kwils76

I told all my schools that I declined which program I'd decided on. (even though i'm only 95% sure I'm attending it) I was hesitant at first, but all responded by congratulating me, praising my chosen program and asking me to keep them abreast of my research as I move forward. So I wouldn't worry about telling them! As you say, they're likely just data collecting.

Anyone planning on declining an offer from UNC Chapel Hill? Or have any idea how long this wait list is? Trying to judge my chance of getting off it............

Did undergrad at UConn - it was EXCELLENT fun! Apartment complexes on a bus route or within walking distance (leaving out Carriage/Celeron as I wouldn't recommend them for grad students): Hunting Lodge Clubhouse Knollwood The Oaks (expensive but these are the super nice new ones in the new Storrs center complex) EDIT: Norwood Mansfield That's all I can think of at the moment but if I think of any more I'll add them in here. I believe that the buses will run as long as campus is open. If the snow is THAT bad the campus will close so it won't matter. That said, I would really recommend getting a car. I paid like $2,000 for a beat up old Subaru when i was at UConn and it was the best investment ever, especially given how little there is to do in Storrs itself and how nice it is to be able to go visit all your friends who live in apartments that are further from campus. Most grad students live a bit further from campus; I lived in Norwegian Wood apartments in Tolland (10 mins drive from campus right down 195) and it was full of grad students and the apartments were GREAT - I recommend them to everyone. Hopefully this was helpful!

Hi! I agree with everything said above; also, you can look into travel insurance, as that will often cover personal belongings up to a certain amount. It's possible that the same company that does your health insurance will have a separate travel insurance package that you can get, but you'd have to check with them. There are also companies that do exclusively travel insurance, so you can shop around. These policies also cover you for emergency medical and flight cancellations/lost baggage etc. Here's an example of a place that does just travel insurance that I got from a pretty quick google search: http://www.insureandgousa.com/

Might be kind of an out-of-the-box suggestion but I was also trying to do politics/public policy and my GPA from undergrad wasn't as high as I wanted it to be for the programs I wanted to do - my solution was to look overseas for masters programs. I assumed (and was correct, I think) that being an international student (especially since EU students often don't pay fees at European universities) would give me an edge to get into a better school abroad than I could at home. And having a degree from a different country gave me a second edge when I was applying for policy jobs when I got home, as it set me apart from other applicants. There are GREAT schools in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany etc. where you can get a good public policy masters that will translate well into jobs back home. Plus it's WAY cheaper than getting it in the US and you get the added experience of living abroad! It's a win-win-win. I know you said you're looking to be in NY or DC, but I just thought I'd throw this out there as it certainly worked for me and I think it's something most people don't think about!

Did my undergrad at UConn; lived in Norwegian Wood apartments in Tolland for junior and senior year. Lots of grad students lived there also! The environment was great, the location was perfect (10 mins drive to campus straight down 195) and the apartments were clean, bright and spacious! Highly recommend! Willington Oaks is also a good place to look as well as Cedar Ridge and Walden. UConn was great fun and I hope you really enjoy your grad experience there!!!

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: Northeastern R1 Major(s)/Minor(s): English & Political Science double major Undergrad GPA: 3.6 Type of Grad: MS in Politics from a European university Grad GPA: 3.9 GRE: 163V, 161Q, 4.5W Any Special Courses: Letters of Recommendation: 2 from undergrad (including undergrad advisor) and 1 from grad dissertation supervisor. All know me very well and are relatively prominent in the field. Research Experience: Undergraduate Honors Thesis; Quants-heavy Masters Dissertation Teaching Experience: N/A Subfield/Research Interests: Comparative Other: RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): Arizona State ($$), CUNY GC ($$), CU Boulder ($$) Waitlists: UNC Chapel Hill, GW Rejections: Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCSD, Columbia, UMD College Park, Northwestern, UPenn Pending: N/A Going to: not 100% decided. LESSONS LEARNED: I wish I'd applied to more schools ranked in the 20s and 30s. I definitely overshot a bit, possibly to my detriment. Still very pleased with where I will likely end up and excited to start this next chapter! SOP:

