rchlm_618

I did this once, but now that I've made a decision and my cycle is over, I thought I'd redo it. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: top 100 national university Major(s)/Minor(s): double major in political science (law and politics concentration) and women's and gender studies Undergrad GPA: 3.4 overall, 3.75 in POSC Type of Grad: n/a Grad GPA: n/a GRE: 158v/152q/6.0aw Any Special Courses: none to speak of, though I took a great deal more POSC classes than I was required. Letters of Recommendation: one from adviser (a constitutional law specialist), two from other professors (one an international law/HR specialist and the other a presidency/media specialist) Research Experience: one research fellowship, one internship that was research oriented. Teaching Experience: none yet. Subfield/Research Interests: American constitutionalism, public law, civil rights and liberties, some comparative constitutionalism. Other: four internships at most levels of government: one local/state, one congressional, one bureaucracy, and one non-profit. RESULTS: all MA unless noted. Acceptances($$ or no $$): American, Boston College (MA), Georgetown, George Washington, Georgia, St. John's, Villanova ($$), Marquette ($$), St. Louis U., Syracuse (MA) ($$) Waitlists: Boston College (PhD), Syracuse (PhD) Rejections: University of Virginia Pending: Case Western Reserve Going to: Syracuse LESSONS LEARNED: This has been a wild ride. I learned a lot about myself and about my goals throughout this incredibly long and arduous process. For one, this was exponentially more successful than I ever expected. The only reason I applied to so many schools was because I was unsure whether anyone would take me with my mediocre GPA and okay GRE scores. As it turns out, I didn't have a reason to be concerned. I ended up with more possibilities than I could have imagined, which, though a good problem, was daunting to try to work through. In the end, though, Syracuse was clearly the best fit for my interests and I'm so very excited to be starting there in August. SOP: I'm reticent to share my SOP in its entirety, but it outlined my interests in civil rights and liberties, why the schools were the right fit for me, and addressed some shortcomings in my application (i.e. very low first semester grades).

If it means anything (and it may not since this is a PhD-heavy board), I'll be declining master's offers from the following schools: --American --St. John's --Case Western Reserve --Saint Louis University --University of Georgia --Marquette

I have had a truly unbelievable week, which is why I haven't posted on here in a while. Since last Tuesday, I've received five acceptances, bringing my record to 7 for 7 with 5 left to announce. That's about 7 more acceptances that I was expecting and I am still completely in shock. To all of you who helped me through the long wait, thank you so much. You've been a godsend.

Two acceptances for me today! This is unreal.

First acceptance with money! I'm feeling approximately a thousand percent better right about now.

Congrats! Chances are slim since I live quite a ways from DC, but I'm still considering it!

I applied at Georgetown for the master's and I haven't heard yet, so I think we're good to go for now.

I think my favorite part of this was looking at the median debt for my top choice and it was less than $3,000. Now THAT'S what I like to see: minimal debt.

Just made the executive decision to buy this with my tax return.

Is anyone else obsessed with reading CVs of successful academics? It's actually all I do with my life anymore... This waiting is killing me. I was really hoping I'd hear from at least one more school this week.

I don't know if this is new news (probably not, since the results historically show later response times), but I emailed Syracuse yesterday and they said they're still going through PhD applications. So, for whoever is waiting for Syracuse with me, it's going to be a while.

The last two Tuesdays, I got acceptances. Now my superstitious self thinks I'll get something today. (Though, likely, I'm just working myself up for nothing. Forgive me while I refresh my email incessantly.)

@Cautiously and IRTheoryNerd -- thank you so much! It's good to have y'all in my corner. Since their incoming class is 5, I would tend to believe that the wait list is similarly small.

I emailed the DGS at Boston College today (because I'm impatient and I couldn't stand not knowing how much longer I'd have to wait since there's a huge dearth of information on the results page re: BC POSC) asking for a timeline as to when I might hear an admissions decision. Expecting a terse 'calm down, we'll tell you soon' reply, he told me that I'm wait listed for the PhD, but accepted to the master's program. Which is actually really awesome news seeing as I applied to the master's program and was asked about my PhD intentions later. So without even applying for the PhD, I still might get it. What a day, folks. What a day.

That's the go-ahead I needed. Thanks so much!

Quick question: as a DGS, what are your thoughts on emailing the DGS on when admissions decisions can be expected? I really want to know when I can expect a decision, but I don't want to be perceived as pushy or impatient.

Cautiously: this is perfect. I think we forget (myself included) that this process is only one part of our bigger story, and that we've made it this far is pretty phenomenal. I'm sending positive thoughts to all of you today.

^ You're killing it! Congrats!

I'm learning to love this forum. Y'all are pretty rad. I'm all about celebrating/commiserating together.

For the first time, I've run through my positive quota. This is truly tragic, as I have a feeling there should be plenty of positive responses to go around today.

I found this on the result page: Duke University Political Science, PhD (F14) Rejected via E-mail on 10 Feb 2014 10 Feb 2014 report spam Form email: "We received over 300 applications this year. Our admissions committee met several times to review and select the candidates to whom they wanted to offer admission and those candidates have been notified. "

Offline for an hour, eleven new entries on the results page. This week is going to be huge, I can already tell.

I had a similar experience with chocolate-covered cherries in my youth. You know, the ones that taste like cough syrup. It took a while to learn to trust again after that fiasco.

Personally, I can't wait until Feb. 15 when all of the Valentine's Day candy and goodies will be half-priced. That way I can binge on emotionally soothing goods on my undergraduate budget. Truly a win-win situation.

My mind will not rest easy until this entire process is over. I don't expect a perfect cycle by any means, but knowing for sure is far easier than waiting, at least for me.