BFB

There are many more considerations beyond GPA, but the GPA you describe wouldn't hurt you appreciably.

I didn't script those questions, for what it's worth. I do suggest that your POIs avoid making it feel like an interview, though. It's true that these conversations will help us make our decisions, but mostly we just want to get to know more about you than what your files suggest. We always end up turning away people that we'd be very happy to admit -- that's just the reality. But we'd like to make as few mistakes (one way or the other) as possible. Glad to hear the conversation was positive :-)

They should be, though I can't know when people check mail. Also, to add a bit of complexity, some POIs are more prone to make phone calls than others... so a non-call really doesn't mean much.

Yes.

Good. Thank you. Ms. Sanders has just asked me to issue an erratum: please ask your recommenders to send their letters directly to her if and only if they are having trouble submitting those letters via the website. It's much less of a hassle on this end if it comes through the website, but if the website just isn't working, please have your recommenders drop her a line. Thank you.

Dear applicants for the 2014-15 cycle, I apologize for interrupting the discussion, but I have a public service announcement for those of you who are applying to Ohio State. (I hope this means you....) We have had early reports that the letter-of-recommendation system built in to the University's new application website is extremely difficult to navigate. It might even be described as catastrophically difficult. We have received email asking whether letters are even being accepted. Yes, letters are being accepted. To prevent much weeping and gnashing of teeth in mid-December, please ask your recommenders to send their letters directly to my graduate coordinator, Courtney Sanders (sanders dot five three one at osu dot edu). It will be easier for her and far, far easier for them. We now return to our regular scheduled broadcast. Thanks for your attention.

Most students with low GRE scores also submit poor applications (bad or incoherent SOP, low GPA, not so great writing sample, etc.) But that's not always true. At any conscientious department, all files will at least get a solid look. If I were to come across an outstanding application from a non-native speaker with those GRE scores, I'd put it on the medium list for further consideration. The GREs would be a consideration, to be sure, but I'd consider it to be a file worth talking about with my colleagues.

Hard to predict. I'd like to see the best sample you've got. I don't especially care how long it is, though I reserve the right to skim selectively. Others might disagree, though. Regardless, I doubt it's a huge consideration. I'm not going to reject a promising applicant because his or her writing sample is too long.

Sure. Focus on how what you've done is relevant to what you're proposing to do, and be as specific as possible. "Taught me a lot about how the Hill actually works" would be good, and specific examples of what you learned would be better. Something more vague, like "helped me maintain professional materials for utilizing high-quality information and networking the best technology," would not be as helpful. It's not a bad start

As specific as the facts merit. If you're interested in international conflict and scholars A-D are all interested in international conflict too, write that. If you're interested in the role of collective memory in the perpetuation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Professor Smith is a prominent expert on the Israel-Palestine dispute, and Professor Jones is an expert on the politics of memory, say that. The latter makes a more compelling case—but don't invent an interest just to make a more compelling case, because then you can end up being stuck at in a department that really can't advise you very well.

While this is true, on behalf of my hard-working admin person I'd urge you to ensure that the letters are in in as timely a manner as possible

In general, applicants under-research fit to a surprising degree. They tend to conclude that they want to go to University X for whatever reason (generally, its US News ranking factors in quite a bit, I think) and then make the best case that they can for fit by reading faculty web pages. The result can often be transparently bad. For example, when I see someone interested in studying civil wars list me as POI, I know they've dug up one project that I've worked on and used it as justification. A glance at the rest of my cv shows that I really don't do civil wars. We don't generally rank those applications very high, because before April 15 the applicant will probably realize that the fit is bad and go somewhere else. A much better approach is to select on fit first—take a more broad first look at places to apply and keep your eye peeled for anyone whose research really meshes well with yours. Fit is a really big deal. I strongly suspect that you can do a lot better coming out of a twentieth-ranked department with an advisor who can help you do great work, than you can out of a tenth-ranked department with an advisor who's smart but doesn't really do what you want to do. Put another way: we select pretty heavily on fit, and other schools probably do too. Given that that's the case, your best strategy for maximizing your options is to apply to those places where the fit is best.

