DJ_CA

I agree with some of what you said and disagree with other parts. I agree that there isn't much "networking" going on, and I also found that I didn't have a ton of questions for the professors since I'd done a fair amount of research into each place I visited before actually going. If that's all you're hoping to get out of visit days, then it probably isn't worth it to go if you're crazily busy. That said, I think the fact that you found out that the current grad students are happy is important in and of itself. That's really something one can't know until he/she visits. The other thing I found worthwhile from visiting was getting to know the prospective cohort. I loved the group at one university I visited, enjoyed the company of the group at another, and didn't care for them at a third. (Not going to specify since I met at least one person from GC at each place.) Getting to know who you're going to be working with for the next 5-6 years (profs, currents, and prospies), combined with getting to know the city/campus area, is really what I found most worthwhile. But to answer the original question, no, you are not mandated to go if you can't make it. Departments offer the free trip just to make sure everyone has a fair opportunity to check out their programs. (And to sway you toward taking their offers with good food!)

Yeah, that was my original plan, but I thought I'd check with folks on here just in case other people were actually going to rock a level of formal above that. I hope no one actually thought I was actually serious about my Communist Party t-shirt!

At the risk of asking a stupid, slightly off-topic question, what do you all suppose the appropriate attire is for these events? I neither want to arrive in nice slacks and a tie to find everyone else in jeans and hoodies, nor to roll up in my Communist Party t-shirt (you know, the one with Lenin and Mao, et al drinking from red cups, that only polisci people laugh at?) to find that I am embarrassingly underdressed. Thoughts? (Particularly from anyone who's been to one of these shindigs before...)

Berkeley (this weekend!): March 7-8 UCSD: March 9-10 UCLA: March 11-12 (maybe... haven't quite decided on this one yet) Wisconsin: April 8-9 Looking forward to seeing some of you at these events!

Hmm. Thanks for the tip on getting my document converted, brouhaha. On the waitlist for a fellowship at UCLA.

Thanks! I'm not sure about funding yet. There's an attachment letter that I'd really like to open, and I assume it contains details, but unfortunately, it seems to be not-Mac-compatible. I'll have to wait for the Bruin folk to get back into the office tomorrow to find out.

Hey Everyone, I just opened my inbox to find a rejection (or a direction to an online rejection) from MIT, as well as an acceptance (!) to UCLA for American Politics. So for anyone still waiting on UCLA, keep hope alive! -D

Hey Guys and Gals, Nothing came for me from UCSD today, so I'm expecting something tomorrow if they're going to meet the March 1 date they set for themselves for getting funding info to all of you outside of this general area. So unless they FedEx overnighted it to everyone today (which seems unlikely, given the California state budget), or unless they are not, in fact, going to get stuff to everyone by March 1, expect to receive the package on Monday. I'll keep everyone posted.

I have not yet received funding info in the mail, and I live in Greater San Diego. (Technically, I think the place I live is officially considered the armpit of San Diego, where those beaches and palm trees are so close, but so, so very far away.) I'll let you all know if I get something tomorrow so that you can expect it for Saturday (or not, depending on where you live). I too have been anticipating it since it's the one of my three prospective programs for which I don't have any kind of idea about funding.

So, uh... I think this strange turn of events is going to make me ask the question I've been wondering for a while: How closely do you all suppose folks from the universities watch this here forum?

