procrastinatrice

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you mdnicx42! Hopefully you'll be in Evanston come fall and we will be chattering away in a certain foreign language you speak so well :wink:

Grecoroman, have you made your decision yet? I recently accepted NU's offer, I am in IR, but not in mainstream IR-- I hope to do work in critical, and especially postcolonial, IR, so there might actually be a certain amount of overlap in the people we can work with. I thought Northwestern was my best fit, but I applied to some interdisciplinary programs, like MEALAC at Columbia. Shoot me a PM if you want to talk about it.

IR.

I declined the offer from UChicago yesterday.

That was really well said, expatbayern. I definitely couldn't put that so coherently I really think most departments appreciate cross-subfield research interests, when they are well-articulated.

BigCheese, you are great and I hope you will try again next year. Things can really change, this was a horrible year for applications. Last year I didn't get any funded offers, and this year things have gone so much better than I expected. So miracles happen Best of luck!

You got me Seraphita! I am totally after the karma points. And please don't think I am kidding, I am serious. If my mind is made up, it makes things much easier for the schools and waitlisted applicants if I make my decision official ASAP. I already turned down two schools that I know for sure that I will not attend. I think karma (or common courtesy) should be a very important concern for all of us who are making decisions right now. I am not in political theory, but I am a very theory-oriented (especially critical theory) IR person with a very strong interest in French politics. I think it doesn't get any better than NW for me. (And I do know that I have just made myself more recognizable than ever to faculty lurkers -- if there are any. I just don't care.) Oh and btw I didn't get in Harvard:) I didn't apply in the first place, thinking it was a) way out of my reach not a good match.

It may be early, (we still have over a month) but I feel that I have already made my decision. I already speak to my friends and family like I am going to be at that school (NW) for certain. So I thought: Why wait? I know it is very stupid, but I feel like if I don't wait until at least early April, it means I haven't given this enough time. But technically, I am at a point where my heart is completely set on NW. I think part of it is due to the fact that going to NW means I will have to turn down a "higher-ranked" school. Whatever that means. Do any of you feel like you already know where you are going? Are you hesitant to put it on paper yet, even though you know you gave this plenty of thought already?

I think most schools prefer you to contact the DGS. E-mail seems to be perfectly acceptable, but I guess some schools send a card that should be returned.

I think if you decline politely and express your respect for the department, which I have no doubt that you will anyway, I think it is best to decline ASAP --if you know for sure that you aren't going to go. I had informally told UMass-Amherst that I would most likely accept another offer as much as I loved UMass. They asked me to tell them as soon as I was absolutely certain since other students are waiting for funding. So I just officially turned down the offer. I think it makes most schools jobs a lot easier. Not to mention those of the applicants who are waiting for admission or funding...

It saddens me to see that less and less people seem to post now that most schools have notified. I got to used to wasting a lot of time on this board and will miss it once high season is completely over.

I don't think it is just a case of trying to decipher who's who. I think it is also about trying to see what value is attached to their department by qualified applicants. What are accepted applicants looking for in schools? Which professors are regarded as major enticements? I am not saying a lot of profs would do this, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few did. I think gradcafe offers significant insight into the minds of prospective grad students, who are basically the future of political science departments.

I think, you are right,misterpat, it would be a little over-fragmented. But I don't see how we could have productive forums otherwise. While people from all disciplines could chat together under, say, cities, I don't think it make much sense for a Biology and an English student to write in the same forum regarding the academic aspects of grad life. But maybe, dividing things into a few compartments like natural sciences, humanities, social sciences etc. could still work. ( I think this is also what belowthree meant, I just wasn't 100% sure) But to be honest, I don't think "tiny enclaves" is such a bad idea. But that may be because I am in poli sci, which is a pretty happening community in this forum.

Regular posters! That's exciting;P Care to reveal their names on the board? I always thought that some faculty members probably lurk here. But I didn't think they would post, I guess I am wrong

I agree. It would be nice if each discipline got its "officially grads" section. That way, people who have already bonded over graduate admissions could continue to chat.

Legitimately a douchebag. I am sorry, but there is no excuse for his behavior. This is not honesty, it is just some kind of pathological, self-congratulatory crap (I am assuming he went to H, Y, or P to actually say this, if not he needs treatment even more than I thought). Not everybody has to go (or will thrive at) HYP. And they will still be successful, in many cases. There is absolutely no reason for you to pass on a funded offer from Cornell. It is an excellent department, and the fact that you got in straight out of undergrad shows that you are a scholar of distinction (I don't mean to say those who didn't are not scholars of distinction, but I don't think the Ph.D. admissions process is entirely arbitrary either). The only reason to wait another year and reapply is not feeling ready for graduate school. The fact that one of your professors decided to undermine your achievements should not affect your decision. And this is coming from someone who suffers from impostor syndrome a little bit. I still feel that everyone at grad school will be so much more well-read than me, I fear that I will not live up to my potential advisors' expectations come fall. But I also recognize that my fears are probably slightly exaggerated and if I continue to work hard, I should be just fine. And I am sure you'll be great. I am so pissed at your professor!!! Arghh! Please don't cry, he is not worth it.

LOL, what do you mean? Did she realize that I was unofficially turning down the offer? Yes, I believe so, especially since she talked about the importance of dressing in layers in Chicago during winter, after I told her I was strongly leaning towards my other offers. She was incredibly nice, too. But I felt really bad because she called to recruit me and my mind was already made up not to go there.

A professor from UMass just called to recruit me & answer questions etc. and it was the most awkward conversation ever, since I don't plan to attend. And I unofficially declined the offer and will put it in writing in the next few days. Wow, that felt weird.

By post. The letter was dated February 23rd.

My Hopkins rejection is finally here. Time to change the signature... but I like it the way it is!

No, I am probably just waiting for my rejection letter to arrive I live outside of the U.S. and I got no notification whatsoever. I just e-mailed the grad coordinator though, so I am hoping to find out for sure real soon. About UMass funding: I don't know what they will be able to offer, if anything at all. But I expect to turn them down within the next week or so, so it doesn't really matter. I hope they give you an awesome package! And I just saw your new post: Yes, I am not planning on going. I am in IR.

Ha, thanks for reminding me to check the website, hondo19. My status at UMass is 'accepted' --as of Feb 27th. No word on funding yet.

OK, I should not have spoken like the harbinger of doom that I am. All I know is that two of my undergrad advisors both went there (one was in Poli Sci and one in English) and had bad experiences and argued that there was not much emotional support/mentorship available for grad students at Columbia. They thought that most people felt this way but this is their opinion, and who knows, perhaps most people are quite happy there. It is just that they really advised me against applying (and I did, to MEALAC though, but that is supposedly an even more confused program). I would ask current grad students how they like it there. They will have more reliable information, for sure. Congrats on your acceptances!

I just sent a PM to you:)

I don't know about Harvard, but I heard that many Columbia political science students are far from thinking that they made the right choice. Most complain that profs don't give them the time of day...