NEPA

"Slav'sya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye!" Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm a bit of a national anthem buff, and the Russian anthem is one of my favorites.

Honestly, I think the best answer is to go with your heart on this one. If we're talking prestige alone, probably the top Ivy PhD would be the way to go. But it's really down to what drives you more: teaching English abroad for a year (or more, depending on your Fulbright program) or diving into a PhD program. Personally, I was dead set against anything that would delay me from starting grad school. But each person is different. If I were you, I'd talk to the grad program about how much leeway they'll give you; if they can't let you defer, you might have to seriously consider declining the Fulbright. (If it's any consolation, you must be very bright to get into both a top Ivy program and get a Fulbright, so I'd say you'll have great chances down the line regardless which route you take! If you don't take the Fulbright now, you may very well get an opportunity to do something similar later on, and if you don't take the PhD offer, I'm sure you'll get into a great program when you reapply.)

1. My potential adviser at my top choice school could not have been more friendly or welcoming, both when I spoke to him on the phone and when I visited the school in the fall. 2. The graduate contact person in one department where I applied was exceptionally nice when I forgot to submit my writing sample on the main application - she responded to my e-mail in literally one minute (!) and let me e-mail the 12-page writing sample to her so she could forward it to the Grad Admissions office. If she does that for everybody she must do a ton of printing out papers.

All crickets chirping on my end as well. I dunno, though, I didn't really expect to hear anything yet. I got a positive reception from the grad director/my potential adviser at my top choice program when I went to visit in the fall, so I'm running on that hope alone, I guess. I don't think the silence helps with anyone's stress, though!

Dead silent for me.

You should not have anything to worry about in terms of Fordham being in-your-face with religion. Religious opportunities (eg, liturgy, spiritual advising, even retreats) will be there if you seek them out, but nothing will be forced on you. The grad students will probably not be much different from grad students at any other university. Jesuit schools in general tend to be very welcoming regardless of what background you're coming from. I've found it's a nice atmosphere, really.

I completely agree! I keep wishing I'd discovered these forums earlier than, ya know, the middle of December when most of my applications were just getting finished. So much of the advice was incredibly helpful to me, and could have been even more so if I'd been around since the summer or fall. It would be such a shame for The Grad Cafe to go away, and it would be a shame if we all started to get hostile to each other!

I play trombone in a German oompah band (mostly active around Oktoberfest). This same oompah band, when I returned from a study abroad experience last May, got a permit from the airport to set up near the baggage claim area to give me a surprise, musical welcome home. (It's a really small airport so the security folks and other passengers were more amused than anything.) Kudos to the OP for coming up with such a creative topic!

I agree on both counts!

Nice idea! I actually never knew those existed - thanks for posting the Wiki!

I think you need to re-evaluate your assessment that your life has been "boring" and "nothing" has ever happened to you. I hear what you're saying (you never climbed Mt. Everest, swam the English Channel, went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef) but chances are this essay is not looking for you to say you did some out-of-this-world things. I'm guessing they want you to create a good story out of the things you've done, whatever they may be. If you really felt you had nothing to show for your life, I'm guessing you wouldn't be applying to grad school. Why do you love to study what you want to study as a grad student? What motivates you? Maybe your uncle gave you a globe when you were five and that sparked an interest in international relations. Maybe you had a really great teacher who influenced you. Maybe you volunteer at a soup kitchen or coaching Little League. Ask your friends and family what sort of things they associate with you, what your strengths and weaknesses are. Don't stress out about this too much.

As a current student at a Catholic university, I can tell you we do have classroom clocks! (And crucifixes, too.) Your label "Christian" is too broad to guess what sort of role religion will play at the school. I can tell you from experience that Catholic universities will not try to convert you; any one that did would really be the exception rather than the rule. Catholic universities have a lot of tradition when it comes to "educating the whole person" and things like that, and you'll certainly hear many ideas and themes imbued with religion, but if you're not religious and they don't mean anything to you, that more than likely will not be a problem. It will not get shoved down your throat. At my school, atheists teach alongside priests and it's no big deal. There are more professors interested in religion than at other schools probably, but all sorts of professors, and students, often appreciate the background and tradition that come with Catholic universities. As I said, that's just my experience at my own school and visiting over a dozen Catholic universities. I can't answer to any of the other types of Christian universities.

It seems to me like you could turn financial challenges into a meaningful argument for overcoming adversity in an SOP. It's probably not standard, but if you could make a good case, it might boost your application.

