gokpinar

It depends. If you find an inexpensive room in a house, you may be able to live on $15k, but I sincerely doubt it. Rent for most one-bedroom apartments is around $1200, so $15k will only just cover rent and won't leave you anything to live on.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Non-US, likely not very recognized.
Major(s)/Minor(s): International Relations
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad I: Top international affairs school (US), area studies MA
Grad GPA: 3.6
Type of Grad II: Unranked political science PhD (US)
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 163V / 170Q / 5.0AW
Any Special Courses: 1 micro, 1 qualitative methods, 3 statistics courses. Also a couple of other PhD level substantive courses unrelated to my research interests
Letters of Recommendation: All political scientists, but none of them are in my field. Also no big names. They know me quite well though, so I think they at least had some stuff to write about.
Research Experience: Multiple semesters of RA experience, few conference presentations. 
Teaching Experience: TA for two grad methods courses.  
Subfield/Research Interests: IR, formal/quant conflict. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): UIUC, Iowa, Pitt, Michigan State, Indiana, Notre Dame (all $$)
Waitlists: N/A
Rejections: Princeton, Stanford, Michigan, Chicago, UCSD, Wisconsin, Rochester, Ohio State, Vanderbilt
Pending: N/A
Going to: ???
 
LESSONS LEARNED: 
 
Unlike many of the good people of this forum, my case is not really a brilliant success story. However, I think I did fine and feel like I can comment on a thing or two. So here is my two cents. Usual caveats concerning grains of salt, of course, apply.
 
- Don't lose sight of the other important things in life. It is not the end of the world if you don't get in. You may try again and do better, or end up deciding not to go for it again. It is really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it can be very difficult to remember during this process. 
 
- Improve every part of your application to the extent that you can. This may sound cliché, but it isn't. Pay attention to every single component of your application. Study for the GRE and get good scores. If you can't hack it the first time, take it again (if you have the money/time). Re-read your SOP many times, ask for feedback, read it again. Prepare a polished writing sample, get feedback, read, write, rinse, repeat. If you can think of a way to improve your application, do it. If you stick with it and put in the effort. you will feel a lot better at the end, regardless of the outcome.
 
- Yes, fit matters. If you clearly do not fit well, you will likely not get in, and if you fit very well, that can make up for some of the weaknesses in your application. Therefore it is always a good idea to do your homework and assess your fit (substantive, methodological, regional, whatever) with the department. It will also help you better customize your SOP. However it is very important to emphasize that your understanding of fit can be often dramatically different from the adcom members' understanding of fit when they review your file. Not much you can do about it. Try to remember that.
 
- I didn't contact any professors and I don't think that hurt me. I am not saying you shouldn't do it, but I don't think it is necessary. I am also skeptical if doing so is useful at all unless you have something truly interesting to say or have some other specific purpose in mind. 
 
- I think an obligatory signal that an applicant has to send is that s/he understands what political science is about. I suspect failing to do so is why an important chunk of good, smart, talented folks, including some of our friends here, fail to get acceptances. My suggestion would be to actually sit down and read some of the contemporary political science research that appear in leading journals in your area of interest (APSR, AJPS, JOP, IO, WP, JCR, CPS, APR, whatever). I underline the word contemporary again - things change.
 
- Speaking of signals, here is my rudimentary list of major signals that an applicant should send and the relevant components of the application that convey those signals: (i) I am hardworking (GPA, less so - SOP / Letters) (ii) I am smart and capable (GRE, GPA, SOP, less so - Writing Sample / Letters) (iii) I understand what political science is about and can ask interesting questions (SOP, less so - Writing Sample) (iv) My research interests fit with those of your faculty (SOP). You can add more, merge some of them, change the matched components etc. but -I think- a hard to dispute theme is that SOP is the component to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
 
- There are established regularities in this process, however remember that those regularities are also regularly violated. Yes, if you have very low GRE scores, chances are you won't get into Harvard. I mean, don't bet on it, but maybe you can, if you think you have other considerable strengths that can make up for your weaknesses. Yes, ceteris paribus, someone who got into Princeton is more likely to get into UIUC, but maybe she won't. Similarly, someone who is rejected by UC-Davis, on average, has probably a lower chance of getting into Stanford - but you never know. Prepare yourself according to the regularities, but do not lose hope until the last minute because the regularities are regularly violated. 
 
- Think long and hard about getting a PhD. It is a tough road to follow. Think about it: Approximately one third to a half of today's winners - those who got into great schools - will end up not finishing their PhDs. They will drop out and move on to pursue other adventures. An important portion of those who do finish will do something that is unrelated or somewhat related to their research outside of the academia. Among those who remain within the discipline, many will struggle to find tenure track jobs. In many cases these people will spend years adjuncting, on post-docs, and on visiting positions before settling down on a tenure track job. Furthermore there is the pedigree bias, gender/race imbalances, getting rejections repeatedly from everywhere etc. Bottom line - academia is great, we all love research, but spend some time to think through your goals. Ask around. Do not barge in. 
 
 
SOP: 
 
I decided to not post my SOP publicly here, but would be more than happy to share and/or discuss it in detail through PM. A few words on my SOP:
 
- I spent one short paragraph tying my background to my research interests and one paragraph connecting my existing methods training to the training I want to receive at the X institution. Other than that, it is all about past, current, and future research. Past and current research is mentioned to the extent that it adds to the discussion on future research. 
 
- I did not have a story, a childhood memory, or other such stuff. I am not saying it can't or doesn't help, I decided to play it safer. 
 
- I did not have a fit paragraph at the end, I mentioned POIs and their research while talking about my interests throughout the SOP. I tried to mention some of the works produced by my POIs in every version of my SOP. Tried to say something other than "it is a great article/book" that would indicate that I read their work(s). Oh and I actually did read or skim them. Again, my aim in this was to primarily connect their research with my research interests, hence to demonstrate fit, not just to list the titles of their own articles back to them.  
 
