kafcat

Hey don't be too hard on yourself...you're doing a great job in your search and I was in the same boat last year when I was applying for...you don't have to be ridiculously assertive like others have pointed out..it's okay to doubt yourself Don't worry about your grammar mistakes, you came here for advice not grammar corrections Be careful with what "fully funded" actually means..because most PhD programs are fully funded..but that doesn't mean that you will receive a stipend all years. Sometimes you will have to TA so don't worry too much about that. I actually would encourage you to reach out to professors you're interested in working with even if you are still in the stage of deciding what you want to study..sometimes speaking to them helps you narrow down research interests and they can give you an idea of how to improve your application. Otherwise, I highly encourage to reach out to current students in the programs. Sometimes they are more willing to provide advice, especially since they have been in the same situation as you!

What field? Did you get off the waitlist or were you accepted immediately? Congrats, it was my dream school but didn't manage to get off the waitlist ! But I will be attending an equally awesome uni !

Great advice thank you so much!

For those of you that received the award and applied during your first year, did you have recommendation letters from your current institution (if you didn;t work with any of them before starting the PhD program)? I think I will apply next year but I am worried that the reviewers will comment that I do not have any recommendations from my grad school (doesn't make sense since I will start the PhD program in late September...).

Veo que eres de México así que te contesto en español. Creo que la mejor opción para ti serían las universidades del Reino Unido o en los Países Bajos (especialmente Amsterdam o Nijmegen). Además hay muchas becas para estudiantes Mexicanos/Latinos en estas regiones. Por cierto, no le hagas caso al comentario de MAC2809 que entiendo porqué dijiste lo de America ya que muchos estadounidenses colectivamente se llaman de esta manera (un nombre erróneo por supuesto) Suerte y esperemos que encuentres el mejor programa posible para ti!

Did you get waitlisted ?

I would suggest to email them..I declined a school that waitlisted me because the person that I spoke with informed me that getting off the waitlist at this point was difficult...

I'm in political science.

I received mine immediately. So far I only heard of one other person being an alternate...wonder how many of us are in that list :/

Thanks! Hoping for the best but for now...just feeling like I did all in my power to get the award and regardless of the outcome, I will keep on trying! No accolade will decide my value or self-worth http://imgur.com/BiRG4IE

alternate ...didnt know there would be alternates for the ford. oh well.

Anyone get the NSF GRFP? Got honorable mention..bittersweet but oh well..now gotta figure out if I want to apply this upcoming year or the next..

that's interesting...I wonder if that will affect me too if I don't have any recommenders from my institution (its yr phd student this upcoming fall)...but there really is no way around it right?? Anyone with this dilemma?

Should we be expecting the news this week?

Yeah same here....

Also, anyone waiting for the Ford now?

For those of you in the social sciences...did you have any publications? I have 0 and got an honorable mention..their main critique was that I didn't use mixed methods/mostly qualitative work. I am wondering whether I should apply for the NSF next year or the following to get a publication in at least...but seems like they liked my app overall..just the methods part was lacking..

G/VG, G/E, E/VG, honorable mention: guess they don't like qualitative work.

Anarchy? yahs.

I am a transfronteriza student and as a cross-border commuter from Tijuana, I have done my undergraduate research on cross-border commuter's perceptions of border enforcement at the Tijuana/SD border. I ended up choosing political science for a PhD program (got into ucla and UCI ) because I want to study the national security aspects of border security and how these measures have increased classism and racial profiling. Additionally, I am interested in border theory (especially critical theory and its relation to border controls). If you are sure you only want to do border studies, UT Austin has a good "masters" but not a PhD. It also depends on what approach you want to take. Sociology is probably the best field to study immigration and borders, but there's also great people in geography, anthropology, and history. The big names that stand out to me are DeSipio (from UCI) and Douglas Massey (Princeton...one of the best border/immigration scholars). UC Berkeley's Soc prob is good but I don't think you would benefit a lot from it since it does more stuff on immigrant incorporation. UCSD is somewhat okay depending on the department you want to go for...but there's better schools out there. The point is that education is what you make of it and no matter what school you choose, it is how you use the resources that will count. I am really interested in border stuff so you can PM me if you want more input.

I would give this a thumbs up but I have exhausted by thumbs up for the day (can only like 5 things)...isn't it from Star Trek?

Yeah that's the worst...let's just sleep (those of us who can) and in the morning see what's up.

Oh bollocks I am so scared can't hold it together :|

Alright lads lets stay strongggggg!!!

Wait so it is for reals coming put tomorrow??? ?