jeudepaume

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I don't understand why you guys are calling it paradoxes. All of those are good schools with lots of very qualified applicants. Somewhere you're picked, somewhere you're not; it seems to be an absolutely normal part of the process.
 
Implying that it's impossible to be rejected from Northwestern (why, because it is a lower ranked school?) after being accepted to MIT doesn't seem right to me.

Puddle, if we PM you, will you tell us if our names are on that list?
 
 
Just kidding but seriously....

The Yale admit list is out  (shared with the department) and many will receive emails from grad students or profs in their field. Official admits and rejections are handled by the university and will come later.
 
 Good luck to all.

i promised myself i'd come out of hiding when i heard back from columbia -- was too nervous to do so before, jinxing things and whatnot! -- just got the official no from them and so, hello! it's quite a heartbreaker as my top top choice, but, so it goes!
 
you've all been such a wonderful source of support throughout this cycle, and i'm sorry i've just been a lurker until now, although you've all seemed to navigate it quite a lot better than i.
 
many many congrats to all the recent accepts, and to folks getting rejection notices today -- i second/third/fourth the ice cream/wine solution

Oh okay. Yeah, the British system involving two different processes for admission and for funding is a huge source of additional stress. Hopefully, you'll get one of those! I mean you already got into a pretty competitive school; a competitive scholarship should follow. 

So between the Yale and the Harvard ones this may not sound very exciting but I just got into Indiana University. 
 
With this, I only have one school left that I am waiting to hear the official news from - though I know that it will be a rejection. So my cycle is basically over.
 
Thanks GradCafe folks for making this process a lot more bearable. This is, of course, not a farewell. I will be around.

:-D
 
Well, yea. I saw that average time to completion issue as well. It's less than encouraging, but I resolve to be on the sooner end of that distribution. Depends a lot on how long the dissertation drags on, and I hope by that point I can get my butt in gear and not make it last too long.
 
I also posted this to someone via PM so I figured I'd share it with all of you as well:
 

Just receive informal email from Professor Hyde. Yale accepted.

I basically agree with everything that's been said here, but to add a few things:
 
1) Don't be afraid of visiting at times other than the planned visit. Sometimes because you're traveling to schools far away or because you can only take so much time away from work/school/etc., it's convenient to hit up multiple schools on the same visit.  Schools are used to this and should be able to set you up with accommodations and faculty meetings.  It can be a little harder to talk with grad students or sit in on classes during those visits, but you should make an effort to do so anyway. If there's something or someone in particular, ask for/about it.  The department wants you to come.
 
2) Talk to grad students. Because the dept schedules 1-on-1 time with professors, it can feel like that's the most important part of your visit.  But you're going to spend a lot more time with other students (esp. those in younger cohorts) than the faculty, so you should make sure you feel like you'll fit in. Ask about money (but try not to be a jerk about it). Are they taking out loans? Do they have a lifestyle that would be acceptable to you?  
 
3) Talk about the department culture with respect to student research. Are students up to their own thing? Is it a mentoring system, where you're (officially or unofficially) attached to one or two faculty members?
 
4) Talk about grad student research productivity.  If you have the choice between two comparably ranked departments, but one has a culture of grad students publishing, go there. It'll help you get a job.
 
5) Ask about teaching.  Especially at top programs, there are huge differences in the amount of teaching assistant work you'll have to do. Esp. if you want to end up at a research university, you need to have time to do research.

Oh wait no, checked my list: I'm applying to Santa Cruz. 
My bad!

http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/political-science
 
FYI: an interactive NRC ranking of political science programs. Breaks down the data in an easy to read way. If you open up the school's individual page, you can go to the tab "outcomes" and see - at the time of the last NRC ranking - approximately how employment breaks down. MIT is 53% academic hires, 26% postdoc (presumably with an academic goal), 9% private sector and 12% government.

oh YAAAAY!!! (I know how long you guys waited for that one!) 
 
 
 
Edit: grammar as always

I can claim a Hopkins acceptance! Political theory.

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

Claiming UBC ! Also competitive financial offer! After these rough last couple of weeks, incredibly relieved!

upvote (my way of upvoting in the absence of upvotes).
 
My way of looking at it is similar: at a certain level it becomes somewhat a matter of chance. It doesn't deny the fact though that you have to get to this level first. And often it is a pretty darn high level.

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar

I guess I am just frustrated when people on the board post a rejection with something like "haha got into a better school anyway." My thoughts on this are: ok, good for you, you've made it. Now what is the point of your comment?
Are you arrogant enough to think that if you got into "a better school" you also automatically should be accepted everywhere?
Are you frustrated with this rejection—why would you be if you already got good options? So why being bitter/condescending? 
 
P.S. unless the comment is a joke. Jokes. I get those.
 
 
Edit: grammar