terefere

Great! I'm really anxious to hear back from them!

There wasn't really any change in classification. The problem with NSDAP is that it was largely hybrid, with some left wing elements, and a lot of populism. However, given that the main political opponents were social-democrats and communists, and that the ideological part was largely right-wing, most people classify it as right-wing. Socialism was a way of gaining popular support for NSDAP. Do keep in mind that they promoted private property, strong military, nationalist ideology and strong national identity, and were at least on neutral terms with religion, which is usually more associated with right-wing parties.

Harvard PEG admission on gradcafe. I wonder, is that a troll? Last year the first result was posted on Feb 17th. Also, I think the director of admissions is also the chair of the program, no? In that case, that's Torben Iversen who did his undergrad in Denmark. Haha, I'm freaking out!

I hope you're right!! I'm actually thinking about e-mailing the department and asking them about it...

Strangest thing just happened to me. I logged in to one of my applications that uses the applyyourself.com platform and I noticed that in the list of recommendation letters, where the usual format is "Name_of_referee (Online): Submitted on date_of_submission" there is a 4th position "name_of_professor (Offline): Received (Official)" The thing is - I haven't requested this professor to be my referee!!! He taught me a course in undergrad and I worked for him as well, so I know who he is. I think his name was in my CV, along with other professors who I worked for. But I am now in a Master's program. Anyway - I can't really figure out what's going on!!! Does that mean they've reached out to him to get additional info on me?

When one of my letters was missing, I did get a reminder from the school. But in principle, I was told, if only one letter is missing, schools will basically make the decision based on 2 letters rather than dump your application.

I am wondering: what is it that made your program rank 50-60 and not, say 20. Can this be overcome or is it one of those things you can't do anything about? Is it just about resources, quality of faculty or faculty not caring enough? Do you think your placement was rather exceptional for a program of that rank or does your institution generally place reasonably well despite the rank?

I'm amazed so many of you are done with applications that early! I have just submitted my 14th application. And still got one more left!

I don't want to sound mean but if you're struggling with getting a better score on GRE because of stress and anxiety, then maybe going to grad school is not for you. PhD level courses, qualifying exams, getting negative feedback at conferences, or rejections from journals, all this is much much worse.

Universities will want to see them. My school has the option of requesting the transcripts (now) to be sent only after grades are available. Perhaps your school can do the same. Otherwise ask somebody to request the transcripts for you.

I just made it on time, 2 hours before the deadline I've been focused on final exams way too much to pay enough attention to applications

Thank you for your replies, they are very helpful! I have encountered questions that ask about racial diversity, so these are pretty straight forward I think. I come from Eastern Europe, btw. However, that one school asked about ethnic diversity and there was a field to indicate one's ethnic group, once you chose 'Other'. It seems that as international applicant I still have to answer this question. I don't want to falsely claim to be an underrepresented group, so I thought I would ask first. While for the racial category I would probably fall under the category 'White', even though it's a little bit more complicated than that, nobody in my country really identifies with a particular racial group but more so with an ethnic group. I guess I will just play safe and answer 'No'. They have information on my citizenship so hopefully they will draw inferences based on that, if needed. Thanks once again!

Question to American applicants: what ethnicities are considered minority ethnicities in the US? Is there like a percentage threshold below which a particular ethnic group is considered an ethnic minority? I found this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries.jpg Does it mean that if, say, my ethnicity is outside of the top 5, I am considered minority applicant or are there some other official rules? I am totally not familiar with how these things work in the US.

Energy economics is a pretty rare specialization. There are schools among top 20 that do not have a single person working in this area. Rice University is one school that I know offers energy economics as a field.

Does anyone know of any political economy programs with January deadlines? I am looking to substitute one of the schools on my list with another school. I have spent considerable time looking for such a school but couldn't find one. Any suggestions?

Well, I'm pretty sure middle class white males can add to the diversity of a department too! In fact, I suppose I could be qualified as a middle class white male and part of the funding that I got in my Master's program was because of diversity considerations.

Mine is 13 pages + 4 pages of appendix and references. Should be enough. I could always lengthen it by adding a longer literature review etc., but I think for the purpose of PhD application it's better if it's to the point and really concentrates on showing off the skills you want to demonstrate.

Yeah, applying to many schools is costly indeed. I am an international applicant too so I can totally sympathize. I had to borrow some money and do extra RA work to make it work. This is my second time applying. The first time was 2 years ago and I was shut out of all the PhD programs, only managed to get 2 waitlists. I have enrolled in a Master's program and I am hoping this will make a difference. Managed to improve many parts of my application although I worry a little about my grades. I have taken many quantitative courses and my GPA is around 3.4. I do hope that the admission committees will appreciate the fact that I went on a difficult path with demanding coursework.

Well, if you've chosen your programs well, 7 should be enough. In the end, you just need one acceptance. One of the reasons I have 15 is also because of a two-body problem. Another is that I expect a lot of variation in my results, so having more schools is probably a good idea.

I am applying to 15 programs, but not just political science.

I see, thank you!

I am trying to decide which paper to submit as a writing sample. I have two papers: 1. It is an empirical paper where I collected a lot of the data myself, I developed a new measure etc., although the econometric analysis is not particularly sophisticated. It is well written. 2. A formal theory paper with a lot of math proofs etc. The argument is solid and the paper is written well-enough, although the 1st paper is probably written better. Now, the 1st paper is probably a little bit more relevant to my future research in the sense that I am not particularly likely to become a formal theorist. (my interests are in political economy) and especially that the job market is much more favorable to empiricists. However, my math grades are far from perfect (think B range), but I did take a number of math classes, including some advanced ones. My question is: is it a good idea to submit the theoretical paper, in hope of sending the message "hey, look, I know my math and I can use it in a sophisticated way despite my poor grades" or should that not be part of the consideration?

Is it risky to wait with accommodation hunting till arrival in Durham? I'll be probably coming around end of July/beginning of August and I am wondering if there will be any decent houses/apartments left...

What is your goal after getting a Master's degree? What are your grades in math courses and which econ courses did you take? Who are your letter of recommendation writers? What does "a really ordinary university" mean? Does your university have a history of placing students in those programs? Where does your GPA place you relative to your peers?

Cheers for the tips, I will look into zipcar. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to meet anyone from my cohort and I won't until I arrive in Durham. In fact, I don't know anyone at Duke or in Durham, present, past or future student. I'm sure taxi would be easiest but I'm looking into options to save some $$