Cesare

I was talking to a professor from one of my former universities. Although each waitlist is different and each school is different, sometimes waitlists has nothing to do with your ability, but with tiny little things like someone not liking one of your letter writers or the fact that you didn't put them down as a POI. Having said this, I still feel like I am "second best."

Thanks for this. I guess I will give in and send them an e-mail as well. It can't hurt at this point. Do you think it is a good idea to reiterate why you want to attend their school? or would this just be seen as a desperate attempt/sucking up? In this case, I really wouldn't be lying about it being my first choice (though probably my only choice if the other waitlist doesn't come through).

My letter was the same except it stated that they would like to be informed about other opportunities that I may have, so I am just confused as to whether I should email them or not. It has been over a month now.

I was literally sleeping and saw the email on my phone half awake and I quickly got out of bed to check the website to make sure it was real.

With the global rankings (I haven't looked into the methodology of the ones you listed) you need to keep in mind that the Development, Government, and IR department at LSE are typically included as one very large Political Science department. In the US, there is no distinction between these 3 departments. I think more so than other European universities the IR department at LSE has been pushing for IR to be separated from Political Science this is evident by the fact that they hired Iver Neumann who is a great scholar by the way.

I haven't heard back from any of mine as well. It is so depressing. I've been stress eating and it is beginning to show. No joke.

I was planning on rereading Habermas, Skinner, and Foucault.... but after reading these comments I guess I will skim over my notes from previous quant and qual courses.

I also have a similar question. My primary field is IR, but coming from a European background where a lot of Political Theory is included with IR Theory I am now confused as to what my secondary field(s) should be. I originally wanted to do comparative and/or methodology because my research interests require knowledge of these fields, but I am now considering Political Theory because I've been checking out a lot of schools (even those I didn't apply to) and I've noticed that a lot of people who teach Political Theory in the US would be teaching IR Theory in Europe. Obviously, I really like theory, but I don't know how "marketable" it is to be an IR theorist in the US. Can any IR person that is VERY familiar with the way IR is taught in the US (i.e. someone who has done more than just undergrad in the US) can provide insight as to what a good secondary field should be for someone interested in theory? If you can answer this without discussing the philosophy of science, it will be a major plus.

Reread your SOP! If you mentioned any papers you have written just reread/skim over them. You never know if they will ask you a question about it.

http://www.howtobecomeaprofessor.com/plan-your-career/how-to-become-a-professor-in-political-science/ Go Gary King (I am a bit of a fan. I know. I know.)! "It's like cocaine" Thoughts?

Also, do committees actually expect us to make a decision without visiting the school if we come off the wait-list on the 15th or after?

Just to aid our efforts to reach 200 pages. How would a DGA feel about receiving a similar letter? http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/humor/reject.html

I hope people finalize their decisions before the 15th!

Congrats!!

I am stressing out about mine as well. Sorry I am no help. Wanted you to know that I am suffering with you.

Good luck with the job hunt! Hope there are more opportunities in your field than mine (international relations).

Thanks!! I am out of school and I don't have a job, so finding things to do to pass time is proving to be impossible!

I only have 2 waitlists and rejects everywhere else (waitlisted at the 2 highest ranked programs and rejected at lower ranked ones. Don't get it). I am stressing out every single day.

For identification purposes, I can’t give you the long and complicated answer to that question. I will admit that I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to school, so when I don’t do well by my standards it is crushing. It also doesn’t help that I overanalyze everything. I do realize that rejection is common in academia and that I am not Gods gift to Political Science (I am not one of those prospective students that has an ego), but the waitlist is the “you are good, but not good enough” list. If I am admitted off of the waitlist, for the next 5-6 years I will always feel that I am not worthy enough to be in that program because you know that you were not their first choice. However, if I do have to go through another cycle, I will follow all of the advice you have given on this thread so far. I only applied to 7 schools and looking at my choices at least half of them were terrible for me in terms of fit, which explains my results. Aside from obvious things like trying to increase GRE scores (they were decent and within the averages of the schools that I applied to, but not stellar) and fixing minor problems in the SOP, the only thing I can think of is my writing sample. I know being waitlisted is a good sign, but at the end of the day it is not an acceptance.

Question: My MA thesis, which is also my writing sample, is on an obscure topic and I used new/experimental methodology. Could this be one factor to my less than stellar performance this cycle (all I have are wait-lists at top 20 programs)?

Communication skills are so important. I attended a top-10 IR MA program (not going to say which one) and had a terrible advisor. The entire year was hell with him (I only met with him the 3 required times and avoided him like the plague the rest of the time). He had an odd policy when it came to contacting him. For example, I had to e-mail him to get my dissertation title approved, but instead of e-mailing him directly, I had to e-mail his secretary first who then forwarded my e-mail to him and then he would send a response to her, which she would forward to me. That was his policy and I felt bad for his secretary. I am telling you this for a reason - when you go visit your respective schools ask graduate students how professors interact with them. This is very important at the PhD level. I want an advisor that I can contact directly (I know such a small request). Your dissertation will help you land your first job, so you want someone who actually cares. I realise that my case is uncommon, but I don't want anyone to experience what I did at the PhD level. It was already something that no student should have to put up with.

I'm fairly sure they facebook stalk us, but if you really want to know if someone is stalking you I suggest opening up an academia.edu account (http://academia.edu/). It is essentially a facebook for nerds, but you get a notification when someone googles you. I found it to be very creepy so I got rid of mine. From my experience, the site is much more popular among UK graduate students. Not that I've done anything illegal or crazy, but I've also googled searched myself to make sure nothing odd comes up in case potential advisors/employers actually put forth effort.

I second this. I don't want to rush people if you are undecided, but if you got into 5 schools and you have narrowed it down to say 3 of them can you let the other 2 go? Also, if you were already accepted to programs and are wait listed at one that you are not so interested in maybe inform the school so they can cut down the length of their wait list? I just want to stress again that I am not saying do this if you are undecided.

"Go to a top ten program, or don't go" I have no idea what the field of IR would have been like if Alexander Wendt did not go to graduate school. Just a thought.

Someone else wrote that. I have no idea where I am on the list. It was not mentioned in the e-mail sent to me.