krapp

One point that hasn't been addressed and might be something to consider - develop a political science writing sample. I'm not sure what you're planning on submitting for one now, but I would advise making as much of your application say "political science student, not law/MBA" as possible.

No factor at all. I stayed close to home for undergrad (about 2 hours away) but then moved about 3000 miles for the masters and 2300 miles for my PhD now. For me the main factor was always a combination of program quality, research opportunities and funding. Location can be a nice bonus but in the sense of "this is a nice/interesting place to live". Distance from home was really never a factor, at most I saw it as a nice perk if it happened to work out but not something to aim for as its own goal. Of course, that doesn't mean it's for everyone. I have good friends who pursued degrees closer to home and are doing quite well. Typically they are drawn more by the support structures that having family and friends nearby offers. That can be really important during the stress of grad school and if you're someone who leans a lot of family support it's really worth considering when you're making these decisions.

Regarding the TOEFL - check with the program and university admissions pages to see if they have a minimum requirement. Often for something like a TOEFL the requirement may be a set number (say 100 with no band below 20 or something) but it doesn't matter how far above it you are, just that you meet it. I would say the verbal and written GRE scores are a pretty clear indicator that your English is fine, but if you don't meet the TOEFL requirements for a university you may want to look into the IELTS or another exam to see if it might be a better testing fit for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that acceptance rates are a really blunt and ineffective measure. Programs will get loads of applications, a lot of which aren't really 'credible' - applications submitted without all documents, applicants who barely scrapped a passing mark, applicants who misunderstand the purpose for the program, etc. You aren't really competing against the total number of applicants, but the total number of 'serious' applicants.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: Small, unranked, Private Liberal Arts College Major(s)/Minor(s): Major: History, Minor: Music Undergrad GPA: 3.6/4.0 Type of Grad: Top-75 European Research Univ, International Relations Grad GPA: 3.87/4.2 GRE: 170V, 154Q, 6.0W Any Special Courses: UG Thesis, Grad Thesis, Graduate seminars in IR theory, normative theory, research methods, etc Letters of Recommendation: 1 TT Poli Sci/IR Professor (Grad thesis supervisor, program director), 1 tenured history professor (UG thesis supervisor, head of department, took 6 courses), 1 TT undergrad humanities professor (took 7 courses) Research Experience: 2 theses (undergrad & grad), 1 student journal publication, 1 research internship with US government agency Teaching Experience: 2 semesters TA for undergraduate politics course Subfield/Research Interests: International Relations (International organizations, international law, conflict & intervention) Other: RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): Univ. Southern California ($$), Michigan State Univ ($$), CUNY ($$) Waitlists: MSU, CUNY (offered off waitlist); George Washington (rejected off waitlist) Rejections: GWU, Georgetown, Univ. Minnesota, Northwestern Pending: Going to: I've made a decision, if you're really curious feel free to shoot me a message. LESSONS LEARNED: Doing applications while working full-time is challenging, be sure to set aside time to work on your SOP and study for the GRE. I found it worked best for me to stay in my office late to work or to go to a library/coffee shop on the weekends, working at home was largely unproductive. I'm unsure of how my letters may have helped or hurt me. One plus side - I knew all of my referees very well. An advantage to a small undergrad was that I had taken tons of discussion-heavy courses with my letter writers. This meant that they knew me well and even after time away from the school they were familiar with my research interests and personal goals. Downside - only one in the field and no big names. Do what you can with the GRE, and try to do better in the quantitative area than I did. I know that a 154 didn't do me any favors, and mentally that kept me from applying to many top programs. Turn off the computer in January. Applications are in, rereading your SOP won't help, and decisions likely won't be coming for a couple weeks. Take January to give yourself a mental break - February and March will be bad enough. There is a lot of discussion on here about if doing a masters before a PhD is the right step. I think it helped me - confirmed my interest in switching fields, exposed me to the literature and types of working being done and allowed me to improve upon a lackluster undergrad GPA. Downsides? Cost and time. Think carefully on it. If you're from the US and thinking of doing a master's abroad and have any questions feel free to send me a message. SOP: Mine was pretty typical. If you're really interested in it you can message me, but it fit the common pattern. One thing was that if I couldn't find a program with at least 2 professors that I could discuss in my SOP as being good research fits, I didn't apply. Fit matters.

Congrats to everyone sending in their decisions! I'm holding out a few more days to see if there is any early wait-list movement but if it's getting close I have an offer I'm more than happy with. Just a bit more waiting to go...

Same here, I'm glad they could get around to it eventually

I'm in a similar situation. Waiting on some waitlists to clear up before making any final decisions. Just a few weeks left and then it'll all be over!

Same. Not too bothered by - it would have been a good fit but I had already written it off as a rejection.

I emailed them today and was told that decisions are still being made this whole month. So...yay? :/

Definitely! After these last few programmes get around to making a decision...

I'm in the same position and would be interested in any rumors or trends people may know.

I'm still waiting on three results. If my predictions hold true (Rejections: MSU & Georgetown, Acceptance: CUNY) then I'll have a "simple" choice with just two options. With that said, I'm entirely ready for the waiting to end and the decision making to begin. Congrats to those who got Harvard today and condolences to those who didn't, hopefully we all have something good to look forward to in the results we do have.

You'll get an email to check your page. Then there is a link right in the middle of your application status page to view the letter.

Finally got the Northwestern rejection. So I'm now at 1a/1w/2r/3p. Michigan State or Georgetown may be settled for me this week, CUNY could be...whenever. At the moment it's looking like a pretty clear decision for where I'll be in the fall!