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JMoo

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Everything posted by JMoo

  1. Perhaps you missed the multiple "having a bad day" references?
  2. Then it's officially not you. That dude was a serious jackass. Hopefully they were just having a bad day. Probably a good idea to visit, and if the impression is backed up in person, run far away. The quality of the support staff can make your grad career either a breeze or a living hell. Edited to add: And yes, you're right, a legitimate question like that deserves a polite answer. After 13 years doing this, I get annoyed with vague questions from people who clearly didn't bother to even glance at our website, but a simple question about the application procedures, especially when it's our fault it was unclear, almost never bugs me. Forgive my testiness - it's been a looooooong day.
  3. Sometimes it depends on how you asked the question? The fact that you contacted them repeatedly makes me wonder about your ability to read social cues. I'm thinking of one person who drove us up the wall this season, and if by some strange chance you're him, there was a reason for the attitude. Or maybe they were just having a bad day? With the budget cuts, some of us have had to take on a lot of additional work because of staffing cuts, and it's a damned stressful job these days. If I get a call when I'm in the middle of a crucial project, it's sometimes hard to switch my attention to put on a friendly tone. I know this is a hugely important part of all your lives, but we staff have a hell of a lot of urgent stuff we have to juggle, and we can't give you the attention you'd deserve in a better world.
  4. The reason for their rudeness lies within your question. If you're contacting a department more than once, unless you have a very specific problem they are helping you with, you are officially a nuisance.
  5. Sorry to bring you down, but that score will be very hard to overcome. If you don't get in anywhere this year and decide to apply next year, you should definitely retake the test.
  6. If you have a mediocre performance during your undergrad, then attend a good MA program and do well, that will most definitely help your chances in applying to a Ph.D. program. Also, I'm sure this varies from school to school, but in our program the admissions committee does not weed out applications by GPA or GRE, so if you have stellar letters and a great writing sample, you'll still be competitive.
  7. The very fact that you're asking this question shows that you have limited knowledge of how a political science department works. You've just demonstrated why a JD isn't sufficient.
  8. If you name your undergraduate school here, be very careful what else you say on the boards, because you will be identifiable to the places you are applying.
  9. I'm a graduate secretary, and here are my preferences: The kind of paper doesn't matter, for the cv or anything else. A large envelope with unfolded pages is nicer. I don't care if it's staples or clips, but it's nice to have each section separated from the others. If you send a cover letter, it shouldn't be stapled to anything else. Double-siding is fine - save a tree. It's a good idea to put your name on everything you submit, because with the volume of paper we get, things can get mixed up. I wouldn't put the name of the University you're applying to if it's not requested, because it's too easy to get them mixed up, and it never looks good to get another school's name on someone's application. Page numbers on the writing sample are a good idea - that way it's easy to tell if there's a printing or copying error and things get missed or mixed up. I don't think they're necessary on the statement or other things, but it doesn't hurt.
  10. Someone posted this on the results page: Given that there is no way a professor is going to have time to send out a couple of hundred personal notes to the people who don't get in, what do you consider a polite method of rejection? Or is there one, given that the news is going to suck no matter what? Just curious.
  11. If your grades are stellar for the term, definitely send in an updated transcript with a cover letter asking the committee to look at them. If they're not so good, don't send it in unless they ask for it.
  12. Oops, I guess that's just true for Political Science.
  13. Gotta disagree with that. If a school told you when they'd be sending out notifications, don't bug them until after that time. If you're waitlisted, a secretary's opinion may tip the balance.
  14. Most schools are feeling a financial crunch that has been building the last few years. I think they're playing it cautious and admitting fewer students initially to avoid the possibility of a class that's too large. There isn't as much financial flexibility as there used to be. Being waitlisted is definitely not the kiss of death. A school might not be willing to tell you where you are on the waitlist, but I can't see how it would hurt to ask.
  15. It's unethical for a school to offer you admission after April 15th, so hopefully you shouldn't be put in this position.
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