InternationalHopeful

Long-time lurker, infrequent poster. This is an interesting thread.
 
I was talking to a good friend of mine last night, considering options for what to do next year. We have very different work experience (he's a lawyer for the government, I work for an education nonprofit), and he reminded me just how subjective my application process was compared to his. For law school, your LSAT and GPA largely (although not entirely) dictate your options before the consideration of funding. Statements of purpose or personal statements matter, as do letters of recommendation, but it remains an equation with two primary variables that have the greatest weight (although tipped differently based on the school). The common denominator is that almost everyone applying to law school intends to become a lawyer (or will become one, even if they don't intend to now). There's only one bar exam for each state (plus a few for certain federal courts), and while some law schools have specialties, the general education is very similar across all institutions, so with acceptances in hand, it's pretty easy to examine cost, aid, size, community, hiring record, and a few other factors to make a good matriculation decision.
 
Conversely, for most of the people who post and read on this forum specifically (for a broad range of policy and government administration programs), the GPA and GRE scores matter, but they are far from the only factors. Because many of these programs are so different from each other in their areas of emphasis, scope, and type of professional and/or academic training, and because so many people's interests are so different from each other (community organizing, municipal administration, economic policy analysis, international diplomacy), it's much more of a complicated matching process for the admissions committees, which is why statements of purpose and letters of recommendation matter so heavily. I've wondered why people often mention (on this board and elsewhere) that they know they have "Strong LORs" or similar, because that seems necessary but not sufficient. Programmatic fit seems to matter a great deal and whether a recommendation is a strong endorsement or not, it has to demonstrate that your academic and professional goals match those of the program, and that you would add to the community. I think it's more difficult to write a thoughtful and customized letter of recommendation for some of these schools than for law school.
 
And then there are things no one can control: the size of the applicant pool, the quality of the applicant pool, the diversity of the applicant pool (across the obvious and many far less obvious measures). It's enticing to think it's cut-and-dry, and perhaps it is when you're accepted, but it isn't necessarily when you aren't, because countless qualified people are denied admission or waitlisted every year because there aren't enough seats in the classes. But you really have no idea if you "got in by the skin of your teeth" unless someone with authority tells you as much (and you might question why they decided to do so if they did).
 
I have friends with amazing experience, grades, and scores who have struggled to be admitted and friends with far less stellar profiles who got in everywhere they applied, and I think it has a lot to do with (a) really knowing what you want to do and why, (b ) applying to schools that will help you achieve those goals, © communicating that effectively through your application, and (d) supporting your recommenders as they communicate it in their letters. I'm sure that's why some of my friends have struggled, but it's also not always enough because of all of the exogenous factors no one can control.
 
Best of luck to everyone with decisions if you have them to make, and if you do, give yourself a pat on the back. You may not know why you were admitted (or denied) somewhere, but don't assume you know for sure unless someone on the admissions team is willing to sit down and review your file with you.

I'm starting to wonder the same thing. 

Per the Admissions Website:
 
Master of Arts (M.A.) 
Early Notification Application Deadline
November 15
Early Notification Decisions Released                                                                  
December 30
Regular Application Deadline                                                                                
January 7
Financial Aid Application Deadline                                                                          
February 15
Regular Admissions Decisions Released                                                             
March 13
Financial Aid Decisions Released                                                                           
March 13
 
Hasn't stopped me from refreshing my application page to see if they've uploaded anything early.

http://admissionsatsais.tumblr.com/post/113368973934/tired-of-waiting
 
At least they are acknowledging some of our pain.

http://admissionsatsais.tumblr.com/post/113368973934/tired-of-waiting
 
At least they are acknowledging some of our pain.

I've stalked the timelines very intensely. Given that 2014 was on a Friday, we will hopefully see stuff midday.
 
In 2014 the Bologna acceptances started at 11am EST and then DC was around 2pm on Friday, March 14:

 
2013 Tuesday, March 12 @ 6:40pm EST: 

 
2012 Tuesday, March 13 @ 6:30pm EST:

I've stalked the timelines very intensely. Given that 2014 was on a Friday, we will hopefully see stuff midday.
 
In 2014 the Bologna acceptances started at 11am EST and then DC was around 2pm on Friday, March 14:

 
2013 Tuesday, March 12 @ 6:40pm EST: 

 
2012 Tuesday, March 13 @ 6:30pm EST:

Per the Admissions Website:
 
Master of Arts (M.A.) 
Early Notification Application Deadline
November 15
Early Notification Decisions Released                                                                  
December 30
Regular Application Deadline                                                                                
January 7
Financial Aid Application Deadline                                                                          
February 15
Regular Admissions Decisions Released                                                             
March 13
Financial Aid Decisions Released                                                                           
March 13
 
Hasn't stopped me from refreshing my application page to see if they've uploaded anything early.

http://admissionsatsais.tumblr.com/post/113368973934/tired-of-waiting
 
At least they are acknowledging some of our pain.

Per the Admissions Website:
 
Master of Arts (M.A.) 
Early Notification Application Deadline
November 15
Early Notification Decisions Released                                                                  
December 30
Regular Application Deadline                                                                                
January 7
Financial Aid Application Deadline                                                                          
February 15
Regular Admissions Decisions Released                                                             
March 13
Financial Aid Decisions Released                                                                           
March 13
 
Hasn't stopped me from refreshing my application page to see if they've uploaded anything early.

Page 1 of this thread got my hopes up big time. Such suspense.
 
Come on Yale. I need to hear from you soon. In the words of Outkast: I'm sorry Ms Jackson, I am for realllll.

Is this where Masters of Science in Foreign Service should set up shop while we wait, too?

I think it's wrong to assume that the results individuals choose to disclose on this thread are representative of the entire group of applicants. Only a portion of applicants have likely even visited this website, let alone posted their outcomes. I'd wager the people more likely to be interested to this extent in the grad school admissions process are more competitive and likely to gain acceptance, and therefore results are skewed towards "admitted." In addition, people are much more likely to post that they've been accepted to a school than rejected.
 
I doubt that there's a wave of rejections looming for everyone who hasn't heard back yet, I sincerely do.

Time for some real talk youngcharlie. You should absolutely not take an unfunded offer from Temple University for a PhD. Without funding you will likely drop out once you run out of money. Best case is you work a full/part time job at the same time and take 10+ years to complete your degree. At the end, you will not be any closer to your dream of becoming a professor because your field is small and therefore extremely competitive and a PhD from Temple does not make you extremely competitive for a professorship. So, you end up being an adjunct for another 10 years while you build up credentials to become competitive.
With your MA I am pretty sure you can line up teaching jobs right now at a high school if that is what you want. You don't necessarily NEED an education degree to teach. More education is not always the best option. Sometimes the best thing is to go out in the world and get some work experience. I hope everything works out for you!

Is the general decline in morale and job satisfaction, and the inability to recruit and retain millennial workers, due to Obama’s actions, the actions of Congress, a general decline in overall public approval of government, or some other factor?
 

I know the notification date is December 30th, but I can't help but believe that decisions must be ready a few days earlier. 
 
I'm hoping it makes sense for the admissions decisions to come out early, rather than later. Until then, I'm going to check every day.
 
I'm sure that I'm not alone here.

Can you explain what you're asking? I don't really understand the question.

Which are the top grad programs with the most funding available to them? As in which particular field or discipline. Actual names of the programs and universities would be great. Thanks!