I've been a high school teacher for a few years now. In my M.Ed. program (my 18th consecutive year of being in school), I was burned out and convinced that I never wanted to be a student again. After teaching for a bit, I realized a number of things about myself, including the fact that I sincerely felt unfulfilled not doing academic work. That time doing something in "the real world" really helped me to clarify my life's goals and to approach them with enthusiasm rather than inertia. While I'm sure a lot of people can go straight through and never lose their passion nor their purpose, I definitely second all those of you who mention the value of taking some time to experience the other side of adult life. For what it's worth, I also learned that I hate having to be a disciplinarian, that the majority of high school classes aren't nearly as academic as the ones I remember, that a lot of teaching is performance acting rather than serious cognitive instruction (and that to deviate from that standard practice is to turn one's classroom into a Lord of the Flies situation), and that the cream does not rise to the top of any level at most public school districts. So, as someone who I assume is an academics-oriented person, you are probably much happier for not going down that road! [/cynicism]

From what I've experienced personally and heard secondhand, "acing" the GRE will be more important at some places than others. Just as a point of reference, my combined GRE score was 230 points higher than the average listed by one of my "deafening silence" schools, so the GRE certainly isn't the end-all/be-all. One piece of advice I'd give you that may be even more important is to take a full and robust course load your senior year. I'm a few years out of undergrad, and I really wish that I hadn't cashed in all my AP exam credits to spend my senior year playing lots of ultimate frisbee, holding an inordinate number of band practices, and having plenty of time to obsess over my comps. Take a few upper division courses from different subfields than your own, do an independent study to prepare undergraduate research to submit to a conference, complete an impressive minor, take some methods and math classes (I know, maybe I went a bit overboard with that one)... Something like that that to prove to the adcomms that you're a serious academic. Believe me, you have no idea how much I envy your situation of still being able to affect your undergraduate career. Not in the sense that I'm unhappy with my options for next year, but in that I worried constantly throughout the application process about my "getting drunk in Astronomy 101"-themed senior year. (Still got an A in there!) All hyperbole about my undergraduate escapades aside, I do honestly feel that if I had done any of of the things I'm suggesting to you, I would have been a significantly better candidate to the top departments and probably would have been admitted to more of them. Also, and I cringe at even typing this, because I hate that this is a legitimate part of the application process... Do contact a few professors-of-interest at various schools. It might be something that helps you in the way that a rec from an academic superstar helps another applicant. Contact early so that it doesn't appear to be outward academic prostitution, even though it is. Read something of their research first! Finally, as I've said before: The best piece of advice I received from a professor was to find large departments, particularly from big, public universities. Your chance of being admitted there may in fact be better than at lesser-reputed, smaller programs. Good luck! (And like I said, I'm more than willing to share the particulars of my own info once official offers come in the mail.)

Congrats to all the Harvard folks! Well done. Did anyone else receive his/her funding package from Madison today? Just curious.

Honestly... I get the feeling that where someone goes to undergrad influences the decisions a lot more than we'd like to think when it comes to some of the top programs. Not only does an elite undergrad program make one's file pop out immediately, but it more than likely gives him or her a personal connection via letter writers, advisers, etc. I think that when the programs are hovering around 5% acceptance rates, there are going to be more than enough applicants with high GRE scores and high GPAs to fill an incoming class, and remember, we're talking about only 3-10 admitted students per subfield in most cases. That's a situation ripe for a glowing rec from an Ivy prof giving one student a huge edge over a student with identical stats from a liberal arts college where the profs aren't as well-known on the national research circuit (so to speak). Just one observation. And I say this not to take anything away from any Ivy students who were admitted to the top programs, but I just think we should at least acknowledge the potentially huge role one's undergraduate institution may play in this process when we go through a "what does it all mean?" phase. The fact that GradCafe and its multitude of threads about rankings, reputations, and the sorrows of not being admitted to Harvard even exists speaks to the innate elitism of higher academia. I mean, where else are we going to write brilliant theses extolling the virtues of popular democracy? I didn't mean to hijack your thread, so I'll make it up to you by throwing my stats and info out there... Eventually. I actually think this thread is a good idea in terms of bringing a little bit of transparency to this process and for helping those folks who are planning on reapplying (or reading ahead for first applications for next year), but I think that maybe we should wait on it until everyone has received formal offers in the mail. Maybe I'm overly paranoid, but I don't really want to piss anyone off at my prospective programs just quite yet. -D

I don't think anyone was doubting yours. Sincerest congratulations... What an accomplishment, particularly in light of the admissions statistics we saw today from another similarly-ranked political economy program! The fakes from yesterday were primarily rejections, one of which was illegitimately claimed under my username. (It was a robust new tactic from our anonymous friend.) Just so everyone's clear, I'll own up to my rejection on the board when it *actually* comes. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it, because it'll let me finally get down to the tough decision I have.

