Nikos Evangelos

If you've seen acceptances but no rejections from a given department on the results page, then it's probably only a matter of time before the axe falls.
 
If you've seen acceptances and rejections, but you've received no notice after a couple of days, then you're probably in that painful, always hopeful limbo where you might be chosen as sloppy seconds, or thirds. But probably you will get screwed. Possibly right at the end when it will hurt the most.
 
So it goes. This is killing me!!!

I hesitate to say which of my apps was easily the most annoying, hands-down, since it's still pending and this is my real face you see to the left. But DAMN, it was annoying. Half-meg limits on documents! Doesn't allow a CV (how am I supposed to describe 26 years of work experience without one, pray tell?) but expects individual fill-ins of each employer. Just picking the department was a 20-minute struggle (because rather than a standard drop-down it has a bizarre bug where the provided list keeps jumping before you can click your option). Also, a radio button I inadvertantly clicked could not be erased! This option was not offered. Instead it demanded that the rest of the entry be filled in, no matter what. Finally (on deadline day) I gave up and filled in a fake third undergraduate school called There Is No Third School.
 
Berkeley featured the nicest application software. The rejection letter was also very polite.

Are you saying I haven't heard of Mackinder, Mahan, Haushofer, Clausewitz, Rumsfeld and Sun-Tzu? How dare you!

Since in the end I applied to 14 programs, my answer is no.
 
If I had to do it again, I’d probably omit a couple and try a different mix of departments. Also, I’d focus more precisely on “fit.” Practice really did make perfect, and the last few were far superior to the earliest ones. This was one reason to do many, and to hit Ivies with early deadlines even though I figured I had no chance.
 
I also tried different mixes of writing samples and research proposals, even of recommenders. As for the many different departments, the fact is my interests are the same in each case but can be approached via several disciplines. That’s the way of the social sciences with their sometimes artificial distinctions. I will benefit from mastering any one of these disciplines and its methodology.
 
What’s amusing me here is that anyone believes there is such a thing as a safety school! This can only be the product of delusion, arrogance, or weak definition.
 
Example of delusion: I saw one poster here upset about a rejection by the excellent and highly competitive Pittsburgh Anthro program, because this was supposed to be the safety school.
 
Definition issues: If you define the consolation prize of an unfunded Masters (perhaps with paid tuition!) as acceptable, then yes, there is such a thing as safety. If so, however, please don’t take out loans to do this, because that’s not safety; it’s a lifetime of debt, ruin and misery. Not to be misunderstood: Masters in the professions are worth acquiring. But in the Arts and Sciences, these are “safe” only to independently wealthy hobbyists. An unfunded Ph.D. may be even worse.
 
In the 2014 economy, in the Arts and Sciences, the only thing that counts is admission to a Ph.D. program with funding. The least competitive of these are still rejecting to fund six applicants for every admission with funding, and a 9:1 ratio seems to be far more common. So there is no safety school. Not even if you have 99/99 on the GRE, a 4.0 GPA, prior publications in the field, and a recommendation from Paul Krugman. (If you do, however, just apply to four schools and you’ll be admitted to at least two.)
 
The closest thing to safety is in applying to many programs. However, you’re not the only one who has that idea.

Supply and demand is not an inherently capitalist dynamic. And "I'm no MBA" is an excellent qualification.

Hogwarts vs. Battle School.

Since in the end I applied to 14 programs, my answer is no.
 
If I had to do it again, I’d probably omit a couple and try a different mix of departments. Also, I’d focus more precisely on “fit.” Practice really did make perfect, and the last few were far superior to the earliest ones. This was one reason to do many, and to hit Ivies with early deadlines even though I figured I had no chance.
 
I also tried different mixes of writing samples and research proposals, even of recommenders. As for the many different departments, the fact is my interests are the same in each case but can be approached via several disciplines. That’s the way of the social sciences with their sometimes artificial distinctions. I will benefit from mastering any one of these disciplines and its methodology.
 
What’s amusing me here is that anyone believes there is such a thing as a safety school! This can only be the product of delusion, arrogance, or weak definition.
 
Example of delusion: I saw one poster here upset about a rejection by the excellent and highly competitive Pittsburgh Anthro program, because this was supposed to be the safety school.
 
Definition issues: If you define the consolation prize of an unfunded Masters (perhaps with paid tuition!) as acceptable, then yes, there is such a thing as safety. If so, however, please don’t take out loans to do this, because that’s not safety; it’s a lifetime of debt, ruin and misery. Not to be misunderstood: Masters in the professions are worth acquiring. But in the Arts and Sciences, these are “safe” only to independently wealthy hobbyists. An unfunded Ph.D. may be even worse.
 
In the 2014 economy, in the Arts and Sciences, the only thing that counts is admission to a Ph.D. program with funding. The least competitive of these are still rejecting to fund six applicants for every admission with funding, and a 9:1 ratio seems to be far more common. So there is no safety school. Not even if you have 99/99 on the GRE, a 4.0 GPA, prior publications in the field, and a recommendation from Paul Krugman. (If you do, however, just apply to four schools and you’ll be admitted to at least two.)
 
The closest thing to safety is in applying to many programs. However, you’re not the only one who has that idea.

Are you saying I haven't heard of Mackinder, Mahan, Haushofer, Clausewitz, Rumsfeld and Sun-Tzu? How dare you!

Supply and demand is not an inherently capitalist dynamic. And "I'm no MBA" is an excellent qualification.

Are you saying I haven't heard of Mackinder, Mahan, Haushofer, Clausewitz, Rumsfeld and Sun-Tzu? How dare you!

Since in the end I applied to 14 programs, my answer is no.
 
If I had to do it again, I’d probably omit a couple and try a different mix of departments. Also, I’d focus more precisely on “fit.” Practice really did make perfect, and the last few were far superior to the earliest ones. This was one reason to do many, and to hit Ivies with early deadlines even though I figured I had no chance.
 
I also tried different mixes of writing samples and research proposals, even of recommenders. As for the many different departments, the fact is my interests are the same in each case but can be approached via several disciplines. That’s the way of the social sciences with their sometimes artificial distinctions. I will benefit from mastering any one of these disciplines and its methodology.
 
What’s amusing me here is that anyone believes there is such a thing as a safety school! This can only be the product of delusion, arrogance, or weak definition.
 
Example of delusion: I saw one poster here upset about a rejection by the excellent and highly competitive Pittsburgh Anthro program, because this was supposed to be the safety school.
 
Definition issues: If you define the consolation prize of an unfunded Masters (perhaps with paid tuition!) as acceptable, then yes, there is such a thing as safety. If so, however, please don’t take out loans to do this, because that’s not safety; it’s a lifetime of debt, ruin and misery. Not to be misunderstood: Masters in the professions are worth acquiring. But in the Arts and Sciences, these are “safe” only to independently wealthy hobbyists. An unfunded Ph.D. may be even worse.
 
In the 2014 economy, in the Arts and Sciences, the only thing that counts is admission to a Ph.D. program with funding. The least competitive of these are still rejecting to fund six applicants for every admission with funding, and a 9:1 ratio seems to be far more common. So there is no safety school. Not even if you have 99/99 on the GRE, a 4.0 GPA, prior publications in the field, and a recommendation from Paul Krugman. (If you do, however, just apply to four schools and you’ll be admitted to at least two.)
 
The closest thing to safety is in applying to many programs. However, you’re not the only one who has that idea.