There are plenty of folks around here who know more than I do about GRE scores vis-a-vis getting into elite programs, but my instinct would be that, at worst, your quant may put you in a "maybe" pile at Yale, Columbia, or NYU. I'd be far less worried about Brown, New School, Fordham, or CUNY. Honestly, my first reaction was, "What are you worrying about?" It seems you have some very strong qualifications and a strong SOP/good fit would do wonders to boost that even further. I, too, come from a less-known school (we're well ranked regionally, but probably unheard of nationally), so I know a bit how that feels. But there's no need to be so "anxious!" Well, a little. We all are. But don't let it get to you; really, as long as you're comfortable with all the places you're applying, you should find yourself in a good place come the fall.

Honestly, I can't really answer whether your MA apps will be jeopardized by outside funding attempts, but I would think that you yourself would determine how important it would be to apply for external scholarships. To the best of my knowledge, funding is much less abundant for MA programs than for PhD programs. (Although I have no idea if the situation is different at Canadian universities.) So, if you feel like taking the chance that you'll have to pay for the whole MA yourself, I would think you don't need to apply to outside sources, but you'd have to decide that from your own financial viewpoint.

I'm applying to Rutgers, George Mason, GW, Penn State, BC, and Syracuse for Middle East politics with a focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict. (I might add an application or two, e.g. to Maryland, before February 1 deadlines.) I'm decently confident I'll have a shot at getting into at least one program; I'm not about to guess funding, but again, I'm hoping at least one school will offer funding. Like all of you, I'm sure, I just want this process to be over and know what I'm doing next year!

I'd suggest Amman or Damascus as a good place to study. (Damascus is obviously a bit more difficult because of visa requirements.) Both are great cities to live in, and allow for travel throughout the region. I know from experience that the Language Center at the University of Jordan is reasonably priced (I took classes through them but not directly, so I don't know the prices off hand) and I've heard good things about the Arabic Language Center in Damascus. Try Cairo (e.g., American University of Cairo) if you're a bit more adventurous and don't mind oppressive heat. Studying in Beirut or the Gulf may not give you as much chance to be forced to practice Arabic since so many people speak English in those places.

If I'm accepted, I'll be one of the right-out-of-undergrad crowd: 22.

I think I was a bit misleading with my original post. I'm very happy with the schools where I've decided to apply; my lament was whether I should have put more time into researching and applying to more prestigious schools. Kind of falls into the "I applied, now I'm worried I messed up" category. As for my career plans, I'm hoping for either government consulting or working at a medium-sized university where I can balance teaching and research. So I'm thinking from many of the comments here that I'm basically on the right track, given my qualifications and my career plans. Thanks for helping with my stress, everybody!

I wouldn't worry too much about getting rejected. It's always a possibility, of course, but you've got excellent credentials for those programs. (I'm also applying to Rutgers and GMU!) It seems like in political science going right out of undergrad is the norm. I've heard mixed reviews on the stigma of getting getting out with the terminal masters for those deciding not to finish the PhD, but if you're sure you want to go for the doctorate, go for it! Applying to a masters program by itself would be fairly expensive, whereas you'll hopefully get funding to do the PhD.

I guess I'm wondering whether I should regret not putting more attention into higher-ranked schools; for instance, whether it could hurt my job prospects in the future.

It's absolutely frustrating to deal with ETS (not to mention the fact that the user-friendliness of the actual GRE seems to be set to the standards of the 1970's USSR). I couldn't order scores online even after sneaking into my on-campus apartment after the semester's end to find my confirmation number, which of course there is no way to retrieve online. Not having the physical paper in front of me is my fault, I know, but ETS had no online record of my confirmation number or e-mail address, which is just ridiculous. I managed to order extra scores over the phone (for an extra fee, if I'm not mistaken) after another non-user-friendly experience. Yeesh.

After reading so many grad forums, I'm feeling a bit inadequate because I'm not applying to a ton of top-tier schools. I'm looking to focus in Comparative Politics focusing on the Middle East (Arab-Israeli conflict/democratic transitions). My qualifications are 3.86 GPA, 4.0 major GPA, semester abroad in Amman on a Department of Defense language scholarship, 690V/560Q (yes, "5")/5.0W GRE, not a ton of experience in research. I've applied to Rutgers, which is my top choice (I have visited), George Mason, Penn State, GW, Syracuse, and Boston College. Honestly, I was pretty comfortable with my choices, but am I selling myself short? Am I wasting my time getting a Ph.D. in Political Science if I maybe couldn't get into any top schools?

Applications: 6 Likely acceptance: 4 I'd have to be pretty lucky: 2 I predict that I will get into my first choice school. (I refuse to predict funding!)