Orlien

Hi guys! 1) I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't think you even have to mention it. 2) I would suggest you take that specific question to somebody who is familiar with the professors in question (eg a professor or graduate student at your university), rather than gradcafe. 3) I'll second everyone who's posted here previously and say that your tiers aren't necessarily accurate (I don't think I'm qualified to comment on which ones are which - but Rochester is defs above tier 5, at least if you're interested in formal theory), and also, fit matters. Different schools have strengths in different areas, and I think you should take that into account when selecting a school. 4) I don't know about that. I'm guessing that you should play it by length of your CV - if it feels too short, you could add those to bulk it up, and if not, leave them off. My main piece of advice for you (and all 14/15 applicants) is to find somebody IRL (a prof, a grad student etc) who you trust, and who can offer you advice on your SOP, places you're applying etc. The wisdom of the gradcafe crowd may be useful in certain instances, but its no substitute for personalized help.

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

Eh, I guess I'll go: PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 5 Major(s)/Minor(s): Molecular Biology Undergrad GPA: 3.3 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 170v, 165q, 5.0aw Any Special Courses: 3 course graduate quant methods core sequence, 2 course graduate American core sequence Letters of Recommendation: Three political science profs who I know well. Research Experience: 3 years RA for multiple profs; Senior Thesis, a couple of seminar papers Teaching Experience: Stats and R Tutoring Subfield/Research Interests: American, with a primary interest in legislatures, secondary interest in race/ethnicity. Other: Research internship at a DC thinktank junior summer. RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke ($$), WashU ($$), Rochester ($$), Berkeley ($$), UCLA ($$), UCSD ($$), Princeton ($$), Michigan ($$), Columbia ($$), UNC ($$), Stanford ($$), Chicago MAPSS (1/2 $$) Waitlists: none Rejections: Wisconsin Pending: Harvard Going to: Will decide after visits. LESSONS LEARNED: For me, deciding to pursue a PhD in Political Science was a big risk. I had to make very significant sacrifices to pursue this path. There was no plan B. I am really grateful that things have been working out well so far – let’s hope my luck holds in the future. These are the things I found about my subjective graduate application experience. My experiences may not be applicable to everyone, but I hope they help. 1. Grad Schools are not necessarily “looking for a reason to ding you” When I was reading up on applying to PhD programs, I ran across an article by Dan Drezner (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/18/so_you_want_to_get_into_a_political_science_phd_program_part_one) He argues that because of the surplus of Political Science PhD applicants, the bar for applicants is set very high – the adcom is basically looking for a reason to reject you and move on to the next file. When I read this advice, I was very nervous, because I come built-in with a reason to reject. I have a completely unrelated major, and a (relatively) low GPA. I was worried that the adcom would read my application as a “failed biology major that wasn’t serious about PS”. The beginning of my SOP focused on showing that even though I was a biology major, I had invested serious time and effort in preparing for a political science PhD program. So I think my advice would be “anticipate weaknesses in your application, and work to remedy them early on”. 2. Build good relationships with your professors. I’m pretty sure that my luck this cycle was due to the strength of my rec letters. I am extremely grateful to my letter writers. Professors have the best perspective on the graduate admissions process because they sit on the adcoms. However, as academics tend to have differing opinions, so it’s a good idea to get to know more than one professor. I was very lucky – I clicked well with literally the first political science professor that I met, who continued to advise me regularly throughout my time as an undergraduate. I always made a point of going to office hours at least once for every poli sci professor whose class I was taking. You don’t have to have an impressive question – most professors I’ve met were very encouraging once they found out that I was looking to pursue a PhD in political science. RA work is also a very good way to get to know professors – it’s also a great opportunity to demonstrate your work ethic. 3. Invest in quantitative skills (if applicable) Obviously, this doesn’t apply if you’re a political theorist (and if you are a political theorist, all the more power to you!) – but if you are not a political theorist, it may be more applicable than you think. As a PhD student, it is very likely that you will be taking a quant methods course/sequence in your first year. Those classes are hard, but ultimately they help prepare you for doing research in political science. Having those tools as an undergraduate makes your undergrad research more impressive, they show that you are dedicated to political science, and they will make your first year in graduate school easier (at least I hope!) SOP: PM me for SOP.

:C I'm sure that's not true. It looks like you've got 7 schools in your sig that still haven't released results yet. Don't lose hope. Besides, there are plenty of people who applied a second time this cycle and did really well - and there was the one person who applied 4 cycles and finally got in this time around. Don't beat yourself up.

I got a masters offer from chicago (I applied as a backup in case I didn't get into any PhD programs). If you search "MAPSS", you will see that there are a bunch of offers that went out.

I think that even within the US, it depends on the school. There are some places where a 3.3 is about average...

Sorry about your cycle Good luck! Also, I'd recommend Verzani's book, "Using R for Introductory Statistics". Quant and R go together like PB&J

I feel bad for the person who got 5 rejections in a day. ouch! Also, good god the Brown rejection post. These are the kinds of people who end up populating PSR. EDIT: Who else smells sexism in "Or perhaps she wants to save her energy for her sweet partner instead"? Ugh.

On the methodological pluralism point, from what I've heard, required methods training varies dramatically within the top 5. For example, I know that a large number of Princeton students (I think the majority of the non-theorists) take a rigorous three course sequence in quant methods. I think we have to remember that we're working with a fairly small n here

Yeah, I've been to CC before... interesting place. Congrats to everyone who's gotten good news over the past few days

If I recall correctly, doesn't the application ask for demographic details, such as race? If that is the case, it is overwhelmingly likely that the poster was white (otherwise, they must have put "prefer not to answer" on the app) I guess the reason I interpreted it cynically is because in the undergraduate admissions process, there are white people who routinely make statements like this (eg see Suzy Lee Weiss) EDIT: here's the link http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324000704578390340064578654?mobile=y

Agreed. It's a pretty shitty thing to say

I actually missed my call (so I had time to compose myself), but I saw the 650 area code and called back. I did sound excited, but I think still composed

STANFORD!!!! I actually missed the phone call & had to call them back, despite all but showering with my phone for the past week (I was at dinner, & it was loud)

Duke, WashU, Rochester, Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, Princeton, Michigan, Columbia, UNC-Chapel Hill I cast a very broad net when applying ...Please don't hate me xD