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rebelrita

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  1. It seems goofy to me for them to post median GRE scores in a rejection letter, partly for the reason you mentioned that half the folks have scored higher than the median so the letter would not be pertinent to them. I think form rejection letters (hard copy, e-mail or web based) in general are tacky. I received a two line form e-mail rejection from a grad sec from U. of Arizona, (consolation prize: i was done dealing with her rudeness and ignoring my questions for weeks about missing supplementals resulting in my late application.) :evil: I don't think it is too much to expect an individualized letter preferably with a checklist and/or a couple lines - maybe on strengths and weaknesses, suitability to research of dept) to the applicant. Does the culture of higher academia assume it is intellectually cool to be cold? Pink Floyd Song coming to mind. :roll:
  2. I have to wait til May 2 or possibly later to hear if CUNY Grad center will accept me off the waitlist or not. I know it must be tough for those waiting to hear from a few or more schools like you are Quarex, but to be honest, is hard to feel too sorry for ya with all those pickens. I only applied to three schools, since these were the only programs I really cared for. Now I'm down to the last. It would be great if all schools adhered to the national april 15th deadline and if there was a waitlist deadline as well that was national.
  3. Picking up this thread. I was also told by my fellow grad students in various social science PhD programs (soc, psych, poli sci, history), that the standard formula is three times as much work out of the class as in (minimum). For a typical 10 credit semester, this would mean 10 hrs of class time and 30 in study time for a total of 40 hours. TAs or RAs tend to be 10 to 20 hours a week for most schools- so we're looking at between a 50- 60 hour work week minimum needed. Hence, the requirements of some schools forbidding work. In Temple's poli sci and soc depts at least, they forbade it. We were told funding could be lost if discovered. (may be a quasi-legal contract- could be considered fraud if work against the rules- so one should be careful in deciding whether to work (and inform oneself well). For the sake of stress/ sanity, I think that if in PhD program, one would have to be unfair to themselves and the program if they try to work more than 60 hours total for work and school. Another option is to go to a program that permits part time attendance so one can work more like 25 hours a week while taking a couple courses. From past experience in Temple's soc PhD program and John Jay's MA psych program, I've found over 55 hours total of work and school was my limit before feeling exahusted (despite significant social life cutbacks).
  4. mechis, niels and other cuny folks- I thought a TA load of two courses was pretty standard for grad schools and cuny, or has that not been your experience Niels? As far as student courseload, don't the PhD students at CUNY, have a minimum no. of credits to take per semester if on fellowship, TA or RA? I was hoping the min would be 9 credits since a 12 credit courseload is about a 48 hour work week (min) and with a TA an extra 18 hours onto this - yeah, I agree that's too heavy mechis. Niels, thanks for the info on the travel headaches as CUNY TA. Do you have any other info on TAs or RAs? Or on adjunct work? (e.g do all adjunct profs in cuny system get tuition remission at GRAD center) Mechis, congratulations on chancellors- that is their jackpot. I'd ask about flexibility on the 9 versus 12 credit courseload minimum with the grad advisor (or grad union if cuny has one). If you don't now, could be sorry later.
  5. UPADATE Y'ALL for POLI SCI AT LEAST: Was told via e-mail by Dr. Tien, admit committee coordinator, that the ADMIT COMM FOR POLTIICAL SCIENCE WILL NOT MEET AGAIN UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF MAY- SO NO WORD FOR ANYONE FORTHCOMING TIL May 2 (or possibly even later). So, those waiting to hear on funding and/or on waitlist might as well avoid the stress of checking e-mail and snail mail ten times a day as it seems they plan on torturing us til the last minute. I figure the longer the wait, however, the better the chances for us peons on the waitlist . GOOD LUCK Y'ALL. Anyone know the status of the ad coms meeting for other depts?
  6. Dear Niels, When you said "their teaching load is heavy", were you referring to TAs or the profs teaching the PhD program? I lived in NYC years ago going to school and know it has gotten much harder with housing - doesn't seem to bad with food and there's always off off broadway, lots to do for cheap. If I'm accepted, I was hoping after living in Philly a year commuting, I would find a couple political activists to split rent with. I also assumed mechis was poli sci due to posting on this subforum- sorry mechis- so I don't know how relevant the info I mentioned on funding would be to language majors- might still be considered a good package for cuny spanish/portug. Thanks niels for lookin out for us waitlisters by letting them know.
  7. dear mechis, from what I can gather from this forum, petersons.com and the dept website for cuny, that is considered a pretty decent package for cuny social science phD- not the topmost and not the bottom either, but above what the average grad student gets in the poli sci dept. some PhD candidates only get tuition remission if teach at a cuny school and no stipend for RA or TA. My guess is you were considered a pretty strong candidate. Altho, NYC is tough with standard of living- I believe and hope cuny offers its grad students chances for additional summer funding for RA work.