Hi! I've just gone through this process; I ended up getting into a few schools for Comparative so hopefully this will be of some help for you! I would definitely try to pick a specific research area that you'd like to focus on (women in politics, for example) at least for each school, as suggested above. With regard to picking out specific schools, first I made a big list with 2-3 schools from each ranking "decile" (3 from top 10, 2 from top 20, 3 from top 30, etc. up through the 60's) that I would be happy to go to location-wise. From there, I tried to pick out two faculty members from each school whom I would be happy to work with and who shared my regional focus of Western Europe. If I couldn't come up with 2 professors from a specific school, I dropped it from my list. If you still have too many schools, pare it down with the goal of having a good spread across ranking deciles. And keep in any schools where they build the data sets you are hoping to work with. I think your list looks good - though I would look at CU Boulder rather than Denver as it's ranked higher and has a really good comparative program, and drop Penn State unless you want to be seriously pushed into intense quants (this is advice I got from my advisor). I would also check out Arizona State as their Women in Politics program is GREAT and they focus on regions close to what you're looking to study. Hopefully this is helpful to you!

Hello! First, I would check the graduate school ranking list at US News; you can filter by department (economics) to get a sense of where Georgetown falls relative to other schools. Second, see if you can find any statistics about what recent grads are up to from Georgetown, as well as what they're up to from the other schools you're considering. If you think that the extra cost is worth what benefits you would be afforded from having attended Georgetown, then go. If not, then go elsewhere. Finally, I would recommend speaking with someone in the field you're trying to enter to see what they say. Ultimately, they will be much more of an expert on subjective views about different programs and how important prestige is relative to other considerations than you or I. Hopefully this is helpful!

I wanted to post a bit of an update on this - I took your advice and emailed the people over at Program B and they said that they should be getting back to me shortly after April 1 and that they "admit students off of the wait list every year" etc etc. I also got in contact with a trusted advisor from my undergrad institution (who has dealt with grad admissions at my undergrad university) and asked him what he thought I should do given my new info, and he said to not be too specific lest it become clear that they're my second choice. In the end I basically gave the vague answer but indicated that I would let them know next week, so they know what to expect from me. The email back from my POI at Program A was kind and he seemed OK with what I said! So thank you for your help!!

Hi! I had basically the same situation - my masters program (in public policy, actually) finished in July so I am still mid-gap year before I start my new PhD program in Fall. I found that this break in my studies wasn't something that seemed to bother any of the admissions committees I've been dealing with. In this time, I've been working full time (allowing me to pay off a bit of the debt I have from undergrad) and also took a part time position teaching standardized testing classes. While I have very strong research background, I had NO teaching experience and I thought this would help me round out my skillset a bit while simultaneously helping me master the GRE! Thinking about what skills you are maybe lacking a bit in terms of what admissions committees might be looking for is, I think, a great place to start.

I'm not an expert by any stretch, but I'll throw my 2 cents in in case it helps you at all. I want to say that I don't think you should doubt yourself; it sounds like you've done everything right and that the job you've currently got is great, gives you lots of flexibility and has lots of opportunities re: coauthorship etc. From what I can tell, grad school admissions is kind of a crapshoot. I applied to 13 schools and got outright rejected from 10 of them. No rhyme or reason to the ones I did get into either; literally just from across the spectrum ranking- and specialty-wise. I think that, if I were you, i would stay in my current position and then reapply to more than 4 schools next cycle. Again, definitely not an expert, especially on your specific field but hopefully this is helpful at least to some extent!

So basically I've declined all my offers except one (Program A), but am on the wait list for another program (Program B ) that I would rather go to if I get off the wait list before April 15. I've decided that I'm going to Program A unless I get off of Program B's wait list. I just received an email from my POI at Program A (whom I have been in contact with over the course of the last month) asking for a status update on my decision. My question is - should I be honest and tell him exactly what is going on (that I'm waiting to see what happens with Program B's wait list) or either make up some innocuous reason or give a vague "I'm waiting for some things to fall into place" answer? I definitely don't want to offend/upset in any way as I'm 90% sure I'm going to be spending the next 5-7 years there................