WorldMan

What one-year MS programs are still taking the applications for 2012-2013?

Congrats! It is quite possible that the odd timing is due to the fact that someone just decline an acceptance. This event might serve as a confirmation (and a reminder) that the butterfly effect does exist! Please, plan accordingly Peace!

Congratulations again on all acceptances! If you have definitely decided that you will not accept one or more of your offers (and, moreover, have already voiced that decision on thegradcafe.com), please, do not delay the decline email to grad schools just for the sake of a free trip or some other secondary reasons! If we all are claiming here to be a brotherhood, lets live up to this claim. Peace!

Congratulations on all acceptances! Please, spread joy! If you got accepted to your first choice (and with acceptable funding), please, send a decline notice to your other grad schools. It will help the others (who are still in limbo) to get their "Good News" messages during the next (hopefully) wave of acceptances. Peace!

How narrow or broad should one's interests be in SOP? IR or Europe or Russia or Putin?

Thank you, flyers29! The NRC rankings are: 1 1-3 Harvard University Government 2 1-3 University of California-Berkeley Political Science 3 2-5 Columbia University in the City of New York Political Science 4 3-7 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Political Science 5 2-9 Stanford University Political Science 6 4-8 Yale University Political Science 7 5-12 New York University Politics 8 6-17 Duke University Political Science 9 6-18 Washington University in St. Louis Political Science 10 7-16 Princeton University Politics 11 8-17 University of California-Los Angeles Political Science 12 6-20 University of California-San Diego Political Science 13 7-20 Ohio State University-Main Campus Political Science 14 8-19 University of Chicago Political Science 15 8-18 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Political Science 16 9-22 University of Maryland-College Park Government and Politics 17 10-22 University of Wisconsin-Madison Political Science 18 12-27 Cornell University Government 19 11-30 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Political Science 20 10-38 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Political Science 21 12-27 University of Southern California Politics and International Relation 22 15-29 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Political Science 23 16-33 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus Political Science 24 17-34 University of Washington-Seattle Campus Political Science 25 17-35 George Washington University Political Science 26 18-38 Emory University Political Science 27 20-35 University of California-Davis Political Science 28 21-39 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Political Science 29 21-42 Stony Brook University Political Science 30 23-44 Georgetown University Government 31 22-44 Rice University Political Science 32 22-46 Texas A & M University Political Science 33 23-43 The University of Texas at Austin Government 34 23-48 Rutgers University-New Brunswick Political Science 35 23-49 SUNY at Binghamton Political Science 36 23-49 Indiana University-Bloomington Political Science 37 27-46 Michigan State University Political Science 38 26-48 University of Iowa Political Science 39 26-48 University of Virginia-Main Campus Politics 40 30-55 Northwestern University Political Science 41 30-50 University of California-Irvine Political Science 42 30-55 University of Arizona Political Science 43 29-66 University of Pennsylvania Political Science 44 37-66 University of Colorado at Boulder Political Science 45 35-69 University of Connecticut Political Science PhD 46 36-66 University of Hawaii at Manoa Political Science 47 35-71 University of Miami International Studies 48 38-70 Syracuse University Political Science 49 41-66 University of Notre Dame Political Science 50 39-73 University of California-Santa Barbara Political Science 51 38-68 Vanderbilt University Political Science 52 42-71 Purdue University-Main Campus Political Science 53 39-74 University of Missouri-Columbia Political Science 54 39-73 University of Rochester Political Science 55 41-71 Brown University Political Science 56 41-76 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Polit 57 43-68 University of South Carolina-Columbia Political Science and Intern 58 45-77 University of Florida Political Science 59 44-74 University of Massachusetts Amherst Political Science 60 43-80 Florida State University Political Science 61 47-78 Johns Hopkins University Political Science 62 46-79 CUNY Graduate School and University Center Political Science 63 47-79 University of California-Riverside Political Science 64 48-78 Arizona State University Political Science 65 44-81 Boston University Political Science 66 44-83 Wayne State University Political Science 67 49-82 American University Political Science 68 49-83 University at Buffalo Political Science 69 52-87 University of Georgia Political Science 70 48-88 University of Kentucky Political Science 71 52-85 University of Utah Political Science 72 58-86 University of North Texas Political Science 73 55-89 Florida International University International Relations 74 56-89 Washington State University Political Science 75 47-92 Boston College Political Science 76 56-90 Brandeis University Politics 77 62-87 University of Oregon Political Science 78 64-89 SUNY at Albany Political Science 79 62-90 University of Illinois at Chicago Political Science 80 65-93 University of New Mexico-Main Campus Political Science 81 67-94 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Political Science 82 68-94 University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Political Science 83 43-102 Howard University Political Science 84 63-95 Temple University Political Science 85 62-96 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Political Science 86 68-95 Claremont Graduate University Politics and Policy 87 71-95 University of Kansas Political Science 88 71-95 Georgia State University Political Science 89 67-96 University of Houston Political Science 90 70-98 The University of Tennessee Political Science 91 77-95 Old Dominion University International Studies 92 81-96 Northern Illinois University Political Science 93 64-100 University of Mississippi Main Campus Political Science 94 77-99 University of Missouri-St Louis Political Science 95 82-100 Western Michigan University Political Science 96 88-100 Texas Tech University Political Science 97 88-102 The University of Alabama Political Science 98 90-101 University of Delaware Political Science and Internatio 99 88-104 Loyola University Chicago Political Science 100 94-103 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Political Science 101 98-104 Florida International University Political Science 102 92-105 University of Nevada-Reno Political Science 103 97-104 Catholic University of America Politics 104 100-105 Southern Illinois University Carbondale Political Science 105 103-105 University of Dallas Politics

