LordNorth

MA? I know three people who've studied European Studies at UCL, or else a master's in their School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies department, and all have thoroughly enjoyed it. UCL is also well respected internationally. Two of the people I know have gone on to do PhD in the US, fully funded! So I think it should be a very tempting option for you. Congratulations!

SOAS has a number of subject-, topic-, or nationality-specific scholarships, which might interest some prospective students: thathttp://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/scholarships/ Individual departments will also have a handful of funded studentships each. In addition, I'm pretty sure there are often TA opportunities for PhD students (but not MA). As SOAS is a small college, it won't have access to many Research Council studentships, if any. So, yeah, the funding situation is not great. Definitely get in touch with prospective supervisors first who can advise on what's available.

I'm not "freaking out" as I recently got a new job and, if the worst happened and I got accepted nowhere, I know that I would still be able to pursue a good life, good career, be involved in activities that I enjoy etc. It feels good to be in a position where I don't HAVE to get accepted somewhere; it's not life and death for me anymore, which is in contrast to how I felt just a few months ago, when I really couldn't envisage myself being happy doing anything other than a PhD/academia. Having said that, a PhD is still 100% definitely what I want to be doing come September 2010. Studying, researching, writing are what I'm most interested in and, in my opinion, are what I'm best at! So I'll still be extremely anxious to find out where I do and don't get accepted over the next few months, even if I'm right in thinking that the process won't be causing me to sleep *that much* less soundly. PS thegradstudent - that's very decent of you to continue showing an interest in applicants. I'm sure you'll have some useful advice to impart upon us. Plus, I'm always excited to hear from anyone who says GRE isn't the be-all and end-all of applications! (700v 600q 6.0aw - hehe)

All of them! I'll be intrigued to find out how I fair with the US schools I applied to, as I did find the US application process and the GRE to be quite alien and rather daunting. But I'm also excited to hear from the UK ones too. I genuinely would be very happy with all the schools I've applied to and, at this point, I'd bite someone's hand off for the chance to be accepted with funding anywhere! How about you, natofone?

Definitely call, Maya. It wouldn't be weird at all - it's a perfectly reasonable thing to do, as this person hasn't replied to your emails. You should call and be very friendly and polite. Just say you're calling to double check that everything is OK with the reference - then remind them of the deadline. Maybe say you're calling all of your referees, so as not to single them out. Are their office hours posted on the internet? If you can't get through - you could call the faculty office and ask them to put an note in the person's pigeon hole/in tray. They should see that. I know that you'll be concerned about being irritating - I was too. But, at the end of the day, it's just a part of their job and it won't be seen as irritating behaviour. In any job you get people contacting you and making requests of you all the time. You won't stand out as being particularly hectoring! Plus - it's way too important for you to risk! If Michigan says that there is no exceptions then you should probably take that literally unless you hear differently from them. If you weigh up the awkwardness of calling against the frustration that would result from your application getting binned over this, I think you'll arrive at a sensible conclusion as to what to do! Good luck. Hope you have more success than I've been having

Ah, that's annoying. I didn't realise that there were nationality/residency restrictions on Research Council studentships. Oxford would be great, of course. And I imagine they'd have more funding to dish out, too. But having lived and studied in Edinburgh, I really can't recommend it enough. I have no experience of their philosophy department but I'm sure it's very switched on. I wish you the very best of luck with that!

Hey Brouhaha, looks like we're applying to IR at the some of the same schools (Georgetown, UVA, UT-Austin). You get all your stuff submitted OK? I was a bit worried that one of my LoRs wouldn't come through in time for UVA and UT-A, but it did. *Phew*. Let's hope the same happens for Georgetown And Ziz - interesting that you're applying to some UK schools. Do you have any preferences out of those three? I studied at Edinburgh, great place! What are the ESRC allocations like for those schools? I hope they're OK! I'm applying to three in the UK too - but only one will have any ESRC funding even available. For the other two I'll have to rely on university-wide or departmental cashish...

