silencio1982

Those of us who got Chicago rejections (I am pretty sure I speak for everyone in that group, but could be wrong) either called or e-mailed Kathy Anderson- they have made decisions and can give you the info by phone or e-mail. That being said, I am pretty sure letters will be coming next week, since Ms. Anderson told me they were put in the mail last week. I think they have notified all their admits. I could be wrong, though. Any Chicago admits on the board that want to correct me if I am wrong?

McGill itself is well respected in the Northeast US. My old roommate did an MA in history at McGill and was able to get into a great PhD program in the US, specifically in New England. Can't comment specifically on their poli sci dept, though. I would say McGill might not be as well known in other parts of the US- but that is just a guess.

from what i have heard of ND, C. Zuckert does not teach many classes anymore. i could be wrong about that though. just something to think about when wanting to work with the bigger names...

depends on your interests, but chicago, northwestern, wustl, and yale are great, to name a few (in my opinion). (i have an MA in theory.)

i understand it's a big process. my point was just that i didn't get any notifications through the online systems- i have received all but one of my notifications via snail mail anyways. so, being able to log in and check my "status" just gave me busy work while waiting for snail mail. in my job right now, though it's not in admissions, i do tons of data entering, verification, and notification, and i know it can take forever. i just think it's funny that we applicants now have an added layer of anxiety on top of running home to check the mailbox, thanks to logging in and checking status checkers. i never realized that i was quite so neurotic or impatient until this process began. i'm not criticizing those who do the work- just pointing out the irony. the efficiency of online applications probably has less to do with a faster notification time and more to do with accuracy and ease of the school maintaining the records.

I found this analysis of job outlook by subfield from APSA interesting: http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/EJobsWri ... 202006.pdf

isn't it ironic that with all these fancy schmancy online updating systems, notifications don't come any faster and half of the schools don't even use the online option anyhow? i haven't gotten a single notification through the web. as someone said earlier on this board, i am convinced they created these things to cut down on the amount of calls they receive from applicants.

not to raise false hopes, but in my case (and others have experienced the same) with regard to northwestern- people were accepted and rejected and i was not notified i was waitlisted... had to call to discern that info. that being said, i am sure schools usually notify their waitlistees somehow.

congrats!! I am glad it worked out for you!!

great pics! thanks for sharing- reminds me of my undergrad campus- also done in federalist architecture.

hey noodlez. i don't think it's stupid. i'm visiting because i can find a plane ticket for under $200... and i've never been to baltimore so i want to see what it's like. i'd most likely be accepting, anyhow, since it's my only offer right now and it's my best fit anyway.

yeah- i am not counting on it. but i bet we will hear more after their admitted students weekend this week, people who have better offers might start turning NW down.

Just called and apparently the people who haven't been accepted or rejected yet are on some kind of de facto waiting list. The grad coordinator didn't use that term but said I would be notified on or before April 15th and that it depended on what the admitted students decided.

with the news that northwestern has planned its admitted students weekend for this weekend, and therefore i am most likely rejected or (best case scenario) wait-listed, i am 99% sure i will be accepting JHU's offer. anyone else likely to accept? anyone else planning to visit this spring?

good to know as i probably wouldn't be able to arrange a visit in time-- if i were even to be invited, that is. i wonder what the hold up is in notifying us of our status. edited to say: maybe they are assuming people will turn down the offer after visiting and then offer places to those who haven't heard yet? or maybe i am rejected and they just haven't notified me. agh.

as am i. if i don't hear something sometime this week, i am going to call and ask what the deal is. if we are on some kind of waiting list, they should just tell us!

congrats!

weeeeeeell, other than IR (the william & mary rankings someone posted here), i don't know of any subfield rankings that go beyond the top 20, which makes life kind of difficult as far as subfield rankings go. the other thing is, as someone pointed out, can you absolutely guarantee with 100% certainty that you will end up in the subfield you applied in? if you can, i guess subfield rankings would be better, if your schools are included in the limited rankings available. but, then again, if you are going to schools in the top 20 of the subfield rankings, i don't think the rankings would really help all that much to make distinctions at that high of a level. that's just my personal opinion- i'm not an expert!

i personally don't think you should base your final decision on any rankings system. while they are indicative of the general reputation of the program, most of them range from mildly to severely out of date. placement records do seem to be a better choice as does assessing where your work would best fit in and where you would be happiest. it's all highly subjective and i don't think rankings can help you assess your fit as an individual. what rankings are a good guide for, in my opinion, is figuring out what tier of schools you are qualified to apply to... i do think that there are probably benefits (placement and otherwise) from going to a school in the 1-25 range that you don't get from 25-50, or 50-75, or 75-100 and so on and so forth. beyond that i am not sure they are all that useful.

*bump* is anyone else out there still waiting besides me?

polisciapp, what schools are you deciding between? what's your subfield?

Re: TT jobs. the trickle down effect is real. I had several profs at my Master's institution (rated between 45 and 75 for poli sci depending on what rankings you use) that got their Ph.Ds from U Chicago, Princeton, etc. If those people from the top 10 PhD programs take those types of jobs and everything above it, it follows that the rest of us will be fighting for their leftovers. However- there are important exceptions- within the past 8 years my most likely intended program also placed someone at Cornell, and someone at Northwestern-- probably the biggest name schools in addition to several other excellent universities and liberal arts colleges. I'm not saying that getting TT jobs will be a piece of cake, but it helps to have realistic expectations. I expect if I do really well in my Ph.D. program and make a name for myself I'll have a fighting chance at a TT job somewhere. For me, being at an R-1 university is not the be-all and end-all of my existence. Sure, it would be nice, but I know I could be happy at a liberal arts college too.

thank you! i hope it works out for you, too.

tuition plus 16k fellowship, plus health insurance, for 5 years. TA or grading one course per year- first year students only do grading. i am probably going to accept it later this week. got a very nice email yesterday from one of the profs i want to work with. i'm so excited

hey, it may be too late to respond but i think if you really have interests that fit the program you definitely have a chance of getting in. i have similar stats to you- 3.6 undergrad, 3.8 in poli sci MA, 700v, 650q, 5.5 wa. honestly i think what got me into hopkins was the fact that i had really good SOP which was tailored to their program. what i want to research is a perfect fit there. also, i had strong LORs, in particular one of my letter writers got his Ph.D. at Hopkins in late 90s so i think that helped, too. so yeah, i think it would help to get a strong rec from one of the profs in that program, it would carry a lot of weight. but as another prof at a top 25 program told me, the SOP is crucial to explaining why you think your interests fit well with that dept and why you would rather study there than anywhere else. when you are competing for so few spots your GPA and GRE are important, but not as important as what you would bring to the dept. you are applying to and how you would fit into the work they are currently doing. although it's hard to tell it seems that those programs would rather let in someone with yours, or my, scores who fits in very well with their research than someone with a 700+ on both GRE sections and a 3.8. one caveat is that i think that it varies greatly by dept. and may help to apply to a slightly smaller program that doesn't get upwards of 300-400 apps, like a harvard, berkeley, or chicago. but i am sure that they let in people with yours and my type of scores too if they have a strong writing sample, SOP, and LORs and demonstrate why they are a GREAT fit. hope that helps.