Megan
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Posts posted by Megan
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i would assume its because most schools pay their faculty lines over 9 or 10 months and its a book keeping issue
That's so much more logical and likely.
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Thanks Megan I called them as soon as I read your message but the guy told me I should be expecting an email by next week well he said no decision has been made yet. I guess I might have been rejected or they are waiting on someone to decline their offer??? Can you tell me your stats? I might have to reapply next year
It could definitely be an unofficial waitlist situation. Like I said, somebody on here got admitted only about a week ago, so you never know!
I had a 3.69 (3.85 in my International Studies major) at a very good SLAC with Anthro/IS double majors. I have a 3.85 (non A's were in language classes) MA GPA at a top-20 polisci department. 710/770/5.5 on my GREs. I speak 2.5 regional languages in my region of interest plus Spanish. I presented at a conference, but it was an Anthro conference in undergrad. I'm comparative and focus on ethnic conflict, political violence and nationalist politics. Honors thesis, MA thesis. At least one of my LoR's is well-known in their field, and another is young but relatively well-known as well. I definitely do not have perfect stats, and when my apps went in I had an IN for one of my MA classes (later updated the transcript) because of a medical problem last year, so who knows. I doubt I get in on my numbers alone. They are fine, but hardly mind-blowing.
Hope that helps and I hope you get in!
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ok, but then why do schools list stipend and summer grant separately?
I've always assumed it's because some places don't guarantee all 5 summers...Also, my understanding was that it implies you are doing research (or something relevant like language study), as opposed to just having a summer off. That was entirely assumption though, not based on any information. Also, based on friends in PhD programs who never seem to take more than a week or so off in the summers, but that could very well be by choice for all I know.
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I am new on this thread but well already received a few rejection letters...Do any of you guys know whats up with NYU?
I am relatively sure that NYU is done, although there was one relatively late admit from this board, so you never know. They made a huge round of rejections and admissions, maybe anybody who hasn't heard is unofficial wait list? I'm not sure.
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I have rejected an unfunded offer from GWU.
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I just got off the phone with Columbia. The woman (not sure who it was, but was told by the front desk, director of the graduate program) reiterated that all students who had been admitted or offered a place on the wait list had been notified and that rejections would be out by the end of the week.
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Department admins / secretaries are probably the most powerful people around behind the scenes. I completely second this. When I was an undergrad, I got my bailed out of fairly serious trouble by a very sweet secretary in the department.
I third this. Our administrator in undergrad RAN that department. Also a good thing to keep in mind when applying for jobs. Always, always always be nice to the secretary.
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I still haven't heard anything from Columbia either....hmm...I wonder what this means...I called them and they had said that if I hadn't heard I was rejected, but that was a week or so ago, and apparently that wasn't true? Just as I had gotten over being rejected there too.
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I'm also in at GW without funding. Given that I have a funded offer, I probably won't be giving their offer the same level of consideration I will give to NYU, and to Chapel Hill if I get off the wait list.
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Very happy to be able to claim U. Oregon! My first acceptance, such a relief to know I'll be pursuing my phd somewhere in the fall, a nice thought indeed.
HOORAY!
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Has anybody claimed these GWU's? There's a lot so I believe it, but what I'm wondering is if everybody admitted today has funding. I wonder if they do two separate rounds for people immediately funded and people not immediately funded. Just a thought for those of you still waiting to hear (and I haven't heard yet either so I am one of you).
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I agree that NYU's placement record is pretty impressive - I think along with Rochester, it tends to produce candidates with serious appeal to schools looking to improve their methods training programs (not everyone with a Poli Sci PhD can teach those classes). I spoke with a professor at Stanford GSB pol econ, and he mentioned that having a strong methods background is definitely a major plus on the job market these days.
Also, I was corresponding with someone who recently completed their doctorate at NYU and has placed very well, and here's what he had to say:
"Job market outcomes for NYU students seem to vary substantially from year to year. So, the year before last (the job market takes place in the fall), was great for NYU candidates. In terms of tenure track offers, one student accepted a job at Stanford, one at Dartmouth, one at Minnesota, and two at Essex. This past year, however, was not as strong with only one tenure track placement.
My sense is that, in general, NYU students tend to only get interviews and offers at R1 institutions. For whatever reason, lower ranked research institutions and liberal arts colleges tend to overlook NYU candidates. As a result, outcomes tend to be very volatile -- since places at R1 institutions are very highly competitive."
Edit: If, however, you are interested in career paths outside of academia, my impression is that NYU students (probably because of the intensity of the training and the econ strengths of the department of politics) do very well. Think tanks, consultancies, government agencies, etc.
Thanks a lot for sharing this! This is good information for me in making my decision.
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Well the "one or two faculty members there that you are dying to work with" is not the best idea; if one of them moves (likely in a 5-year program), sees his or her research evolve in a direction away from yours, or just turns out to be a jerk... then you're up an unsanitary tributary without proper means of locomotion, dig?
