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Everything posted by ultraultra
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Congrats on your acceptances! Personally, I'm not making any decisions until I've heard from all the schools and visited. But I'll almost definitely see you at the SB open house, whenever that may be.
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"you're getting my reference whether you want it or not!!!"
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I don't think there's any set-in-stone best practice, besides 'do what you feel you need to'. Most schools have a visitation weekend, where they cover your travel expenses, and at that point you can meet all your POIs and get a feel for the school. But I don't see any harm in initiating contact with your POIs now, if you have questions about the program or just want to see what they're like / what you could expect from them in the future. I don't think you should worry about bugging your POI now that you're in - it's in their interest to try and get you to attend the program, so in most cases I'd expect they would be friendly and accommodating. After all, it's in both your interests to ensure you make an informed decision about where to spend the next five years of your life! Anyways, congrats! Where did you get in?
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I'm also in at Stony Brook
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None of the schools I've applied to have released decisions yet and watching all these decisions roll in that don't apply to me is sending my nerves through the roof!!! In any case, congrats to all admits so far. Hopefully some good news is on the way for me and others who are still waiting to hear back from their entire list!
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I understand you're frustrated, but that's a pretty disrespectful way to talk about people who are putting in a bunch of free time/labour to help you with your goals..... All you can/should do is send gentle and friendly reminders, and (if applicable) next time, pick referees who you know to be timely.
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If your frame of reference is top US research universities, sure. But some of these are top Canadian universities. It depends what OP wants at the end of the day.
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the suspense is starting to get to me
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UBC by a long shot
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I didn't apply to OSU but this is contradicted by BFB (the grad director at OSU) in the Faculty Perspectives thread: "[Not getting an interview] either means that you're not in the running or that you are in the running but the person given your file doesn't feel the need to call you. I get some "This person's great, I don't need to call to tell that." I also get some people who simply don't like making calls. It could also mean that the person given the file doesn't have time to call (this year, unfortunately, our call period overlaps the SPSA meeting... in Puerto Rico." I think this serves as a good reminder to all of us during this stressful time that this process can be super idiosyncratic and is truly a black box! I got psyched out about admission to a particular MA program last year, based on grad cafe members hearing back earlier than me, when it turned out they were just finalizing documents for my fellowship before contacting me (the program is unfunded for most students). So, at least this early in the game, my philosophy is basically "no news is no news," not "no news is bad news."
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(I didn't apply there, that would just be my guess based on other schools I know more about)
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They've probably been reviewing applications on a rolling basis and are making offers to their top candidates first
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oops! thanks
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This Slate article on the admissions policies within top US universities -- published yesterday -- is probably of interest to some of us. The stuff about diversity and GRE scores is particularly sobering: "The Secret Lives of Ph.D. Committees: A new book shows the stark realities of how graduate admissions get made."
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not me!
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don't feel comfortable publicly naming the school since I don't know whether it was an anomaly offer or not, but I heard back from a school this week requesting an interview
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Most of you won't get tenure-track jobs
ultraultra replied to notcoachrjc's topic in Political Science Forum
As others in this thread have said and from everything I've read, if you want a professorship at a school that focuses on research rather than teaching, it really seems to be about research potential/productivity. People at top programs have an advantage because of prestige, because their pedigree signals that they have potential, and because the increased resources at top schools (among other attributes) give them a better shot at publishing widely/in good journals before going on the market (+ networks give them opportunities to co-author with and schmooze top scholars in their subfield). For the first two reasons, a poorly published CHYMPS grad will still do better than a poorly published grad from an unranked program, but it's all relative. If you go to a lower-tier program and publish in reputable journals, you'll still have a good shot. (Not at every school but) the chances are good that your application will get a second look if you have, among other pubs, a solo-authored APSR or JOP at the time of application. These things aren't easy of course. And not everyone is cut out for them. But they aren't impossible. -
I second the thanks above. I'm curious about the recruitment weekends. How far in advance do schools tell you about them? Do the recruitment weekends for top schools often overlap or do they stagger them reasonably well? How much do they usually reimburse you for attending? Will they reimburse your travel costs if you come on a different weekend? And did you find your experiences at the recruitment weekend were a fairly accurate sign of what was to come (in terms of resources/"mood" of the department/friendliness of supervisors and admins) or not so much?
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Yeah I have 2 January deadlines and had considered waiting so that I could update my CV at the last minute, but ultimately I decided it was better to just submit them while I was still in the application headspace and allow myself a mental break over the holidays. Also my understanding is that some of the ones with later deadlines view the apps on a rolling basis, so it can't hurt. If I were you I would try to do as much of the application now as is possible, just so you're not scrambling to remember things a month from now (like how best to explain your employment exp. as best) Also -- happy holidays everyone!
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Have submitted over half my applications now, with a goal to send the rest in before tomorrow ends. So exciting (and terrifying)! One thing I'm wondering about based on the e-mails I've gotten confirming my applications: do most schools send out an e-mail notifying you that you were accepted/rejected? Or do we just have to log in every day until we see a decision? Had assumed the former but am now a bit confused..
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Yeah that's what I was telling myself also. Though I felt like I was making myself a less impressive applicant with every sentence that I cut or made more general/vague to accommodate the limit. It was ultimately around ~560 words. I'd be worried to go much higher, though I remember in some of the results threads applicants said they went way over (doubled, even tripled) the word limit in some cases and still got in, so maybe we're overthinking it. Still.. wouldn't want to take the risk.
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500 word SOP = impossible (or rather... 500 word SOP as good as my 1000 word SOP = impossible)
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My problem is mostly that (with advice from my profs/editors), I had gradually edited most of the personal narrative out of my main SOP to focus on my research experience and accolades. So when I later went to split the document into two, I found that: 1. I actually couldn't really do that and needed to write a whole new thing using all the information I had discarded and 2. It's pretty hard to get back into the mindset of writing subjectively about my personal journey when I've only just trained myself not to. The first of many hurdles in this application cycle, I suppose!
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MPA programs are discussed in the Government Affairs forum, you might find more information there: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/