Geez, I think a 0.3% acceptance rate should be considered a borderline scam at ~$100/app.

I definitely don't prefer that he/she used my username.

No, I haven't heard a single thing. Don't feed the trolls.

My biggest piece of advice (that I wish I knew when I started the process) is to consider subfields rather than departments at large when you're looking at programs and considering their reputations. Sure, a Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. degree is probably going to put you in a good position in the job market regardless of your subfield, but beyond that, it gets more complex. The US News subfield rankings (posted generously on the polisci forum here by APGradApplicant) are not a bad place to start, but do be sure to investigate and consider the research being done at those programs and how they match up with your interests. The point about considering placement is also very important. Another piece of advice a professor gave me that seems like it was really helpful was to pick out a few of the top ranked, but bigger, programs at public universities because they tend to have more spots to offer. (He suggested looking at schools in the Big 10 conference in particular, because their departments are big but often regarded just as highly, if not more so, than a lot of pre-eminent private schools.) I'm not sure where you're going to undergrad right now, but for most of us who aren't/weren't lucky enough to go to Ivy League schools, this is more important than you might initially think. Consider that a program at a private university might only offer 20 acceptances for an incoming class, then break that down by subfield... Meaning that on average, only 4 acceptances will be given for applicants of your subfield. Then consider that applicants from Ivy/Ivy+ schools will have a number of significant advantages over you... I'm not telling you that you don't have a chance at those programs, but rather that you might have a significantly better chance at a Top-10 public program than at a sub-Top-10 private one just because of the numbers. Case in point (for both of my suggestions): I'm excited to be in at three top ten programs for my subfield for next year. They are all larger departments at public universities. I seem to have been rejected from NYU and Penn, which are good programs, but not as highly regarded for my subfield. And, had I followed my first piece of advice, I wouldn't have spent the $90 app fee to NYU anyway, because it wasn't a great fit to begin with. (Location is important, but don't let it get too far in the way of other factors.) Good luck!

Mine's working fine... Maybe that's good news for you? (Or maybe just a browser issue!) Congrats to the Princeton and Penn folks. Great achievements!

Awesome! I've been to Coachella five times, and this year sounds pretty good. (2003 was the best, I don't give an eff what anyone else says... The Libertines' first US performance was life-changing!) I think I'm unfortunately gonna miss it this year though, since I'll be off at visit days the weeks leading up to it and I'm going to be trying to save my money. Also related to your post, are you through-hiking the AT? That's a serious endeavor. If not, which section are you tackling? I'm going to do the JMT this summer, Yosemite-to-Whitney. Might have an extra permit if anyone's interested. Oh yeah, and those reading lists look quite worthwhile. Don't want to look like an idiot when I show up to Berkeley/Madison/UCSD/? next fall.

It's probably some sad, drunk aspiring business student sitting alone in his dorm room and trying to rile up some pinko polisci students after getting rejected from Wharton. Let's just allow him his cheap thrill. If it's legit, I apologize to whoever earned it (and offer congratulations) and don't mean any malice by it... Just trying to add some levity around these parts.

Whether intentional or not, excellent use of San Diego dialect.

Congratulations! That's excellent! I am in as well... So in relation to my earlier post on this page, make that 3-for-3 at public universities!

Just out of curiosity, and to give the methods folks a project to keep them busy while we all wait on other schools , what do you suppose would be the probability of being accepted by every public school and rejected by every private school to which one applied? My Berkeley acceptance, what would appear to be an NYU rejection, and my previous results from Madison and Stanford have me wondering...