qazwerty
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Posts
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Posts posted by qazwerty
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disco stick
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This is all pretty funny. I'm a faculty member who served on an admissions committee this year. This guy does exist, is easily identifiable (as are several of you) if one has to look at the 50 or so files that are of a similar caliber (across all subfields) and thereby know their scores, essays, etc. I admit I have better things to do with my time but the alternative leisure activity is watching sitcoms and watching your board is an easy thing to jump to when I'm stuck on a research question and want a break. (You can now debate whether I'm for real. Believe what you want.)
I know Charlie2010 and I can confirm that he is real!
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The question is not whether to believe or analyse, but rather - given the limited evidence and lack of consequence - whether we should actually care.
I really thought this thread was just all in jest, keeping with the tone of the title and initial posts, not something to be taken seriously as something we should "care" about. I welcome anything that could lighten up the day.
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dead end
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But apparently not for spelling, lol. Sorry, couldn't resist...just in good fun!
doesn't count! edit coincided with the misspell! unless I edit the edit?
lol, tried, it is too late
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wow! this is very entertaining. but there are exceptional people among us - naturally gifted, hard working, born into resourceful loving families so they are able to reach their maximum potential. look at the bios of faculty/job market candidates in the top schools - it's like you need everything going for you at the same time. of course, i'm not trying to undermine anyone's potential. but you need luck at so many levels.
i also had the same thoughts as SBL - this is only an admissions forum and we are so resentful of someone's success. makes me wonder about how intense the next few years of grad school and a life in academia is going to be. btw, did you read the latest chronicle article about why not to do a phd (it's on humanities majors, but we are close enough): http://chronicle.com...-Life-of/63937/
maybe you cannot blame us for being so insecure - in a few years we might be jealous of people like SP who get TT positions, while we could be struggling with min wage jobs.
I blame the informal internet medium. When I read the posts in this thread, I read them as hilarious, light-hearted conjectures whereas others read them as mean, resentful, and gossipy. I think how you interpret the posts can be an inaccurate reflection of the intended tone of the post so whenever I read anything I feel is outrageous, I usually blame my own reading of the text.
But I honestly don't think people here or in grad school are mean/gossipy/awful like some people are extrapolating from their experiences here. (Yes, I have been to grad school. I also once worked in grad admissions.) So I don't want you guys to feel disheartened by your experiences here. Grad students, to me, have always been really kind and friendly and not as competitive as this board makes them seem!
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This article has been posted elsewhere. While it is certainly difficult to obtain TT positions with any PhD, it is not reasonable to compare the fate of a political science phd to that of a humanities phd. We have ample opportunities outside of academia, particularly for those of us in IR, CP, and American Politics, while humanities phds, for the most part, do not.
True, but it seems like those opportunities don't require PhDs.
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On another note, I contacted Yale, on a whim, asking what was wrong with my application. Apparently I never made it to the second round of applications because of either my GPA or my GRE. My GPA is >3.98, so I really hope it wasn't my grades. My GRE, though, was 730V, 600Q, 5.0AW. It must have been those scores that did it, esp. the math. It really disheartened me because their average scores are 550-800 for both sections. I know it's all a money-making enterprise, but they should have been more clear about the cutoffs. Yes, yes, I know, if I am serious about grad school then I should study for the GRE harder because that's part of playing the game yada yada yada. I know. But to have my application basically thrown out because of math scores when I am applying for political philosophy, after I worked my ass off for four years resulting in all kinds of physical/mental issues because of the stress, really hurts. And the person who emailed me had the nerve to say "work harder."
Edit: Sorry for whining. I know it isn't useful except for my own selfish cathartic purposes. It just sucks that we have to play the game, no matter how stupid the rules are. I thought I didn't have to study for math b/c I thought my grades and coursework and the fact I want to study political philosophy would speak for themselves. But they don't. I bet our hair would curl if we saw how our applications are really treated--i.e., thrown out on the basis of numbers which say little about who we are as people or as scholars. I know someone will disagree with me, saying that math skills involve logic and it implies something about my thinking ability, but I haven't suffered in any philosophy courses yet due to lack of mathematical training.
Second edit: I reversed my scores by accident. Should make more sense now.
