TakeMyCoffeeBlack

This thread is nothing new to the Gradcafe crew, and who cares if the only purpose it serves is to "mollify" those on a wait list? If nothing else, it provides more information than is otherwise available. And though you're certainly right, James, that the wait list is a backup to the regular acceptance:yield ratio, this doesn't meant that others won't find the information useful. 

What I've learned from this thread:
 
TheVineyard has multiple acceptances
TheVineyard doesn't want to brag about her/his multiple acceptances
TheVineyard wants you to understand that even though s/he has multiple acceptances, s/he will not participate in the humblebrag-iness
TheVineyard is just like that metaphorical CEO, but more like a CEO with a heart, because s/he isn't a humblebrag
 
ArrogantBrag...

Well Loric, it's a good thing you're not on the ad coms. Why are you getting so personal?

I saw "Texas A&M" in my new unread email this afternoon, and thought, dread. I know this program has yet to send out rejections, so I knew it was the day of reckoning. 
 
Well, I was wrong, it was an acceptance letter. I just now read it another time just to be sure. I literally can't believe this. I'm not even happy or excited yet, I am just in disbelief since this was my top dream program, and I never thought I had a chance. (Okay, it's starting to sink it, and thus, the happiness and excitement!)
 
Looking forward to meeting everyone else who is  A&M-bound next Fall!

As far as a classics that all poli sci (particularly comparativists) people should read: 
 
- Political Order in Changing Societies by Samuel P. Huntington. Probably one of the best works on institutions in the entire field. 
- An Economic Theory of Democracy by Anthony Downs. One of the pioneer works of rational choice theory in political science.
- Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism by Guillermo O'Donnell. Completely shattered the theory that modernization was conducive to democratization.
- Parties and Party Systems by Giovanni Sartori. First systematic classification of party systems.
- Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America by Scott Mainwaring and Timothy R. Scully. Regarded as one of the foremost works on measuring party system institutionalization.
 
My personal favourites are Democracy without Equity: Failures of Reform in Brazil by Kurt Weyland and Rethinking Party Systems in the Third Wave of Democratization: The Case of Brazil by Scott Mainwaring. I have many others, especially a bunch of edited books where I fell in love with specific chapters rather than the book itself.
 
As far as my inspiration for wanting to pursue political science was definitely the above mentioned 'Party Systems in Latin America'. It basically turned me into being interested in political parties in Latin America and the various effects that different party systems can have on other political phenomenon. 

See, I tend to be the opposite way.  I hate almost everything when I read it at first, and usually the first few times.  Then I come to like some of it.  It's kind of like John Coltrane or James Joyce. 

I claim a Harvard

And this marks the end of my cycle. It's truly been a wild ride. Thanks, Gradcafe, for making it a little more bearable.

Good luck to everyone still waiting for results, and to everyone on waitlist.

I hope to see you guys at admit weekends

Right, I always forget that feminism is a dirty word and that any attempt to raise the level of discussion (or provoke new considerations, even if the same conclusions are reached by the deliberating individual) should be discouraged.

It doesn't matter how pretty or how ugly any guy's next girlfriend is. She's a human being, and to consider her an upgrade or a downgrade is degrading, not only to her, but to you (or whoever the point of reference is). This arbitrary "ranking" of women is offensive and retrogressive. 

Or why someone going into social work would use the pejorative "uneducated," "tard," or "uneducated tard."

In at UPenn. I'm at a loss for words. I'm hoping everyone else who has been shut out so far receives some good news soon (hopefully a few more today who also get into Penn).

Alright. This really is the final goodbye. Just got back from visiting CU Boulder. Campus is awesome. Professors are on point as well. 
 
5 years funded with a decent stipend from TAing. Super excited. Any future applicants considering CU, feel free to PM. I bet I'll keep lurking on this thing for a while!
 
Thanks again for all the guidance! 

Right, I always forget that feminism is a dirty word and that any attempt to raise the level of discussion (or provoke new considerations, even if the same conclusions are reached by the deliberating individual) should be discouraged.

It doesn't matter how pretty or how ugly any guy's next girlfriend is. She's a human being, and to consider her an upgrade or a downgrade is degrading, not only to her, but to you (or whoever the point of reference is). This arbitrary "ranking" of women is offensive and retrogressive. 

On the term feminist, I don't think it's bad either and I am a proud one.  I just think that my boyfriend and others worry about appropriation of the term.  They are the same people who worry about speaking for people of color without experience. It's like being a good ally.  You support but don't speak for.  That said, personally, I don't think the same applies to feminism.  I think you can be a feminist without worrying about appropriation.  We ALL experience misogyny - male or female - in one way or another.  Our experiences may differ a bit but we all see its results.  And I would rather have an ally demand that they are a feminist rather than run away.  We still agree to disagree on that but he will state he is a feminist.  He just feels like there could be a better word which was more inclusive.  I believe that too much inclusitivity slows the movement down.

I don't haha.  I am just speaking to her points.  My boyfriend sits very much where you do.  He's a feminist. He would rather call himself and "equality-ist" though because he cares about more than just rote gender equality and he thinks that misogyny hurts everyone - including LGBTQ people, in particular.  He thinks we need a bigger blanket term.
 
I remind him of social movement theories which speak about how there is a constant tension between inclusivity and intersectionality.  It's both helpful and harmful, at the end of the day.  God, I miss social movements stuff.  We talk about it a lot, though.  He has a BA in soc.

That's what books are for.  Not meant as snark.  Totally serious.

Don't forget that male feminists do exist too! And I might suggest (in the spirit of the third wave) that we widen the target group to be human beings - because as I see it (and please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm newly awakened) feminism is in part a movement to liberate women (and the LGBTQ community, and men - though the latter is less an issue of institutional injustice) from the societal constructs of gender (which, of course, returns to choice).

I worked for a very feminist company at one point. I have been exposed to it. I reject it. I don't like feminism I choose not to embrace it, it isn't that I haven't been exposed to it at all.

It doesn't matter how pretty or how ugly any guy's next girlfriend is. She's a human being, and to consider her an upgrade or a downgrade is degrading, not only to her, but to you (or whoever the point of reference is). This arbitrary "ranking" of women is offensive and retrogressive. 

I hope you write a book so that it can be subjected to feminist critical theory.
 
There is no such thing as a downgrade.

It doesn't matter how pretty or how ugly any guy's next girlfriend is. She's a human being, and to consider her an upgrade or a downgrade is degrading, not only to her, but to you (or whoever the point of reference is). This arbitrary "ranking" of women is offensive and retrogressive. 

It doesn't matter how pretty or how ugly any guy's next girlfriend is. She's a human being, and to consider her an upgrade or a downgrade is degrading, not only to her, but to you (or whoever the point of reference is). This arbitrary "ranking" of women is offensive and retrogressive. 

I hope you write a book so that it can be subjected to feminist critical theory.
 
There is no such thing as a downgrade.

It doesn't matter how pretty or how ugly any guy's next girlfriend is. She's a human being, and to consider her an upgrade or a downgrade is degrading, not only to her, but to you (or whoever the point of reference is). This arbitrary "ranking" of women is offensive and retrogressive.