oakeshott

As far as I can tell, here is what's going on with Harvard Gov: committee members began informally notifying admits / waitlists on Friday, but some committee members have been slower than others. So the overall effect is that good news began trickling down on Friday, stopped over the weekend, and will likely finish trickling down during the first half of this week. Uncharacteristic for Harvard, but there it is. Good luck! (Edit: this applies to Harvard Gov, not necessarily to PEG / other joint programs.)

DO NOT get drunk and do / say stupid things. It happens more often than you'd think...

It does not.

As usual, n=1. So take this with a grain of salt. I committed to School A, only to get off the waitlist at School B on maybe April 16. A couple of weeks later I asked to be let off the hook from School A and committed to School B. Everyone at School A (and at School B, for that matter) was extremely gracious, kind, and understanding. The program administrator at School B liaised with their counterpart at School A so that I wouldn't have to worry about the bureaucracy and could focus instead on making my decision and talking to my POIs at both schools. When I decided to go to School B, I contacted the people I had met with at School A. I didn't go into too much detail, but I did say where I was going, I thanked them profusely, I said I was genuinely sad that I wasn't joining their program, and I noted that personal factors played an important role. I said I hoped we could stay in touch. All of that was sincere. Every single person wrote back. Like I said, every single person was gracious, kind, and understanding. So that's my story.* Maybe I got really lucky with the folks I met at School A. Maybe I was also lucky in the sense that, given my profile, the switch made a lot of sense. Maybe. But I still think the things I did right are transferable: Act in good faith. Be honest. Be forthcoming. Get help from administrators. And know that, as I said above, faculty and administrators everywhere know that this is just how the game is played. Try to worry less about pissing someone off and more about making sure that you make the right decision. It's one of the most important you'll ever make. By the way: if there are other people, not at School A or B, who have been supporting you / following you in this crazy adventure, make sure to keep them in the loop too if you decide to make a last-minute switch. They'll appreciate it. *I'm not super comfortable publicly sharing more than what I've already said, but feel free to message me if you want to chat more.

This might help Good luck!

Yes. AP subfield.

Sorry, there are two parallel discussion happening right now: one about Indiana and one about UCLA. My post was about UCLA. Good luck! Hang in there.

The email was from one of their admin staff.

Thanks! And it's still early—I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Good luck!

S.O. received an email a few minutes ago.

(At least some) UCLA admits are out.

I couldn't agree with this more. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever read on here. That being said, the ability to handle rejection is a difficult skill to acquire without actually going through the grind.

The more math, statistics, R, and LaTeX you know going in, the easier your life will be. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just lying to you. Of course you can pick this stuff up when you get there—and for the most part I did. But that doesn't make the above statement any less true. There's no question: If I could have my last summer before grad school back, I would take some online math courses and read the Angrist and Pischke books.

On behalf of all your GC friends from last cycle: Congratulations, sir!

Almost every senior person I discussed Chicago with said something along the same lines: "It's good enough to attract top talent, but not good enough to retain it, so it's always going through booms and busts." Right now it's clearly experiencing a boom, though that may already be receding. That being said, I think Chicago is a very intellectually exciting place. Perhaps more so—and in less traditional ways—than "better" programs. I have a lot of love for it and a small part of me will always be sad that I didn't pick it over a "safer" option. I can't really speak to the department's relationship with Economics. For what it's worth, I can say that—at least according to the conversations I had—the relationship with Harris has not always been the strongest, but there are active efforts to change that. Although it does seem like that ball is on Harris' court. @Comparativist, has Slater's move been confirmed?