Hello All, Can you share the US News rankings of grad schools beyond the top 20 in the area of IR? Thanks a lot!

Yes, I know that there is no universal solution here. That is why I was asking for school-specific information. I hope that such information would be useful for two reasons. It will allow to compare yourself to other applicants, and, thus, "honestly assess yourself" as you suggested. Additionally, even if a right school is chosen, one still has to hit all the right notes in a grad school application.

For every lucky applicant who got into a dream school, there are at least 10 applicants who are forced to look into the future with a motto "There is always another year". While the acceptance rate overall will not go up with the increased quality of grad school applications, we can strive to make this rate go up specifically for GradCafeteers next year! It would be great if applicants who discovered (or stumbled upon) a secret recipe of success could share their stories. Your undergrad University, majors, some statistics (GRE, GPA), work experience (if any), publications (if any), a school that accepted you... And, of course, the most important part - what do you think make you look special in the eyes of admission committees? Many thanks in advance for the lucky ones who would want to contribute to this discussion!

You should retake it. If you want to end up in the school of your dream, you need every piece of your application to be perfect. Now you have a chance to make your application stronger, use it, so you will not regret about this missed opportunity down the line. A lot of applicants score 800 on quant GRE (6%). If you want your application to be competitive, strive for the best score possible. No one from admissions will look into your classes and try to find a reason not to take your somewhat low score seriously......

According to his posts, Pilsar is at UCSD. So no reliable info on Columbia........

Definitely go with Yale if your goal is PhD in biological sciences. Labs are the same, and you will spend a lot of time there. Besides, life of a grad student is stressful enough, and you would not want to add to stress by living in unfamiliar surroundings. For all other experiences, just travel to Europe.

High GRE will do you no harm, but lower GRE might do some damage. The reality is simple: getting accepted into any graduate program is an unpredictable process. Thus, you need all ammunition you can get. It is better to retake GRE now than be rejected by a graduate school of your choice and be forced to reapply next year.

In the civilized world, one has to take consideration quite a few things beyond self-interest when making any decisions.

I find the original question of this thread completely justifiable. Many people admitted that they were wondering about legitimacy of SuddenlyParanoid claims. They decided to bring this question up for public discussion. There is nothing wrong with that. Asking questions, analyzing, comparing helps us all become better applicants, graduate students, professors, etc. That is why this forum was created. In the world there are 2 types of people: Believers and Analyzers. Believers simply choose to believe and any logical dissection seems like a heresy to them. Analyzers, on the other hand, do not take anything for granted. The best scientists belong to the Analyzer clan. They take bare facts and arrive to their own conclusions. This thread is a miniature version of our world. Based on SOP, some statistics provided by SuddenlyParanoid, and all-around agreed-upon need for fit at any given Graduate School, it seems extremely unlikely that SuddenlyParanoid was indeed accepted to all schools he applied. Is it possible that this conclusion is incorrect? Of course, it is possible, especially if SuddenlyParanoid, for some reason, has chosen not to provide some pertinent information (for example, he belongs to the Kennedy family) that would help to arrive to correct conclusions. Please, note that Analyzers never claim anything with certainty, only Believers do. What worries me the most here that not only Believer started name calling and claiming that any analysis-based doubts come from resent and jealousy, they feel righteous about it. Not good.