certaincertainties

If that's the case, though, then they accepted a LOT more people last year than this year. Maybe I'm just trying to keep the hope alive for people , but it also looks like they spread out the notifications over a week or more.

Potentially more from Johns Hopkins (maybe?) and decisions/list notifications from Brown? I'd also love closure on UMinn and NWU.

I'm theory, so it looks like it has nothing to do with subfield. At this point, I just want closure.

Same.

Yeah, I haven't heard anything, just the initial, somewhat vague letter from Hirschmann. I also didn't receive it till this past Tuesday, which was a bit strange given when others heard. I'll reach out this week if I don't hear anything. Chicago also doesn't really have a visiting "weekend." Michigan, on the other hand, goes all out (a dinner at a faculty member's house, workshops, meetings with faculty, a dinner with students, brunch, and a walking tour of ann arbor).

Agreed, although most of my profs don't even know when the deadlines are, so contacting people in November/December isn't necessarily a bad thing. I also wouldn't read much into profs not responding. Hell, I can barely get my advisor to respond to my emails, so I would imagine emails from prospective students fall even further down the to-do list. I would say only contact a prof if they can provide info you cant feasibly get from a google search, their cv, or the department website. I only contacted one prof this admissions cycle, and that was only because she was beginning to work on a topic closely related to my own and had so far only given conference presentations that I didn't have access to. she ended up sending me both papers and a chapter of a book she's co-editing in addition to referring me to another prof. I might be interested in at a different school. None of this information was available on her CV or her website, so in that case, it was helpful.

Congrats!!!

it said notified on the 5th, so I think it's part of the same earlier batch, just only posted to the board now. Have we had any Yale confirmations yet?

This isn't necessarily true, at least not entirely. While they may encourage you to apply, they do not actively recruit you, nor do they make any claims that you'll be accepted. The MAPSS/CIR programs are quite large, and while they can provide an excellent leg up and give you more familiarity with the department, they are by no means a guarantee that you will be admitted . This doesn't mean that you might not stand an excellent chance at another school (generally, mapss students do really well their second time applying) but I wouldn't treat it as the golden ticket.

Definitely second this. However, I would also say that while visits can bring out the best in schools, they tend to bring out the worst in prospective students. In my experience visiting Master's programs, there can be a lot of showing off and anxiety that manifests as aloofness. I've talked to current grad students who absolutely love the programs they're in, but had comically bad experiences with other students during their visits. this isn't to discount the interactions you have during your visit, but rather to remember that what you're seeing isn't necessarily the most realistic portrayal of the way things will actually be. Also be sure to talk to a number of current students--if one student is unhappy, take their viewpoint seriously, but be sure to get others' opinions as well. In other words, be aware that everyone is on their best behavior, but don't be too quick to find the faults, either. In my case, I'm looking at the following: 1. faculty, both in terms of fit and reputation--where are their former students now? What are their relationships like with their current students? Do they have time to advise their students, or are they advisors in name only? How are they about supporting their students--helping them publish, present at conferences, get fellowships, etc? I don't necessarily want my advisor to be my best friend, but I do want them to advocate for me, if necessary. Are there other people in the department that might support your work beyond your primary advisor? 2. the general tenor of the department--do people get along? are there rifts in the department that will have an effect on who I can work with or have on my committee? Since my work is fairly interdisciplinary, I'm also concerned that they support this kind of work and have a sense of what people are doing beyond the boundaries of political theory. Similarly, how much (if any) competition is there among students? 3. job placement--I kind of lumped this in with the first one, since placement can have as much to do with who your letter writers are as it can with the school itself. Remember that some of the job placement stats reflect students whose professors may have since moved elsewhere, making it difficult to tell whether the school or the professor had more of an impact on their job market success. 4. funding--does everyone get the same amount of funding? how easy is it to secure outside funding beyond the guaranteed x years? are there any requirements (teaching, etc) in order to receive funding? If so, how easy is it to find teaching positions? How does this affect the competition between students? 5. location--how easy is it to live (relatively) well on a grad student stipend? Where do students live? Do most move away after the first x years, or do they tend to stick around?

I like this rationale. I've developed a healthy taste for single malt scotch thanks to this process.

Agreed. I'd love to rip the bandaid off quickly, and between Minnesota and Penn, I'm still stuck to my computer, even though I'm assuming that I'm not in.

Also in the same boat. ditto UPenn, but I believe they practice the "make you wait for it" approach to rejections (as opposed to sending out rejections and admits simultaneously)

Mine still says incomplete and I got in, so I think it's a system-wide glitch (I also emailed to check that they had all my materials and they confirmed that they did).

Yep, I am the same person, though admittedly a little weirded out that my stats are that identifiable . But yes, I'm super psyched about both, and was definitely NOT expecting to get into Michigan. I will definitely be attending Michigan's visit weekend. Even though their letter was a form letter, it was really cute. I mean, Mika gave out his cell number and reminded people to not call him before 6am. That said, the funding package wasn't as attractive as Chicago's, but I'll wait and see how everything goes once I visit.

sm321 First off, I would say to wait and see before jumping to any conclusions. While gradcafe can be a great source of information, it can also cause a lot of anxiety (at least it has for me). I also had no luck in my first round, and I can honestly say that not getting in was probably a great thing (for me). I had initially applied in another discipline, was rejected from all PhD programs but admitted to one MA program, which I ended up attending. Over the course of my time in the program, I had the opportunity to not only strengthen my GPA (which needed it) and to develop close relationships with faculty, but I also realized just how much I loved political theory and how much more of a fit it was for the kind of work that I wanted to do. It also gave me a chance to experience grad school without the commitment of a PhD program. I've noticed that many of the students that enter from undergrad really struggle with just how different grad school is. Students that had taken time off were not only more calm and collected about the whole process, but they had a greater appreciation of what they were getting into (and the viable alternatives). I just found out today that I got in at Chicago, so it definitely paid off. If you get in and can afford it, I would highly recommend doing an MA program. If not, I would talk to your recommenders about what you can do in the interim to strengthen your application. Unfortunately, there aren't many jobs that directly relate to any kind of research work in the social sciences, but I would definitely look at either trying to find an RA position somewhere or working for a policy institute or think tank. That said, I don't think many admissions committees expect your work to be directly relevant to your research (mine certainly wasn't) but it's good to have something that at least interests you. And don't dread telling your profs. Many of them don't realize (unless they sit on admissions committees) just what a crapshoot this whole process is. Good Luck!