I have nothing substantive to add, but I will never say "up shit creek" ever again. This is so much better.
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In my estimation, NYU's faculty well outstrips its reputation (and its reputation is quite good). I don't know how the training and placement are (and with a lot of the faculty being new, it's hard to get a sense right yet of how it'll do in the long term) but I think a good case could be made for going to NYU over any other school, at least if you're interested in formal/quant-heavy work in political economy.
If you look at recent NYU placements (last 10 years or so), they are actually pretty impressive. I would be going there NOT actively for formal/quant-heavy stuff (though I'm glad that I will have those strengths to beef up my methodological tool kit), so it's even harder to know. I will say they have a bunch of young conflict people in comparative that look really interesting and exciting, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. It's always a risk with younger faculty, I guess, but I feel excited about it given the combination of strong methods training, good young faculty, and overall program reputation. I feel like consensus has been that NYU is a bit hard to rank.
Edited for illiteracy.
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Do you need to talk to your program if you want to take a loan, or only to the graduate school?
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Cornell Rejection. My goodness, do you think they coordinate this stuff? Geez.
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Ahhh, there it is. REJECTED!
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I assume I am rejected as well, since these all went out at once, but when I click my decision it's just an empty box that comes up....Maybe they hated my application so much they couldn't even stand to send me a letter. You don't DESERVE Yale letterhead Megan!
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This is a sticky issue. Obviously nobody should feel pressured to give up options until they're ready. On the other end, the OP is correct insofar as we shouldn't hold onto schools just because we can.
I use a method that I call the jellybean test: You have 10 jellybeans to distribute amongst your offers, where more beans == higher preference. If a program doesn't get any jellybeans in the test, cut them loose. They're not in contention for your services. I've declined two offers this week, and will likely decline two more next week. I won't make a final decision about where to go until after visiting, but I know that I'm not (for example) going to Maryland under any circumstance, so I can (should?) decline that offer.
In the strictly normative sense, we've earned the acceptances we've gotten, and have the right to hold onto those offers until April 15. But if you find yourself holding onto an offer because it's fun being wooed, because it makes you feel special or just because you can, then I would argue it's time to decline an offer or two and (potentially) let others in.
I acknowledged in my post that this made you kind of an asshole, but I also don't know anybody either here or IRL who is actually doing this. I mean, these kinds of pleas would be reasonable if there was some evidence that there were a bunch of greedy grad cafe-ers sitting around giggling maniacally over their run on the CHYMPS and just waiting until April 15th for fun, but I just don't think that's what's happening. People who haven't turned down offers for the most part have a good reason, and posts pleading with them to do so more quickly when it is very unlikely to have any impact on your status in the first place just make people who are being completely reasonable feel like they are doing something wrong, and pressures them to make decisions in what may, for them, be an irresponsible way. So, my point isn't that you shouldn't turn down offers if you are SURE you aren't going to take them. You should. My point is all of these posts (and there have been a LOT of them lately) pressuring people into turning down their offers faster are unnecessary and, in some of the contexts where I have seen them, almost offensive (I.e. Congrats on your great offer, can you now call school X and reject them please because I am waiting to get in there).
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At at least one place where my friend is a PhD student, the DGS isn't on the adcom at all.
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Somebody suggested Khan Academy to me. I haven't used it personally, but their math resources are EXTENSIVE and look impressive. My dad recommends it to students who are struggling in his (social science stats) classes.
Apparently they are 10 minute video lectures on a variety of topics (there are literally thousands). When I looked at it, they seemed to be organized into a very logical and progressive sequence. Some of them have associated exercises.
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Somebody suggested Khan Academy to me. I haven't used it personally, but their math resources are EXTENSIVE and look impressive. My dad recommends it to students who are struggling in his (social science stats) classes.
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Megan, are you planning to visit NY and NC? I might do the same.
Yes to NY, but I unfortunately can't make the visitors weekend, so I am trying to plan to visit on my own about a week later.
Now that this cycle is mostly over I don't mind being a bit more specifically open about my personal history I guess. I actually did (am finishing the international portion of as we speak) my MA at UNC, so given the amount of travel that's going to happen in the next little while for me (Spain-NY-TN-AL-TN-NY-Spain-Bosnia), I will probably not go visit UNC (I'm even skipping my MA graduation, actually). I can however tell anybody who is interested anything they want to know about my experience there. I will say that every professor I interacted with at UNC was beyond amazing, and I absolutely LOVED being at UNC, and loved living in the Chapel Hill area, hence why it will be under serious consideration if I am accepted. So, feel free to PM with questions if anybody's interested in what I can tell you. The MA is really separate from the PhD so I can't tell you about the PhD process, but I can tell you a good bit about resources, life in the town, UNC in general, etc...
Rejected Offers Information for Waitlisters
in Political Science Forum
Posted
I've just taken my name off the UNC wait list.