SBL

98 cents USPS.... Maybe they sent internationals earlier than domestics assuming it would take that much longer for us to receive them.

I am in Europe and I have already received my letter. Dated March 24, it said the following: "Upon the recommendation of the Admissions Committee, I am pleased to approve your admission to the M.A. in Security Studies program, effective with the Fall 2010 Semester. A $200 nonrefundable deposit is required in order to ensure your place in the program. This deposit will be applied to your tuition upon matriculation. Your deposit and the enclosed Confirmation Form must be submitted to Georgetown University, Office of Graduate Admissions, Attn: Enrollment Confirmation, Box 571004, Washington, DC 20057-1004, by April 26, 2010. If applicable, please submit your check or money order in U.S. dollars, made payable to "Georgetown University". If there are any specific departmental or programmatic conditions of admission, you will be notified by separate letter. Please contact your department or program for information about advising, orientation, and registration. Congratulations and best wishes on your admission. We look forward to working with you in the fulfillment of your education and professional objectives. Sincerely, Timothy A. Barbari (Dean)." Quantic, I however have not received the admission packet you mentioned. It seems that came from the SSP whilst mine came from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Maybe GSAS are still mailing out their letters. It seems GSAS are responsible for official admissions notifications as well as details on deposits etc (it is GSAS that takes the money after all, not SSP). Pacer, it might be worth contacting the GSAS next week?

Are everyone's letters saying the deadline is April 15th? Mine says April 26th... Also it was mentioned in the online chat that funding decisions likely wouldn't be made until this week. The transcripts for the online chats are available on the SSP website. They aren't particularly easy to follow, but they answer a number of questions many of you likely have.

Well, I can't comment on the admissions decision processes of the schools you applied to and how your application was weighed - not my domain. What I do know is that I had a number of interactions with faculty at a number of schools that I visited where this appeared to be the case. I've worked professionally long enough to recognize disdain in somebody's eyes when I mentioned the potential policy relevance of my interests. Uncle Joe would agree with me(!): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041202260.html

That was general advice to everybody, not specifically directed at you. Mentioning poli sci's relevance to policy can put you on a very slippery slope with some schools!

Well, I didn't apply to Brandeis....

Come on man, I'm not a troll

Don't write this in your personal statements!

"Foreigners" in State and the agency are naturalized US citizens. It's a requirement for getting the requisite security clearances. Therefore you need more than your generic H1-B. Maybe there are other arms where this isn't required (USAID?), but for intelligence and/or political roles this isn't the case. Where this doesn't always apply is in contracting, and usually assuming you are off-site (e.g. temporarily consulting the USG on say, Chinese military expenditure). Economics / finance is different because of the less sensitive nature of the work.

Private sector. Look up any number of private intelligence firms and private security firms with analytical components. Also political risk (and increasingly violent risk) analysis units within investment banks (both in research departments and in their global security offices) and within the larger insurance companies. Also strategy and security offices within energy firms. Anybody who has money riding on what is happening somewhere in the world and is large enough to require their own analytical arm. Of course this is all directed at IR students and comparative students with regional / area foci. Someone coming in with theory or methods will likely not be appealing (nat least not for this kind of role - the numerical competency of very good quant methods students will probably help open doors into all sorts of other areas of finance).

Personally I am very disappointed in this thread. Not so much you IRmiester (I understand the comedic appeal of rocking the boat every now and then even if I don't agree with it) - but certainly with some of the responses. Troll or no (and I have no reason to believe SP has lied in any way whatsoever), it has little material relevance. The only purpose this thread has served is to illustrate the competitive insecurities and snide gossiping I can expect to encounter when I eventually go to grad school.

a couple of UCLA rejections have gone up on the results page. Anyone claiming? Given it's not even 8am there yet, seems slightly dubious. But you never know...

Also accepted to Chicago CIR. I'd love to give it a go, but unfortunately have no money

Just noticed the poli sci board owned the February top 10 posters ranking haha

Official rejection from MIT - email directing me to website

Official rejection from UC Irvine. Mass email.

No. I am applying this year. I have an MA in which I worked my butt off (was in the library until midnight most weeknights as was working a job too), and did extensive original research for my thesis. Loved every second of it. Guess I should mention I have some teaching experience too. Not enough to shout home about, but I certainly enjoyed that too.

I would highly recommend anybody to go out and get some professional work experience before committing to academia, if for no reason than to see what the other side is like and ensure that you won't ever have regrets or doubts about the direction you took. It took me two and a half years of professional experience to realize that academia is where I am happiest and that that is what I want to do with my life. I have no regrets about taking that time away from study though. Besides the material benefits of a very good salary with which I was able to pay down some student debts, it has ensured that I will never wonder if the grass is greener on the other side so to speak. Some people think I am crazy for leaving what is a very good job with some serious prospects in order to go back to school, but I look at it as a case of being happy. I love academia and the idea of being able to do something that I truly enjoy for the rest of my life trumps any other considerations in my career choice.

Rejected from Penn via website

It's in Rhode Island and sits on a hill overlooking a huge mall!

Thanks so much Fingers crossed!

waitlisted at UNC waitlisted at UNC!!!!! Sorry for the excitement, but this is my first positive response. I was emailed by a professor who mentioned the chair should have already emailed me. But I never received that email... so wondering if there are other emails that have been sent to me that I haven't received...

This is very true. I did see Irvine as a safety school but I guess that is through my own naivety haha. I will certainly spread the net wider next time around. I would love to apply to big state schools and indeed looked at a number of them (Berkeley was my top choice of course). I looked at not just the high ranking ones such as UCSD but also places like UCSB (I would have loved to go there). The problem for me is that I'm foreign and I cant claim state residency after my first year in the program. So the only state schools I can apply to are those that are able and willing to cover non-resident tuition for the majority of my program (such as Berkeley). This obviously isn't a problem with private schools, which is why I applied to places like Penn and Brown even though they aren't as good a fit for me as others. They have money so are actually places I could physically attend were I ever admitted. The only schools I applied to where funding is not guaranteed (UCLA, MIT, Georgetown) were those where my fit was particualrly strong and so I hoped I would have a good shot at landing the limited funding they do offer. If you have any suggestions of big state schools that could fund me the whole way then please do let me know. UT is a place I am looking at for next year, though again a very selective program.

Thanks very much. I think given this, it is probably best I create a new writing sample that's a bit more mainstream and ties in other poli sci work. Given your position, do you think it is feasible to obtain research positions with professors with whom I have not studied under previously?

Thanks very much for those thoughts. The reason I opted for a work reference is because the programs emphasized individuals who were best placed to assess my abilities. In my case this includes a work reference (intelligence analysis) as they had a much better idea of my research and writing abilities than would a random professor from a class I took years ago who probably doesn't remember me. Those professors that do remember me aren't in poli sci so that could also be a problem. In my master's I worked very closely under one professor who headed up my entire program, so there wasn't much opportunity to work with others anyway. I wish departments would just outright say on their websites that they wont accept references from non-academics, rather than specify "those best placed to assess". Had I known of GradCafe before, this wouldn't have been a problem Regarding the writing sample, it couldn't be situated in any relevant literature, as as I mentioned, it was on an esoteric subject not written on previously. It was however all original research - and done pretty well given my advisor loved it and will probably be using some of the research in an upcoming book. I guess the best step here would be to create another original research paper but use quant methods in it as a demonstration of capability.