guest789

You mean for grad school advice or in general? I found that tweet by searching "grad school" in the search box. I follow people in my subfield - I find Americanists are pretty active on Twitter - as well as people who are active in other areas (e.g. R Twitter and so on). Whatever your interests are.

Advice: Get on twitter if you're not already!

If this is related to your research interests, apply!

I think I'm going to stop checking the survey page. I know this forum is only one step above in terms of verification and anyone could lie here as well, but the survey, man... we just don't know how accurate the entries are, so all it does is raise your blood pressure.

From a UMass professor (I feel like this is even worse than say Yale - I would have thought that with such a large ugrad program, UMass would need the TA labor) : In econ, but still (nothing on halving acceptances though): I saw a tweet from a Yale grad student/ABD in poli sci months ago saying they were halving their class as well. Twitter sucks when it comes to digging up old tweets, so I'll try and find it but no promises.

Academic twitter is talking about how it's a bloodbath this year (FML) - double the apps, half the spots.

They (usually) release acceptances on one day, rejections on another.

I honestly don’t think grad school departments think that deeply about it. Maybe it takes them an extra day to sort through waitlists and rejections. The fact that we even know that others are getting in is relatively new as well - since 2008 or whenever this site started. ETA: I don’t think the standardized dates work well either. This isn’t their job, whereas undergrad admissions do that full time, so they can more reasonably set expectations for timing. Profs OTOH have way more priorities that take precedence.

Hi, I don't know how much advice we will be able to offer as this is the political science thread. I think there is a psychology forum on here as well - I'd go check that out if I were you.

This may get lost in all of the results, but I read this advice piece from Justin Grimmer (a Stanford poli sci professor) yesterday: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56cbca73e707ebc39cef7c52/t/5fb56fe1351dd83f652e32ff/1605726177551/Kanye.pdf It looks like a very good guide, take a look if you haven't already.

Acceptances last year came out on Jan 26, so I hope we get news soon!

Congrats on UT Austin for those who received good news. I was hoping we might get news about Berkeley today, but I now think that is wishful thinking.

I don't think they are saying people can't get in without these characteristics - they can. Clearly knowing causal inference, etc. isn't a prerequisite. There are, however, some people who get into all CHYMPS and who are "recruited" for lack of better word because their applications are stellar. Nearly all applicants - probably even most people who are accepted! - do not have 100% stellar applications, but they do have one or two things that stand out. However, I think the ones who get into all must have a higher degree of professionalization - the odds are stacked against them otherwise. (This is also just my opinion - and FWIW I am also an applicant (with zero acceptances so far) so take what I say with a big grain of salt. I should note that I just want to get into one school and do not think I'm in the group I described in the preceding paragraph at all.)

Thanks. I'm someone who is pretty clued into current poli sci - my writing sample uses causal inference methods - but I know a lot of people aren't. I don't think it does applicants any good to "waste" money by applying if they don't know what top departments are looking for.

In the same vein, it would be great if departments would use the writing sample as an indicator of our quant abilities, if we're applying to a quant field. Get rid of the GRE.

Can you give some examples of what professionalization implies?

Does this impact how they view apps without GRE scores? If someone is competitive but did not submit a GRE score, will they still take the application seriously? Secondly, what does this mean in terms of turn around - do they expect a delay in reporting admissions? Or given the increase in marginal candidates, does that have little impact on reporting times? ETA: I think most departments will reinstate the GRE next year haha - they can't be happy about this.

Chicago, Columbia (QMSS not political science)... But... 1) Don't count yourself out yet! 2) If you do find yourself in that situation, I'd strongly encourage working first - you earn money instead of spending it on tuition, which is key. Look at places like Pew, Brennan Center, Wilson Center, Urban Institute. Or look at journalism (data journalism? The Economist is hiring a trainee data journalist which would be a GREAT gig for a potential political scientist. They already have a brilliant one on staff.). Alternatively consulting, data science, data analytics. Or things like JPAL. Anything quantitive would likely be a bonus, given that political science is 90% quant at this point. There is also nothing wrong with getting a normal job that doesn't relate to political science or data at all.

Damn I just removed that post, oh well LOL. Someone posted a few pages back about getting an interview at OSU and they were told they'd hear in 3 weeks, which is why I was wondering. I didn't apply to OSU, so I don't really have a stake in this and probably should speculate too much which is why I deleted it ha.

Edit: Needless speculation, removed.

I think it feels slower because we're all stuck inside with very little to do due to pandemic.

Yes - for example, I was going to apply to HKS PEG this fall, but they emailed us before the application deadline and said that all applicants - if "accepted" - would be waitlisted as the number of deferrals from last year meant that they already have a full class this year. Congratulations to everyone who has heard good news!

I think this is a possibility - not only have the # of applicants increased, many schools that don't need tons of TAs (private schools, usually) are shrinking their class size. I saw a tweet from a Yale grad student a few months ago who said that Yale is halving their class.

I did include a link on my CV. I saw the other day that someone from a college town (I applied to the university this year as well) was looking. This is a school that generally doesn't release their results until the end of February, but it sounds like they're going through our profiles now.

Do y’all think website views mean anything (note I don’t have many views when I’m not applying for things, it’s not a well trafficked website or blog LOL)? It’s going to suck if they’re looking because they’re curious but they wind up rejecting me anyway, ahh.