brkrgal85

If you know you're not going to go to certain schools, go ahead and decline if you cannot go to their visit weekend. There are many others who are waiting to find out if they can even go visit, because they are stuck on a wait list!

Very true - I see your point! I have just seen people make huge mistakes the other way around, too, and end up leaving their "dream" schools. It happens!

I'm not trying to be rude, but I think we are all over analyzing this big time. I'm just fine with my choice to go to Florida State, because the IR/Comparative area is very strong there, and if I teach in SEC schools for the rest of my life, that's fine with me. They have placements at University of Georgia and very nice towns afterward. If you are really passionate about Political Science research, I would seriously think that you'd be happy to get somewhere on a Tenure Track job, even if it isn't in the Ivy League tower.

FSU has put out their offers in late January. Not sure if they have a wait list or they just wait to see how many reject. I think they have a target class of 10.

I applied to their undergrad program in this field, and I was wait listed. You will love it. DO IT!!!!!!

Agreed 100% - I found out they weren't even mailing them to institutions. Just PDF'ing it and emailing it.

People better learn rejection very quickly if they plan to compete in academia. The doctoral application process is about as grueling as getting a job on Wall Street.

Also, no offense to the undergrads on the board going straight to graduate school, but the amount of time to study for the GRE is reduced big time if you are working. I did take a study course, but it was online, and it was a secondary company (I didn't use Kaplan and the companies that will charge 1000+). Another big pet peeve - the cost of sending the GRE scores PER report to the institutions. 25 bucks for each score beyond your 4 "free" ones. Wooow...

Actually, grad school reflects the real world more than undergrad. A lot of people are in for a rude awakening. I've been working for 5 years. No regrets!!

The DGS called me. I'm comparative/international relations. Good luck!

In at Indiana University - Bloomington; Other schools been accepted at: FSU, Texas A&M, Illinois, Waitlisted at Rice

That's what I did as well - two of my letter writers were pretty aggressive on my behalf.

One of my professors said that if you have looked at everything very closely, and you have narrowed down your visits, pay attention to the gut reaction when you go visit. He said at some point that emotion will come into the process, and in my experience, I think this is good advice. At this point, you probably have a decent idea of strengths vs. weaknesses in programs. My main factor is will you get me to the end goal - will the faculty and the program see to it that I actually finish my PhD and help me to find the #1 goal - a JOB. Never forget the final outcome you hope to achieve.

I am on the short list at Rice, as they have a ton of people apply for comparative. The director said I have a very good chance of getting final funding, but do not want to admit me without full funding since I said I would not go without full funding. However, I've already been accepted to other schools I prefer. I am glad to have another good letter on my list, though!

Wondering the same thing about Indiana.