As it happens, I've been looking into this. If you measure Ph.D. placements per faculty member in political science (to control for size of dept.), a few departments do stand out, but mostly you see a big bulge in the top 25. Data are here.

Perhaps the pulse-quickening excitement of OSU's upcoming recruitment visit….

That's more or less ideal. If you just fill out the online form, it could be days or weeks until the DGS finds out. As a bonus, most DGSes will at least drop you a quick note saying nice things about you, telling you how much they'll miss having you there, etc.

Congratulations. It's very hard to say in most cases, to be honest. It really depends not just on how many decline but on who declines. Your best bet by far is to urge your fellow applicants to decline sooner rather than later, if they're going to decline. Warning: The advice contained in this message is very much in the poster's self-interest.

That's very touching. Thanks.

One of my favorite days of the year—I get to play Santa Claus. OSU funding letters are out. If you're expecting one and you don't see it, check alternative email accounts, spam folders, etc. If it's not there, email me or DM me.

It's totally fair. It's no fun for you or for the DGS/adcomm, but it's absolutely fair to write and ask. Here's the thing to keep in mind: asking why you weren't admitted is a lot like asking why a football team didn't win a game. Announcers fill the air with a lot of nonsense—"The other team really came to play," for example (who doesn't???). But the upshot is, in the end, they just didn't score as many points. By the same token, if you weren't admitted, ultimately, it's because you just didn't score as many points. That, of course, is not what anyone wants to hear. It's the kind of thing that can cripple your sense of self-worth and do lasting damage to your psyche. So there are a couple of things that you must keep in mind if asking this sort of question: 1. The fact that you were applying in the first place means that you're in the big leagues. Do not ever forget this. Denver just got its a** handed to it by Seattle in the Super Bowl—but Denver is a really good team. By the same token, there are a lot of really good applicants in a given year. Most good programs get about twice as many qualified applicants as there are slots. 2. The "game" probably isn't scored the way you think it is. To you, acceptance or rejection is a referendum on you as a human being. To us, it's as much about us as it is about you. Is this someone whose interests we can realistically accommodate? Is this someone whose strengths play well to our strengths? If not, I don't really care about the 90+% GREs and 4.0 GPA. It would be a disservice to bring this person here. So yes, ask. And don't be surprised if the answer is a bit hard to take. But try hard to figure out what value you can get out of it and how you can use that information to get where you want to be—and always keep it in perspective.

Much appreciated, all. Truly. I'll check with Cambridge about a discount code, but I can already hear John Haslam laughing all the way from New York….

OK, you got me. When I was on faculty at Harvard, we held regular pagan rituals in which babies were sacrificed on fiery altars, and the flames of those altars were fed by the files of job applicants from non-top-10 departments. My recommendation would be to take a look at job placements for just about any top department. I'm in the process of doing so at OSU, and our placements run the gamut from junior faculty at Harvard all the way to places you've never heard of. If our rank as a department or our connections with other faculty members were as determinative as you and others here and on PSR think they are, placement records for top departments would be far, far more consistent than they are. Don't mistake certainty for truth. The truth is, there's a lot of noise, and anyone who tells you something different probably has either never been on this side of the process or has an axe to grind.

Aaaah, gotcha. Yes, some do, but most don't. As frustrating as it is, silence means silence.

I'm afraid I can't speak for NYU. My best guess would be that the timing of rejection notes is determined by bureaucratic standard operating procedures rather than by anything like rational calculation. I know that doesn't help much.

I think—in fact, I know—that people from those five schools can still manage not to get jobs. It's very, very difficult to tease out the effects of prestige. The most prestigious programs tend to place students well, but they also get top students to begin with. Which matters most for placement? No one really knows… and any individual's answer probably tells you more about them than it does about the reality of the situation. Now that I've said "nobody knows," my own sense, for what it's worth, is that fit and quality of advisor are paramount. Someone at Harvard who isn't well advised will not do well. Someone from (pick a top 20 or 30 or… program) who clicks well with an advisor, gets great feedback, and realizes his or her full potential will do very well.

Kudos for doing so. The best way to let the waitlisted know would be to make sure that the DGS at Illinois knows—most of us aren't automatically notified of such things, and the sooner we know, the sooner we can take others off the waitlist.