PolyWonk

gun fire

Club sandwich

morning glory (quite cool actually... there's the flower: http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/media/Flowers/New%20Morning%20Glory%20Pink.jpg the clouds: http://lh4.ggpht.com/__zoKJ77EvEc/TBHnxdOV69I/AAAAAAAAEWg/gJP5gW7NFK0/morning-glory%20(9)%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800 the movie: starring Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton & Harrison Ford... Just FYI!)

over easy

Perk up

Well said.

Park Ranger

wet bed

Watching this right now!

Travel! Mexico, Uganda, Chile, Nigeria... then who knows? Suggestions?

hot mess (it's how I feel waiting it out)

Hi All! Last night I had a nightmare that I didn't get into any schools. Now I don't know if constantly trolling GradCafe is helping or hurting my psyche, but I do it anyway. I found a couple old threads that are positive, empathetic, sympathetic or made me laugh, which I need to do more of. I really liked them, so I thought I would bring them to our esteemed Political Science forum. So answer the questions for us. How are you coping with waiting? And how will you celebrate when you get your first acceptance? Coping: For me, I'm very blessed and lucky that I'm taking a gap year this year. So my coping mechanism is... travel! So far I've gone on a few trips (international/domestic), and I plan to be away pretty much non-stop until May (not during Admitted Student visits, of course!) then return to the states to begin preparing for school! Celebration: I'll be honest. 1. Tears 2. Family 3. Facebook 4. Advisors/Recommenders 5. PARTY! How 'bout you?

Nervous would be a good way to describe me too. There are times when I am relaxed, and the thought of my submitted applications jumps into my head, and I am right back to almost shaking again! Here's a question. I know that Duke Sanford does phone interviews, but I was wondering about some of the other schools. I'm curious because I will be out of the country starting the middle of the coming week, and I will not be back until the end of February. Do you think I should contact each of the schools and let them know, just in case?

Don't worry! I know it sucks... I made a similar mistake (didn't change the header on one my resume for one school). It happens, and it's best not to worry. We could drive ourselves to insanity and back.

Thanks everyone! Public policy/affairs is such a wide reaching discipline. The programs very so widely, it's hard just figuring out which are the best programs. I just finished my 9 -- aaahhhh -- applications to a variety of public policy/affairs & political science programs. It feels good to be done. Good luck to you all too!

You might find some PP people on the PoliSci forum, but I've found more in the "Government Affairs" forum. Some examples: I hope this helps... I've really tried, but I haven't found a profile list for PP PhDs. Seems like there's not many of us here!

Ok, so I know that this forum has a name similar to a skeevy pamphlet in a college health center... BUT, it's nothing of the sort. Having spent a lot of time on this site during the admissions process, I began wondering: what's helped you the most? What have you gotten out of this site? I'm applying for programs in Public Policy and Political Science. Personally, I got a lot out of SOP threads like this one: Also, there was a PoliSci professor who was gracious enough to share here wisdom: Those two, among many other threads, have helped me so much. And I think they're applicable across many disciplines. What's your advice.

Take everything one step at a time. Talk to admissions people and directors at programs where you are interested. I've found that when I have to ask questions, the graduate school crowd tends to respond very positively. They will have many of the answers that you need... things about letters of recommendation, financing and more. About the GRE/GMAT... I don't think anyone likes it. It's never fun, and the only solution is to study as much as you can. These tests are annoying, but they are able to be mastered. Also, have you thought about, instead of grad school, just taking courses to learn many of the graphic design skills that you're missing? This isn't meant to discourage you, it's just a thought. Good luck!

I take them all with a grain of salt. In the end though, I like what I saw another poster say (I believe it was a TT professor). S/he said that if you have to ask if a school is top 25 in its field, it's likely not. "Finally, I have made a big point about top 25 schools. We all know that Stanford is and Purdue isn't, but what's the definitive list? Simply put, if you have to ask, your school is not in the top 25. And of course subfield matters more than overall ranking. Emory is not a top-25 theory department so think long and hard about going there for theory. JHU is not a top-25 American politics department but it's a different story altogether for political theory. If you need to convince yourself that your program is a top-25 program, it's almost certainly not." As someone who's interested in IR, you know that the research interest vary widely. So there are some to 20 schools that offer few faculty who research global governance (my topic of interest). That's what makes rankings hard for IR people. They may say that School X is great in IR, but most of the IR faculty are war researching realists, while I may be a civil society researching constructivist. Anyway, back to your original question, I use them all, I guess. I use a combination of them to a "consistently close to the top" list.

I also contacted a few POIs and a couple DGSs. When I was travelling to the areas for various reasons, I decided to visit some of the schools that I am interested in. That's when I contacted the POIs, let them know I'd be coming, and asked if it was possible to meet with them. All responses were positive, whether I met with them or not. It was helpful to have an excuse though. The reason I didn't contact many more POIs is because I don't know how to cold contact. It makes me nervous!

dworkable, I'm in the same place. I could have written this exact post! (except for the enjoyment part... lucky you ) I've spoken/emailed with professors at a few schools to which I'm applying, and now I'm regretting not doing it at all of them. Are you leaning towards contacting them, or no? I'm leaning towards yes at this point. Just so I can say that I did. I know people at many of the departments to which I am applying, so I know/think I'd fit in there. But it would be good to get confirmation from POIs. MarketMan, congrats on being done!

Thanks for the help/advice. Like you said, I'm trying to avoid the creepy/obsessive factor, but to still signal my strong interest in working with the people I've communicated with. It's a fine line, and a hard one to see when you've been staring at the same personal statement for 4 months

Thanks for the reply Shygeek! I am interested. It's a desert out here for people like us, and I just can't seem to wrap my fingers around what type of person is drawn to a PhD in Public Policy. It seems that there are a lot of MPPs and/or PhDs in political science. Interesting journey you've had, so thanks for sharing. Good luck, and keep me updated!

So I've been communicating with certain professors at schools I'm applying to. On one hand, I feel like mentioning them in my SOP will show my commitment to my research, the schools and demonstrate that it's a good fit for me. On the other hand, I have to wonder, does it look like I'm name dropping or sucking up for the sake of it? I've been through many rounds of drafts of the SOP, and with deadlines approaching, I will have to stop soon. What do you guys think? What has your experience been?