I'm in a similar position to some of the people in this thread and I wish I could offer some advice but I can't! My referee replied to one email out of about a dozen that I sent over a 10 week or so period. That email was to say they'd mail off a reference the next day, which they never did. That deadline came and went and still nothing. I left phone messages, I arranged for notes to be placed in their pigeon hole, and I even got through to them on the phone one day and got an assurance that everything was okay. Yet this person still has not gotten the most important reference to me - one that needed to be on done on paper, and for which the deadline was earliest. Luckily, I already submitted 2 references to that program (theirs was an optional 3rd, but one that I still really wanted) and they *seem* to be doing the other references as the deadlines come up. But isn't it just so bizarre? Why not email to say they're doing them? Wouldn't they rather get back to us and put our minds at rest than get pestered by us incessantly? Can you think of any other occupation where you'd be able to get away with this kind of laziness? It really is rude and incredibly unprofessional. It makes me especially angry to think of the enormous amount of money I've spent on this process (fees, GRE, transcripts, international postage) and the extra year I'll have to wait for the next opportunity to apply. Unfortunately I think that there's really no accountability in academia when it comes to things like this and, in any case, if there was then we'd be really taking a risk by complaining (we still need them for the reference they agreed to give in the first place!). Grrr! That rant felt good!

Hey everyone - I'm applying this cycle too. My subfield is IR and I'm applying to a fair spread of schools both in the US and my native UK. In terms of stats: I have a BA (First Class) and MA (Distinction) from two UK universities (I suppose you'd call them Top 10 in the UK, but not sure that will count much towards my US apps!). One year of that BA was spent on exchange to North America. GREs were 700 verbal, 600quant and 6.0 analytical writing. I expect that weak quant score to weigh me down quite a lot, but I can only hope it doesn't prove to be fatal. I should be able to count on 3 very strong LoRs, although I am having problems with one referee submitting them on time, and I was satisfied that I wrote a strong SoP/research proposal. I also have some relevant internships under my belt but my impression is that these will count for very little (if anything). This process has been draining - especially the parts such as LoRs where you are relying on other people; I'll be glad to see the decisions start rolling in... Applying: USC, UT-Austin, Georgetown, NSSR, UVA; Aberystwyth, Cambridge, LSE. I'll be extremely disappointed if I don't get in anywhere, as I'm absolutely convinced that this is what I want to do with my life. However I am preparing myself for the worst as this is an extremely competitive process; you aren't owed anything in this world! Good luck to everybody - it's going to be very interesting indeed to see how this all pans out. LN

Yes I would say don't try to convert it, just leave it blank or write in N/A. Sometimes it will demand that you enter a numerical value, in which case I just wrote 0.0. They have your transcripts, they can see from your application that you have a degree from a UK institution - the admissions committee will work it out. It's better that they realise what they're dealing with than be misled into thinking you have a certain GPA when you actually do not. If in doubt, email to ask what you should do. I was scared for a while that I'd have to pay a company to give an assessment of what my UK transcripts mean in American terms. Luckily, both the schools that I followed up about this (Georgetown and NSSR) said not to bother - they'll be able to find their way around a UK transcript easily enough. IMO a conversation would not be reliable anyway - to me, the sheer fact that there are multiple accepted ways of doing the conversion undermines the claim that a reliable method exists. PS you could always request that your referees include a line or two explaining how great your grades are, perhaps making reference to what the class average was or something like that.

I didn't address mine to anybody. Rather, I wrote it as I would write an essay. And, as with any piece of writing, your introduction should be straight-to-the-point, setting the tone for the remainder of the essay, and making it absolutely clear from the beginning what you're trying to say. I'm a native English speaker so if you'd like me to comment on a draft or anything, feel free to PM it. LN

I think it's fine to mention them as people who have influenced your opinions, thoughts or studies to date; in general, I think it's good to be specific about what you're interested in and whose work you have read. However, I wouldn't spend too much time talking about them, if I were you. I definitely wouldn't make out like people in other departments are a main reason for you applying to that university - my understanding is that you're trying to establish a fit with the department, not the university as a whole. But like I said, mentioning them as people who have shaped you as an intellectual sounds great.

Yes I got an email telling me I was shortlisted in the first week of September, then I got an email saying I was on a wait list a few weeks ago. Having heard anything since then so I assume it's all done and dusted?! Good luck with anything else you've applied to!

Hi Andrea you could always email them to find out, but I would suspect that no news is bad news. I agree that if you weren't selected then you should really have received an email to tell you so (I received a rejection email last year), but I suppose if they were inundated with applications then they may not have responded to everybody. Unfortunately I think that it's unlikely you've been selected if you haven't heard anything at this stage. I got told I'm on a wait list a while ago but then I've heard no news since then, so I'm assuming that I won't be getting any offer of an internship either!

