waterloo715

Me too. Unfortunate because I thought it was one of my best fits. Oh well.

Both Austin and GWU still show "under review" for me as well

Congrats! From OSU or another school?

Try to relax. Nothing you can do about it now except wait. Speculation won't do much, as none of us have any idea what Feb./March holds for us. Just be content with the amount of work you put in to get to this point. More importantly, try not to have any expectations—you may end up being pleasantly surprised by the end of March. If not, well, you can try it again next cycle.

In my experience, most academics have things pile up and are often forced to pump things out at the last minute. One of my advisors just submitted a few letters for applications that were due on December 1 because he fell behind with the end of term, admin, etc. I never received any emails from the schools saying my application was incomplete. FWIW, I asked one school and they said they only needed two LORs for an application to be deemed "complete"/packaged for review and that they would add the third one when it arrives. You still have a few days, so I wouldn't worry too much as long as you have verified at some point that s/he will write your letter.

I am in a similar situation. I took it for a second time the other day and saw a solid increase in math but my verbal dropped. Does anyone know if departments let you combine scores from different tests? Or perhaps average the two? I doubt many allow this, but I am curious. @Comparativist Maybe you can reach out to departments and ask what they do with multiple scores in a file? FWIW, I am leaning towards sending both.

Hey all! Let's get a thread going to vent about our efforts (and anxieties). Here is a link to last year's thread: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/69447-welcome-to-the-2015-2016-cycle/?page=1. This is my first cycle. Applying to 12 programs as a comparative major. Focus on democratization, hybrid regimes, and institutions. Retaking the GRE soon. This is definitely the weakest part of my file, but I am hoping for a decent enough score to crack the top 15-20. How's the process coming along for everyone else? Best of luck to everybody applying!

I am applying this cycle with my major field as CP. I am thinking of listing my intended minor as methodology, despite a relatively weak quant background. I took calculus in high school (2010 graduate), but I didn't take any quant/math courses in college beyond the required political methods course and a couple economics courses. How will this be perceived? Am I better off listing my minor as, say, IR instead? I have every intention of gaining a solid training in methodology, but I am afraid some adcomms may perceive the gap between my expectation and reality to be too large—hence weakening my application. Or does the minor field not matter too much from the start? Any thoughts?

Were any of these schools asking for a relatively shorter writing sample, say, 10-15 pages? My guess is that the odds that it is looked at more closely probably increases at places which require a much shorter writing sample. Just a hunch. But who knows.

With the application process getting underway, I am curious how many of you are contacting POIs? If you are, what are you saying? For those of you who have already gone through this process, did you get in contact with anyone before applying? If so, do you think it is valuable to do so?

I am applying this upcoming cycle, and I am looking for some advice on which programs to select. After perusing old results threads, I think I am competitive for programs in the top 20 given my background. However, I am interested in teaching just as much as research, and I am hoping to land a TT position where more emphasis is placed on teaching than, say, an R1. I have little interest in prestige, and actually prefer the life of a journeyman political scientist who enjoys his job and strikes a healthy work-life balance. That said, my question is whether I should apply to lower ranked programs which often place students in these sorts of positions? And if so, what are some mid- to lower-ranked programs that provide solid training, adequate resources, and have good placement records? Or should I shoot for top programs regardless of what I want out of my career? I will apply for a focus on CP/IR, looking at transitions to and from democracy, hybrid regimes, etc., with a regional interest in the post-Soviet space. Thanks for any advice or suggestions!