Jeremyrgs

I still haven't heard from them.

Thanks chaetzli, will do. This is probably a stupid question, but what do people think about the dress for visiting days? A nice shirt is assumed, but couple it with slacks and dress shoes or jeans? What do you all think?

What does it mean 'post your profile'?

Gopher I really hoped you were gonna go all out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ymyiRXCszc. I'm a little disappointed, but the text was nice enough to make up for it.

Apologies for not offering my congrats! but congratulations! That's an awesome program. Does anyone know if Georgetown has sent out rejections yet? They are the only program I haven't heard from.

How'd they notify you?

Thanks so much, this really does help and its great to hear from someone with first hand experience of the program. I feel like I have a better understanding of the decision I'm making (I hadn't looked into MAPSS at all prior to this morning). If I'm going to spend the next year proving myself, I want it to be in a department that I'll be sticking around for awhile.

Thanks for the helpful post ehdrums. I hadn't done any looking into MAPSS because I was never really considering it before this morning, but it certainly isn't guaranteed to up my game. That being said, it seems like it would be a relatively low-pressure environment in which to take (for the most part) whatever courses I want for free and really be prepared to excel in a full-fledged PhD program without delaying more than one year. And you're right, I am a big fan of alot of the BU faculty and Penn has had two TT placements there in recent years. In fact, Penn has had several really enviable placements (IMO) in recent years, however, all of these seem to be in IR/Security rather than comparative.

Comparative

I also heard back from Chicago today. Offered acceptance to MAPSS with full tuition - I didn't even know that was a possibility. That makes the offer somewhat tempting... live for a year in an awesome city and then hopefully break into the top 20 with my phd apps next cycle. But I doubt I'll choose taking out loans over cash-in-hand. Also, Penn is a great fit for me... I'm just a little worried about placement. Any thoughts?

Yeah I'm pretty far down the waitlist based on what the DGS said.

I just got a response from the DGS and mine had the same note of impending doom. It was clear that I am not near the top of their waitlist. Good luck to you though!

I already asked DNguyen this, but what do people think about living close to UPenn's campus? Is the entire area within a few minutes' walk inundated with undergrads? What's the general feel of the immediate area? Should I walk 20+ min to campus everyday to avoid it? Also, I would like to try and find a roommate. I have friends in Philly, but none of them in the UC area, and I find that it is alot easier to stay in every night to plug away at excessive reading assignments when I have someone else to commiserate with. Does anyone have any enlightening experiences with finding roommates either from your department or getting matched with someone?

I have not heard a peep from UChicago. I'm starting to think they lost my application or forgot to reject me right out of the gate. One of us should contact them.

Fair enough. After our OSU heros settled the issue of whether such a statement would be true (whether or not it was said) the conversation was moot.