Nords

I have a (potentially somewhat ignorant) question. Soon we'll all start getting our acceptances and rejections... Say you get accepted into 5 schools. How typical is it for you to be invited to visit the school over a weekend or something? And if you are invited, are you typically expected to pay for the travel expense yourself, or does the school ever help with that?

I like this question! I'll probably also reward myself by going and buying a book or two for next fall. On a slightly less bookish note, I think I'll reward myself with a bottle or two of my favorite wines (Estancia's Sauvignon Blanc and a Georgian wine called Khvanchkara.. it will change your life) and spend an entire weekend watching Premier League, Bundesliga, and La Liga matches!

Anyone claiming the UC Davis admits?

This borders on genius. You should have included it as an appendix in your cover letter Traditionally, none of the schools I applied to send out letters this early, so I don't really feel all too worried. The majority of them are typically right in the middle of February, with a couple of them coming at the end of January/early February. It's just made worse by this being my second cycle. Last year ended badly, so at this point I'm desperate to just get into a school quickly, so I don't have to worry about the rest of the responses, cause I'll know I already have somewhere to go in August. Then I could enjoy the rest of the admissions cycle, no matter what the result.

It is. Over the course of the day, I've repeatedly looked at my inbox in disbelief... no new messages from gradcafe. For some reason I'm having a much harder time not freaking out over applications this year. Last year was comparatively very easy. Hope you're all managing to stay sane!

Really hoping the answer to this question includes Pittsburgh and UC-Santa Barbara

Wow, things really are moving quickly. Congratulations to everyone who has been admitted already! Don't know if life was easier or harder before gradcafe came along!? Can't imagine suffering through this waiting process without this forum

I wholeheartedly second that.

Congrats to all the new admits from last night! Hope to join you guys soon!

Congratulations on Boulder! Great way to start the admissions season!

Agreed! Only one of the schools I applied to ever really responds in January. Most of them mid-February to mid-March.

I generally feel less anxious. Obviously it wasn't fun dealing with rejections, but in a way I'm happy I had to wait a year. I was much better prepared for the application process this time and feel much better prepared for a PhD program as well. Since I know that this is the only thing I want to do as a career, it gave me a chance to spend extra time just refining my area of interest and becoming a stronger applicant. The second round is not to be feared haha.

Hi there! Yeah, I suspect research related to the ECB will be a large portion of my future work. Recently, I've also been doing a lot of research and writing on banking union, which is obviously tied to the ECB as well. I see we have UNC Chapel Hill as a mutual school we've applied to. Makes sense, I suppose. They have a refreshingly large group of EU faculty.

Yeah... Pitt seems to respond at the end of January or very beginning of February. Hoping to hear from them soon! Are they anywhere near your top pick? (Btw, by next Friday or Monday do you mean the 31st and the 2nd?)

That's right. We talked about it a bit when we exchanged SOPs! Looking forward to finding out where you end up attending. Would be nice to start at the same program with another EU enthusiast!

Hahah, well played. Of course I'm nervous and really can't wait to hear back from schools, but in all honesty I do expect to get into at least one program. I'm quite optimistic about it Out of curiosity, what are you all planning to specialize in? I'm going for IR/IPE, focusing on European macroeconomics and monetary politics. Anyone else here interested in European integration?

Quite honestly, I don't have any plans if PhD applications go badly. I will take another year to just work, read, and hopefully publish, and try to apply again next year with a stronger application. It would be quite depressing, though, since this is already my second attempts...

Hahaha, brilliant. Yes, you did indeed win! But hey, at least if your husband is from New England, he has survived their winters in the past, even if he didn't like it. My wife and I met in Oklahoma of all places, though she grew up in Ecuador (hence the love of warm weather) and I grew up in Estonia (...hence the appreciation for cold weather). She's told me similar things, but her version was that she doesn't want to live north of DC. That poses a slight problem for at least 2 of the schools I applied to

I'm married as well, so I've been in the same boat during these applications. We're currently living in the DC metro area cause we both attended MA programs here, but now I applied to schools ranging from UNC to Syracuse to UC-Santa Barbara. So, definitely not Amtrak accessible haha Fortunately, her line of work is pretty easy to find in most cities, so wherever I end up going to school, she'll be fine with going with me. (Well, she might protest against Syracuse a bit, seeing as she doesn't like cold weather...)

Throw in some Spanish La Liga and you have a deal

I don't know if I would go to a regular class reunion in the future... but I think I'd do a gradcafe application cycle meetup once we're all in programs or on faculty! (Especially if mygrotianmoment brings some Riesling and mv0027 brings some of his brew.)

I second that.

Aah, well, that's what I get for sharing my ignorant opinion haha I didn't apply to OSU, so I wouldn't know. Either way, I'm not aware of any programs that interview people they aren't interested in, so it's still not all bad.

It could be that you're just overthinking it. At the very least, if he really was hinting at something, it doesn't necessarily have to mean a rejection. It could also be that you'll be waitlisted. Either way, hopefully you're just overthinking it. The fact that you received a call means they're quite interested in you. That's something to be optimistic about. Best of luck!

1) Swear an oath to never watch any TV again. 2) Not shave until I defend my dissertation, so I graduate looking something like Karl Marx. 3) Become a Real Madrid supporter for a year... perish the thought.