  8. Dear neonmeatte and other CUNY poli sci grad applicants, I e-mailed Dr. Tien this past week, who is a key faculty coordinator of the admit process, to ask if we waitlisted can expect to possibly hear before May 2. He told me that the admit committee is not meeting again until early May and that the waitlisted would not hear before May 2 (and seemed to infer that could be after May 2 possibly). Altho the wait is arduous, I am consoling myself with the fact that the longer adcom waits to peel more accepted off the waitlist, the smaller the waitlist will become from those on it taking alternative offers from other schools. I wish I could at least find out how many are on the list and what our chances are. Dr. Tien declined to answer my question on whether he thought the odds were more in my favor or not. It all seems QUITE MYSTERIOUS. I can't escape the paranoid thought that witholding info from us (grad secretary seems perpetually in the dark) is a little like a hazing into an secret erudite fraternity. IN SHORT, TRY TO RELAX A LITTLE TIL THE FIRST WEEK IN MAY- if possible resist checking mail and e-mail ten times a day, as likely nothing is forthcoming til MAY 2ND OR EVEN LATER. :roll: :wink: hope to see ya'll at cuny in the fall.
  9. Thanks Kant's mistress. I wonder how much the funding for the other insignifcantly funded half? Do you or does anyone out there know what the TA or RA positons pay in the dept. for stipend or what the adjunct teachers in the undergrad CUNY system get paid? I 'm asking about the latter due to their remitting tuition for doctoral students who teach in the CUNY system.
  10. I have gotten the impression, at least from browsing the grad cafe site, that April 15 is the latest schools tend to notify (exempting waitlisted) and that those schools that wait til April 15 then lose some candidates- since many schools expect responses accepting their offers by April 15th as well.
  11. I only have experience with the soc and poli sci dept, the former rejected me around mid March last year and the latter I'm waitlisted-on currently- was told they will tell me at the latest by May 2. Hard to make plans. I feel frustrated with dept secretary who altho likely is very busy, seems to give somewhat contradictory dates and little tidbits of info. on timing factors or others (e.g discloses waitlist will be reviewed in March but won't say when they will likely notify or what % of waitlist they have taken in the past). I can't tell if she is too busy to answer my questions (I only e-mailed reply to waitlist and a reply to her answer- am not a weekly bugger) or if applicant positions of waiting to hear our dispositions is of little concern to her.( I think a past application I got rejected to from another school was partly due to dept secretary not paying attention to what I was asking or telling her about my supplementals). In sum, are we mere peons in this game, deliberately made to suffer with the mysteries of timing (and other info) about our aps at CUNY or am I paranoid? Is strange they don't seem concerned about losing applicants by their making us wait (at least in certain programs).
  12. I admire you and others here prioritizing their research interests and prospective professors/mentors in their research areas over the tier of the school. I am turned off by the high competition focus of some folks. which i imagine is partly due to the fear of not getting a full time professorship (easier in soc than poli sci but in my 20 years of adjuncting, I have seen a wide range of tier representation and publishing extent among the faculty and I've seen publishing take precedence over ivy league at Temple and other schools). Has the intellectual spirit,i.e., the drive to contribute to the world via nurturing one's intellectual gifts, become a scarcity? There seems to be a tunnel vision for the ivy league PHD as well as for the tenured professorship. I also have been turned off by the arrogant attitudes of some of those who apply to high tiers who seem shocked that a program turned them down- they seem to feel entitled for some reason and don't seem to appreciate their privileged position academically and economically. I admit I'm a little green too- never had an ivy league background or a 700 Quan GRE) RE: how to find professors in your interest. I would focus on your interest and see to whom your research takes you and find where the hottest ones (to you) are teaching. (It's not an easy or short task and is impossible to be sure who are the best people out there to work with- if you grow as an intellectual this will likely flux).
  13. I get the impression that the assumption of the posters on this forum is that virtually all PhD poli sci applicants primary career goal is f.t. professorsip in academia. Am I reading too much into the comments? Of course, it seems a little nieve for us to think with all the PhDs in polisci that enter the job market each year, that most of the graduates can succeed with this career goal. 9esp since we poli sci folks are more disadvantaged than the other social sciences since the teaching slots are fewer). I have been advised not to be this nieve (especially since my background shuts me out of this possiblity unless I get more publications and boost my math GRE- then I may have a slim shot at entry to one of the top 25) . My primary aim is to gain clout for publishing and to increase my potential for research opportunities, visiting lectureships abroad in scholar exchange programs and administering a non-profit. Therefore, I am focusing on the programs and profs closest to my research interests rather than name/status of school.
  14. In my last email, I meant to ask if anyone knows of any other middle tier schools with PhD programs in comparative politics for Africa, especially SubSaharan? Thanks. Sorry.
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