TakeMyCoffeeBlack

I had similar dreams two nights ago... Woke up with an e-mail from Pitt, but it was just confirming that my application was complete (might have been because I updated my CV?). Killer...

Congrats to the North Texas admit!

For some reason the 15th has always stood in my mind as "start panicking day." Even though the 15th last year was equal to Monday earlier this week, and we've had similar amounts of action... I think it's because it's kind of the half way mark for the month.

Should I be accepted anywhere now, I am going to be skeptical until I actually talk to a prof/dgs to confirm.

That's awful. Last year I got an acceptance, and the letter talked about the assistantship blah blah blah. That was on a Friday, but the wording was a little odd so I thought something must have been wrong and sent e-mails and called until finally, like on the Wednesday after, I got in touch with the administrative assistant, just to find out they weren't offering funding. I went through stages like this: 1.) OMG I'M IN! 2.) What about money? 3.) Well, it mentions this assistantship. 4.) Searches online and... OMG SO MUCH MONEY FOR ASSISTANTSHIPS! 5.) Tells family, friends and professors. 6.) Wait, the letter only mentions it in passing and offers no detail? Is this really for me? 7.) Writes e-mail...waits. 8.) Calls...waits. 9.) Calls again...waits. 10.) Calls AGAIN and finally finds out no money. I never did tell a couple friends and professors there was no money. I was too disappointed. But then I moved to Germany for a year anyway.

This. UK programs are just very different, and doing a non-funded Ph.D. in the UK is not the same thing as doing it in the US. And yup...no money in academics.

I think the assumption for the first statement is that all schools fund equally, which of course isn't true (and you say as much). There are plenty of very good schools that just don't offer that much funding for different reasons (Georgetown and George Washington come to mind in poli sci - but they get a large share of applicants because of their location and can afford not to offer everyone funding). However, in many cases students will get funding somewhere along the line (TAs, RAs, etc.), it just isn't guaranteed. For students who can gamble a year, this might be a jump worth taking. So in the long run, I guess you're right - assuming that you didn't get non-guaranteed funding during your Ph.D. because you just weren't good enough. But when maybe only 50% of the incoming class starts with guaranteed funding, it's hard to say whether that 50% is the one that will walk out with a job and a book deal.

Is this up on Netflix or just in general? I was among a group at my uni last year that took a distribution manager to lunch in Brooklyn to convince them to let us show it before it's official release (for freeeeeee). Quite good, actually. Not an exciting movie, but very good and a significant woman to know about.

Get in contact with the programs, too.

This. This a million times. There are people who get in, fully funded, with as low as 148 that I've seen. There are too many factors to narrow it down to a 162 quant score, even at the very top programs.

Political science profs on these boards say you can certainly go for it. Either a) you'll get a cold response (or no response), which doesn't speak highly of the professor/program barring some circumstance that caused them to act that way or they'll give you honest, friendly information. I went for it and got the former just yesterday, so be prepared for that possibility.

I hear this!

I know this might sound absurd, but I wish I were still working on Ph.D. apps. I felt so in control and like everything was going to work out perfectly. I've been done since mid-December and it's killing me (especially after a very odd/hurtful e-mail from a POI). I kind of wish I could just keep applying and keep applying. Thinking about projects I want to do is so much fun - and the project I am doing is killing me, because I'm having problem finding a specific type of evidence I had hoped to use (how is it possible that LexisNexis and Google can't find a SINGLE hit for articles mentioning "Germany," "court," and "Lisbon" between 2007-09???).

So, weird question (but hey, I love when this forum is active, so...). Does anyone else get dressed up to do work? I mean, when I'm on a real schedule I can do work in my pajamas (you know, when your only time for research is between 5:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. and showers seem like a waste of time until the very last minute). But as a Fulbrighter, I'm not on a typical schedule and take very few courses. Especially with grad school decisions dangling like candy you can't reach, I've needed every extra bit of encouragement to work. Oddly enough, that included putting on "business casual" dress clothes. I do this when I go to cafes to read too. I'm not the only one, am I?

Yup, same here (kind of). All my Ph.D. apps are in. Have a masters app due tomorrow. Everything is submitted, just have to pay the fee... darn fees!

Congrats to cautiously! I wonder if there will be any more movement through this week.

Not sure if it was him, but it said "OSU - Bear" and said something like "when did osu start interviewing?!?!?!?!?!" I don't remember exactly, but it made me giggle.

I hope the lol was taken as intended! I just love how convinced we all are that nothing will go our way (well, when we're not convinced we'll get in everywhere) that when something good happens, we rationalize it as something normal or are afraid to apply positive terminology (like "interview").

Congrats! I hope I hear from them in the next couple weeks about talking...

Well, it's been pointed out to me that maybe that was someone asking for Bear to confirm, so it might not mean anything. I was reading it as the interviews are probably informal (and not official adcom business). Hard to say whether they're actually happening, but I wouldn't be surprised. I have no reason to believe otherwise.

LOL @ Prof BFB's post in the results search.

LOL that sounds like an informal interview.

And Notre Dame interview. Any willing to claim? Though we have no reason to question the veracity (and likely everyone just wants to maintain anonymity).

I'm not sure how to count the single glass that was left in the bottle last night... I guess a 1/5?

Then say this, because this is useful advice!