wpg205

I know this cycle has gone well for many people, but for those who have shared in the complete train wreck of season it has been, let me just say that this process is bullshit. 

I know from a friend's experience that schools definitely reject applicants they think will get in and accept somewhere better.  There are so few spots that I think they are very strategic about who they accept. 

Unless you are on a waitlist...
What does everyone think the etiquette is on asking for an update on your status? I would also like to go to visiting students day, even if I am still in waitlist limbo, just so I can make an informed choice should I be given the decision.  

yeah its the same troll I think. It's just not plausible.  That person has some problems. 

yeah its the same troll I think. It's just not plausible.  That person has some problems. 

Anyone want to claim the Princeton admit?

Happened to me last year, and I reapplied.  If it happens again, I'm out.  
But don't take it personally.  This is an incredibly noisy process, with far too many qualified applicants than there are spots.  It sucks not getting in, but there is always next cycle and you can always find ways to enjoy your life that involve making more than 20 grand a year and spending all your time alone in the library.  

Happened to me last year, and I reapplied.  If it happens again, I'm out.  
But don't take it personally.  This is an incredibly noisy process, with far too many qualified applicants than there are spots.  It sucks not getting in, but there is always next cycle and you can always find ways to enjoy your life that involve making more than 20 grand a year and spending all your time alone in the library.  

Happened to me last year, and I reapplied.  If it happens again, I'm out.  
But don't take it personally.  This is an incredibly noisy process, with far too many qualified applicants than there are spots.  It sucks not getting in, but there is always next cycle and you can always find ways to enjoy your life that involve making more than 20 grand a year and spending all your time alone in the library.  

I've heard from Berkeley since last posting, so have patience everyone. They seem to still be coming out.
 

Choosing which schools to apply to is really quite difficult.   If you simply could not live without a PhD in poly-sci, than choosing where to apply is really tough because there are probably alot of places where you could see yourself going if you had no alternative.  I am very conscious of the job market though, and I think the opportunity cost of a PhD is quite high. Consequently I was only willing to apply to programs that were a good fit and that I thought would give me a strong chance of having desirable TT options after graduation.  
I come from an economics background, so I didn't have much outside guidance on which schools would be a good fit. I had to mostly go on the USNWR rankings and then see if there were faculty at school who I would be interested in working with.  I applied to twelve schools and was actually hoping to find some more in the 10 to 25 range, but I couldn't find many that seemed like a good intellectual and geographical fit.  
Also of note, the higher ranked programs at more prestiges schools simply seem to have more faculty and thus more opportunity for prospective students to see someone they could work with.  It seems like tier 2 schools often specialized more in their department, whereas places at the top had specialists in everything.  Basically, if you want to apply to a top program, you can usually justify it based on the faculty that are there, whereas second tier and lower departments there is less room to justify the fit.  The fit is either really good, or totally absent.  If you throw in geographical preferences, then finding acceptable second tier or lower schools gets quite difficult. 
I guess we will all get to see how it works out.  Good luck to all, should be a big week. 

My experience last cycle suggested that sometimes they don't send all the rejections at once.  There were a few instances where they sent out acceptances and rejections and I heard nothing.  Ultimately those all turned into rejections unfortunately.  Maybe you are on a waitlist for the waitlist, but more likely they just have multiple mailing lists for rejections and they don't go out all at once.  
It's early though, and every school and year is different, so it is far, far too early to be pessimistic about this cycle.  

I'm finding this very funny, if a little sad. 

I'm finding this very funny, if a little sad.