- Did not address my weaknesses in the SOP. I didn't want to draw attention to them there.
 
- It was about 2 pages, single spaced. I did not pay attention to any word limit.

claiming columbia. shaking so hard. cannot type.

I called Northwestern and was told that notifications should be coming out in the third week of february, which means it'll be someday next week. This was somehow confirmed to me by a faculty member who told me the committee should be soon releasing decisions, as the Department is planning to hold the prospective students visit in the first days of March. Hope they decide soon!

Good luck with Brandeis. Don't wanna say anything bad but be prepared to teach from the first semester. They accept only 3-4 people each year and expect their students to teach. Also, the relative size of the department causes some problems like funding although students usually get fellowships at Harvard thanks to close relations between Brandeis and Harvard faculty. Anyways, I should not rant a lot   Good luck!

Depends. In what context? Were you admitted? 
 
If you're not a current or admitted student, I don't think there's any reasonable expectation that they should have to respond. Of course with the caveat that they may make the program look bad, and I also wouldn't encourage you to apply somewhere with unresponsive professors. 

You should attach this message from the Grumpy Cat to your message the next time, of course:
 

I believe you can check your status via this site: https://shib-external.oit.duke.edu/idp/Authn/UserPassword (if the link doesn't work, trying googling "Duke Applicant Self Service"). I haven't received any emails from them yet and there's no change on my applicant page so they may be releasing decisions on batches.

Duke applicants, how did you learn about your application status? Could you please share the website's link? Thanks

So I vowed to stay off this site till I got my first admit. And I must say the wait has been short After an intense evening where I won everything on my Football Manager save, I received an email from UC Davis notifying me that I've been accepted (funding details in the next few days). I feel intensely relieved and a little sore in the head (because this ceiling is not too high, and even if I'm not tall I'm not a dwarf, and yes jumping was involved).

I'll go ahead and claim the other Wisconsin admit...very relieved to have heard from my first school.  Best of luck to the other applicants!

I really wouldn't do that. I was accepted. I'm super excited to check it out. If I had to bet, I'm very confident I'll go there, but funding decisions (which will obviously impact my decision) will not be available (for most schools, I take it) until March. So, come March, they might offer me 0 dollars, to which I would probably pass on, and you get the next offer!
 
Easier to say when you aren't in the position, but don't consider yourself out of the running until you actually are! 

From my correspondence with Penn State, I expect the first wave of admission results next week,  last week of January. 

Yep, contacted the department. It was option number 1, meaning I'm the FSU admit. Yay!

Anybody knows how to stop visiting the Gradcafe? I should stop this because some of the schools won't release their results until mid-March. It's simply unsustainable....

I was even checking on my phone during a lull in my seminar today. Granted, our discussion of border regimes turned to digital borders, and I don't think anyone in the class had read (I was assigned another reading, in my defense)... But still, it's pretty terrible.

Hey there. I'm in round 2 myself. Here's a short list of questions worth considering:
 
1.) Is this really, truly what you want to do?
2.) or could you be just as happy settling with a plan B?
3.) If 1 is yes and 2 is no, what might have held you back this round?
4.) Can you fix this in one year? Two years? More?
5.) Have you considered making your plan B one that addresses 3 and 4?
 
Of course, you'll have to take into account for yourself how old you are, your family dynamic, etc. If it doesn't work out this year for me, I'm going to move to where my gf is currently living and get a job (she has some connections there that would probably pull through, and she'll have her masters at the end of summer). I will not be reapplying next year, but that doesn't mean I won't consider it for the year after next.

I'm in my second round as well. I got into a good program last year that I would've ordinarily been happy to go to, but it was far from my top choice and quite far from my SO's school (which is one of my top choices too, both for academic and relationship reasons). I declined in the end with the assurance from my college profs that my application this year would be much stronger this season. If I don't do well this year, I honestly don't know what I would do. Probably hate myself forever for giving up a perfectly good program!! Not sure I'd try again within the next year or two. 

I'm lucky enough to have a great job, so I'll keep trucking along in my career and consider reapplying next year.

Quite honestly, I don't have any plans if PhD applications go badly. I will take another year to just work, read, and hopefully publish, and try to apply again next year with a stronger application. It would be quite depressing, though, since this is already my second attempts... 

Three plans, in all seriousness and in no particular order:
 
a) return to China to teach high school English
work for an internet marketing firm here in NC
c) join the US Navy
 
Anybody top 'em?

It's my understanding that the composition of the adcom should, in the end, play very little role. If you think about it, most adcoms have what, 6 people? And most faculties are much larger than 6 people. In cases where the adcom reaches out to POIs for opinion, I doubt that she wouldn't be consulted even though she is on leave (it's in her interest to have an opinion on these decisions!).

Neocon - If you have nothing nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all. Judging by your other inappropriate posts I am not surprised by your behavior. 

gokpinar - Your profile, minus your GRE scores, is good. If you don't get in this cycle, you can easily fix that problem. It is hard for any of us to say anything about your chances because we've never served on an admissions committee. 

+1 to luckyducky. If adcoms can get past your GRE scores, you should be a competitive applicant.
 
I should note though that this is a very fruitless exercise. Your apps are out, thus are no more in your control. There is nothing you can do but to wait and see. If I were you, I would not try to gauge random people's opinions on how competitive you are on the internet, because they are irrelevant. Just relax, watch a movie, play Fallout  again, read an interesting novel (How about Jason Goodwin's Janissary Tree? You might appreciate it even more since you are Turkish), and stay away from gradcafe at least until Fenruary if you can .
 
Best of luck gokpinar and see you on the forums!