slacktivist

Washington's funding situation is horrible. If you have outside funding or help from your family, then it's doable. When I applied to PhD programs out of undergrad, one of my letter writers was a UW PhD and he recommended against applying, even though my research fit well with the department.

Yes! I just got into Michigan with your profile. Undergraduate GPA was slightly higher, but I didn't have a publication. The GRE will be important, but if you can get good scores and communicate your research agenda well in your statement of purpose, you should be competitive. The publication and references should make your application stick out. EDITED TO ADD: Also, research fit matters a lot!

PROFILE Type of Undergrad Institution: Community college, M.A.-granting university ranked around 60th in its region by U.S. News Major(s)/Minor(s): Political Science Undergrad GPA: 3.3 Type of Grad: M.A. from a U.S. News top-50 Ph.D. program Grad GPA: 3.6 GRE: V: 169 Q: 160 AW: 4.0 Letters of Recommendation: Two from undergraduate advisors, one from M.A. professor Research Experience: One semester as undergraduate R.A. Teaching Experience: One semester as T.A., one semester as grader Subfield/Research Interests: American politics Other: Multiple conference presentations, undergraduate scholarships, undergraduate award for best paper presented at a regional conference RESULTS Acceptances: Three (top-6, top-25, unranked — all fully funded) Waitlists: Two (top-25, top-40) Rejections: Seven (two top-25, five top-40) Going to: Top-6 LESSONS LEARNED 1) Research matters. A lot. I had a great writing sample that fit well with the program I chose, as well as a history of winning awards for my research. I was able to write compellingly about my research agenda and clearly identify faculty I could work with. I'm now heading to a program that is ideal for my interests. 2) It seems if you have some previous research you can hang your hat on, then the objective indicators in your file will matter less. Look at my file. I failed out of college at one point! I got a B and a C in graduate school. My GRE writing score was mediocre. The GRE was the one objective indicator that admissions committees could look at and believe I could be successful in their program. 3) I threw in the application to the top-six school because I really wanted to go there, not because I had any expectation of getting in. Don't be afraid of taking a calculated risk and apply to top programs if they seem like a really good fit for your interests. SOP Wrote about undergraduate and graduate projects, discussed the development of my research interests, and tied my development to a single broad, thematic question that drives my research.

Awesome! Look forward to consulting your methods chops to improve my research.

I'll be attending Michigan this fall! Unbelievable.

I've declined my Illinois offer. I hope that helps out someone here!

Admitted at Michigan! I'm speechless.

Well, there's your decision, mate. The stipend might be tough, but that's an outstanding program.

Congrats! Deciding between UT and UVA?

This discussion indicates one of the hidden costs of going to a lower-ranked program: they tend to have fewer people to work with. If one faculty member leaves or you can't work with someone for whatever reason, it makes the dissertation that much harder to write.

I can't be any more specific than this, but don't expect McDermott to stay past next year.

This is unnecessarily harsh and condescending. Darth has a case of the nerves about this offer, understandably so since it's his dream school. If fellow applicants aren't allowed to express their hopes/dreams/fears/etc. with each other on this anonymous message board, then what the hell good is it? I also think you're reading too much into Darth's posts to assume he's dissatisfied with his offer in hand. If anything, I wouldn't want to work with someone who is openly judgmental of others because they expressed feelings that do not harm anyone else.

Email the programs you applied to and ask why they rejected you. Though they are legally barred from sharing what is in your letters of recommendation, they should be able to give you a good idea of how to improve your application file. Also, given how competitive graduate admissions are, you could simply reapply the next year and have more success. There is little to separate those who are admitted and those who are rejected. Sometimes, the line between admission and rejection is a matter of luck.

I negotiated my funding offer when I started grad school and can speak to this point from Prof. Nooruddin. Programs are not inclined to move on the base stipend amount. Also, if you've signaled that a program is your top choice, they will not consider it a credible "threat" for you to choose a lesser program over a small sum of money. However, you can request something like summer funding or a semester of fellowship. I even managed to negotiate the latter at a place where I got in off the wait list. If you're thinking about negotiating, you could ask current and recent grad students about their experience with departmental norms around funding.

I hear you. I'm also on the wait list at Michigan for American politics. What I heard from UM is that they should know more at the end of the month, which will be a week after their admitted students visit. I'm pretty relaxed, though. If it doesn't pan out, I'm lucky to have a good offer from an established top-25 program that is best known for my specific research area. This would be a nice clearinghouse thread for wait list changes.