oakeshott

Such a cool document! Thank you!

All very good points. My general approach to these rankings is that small variations (say, +/- 3 or 4) don't really provide too much information, especially among the mid and lower tiers. But once you start to talk about changes in the order of +17 (Houston) or -9 (JHU), clearly something's changing with those departments. Similarly, trend lines can be more important than individual observations. @Comparativist's point about time frames is interesting. I agree intuitively, but I wonder if it's possible to dig up some tangible evidence. What are the longest-running Political Science rankings? I was only able to find USNWR rankings for 2009, 2013, and 2017.

A kind soul shared the list below on PSR. They're changes in US News ranking positions.* Basically, the biggest winners in the Top 60 are Houston (+17), American (+12), UMass Amherst (+12), Vanderbilt (+12), Penn (+9), and Georgetown (+7). The biggest losers are Johns Hopkins (-9), and UCSB (-6). Some of the results are inconsistent with the claims being made in this thread (see, e.g., Chicago, MIT, Wisconsin). *As a disclaimer, I haven't checked any of the numbers on this list myself. 1. Top 10 Duke +3 UC Berkeley +2 Stanford +1 Columbia no change Harvard no change Michigan no change Yale no change MIT -1 Princeton -1 UCSD -1 2. Ranked 11-60 Houston +17American +12U’Mass Amherst +12Vanderbilt +12Penn +9Georgetown +7UC Davis +6UC Riverside +6Boston U +5Brown +5Colorado +5North Texas +5Arizona State +3Georgia +3MSU +3NYU +3Stony Brook +3Southern California +3Syracuse +1Texas +2UNC +2Emory +1Texas A&M +1Cornell no change WUSTL no changeChicago no changeFlorida State no changeOhio State no changePitt no changeRutgers no changeWisconsin no changeBinghamton -1Illinois -1Maryland -1Notre Dame -1Virginia -1Northwestern -2U Arizona -3Indiana -4Iowa -5Penn State -5Rice -1Rochester -2UCLA -2UC Irvine -5UC Santa Barbara -6George Washington -4Minnesota -5U. Washington -5Johns Hopkins -9

Not sure if Oxford is on anyone's radar, but I'm claiming the DPhil admit from the results board.

I totally agree with this. A few months ago, one of the schools that has since rejected me was in my personal, mental top 3. Now that just sounds ridiculous to me.

I thought last year was 29? Or maybe that was just allotted slots.

My POI at Harvard asked me to let them know when I heard back from the committee, so I think all the e-mails are coming from the dept chair.

To my wait list comrades: my sources () assure me that, tyrannical yield rate notwithstanding, Harvard has accepted several people off the waitlist in recent years. So all hope is not lost, I suppose.

Thanks!

It looks like a form letter. Came from the dept head.

Weeks ago a source told me decisions would come out yesterday or today. That's the timeline I was referring too. Happy the source turned out to be reliable and I didn't mislead you all.

JK: Just heard from Harvard. Waitlisted.

Yeah. I have a feeling they're going to drag this out after all.

Let's hope it's good. This wait is getting old.

See above: I was not referring to reductions due to funding cuts, but rather to more significant ones as a result of last year's high yield.

My understanding is that: (1) in this particular case the main factor is last year's yield rather than the funding cuts; and (2) the reduction in spots applies to the dept as a whole. How much of the reduction is absorbed by each subfield probably depends on the current distribution of students, but that's just guesswork. Interesting. If last year was a high-yield year across the board (or even just across the top departments), I wonder why that was the case.

Significant reduction in the number of spots due in part to high yield last year.

Based on my previous intel, Harvard will be out today or tomorrow. And based on newer intel, it sounds like this was a particularly tough cycle to be applying to Harvard.

Alright team: after this roller coaster of a week—and with my official Yale rejection en route—I am now only waiting for Harvard, which I know when to expect. With that in mind, I think it is best for my nerves (and for the general level of conversation in this thread ) for me to check out of GC for the rest of the cycle. I might pop in occasionally if I have any useful intel / results to share, but other than that I'll do my best to stay away. I'll be forever grateful for the camaraderie, advice, and solidarity. And I sincerely hope everyone here ends up in a place where they feel happy and proud to be—whether that's in a PhD program or not. ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!

What a crazy end of the week. 24 ecstatic hours followed by 24 hours of having my butt handed to me.

wish i had more upvotes to give out today!

Yeah, 11 is way too many... That'd be what, between 1/2 and 1/3 of all admits? And still no claims on top of that? Shenanigans, shenanigans.

lol. i call shenanigans for sure. i think the troll-unless-claimed rule is solid. just look at how quickly people here posted about the MIT rejections!

Got the MIT rejection as well. It always stings, but I'm so glad they didn't drag this out and into the weekend!

Trust the intel @dih2, trust the intel! Also not buying any of the Yale posts until someone here claims at least one of them.