I got shortlisted but then told that I'm on a waitlist. So, if somebody doesn't accept or drops out, then I'll be contacted. This is an improvement on last year, when I didn't even get shortlisted! I think the different for me is that I'm now a graduate; I was studying for a master's whilst applying; I have now done a couple of relevant internships with international security firms; and my statement of purpose was much better, referencing specific things happening with NATO etc. LN

I think it depends on the department. I have read on UBC's website, for example, that they strongly discourage people who have done their BA and MA at UBC from applying to study for a PhD there. But I haven't seen that anywhere else.

Anna Stavrianakis at the University of Sussex has written on this, too.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I think I was just a little frustrated when I wrote that original post (application process, eh? To keep you (and anybody else in a similar position) informed, New School have told me that they don't need an evaluation unless they come across anything particuarly confusing; generally, they say, UK transcripts are easy for them to work with. Still waiting to hear from Georgetown, which is the only other place (so far) I've noticed mention this. Thanks again LN

I'm a graduate of two UK universities and I've noticed that some US departments ask for transcript evaluations from schools outside of the US. Is this really necessary? Sometimes (e.g. Georgetown) they say that applicants are "strongly advised" to submit these, but at other times (e.g. NSSR) they say it's mandatory. It seems a bit over the top to me (and, I have to admit, a little insulting). Have any other UK students encountered this, and have they gone ahead with getting a WES evaluation? It looks like it could add a serious amount of money to my applications...

Thanks Penelope, that's encouraging. And, I didn't mean to come across as being complacent about the rest of my profile. Whilst I can be reasonably confident in my abilities, the only thing I know for sure about this process is that it's damn competetive and there are a heck of a lot of well qualified candidates out there!

Yeah, I know my quant score is quite shabby. Like I said, I don't have a quant background and, before starting my GRE prep, I hadn't even looked at a maths problem in over 8 years. When it came down to it, I suppose I just didn't dedicate the time and effort required to bring my score up to standard. I think I might try again and work my socks off to get a 700+ score... I am confident that the rest of my profile is strong, but I suppose that if I have a chance of eliminating that one weakness, then I'd be stupid not to try my best to do so? I might not be able to improve it, but I think it's going to be worth a shot. Thanks for your thoughts, anyway! LN

Sorry, I didn't mention that my field is IR!

Hi everyone, I'll apologise in advance because I know it must be quite tedious to see these same questions get asked again and again on these forums, but people wouldn't do it if they didn't find it useful, right? I just took the GRE and got v700 q650, which was about what I expected from my diagnostic tests. I think I could probably improve those if I were to retake it, as I haven't been able to devote myself to the test over the past few months; if I took it again, I would have much more free time. However, I'd rather not. It's not guaranteed that I'll do better and, in any case, they'll see both sets of scores on the transcript... Do you think my existing scores would handicap me applying to the following: UT-Austin, WUSTL, Georgetown, U Southern California? I'm right in assuming that I can forget about the top 3 schools yes? I expect my LoRs, writing sample, SoP and grades to be strong; really, the GRE is the only thing that I think could let me down. I do not have a quant background (BA and MA from two UK universities, both humanities/social sciences) and would not be looking to focus on quant stuff in grad school, although I fully understand and am comfortable with the fact I'll have to do some as part of a US PhD. Thanks in advance, please don't hesitate to let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything! LN

I've never read any IR literature that paid attention to sexual minorities, now that you mention it. That's very interesting, and I think there could be a really exciting opening there. My impression is that IR in the US has been slow to recognise things like gender, sexuality, race, class etc. as valid subjects within IR; departments there are heavily state-centric and would tend to see this kind of thing as outside of their purview. Critical IR theory, which is the perspective that is probably most devoted to broadening the scope of analysis within IR, doe not seem (to me) to have had that much of an impact in the US. Have you tried looking at schools in the UK and elsewhere in Europe? These PhDs will be worth much less on the US job market and will only really be useful for a job in the UK, but if it's a chance to pursue this kind of research that you're after - then 3-4 years studying over here might just do the job. Just a thought. Don't give up though - this sounds like a really great idea.

Hi, Can anybody offer any pointers about poli sci/IR departments in the US that are particularly strong in critical IR perspectives? I know that critical IR theory is not as well established in the US as it is in, say, Europe, but nevertheless I know there are some great critical faculty in the US. I've identified a few possible departments already, but I'm just wondering if anybody has any leftfield ideas that I may have overlooked. Thanks in advance, LN PS - am I wrong, or do the faculty at U Minnesota seem to be less critically-oriented than their reputation had me believe they would be...?