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.

I'm relatively certain that I'll be attending Penn in the fall. I think UC would be the best area for my needs, as I want to be as close to campus as possible. Surveying the options in the area has been overwhelming; anyone have helpful advice about where to start the process?

Sorry all! I didn't mean to upset anyone. I just remembered hearing it because I thought it was very peculiar. And yes, all we need to do in this situation is listen to our resident experts (which it is incredibly nice to have around).

Sorry I miss understood your position. Haha, I saw that post a long time ago and it has stayed at the back of my mind because I had such a hard time believing that that could be true. This person needs to get on here and defend themselves!

Eponine, someone definitely said that stuff about Chicago and NYU and so on and so forth. You didn't imagine it.

same

That being said, I'm still awaiting any kind of official response (although its probably safe to assume the worst) from Chicago, GWU, Georgetown, UVA, JHU, Boston U, and Brandeis.

I agree with everything said here. I think lots of people have become less active because they have a sense of what their next 5-9 years will look like. Also, BFB, I know that personally I have been posting a little less because you have really assuaged some of my frustrations/anxieties by adding a little bit more insight into how complicated the process can be for ad-comms and faculty (I realize that you are speaking on the process for your program exclusively, but now I feel like I can imagine why every program probably has a few strange procedures that they have to work around). I'm really really grateful that you decided to post here and give us all a peak at what some posters have pointed out is an otherwise opaque process to the applicants. Now it feels a little less like waiting for white smoke.

Major congrats! I wanted one of those so badly!

I must admit, I've always been confused about the concerns with anonymity on this site. When I signed up, I instinctively used my real name and didn't think twice. I don't think I've done anything to represent myself poorly, aside from inattention to grammar and occasional signs of desperation.

Also, serious congrats to all of the recent admits. I haven't said it in awhile, but it deserves to be repeated!