April 15th deadline) while not perfect, is generally fair and tries to do the most good for the most number of people. That is not to say that certain people won't get the worst of it, but the system as a whole is reasonable. Thus I see no moral obligation for any individual to go above and beyond the system, however, they may choose to do so based on their personal value or circumstances. Of course I'm making a lot of philosophical assumptions here. My broader point is that we ought to respect other people's situations, values, morals, and philosophies. There is no 'right' here. As academics we should strive to not unilaterally impose our own views on others, rather we should try to recognize that approaches/thinking other than our own may be equally valid (with its own advantages and disadvantages over ours).

I don't entirely understand the harshness of the responses. Is there a reason to believe this person is trolling us and does not deserve an earnest response? Edit: I realize there is little we can offer. Academically these are all good programs that will likely give great training. So the decision will depend on research and culture match for the applicant. However, that hardly warrants mockery.

This varies by field. I don't really know how things work outside of OB, but I gather that finance is fairly unique in actually paying its reviewers (hence the high fees?)

Yeah, sadly there are real journals that have submission fees (ironically, it seems there are a lot of them in finance). When I say pay to publish, I mean if you pay you will get published no matter what you submit (i.e. if they have a 'review process' it is a joke). In retrospect the terminology I used was probably confusing, especially considering the fact that there are reputable journals with submission fees. So let me try again. Just make sure you publish in a 'reputable' journal. This usually means that it is is peer reviewed (although there are exceptions, such as Research in Organizational Behavior). However, peer review is not by itself a guarantee. Basically, if it is a journal that the adcom will have heard of you will be fine. If you aren't sure what those would be try asking your letter writers or someone in academia. If that isn't an option then try following this advice: BMJ Blogs: The BMJ » Blog Archive » Jocalyn Clark: How to avoid predatory journals—a five point plan I wish I could offer a more cut and dry explanation, but sadly it is getting increasingly difficult to separate out the predatory journals from the real ones.

As rsaylors suggests, in the application stage any publication is a good one so long as it is in a reputable journal (i.e.not a pay to publish journal. B level journal is fine). Personally, I would avoid attempting sole authorship since at this stage you would benefit more from working with and learning from a more experienced researcher.

This is an old one but it is still funny : snopes.com: College Rejection Letter However, next time you need to cite your source. ;)

Just for the record, there are others of us here with great (though perhaps not as epic) beards.

Lack of an email probably means you made it through the round of desk rejects and at least got some additional consideration. My guess would be most of the mass email rejections were to people who were eliminated earlier on. But this is just conjecture on my part. Although, I know that some of the schools that where seriously considering me but never interviewed me also never sent me a official rejection.

As usual Xan, unlike me, offers accurate and actually helpful advice. :encouragement:

Unfortunately I think this is one of those decisions that is about values tradeoffs that only you can make. The only consolation I can offer is that once you make a decision you'll be invested in it so all your cognitive biases should kick in and reassure you that you made the right decision. :-)

What you should be doing between the time you commit to a school and when you start? What to do if you didn't get in anywhere (which I believe you are already planning to write)? How to survive living in the frozen tundra and dealing with the regret of not going to a warm weather school?

I wondered that as well, but I beleive they are just giving out interviews, not at the waitlist stage yet.

Don't worry, you aren't alone. It is impossible not to feel that way. I shows you care. :-)