Don't take rejections so hard. The competition is usually stiffer than you know and a lot of times even if you worked harder, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Even if you got perfect scores, lots of people from better schools with better degrees did, too. It doesn't mean you're not smart or didn't work hard. It's just that so very many brilliant people apply.
I used to work in a grad admissions department at a top 5 school and it was almost obvious which candidates stood out the most. I always felt bad for people who had obviously worked hard, gone to decent schools, but probably didn't stand a chance against some of those who stood out the most. You'd be surprised how many Princeton grads with law degrees from Stanford with perfect scores go on to apply for more schooling right after finishing up law school. It's just tough.
editted for grammar. sorry, my pet peeve.
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Just found out that I do not have to log in as another poster to give myself reputation points
I think someoneoutthere could use this tip...
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As a graduate student at a top 5 department, and during my brief stint as a faculty member at one, I learned that the majority of our admitted grad students were accepted to nearly all of the top 10 programs to which they applied. 7 out of 10, for example, was a fairly routine outcome for many of our accepted students. So I am not surprised by SP's results, though I have no personal knowledge of his situation. I am sure that several applicants with similar decisions to make are not posting on this board. While this thread started out quite entertaining, it has gone to some pretty ugly places. Let's all take a deep breath and focus on our own situations.
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Eh, I regretted this post as soon as I made it. So easy to debate numbers.
I still don't think a majority of people who go into a top 10 were admitted to nearly all top 10s. You'll always be a superstar to me, SP!
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Wow, you guys really are haters aren't you. I can confirm he was admitted to every school he applied to. How about instead of spending time gossiping about someone on the internet, you figure out which schools you want to go to based on your acceptance list.
SP is already doing that based on his.
Your post on this thread is probably the most unnecessarily mean-spirited thus far.
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I really don't think that it is a good idea to call someone a troll just because he/ she is successful with his/ her applications. I do know real people who got into every single top 10 programs that they applied to. Personally I will not defame another individual without solid evidence.
People aren't suggesting he's a troll for success--they're wondering if the success are real at all. I don't think he lied about acceptances, but from what I remember of his SOP, it looked like just a template. It could have been anyone's SOP.
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LOL I actually considered his troll-status in the past, but decided he wasn't because he had so many insider details on acceptances, like when they were sent and things of that nature.
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tin foil
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muffin man
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I doubt you'd experience any sort of unprofessionalism such as department-bashing. I answered honestly about good offers I was considering to a professor and he said, "Oh, that's a great program, you should seriously consider it." I was actually afraid that meant he didn't really want me at his school OR that he would suggest to the powers-that-be at his own school that I should get a lesser offer because I already had a good offer elsewhere and might not join the department or something, but I got a great offer from his school as well.
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Final Destination
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oops, double-post
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I guess I'll add my MA experience since everyone else is doing it, too.
I did a one-year MA program and it is almost impossible to apply for a PhD while still in it (though I know someone who did, but only to three programs). If I applied for a PhD while in my MA, I would've only had one semester (the Fall) to get to know my professors, yet still had to do research papers and my thesis. I ended up applying to PhD programs after I finished up my program and after I'd finished defending my thesis so that the professors could get to know me better. That meant a year in limbo and mostly unemployed because I also didn't apply to jobs while in the program.
I wouldn't recommend this route unless you've got financial security, especially since you've already got a top-notch offer (so I hear). I don't know how Wisconsin-Madison is for polisci, but I know it has a strong reputation in econ.
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lawn ornament
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open sesame
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Full Throttle
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aw, c'mon guys! I love nic cage! City of Angels! Leaving Las Vegas!
The movie 21 occasionally had an academic setting...
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This is interesting.. How about Numb3rs.. .
The character Charlie Epps is a professor who helps solve crimes for the FBI using mathematical explanations and logics.
I tried so much to like that show, but the math and econ they use are so rudimentary and.. just out of place that I can't stand it.
And I never saw it, but I recall Mona Lisa Smile being about women in college..
Fall 2010 Admission Results
in Political Science Forum
Posted · Edited by qazwerty
I know that some schools let people take out some sort of a loan at the beginning of the school year to cover initial expenses. I never did it because I always had some savings, but it is something you could look into if you really need it.