tkid86

I think they're more likely the very last week of February into March. But it would be a nice surprise.

I'm hoping for Yale next week and closure to Georgetown (only saw to admits, I think?) and UMD. Really expecting all my schools next week except for JHU.

For the UMD acceptance (if anybody wishes to claim it), was it an email to check the website or was it an actual email notifying of acceptance?

Not sure if the WUSTL acceptances are real or not. Wanted to ask yesterday when the forums were down. But if any of you are considering it and want to know more about the area, send me a PM. As for Syracuse admits, congrats! Still waiting and hoping for my e-mail from the DGS...

I think UMD might come this week. Probably closer toward the end of the week.

I've heard one Syracuse and one Georgetown this week... I hope they don't just trickle out slowly. To be honest, I'm expecting a rejection from GU, though.

@buckinghamubadger — My apologies for my post not being constructive. I think @Bibica translated my intended meanings quite well.

@Bibica, you're seven for twelve acceptances; I think your GRE score is probably good enough! Going into the GRE, I wanted to score a 160V/155Q/5AW, which is about what I ended up doing after my second go-around. I think anything higher than 160V/160Q is probably a "good" score insofar as it shouldn't raise any red flags or knock anybody out of the running. As with other posts, I think GRE is important early on in the application process just for the thinning of the pile, but I agree with @polisci13542. There are more important components than GRE score, but a solid one is still nothing to knock. (And as @VMcJ notes, GRE Q may be more important for more quant-heavy programs.)

I would like to respond to this constructively, but to be frank, you seem kind of all over the place. Part of your profile reads like you want to go into politics — your mention of "very prestigious moot court program", your internship at the state legislature, and your work with political campaigns. The other part seems like a lackadaisical approach to academia. You like research because you think you have an aptitude for it, but you still would not mind ending up teaching at a community college. If you do get your PhD, it is because you want to try your hand at finding a tenure track job at a four-year top program. It seems as if teaching to you is simply whimsy — and that is okay; there are some PhDs who are interested in straight research and not particularly interested in teaching. But you are giving very mixed signals here. You want to apply to T-30 schools, but you want to use placement record rankings (assuming you are referring to Table 1: Placement of Oprisko 2013). But as noted even within the abstract, "We find that as one’s prestige rank decreases, their ability to place diminishes." The only school that is listed in the top twenty-five of the placement record that isn't a top twenty-five ranked school is Hopkins, which recognizably has significant symbolic capital even outside of the political science discipline. (If you go to the top thirty of that list, you do add in Iowa, Michigan State, UVA, Syracuse, and FSU, all of which are not ranked in the top thirty of the program ranking cited.) Yet, you still mention UCLA (10/9), Harvard (1/1), Princeton (2/8), and Northwestern (21/19). I suppose my other trouble with your posts here is that you posted very similar ones in the past, and I do wonder why you have not learned from that experience — from searching for a MA program — how to figure out which schools you should even begin researching and considering. As I mentioned above, you start with people whose work encourages you and interests you and then you look at the broader department, especially if the only reason you are drawn to a university is for the big names. Are more people doing things you like than just the big names? Or is it just them and their prestige? We all have our scholastic idols, but you look for the people and then you stay for the department. Do you like UCLA as a whole or is it just Zollar and Mann? Are you interested in Harvard beyond the name or Fukuyama and Skocpol? Do you see where I'm going with all this? From my observation, you seem ill-prepared for what you are getting yourself into with a PhD (which is why I pointed you to that other thread of some words of caution in my earlier post). Edit: It seems that you've already received a very long and thorough list of schools to consider.

I did not receive such an e-mail...

Graduate School As Told By The Wizarding World Of “Harry Potter”

I'm there with you. I'm waiting on two of your five (plus three others). I've even had one application that's been "Under Departmental Review" since December. I think Syracuse polisci will be out soon, since one person claimed to have received an e-mail from DGS already. Hopkins... a bit later, I think. You're definitely not alone, though.

Why is it that you want to go on to get your PhD? Looking through your past posts, it looks like you wanted to get your MA to teach secondary education or at a community college level. Has that changed? In what way and why? You mention placement record — are you hoping for any placement whatsoever or placement at a top-tier research university or a teaching university? Are you picky about location at all? With your background and depending on your career aspirations, it may be a good refresher to visit this great post/thread by @BigTenPoliSci. What schools have you already researched? During your undergraduate and masters work, have you been drawn to the research of any scholars in particular? Where are they located? Where did they study? Follow the breadcrumbs and the scholars whose work you like and then look into the overall departments of where they are. Gotta do some of the legwork on your own. As an aside, I am not sure how well SAT/ACT scores translate to GRE scores, particularly if it has been a while since you've taken a standardized test. As somebody who generally tests very well, my GRE Q was nowhere near my ACT Math percentile. Neither was my GRE V to ACT English percentile. This is just to say — give yourself time to take the GRE again. I assume you're applying for Fall 2018?

@Bibica Just have to remember to come up for air every now and then. (My UG cohort and I had a FB group where we'd post motivational images, quotes, and cute animal gifs during exams. You've reminded me of that.)

@Bibica Those puppies.

@GradNYC I contacted POIs at three of my seven schools before admissions deadlines. From one, I received quick and fantastic responses that led to an informal Skype interview last summer. From another, I received a fairly generic response. And the third, to whom I was introduced by an alumna of the program, thought I had already been accepted (back in the summer) and was reaching out before the fall term began (I responded and gently corrected but never heard back; it was summer and I get it). As per previous cycles and their observations in threads similar to this one, it doesn't seem like reaching out to POIs will make or break your application. One of my UG advisors said, It's great if you hear back from a POI, but don't be disheartened if you don't. They're busy people, too. I wouldn't worry too much about not reaching out being a great factor for admittance.

I'm right there with you. I think I'm giving up for the evening.

There are always political/politics-related think tanks and research organizations that you could look into for research experience. I don't know whether or not they might take somebody without any research experience with which to begin, however (the great catch-22 of our time). I imagine it also depends on your background, your interests, what you're looking for, etc. It may be more like an (unpaid or barely paid) internship.

There's like a myslice.syr.edu thing? (I actually just discovered this through my e-mail and set it up.) I guess I will just have to wait and hope to get a DGS e-mail... But congratulations to you!

Did your portal update? I wasn't expecting Syracuse anytime soon and I am not prepared. (No e-mail yet.)

Ha. No problem and no need for citation there. I like how others list schools in their signatures, but I still don't feel comfortable listing all my schools in one place (just yet).

Hang in there @globetrotter126! There's still six schools that could surprise you. I've been using CARROT To-Do app to entertain and motivate myself, one little task at a time to get stuff done and to keep me busy. (The app is tempting me with a kitten. I do not know what this actually entails. But I like kittens.)

Information regarding OSU's recruitment days/visitation just came via e-mail. Anybody going/thinking about going?

Five more to go for me. I keep hoping that my schools will break from their past trend of releasing mid-late February and that I'll be pleasantly surprised to find a notification from them in my inbox... I am really most interested in only three of the five, though. But still. Waiting is a drag.

Congrats @torschlusspanik and all the others that have received good news these last couple of days!