SBL

Classic Tufts Syndrome!

Yeah, I constantly positive rep'd her every time I saw it happen

haha shouldn't be a problem either way, unless you are planning to start bad-mouthing departments

Sounds pretty damn good to me. The only thing that strikes me as potentially problematic is the fact your background is all policy. I've met a number of faculty at different schools and (this changes from school to school) the general impression I got was that poli sci departments saw themselves as above policy. Indeed, my impression is that if you want your research to have a direct policy impact, they will look down on your application. I wish I could explain this all better, but I myself am still baffled by the attitude. Policy application is not considered "academic" enough. I call it pomposity. You mentioned your interests might be too narrow. What did you mention in your apps? (You can PM me if you'd rather not display openly on the board). Maybe one more potential issue: Like you, I also had to include a work reference as I didn't have the relevant faculty connections to have them all be academic. I do think that makes for a substantial disadvantage given committees want to see recommendations from those that can "truly" assess your research potential (i.e. other academics). The self-absorbed politics of the whole system I have experienced has been very disheartening to be honest.

Could be an earlier admit who only just got round to checking their email. A Stanford one up there too.

Fine Rory, you win

It should just be at the bottom of the page when you log in - below your application check list. Maybe the link is broken to the admit letters

All it takes is one. And I gotta say, well done. Edit: This was directed at LordNorth haha

rejected from Yale too. I'm assuming the 10,400 applicants they mention was for the whole of the graduate school

Pure speculation now, but given the huge increases in UC undergraduate tuition (is it 35% they are talking about now? - something like $10k total tuition for in-staters), it's possible there might be some offsetting of graduate budget cuts.

There is a post somewhere in the depths of this thread that mentions the stipend for Berkeley this year was $21,000 instead of the $25,000 offered last year. It has been suggested that this is another method they might be using to counteract budget cuts. That said, a cut in cohort is likely. The New York Times reported that even Yale was cutting graduate admissions by 10 or 15% (it didn't specify programs or departments). If the school with the second largest endowment in the world is cutting, I imagine the states are

I feel like my heart is about to give out.

On your last point, I think a lot would depend on what schools are specifically being compared and in what industries. For example in federal government circles, I imagine Georgetown has a greater reputation than UPenn.

I think you, along with the rest of us, lost any semblance of sanity when you decided to apply for a phd in poli sci :D

Wish you had to be registered to post decisions

Inspired by one of the U Texas rejections recently posted on the board. I have heard either personally, or via third parties, a number of programs associate "record numbers" of applicants with the ongoing economic "crisis". Furthermore, this seems to be making it into the rejection commiserations offered to those unsuccessful applicants. I've yet to see any substantial evidence of this being a cause however. So out of pure interest, I wanted to conduct an informal poll. Has any one here either a) lost their job recently because of the "crisis" and therefore decided to apply to graduate school or b ) had so much trouble finding jobs post college that they have opted for graduate school AND would not have been on the graduate school path anyway, or c) decided to apply to graduate school in an attempt to secure a "recession-proof" career further down the line through obtaining a tenured position? It can be easy to assume that recession causes increased applications, but deciding to do a phd in political science is a major life-trajectory-altering decision, so I find it difficult to accept that a lost job etc causes many people to "fill the time" with a phd in the same way as those that lose their I-Banking or corporate jobs go to business or law school for a couple of years and then go back into the industry when the market picks up. Additionally, slaving away for three years at law school, while a long and arduous process, can be cushioned by the thought of the high-paying career to follow. To be poor through a 5-7 year phd and then go into a modestly-paid career of similar work for the rest of your life (if academia is your end goal) requires a certain type of mindset - one that values the idea of the work itself rather than any remuneration it brings. Is it really that easy to switch into this frame of mind just because the economy takes a dive? Disclaimer: I don't claim that any responses will consitutute the "substantial evidence" I claim is lacking on this issue. For those interested, none of the above 3 scenarios I outlined apply to me.

I got the Chicago email too. My guess is that following the decisions released yesterday, they received an influx of calls asking about status, which probably prompted them to send out that holding email as a means to relieve the pressure....on themselves.

<br /> I used to have a very narrow dissertation topic. Then I went to one of the top schools in my list below (will remain nameless), where I was summarily told by a professor that I might as well just write a book and not bother with a phd. In general they seem to have a preference for those with broad interests they can shape (they can then continue their own research through you), rather than those that know what they want to do. Naturally in my SOP, my "intellectual maturity" quickly receeded. The very scientific method of using the past few posts in this thread seems to support the notion that focus does not matter, and might even hurt chances of admission.

Anyone know if any of the Chicago accepts were for IR? Wondering if they've got through all the subfields yet or if there will be more releases tomorrow.

Totally get it Well, I hope you make it to Harvard and then do really well. Then maybe write me a letter of rec in a couple years time and hopefully I get good news from Chandelle

Alas you have an acceptance to one of my top choices though. Not claiming that makes it any easier for you - I wouldn't know. But I'm still in the "Do I even have a future?" stage of anxiousness.

Torturous

Tufts Syndrome! Yeah okay, that may be a little paranoid. But it could be a risk, particularly at those lower ranked schools where there is limited funding. If they see you applying to say Harvard/Yale/wherever, and they think you have a good shot of getting in there, the lower schools might reject you (or at least reject you for funding) on the assumption that you will likely choose to go to one of the higher schools. This frees up the funding to offer to a student more likely to choose their institution. I hate the question for the very reason that I don't know how much a committee will try to guess what other schools will accept you - and then factor that into their own decision. Also, it can be a problem declaring if applying to many schools (e.g as I have). Two possible interpretations: 1) Very committed to doing a PhD, so much so that will apply to everywhere possible and invest all that time and money in many applications to ensure a place somewhere. 2) Lacks focus, as interests are more suitable for some departments compared to others. Has not really thought the process through. As I said, paranoid

Hey all, New here and nothing particularly constructive to add right now, but thought I'd return the same courtesy you have all shown by putting my app details below in my sig. Given the number of releases yesterday, I'm pretty worried about Berkeley (my top choice), but hoping I might hear something today.