Bibica

Please excuse me while I stress vomit.

Good luck to you as well! Fingers crossed for everyone.

There have been a few good threads about this on other parts of TGC [link] [link]. @TakeruK's post in the second thread is particularly informative. Generally, I'd say that it is possible to increase your stipend slightly or to get rid of some obligations (fewer TA/RA requirements, summer funding, reduced fees if your school has them, moving costs, etc.) by asking politely. This is most effective when you have a competitive offer at a similarly ranked institution (don't go telling Columbia that you're considering going to UVA because they're paying more, for example) and if the only thing holding you back from the school you're trying to negotiate with is the money. Another option is if you have an outside fellowship/scholarship. That being said, a lot of schools, especially those without large endowments, will simply not have the money to offer you, even if they wanted to. And other schools (I think UMich?) are adamant about giving everyone the same amount of money.

It is definitely do-able! Have you been accepted at this school yet? If so, they will be especially eager to have you visit. I would contact the graduate coordinator and, after, individually email some professors you would like to meet. In your emails to them you could ask if there are any graduate students in their lab that would be willing to speak with you. Plenty of accepted students visit outside of regular recruitment days because of scheduling conflicts. If you haven't been accepted yet I am sure they would still be willing to meet you, but you probably wouldn't have as much financial help/they wouldn't put you up with a grad student or hotel.

Are you referring to any program in particular?

They said late February, I don't know how much though.

The data I need for my honors thesis exists! I had long given up on finding a dataset so good and had shifted the entire focus of the paper to something else (which is another rant, since it is not working like I want it to). Now I'm tempted to put in the extra work to finish the thesis I originally wanted to write. BUT I need permission to access the dataset and NO ONE HAS RESPONDED TO ME YET. I know it's only been a week, but I want it now I have the codebook and know it is perfect. I just want to sit here on a Saturday night with some wine and play with STATA, is that so much to ask? Trying to be productive and reading up on the literature/editing my own literature review. Let's hope this issue is resolved soon so I can move on with my life.

So who do we expect to hear from next week? Based off of last year, I'm thinking it'll be a busy one: Stanford, Michigan, MIT, Vanderbilt, UPenn and Notre Dame. Maybe more UNC if @PizzaCat93's intel is right. Cornell could surprise me. And, of course, it seems Duke rejections are still trickling in

Almost certainly not Cornell. Could speak to a professor of mine to make sure but my general impression from just hanging around is that they're not near done yet. Which makes sense, cohort sizes are pretty small and it might be difficult to narrow down.

Oh, I know. Duke is a great school. The research fit for me, personally, is just not as good. But they put me on the wait list, so it doesn't really matter what I prefer lol.

To be fair I am in no way being contentious. At least, I thought I was answering your questions honestly and thoroughly (and don't think I questioned your intent). You should also keep in mind that, since you're asking these questions in February, when everyone on this forum is stressed about their pending applications, collaboration about schools won't really happen (unfortunately, most people wait until later to start looking for schools). So your future cohort is out there, but it isn't here. Most of the people here have already done the work of looking for schools, and they don't know enough about you (from your original post) to be of much assistance. This is a positive reflection on you in the sense that you're looking now, but also means that you're in a much different place of mind than the majority of users in the forum. And I would think their insights (in terms of what programs are worthwhile and how to look for schools) would be useful to you.

I think the reason why @tkid86 brought up your desire to teach at CCs is because in most cases you do not need a PhD to do so, meaning that getting one would be a waste (why spend 5+ years getting a degree you don't need?), and costly not just in terms of the amount of $$ you might need to spend (if you do not get into a top program) but also from lost wages. Asking who your favorite scholars are is a good way to gauge your academic interests. But liking Zaller and Skocpol and Fukuyama is just not very informative--I like all those authors and I'm a Comparativist. Those are literally some of the most well-known political scientists in the field, and they do very different things. @tkid86 mentioned you needing the work to find out which scholars you like. That means not just picking names that show up on your syllabi, but reading political science journals and finding out where the authors of articles you like work. It means going on a department's faculty web pages and reading the CVs of professors. You will always get an incomplete answer asking people here to find you schools because we don't know you well enough to tell you where to apply. In fact, I'm shocked you got a list as thorough as the one linked to here. The list of schools has not changed in a year and I don't know why you think they would. Placement record is important, you're right. However, first you need to get in, and to do so you need to pick schools that are a good fit and write an SOP that clearly identifies your research interests, which you seem unsure of yourself. And it is absolutely fine to be interested in a variety of things, but you'll need to boil that down and write about it at length before they let you in the door. What kind of puzzles are you interested in? Do you have any methodological interests? What do you think you can contribute to the field? Funding at a top program is not an issue. In fact, as was mentioned above (in the link to @BigTenPoliSci's thread), you should NOT go to a school that does not provide full funding for 4-5 years. I don't have an MA so I can't speak to transfer credits, but at my school you will rarely get credits transferred (top 10 school), and I imagine it is the same at most top schools. Again, different schools will have different policies, and it is best to inquire with them. TLDR: You will benefit more from doing research on schools on your own and asking us about specific programs than from asking us to pick out schools for you.

Yeah, can't complain. I was curious because I stressed out so much over what constituted a good score. Studied for HOURS and HOURS, especially the math. My adviser said that most "good" GRE scores don't draw attention to themselves but I still didn't understand exactly what that meant, and nobody wanted to give me actual numbers. 160/160/5 is what I told myself I wanted, ended up doing better on the V and AW but hit the mark on the Q, so luckily I only had to take it once. EDIT: Also, what am I doing on this forum on a Thirsty Thursday? What has this cycle done to me?

@alrightok Congrats! I'm curious as to what you consider a great GRE score. I've heard a different from basically every other person I've asked. Is it based on percentile? Do you think the writing score is important? I guess mine are good enough, but I'm still not sure what distinguishes a good GRE score from an excellent one.

Hopkins is beautiful! I'm sending good vibes y'alls way, I absolutely love the campus.

You can take one of mine. Please.

Personally think graduate schools should send all offers by owl tbh

If it helps, I know of only one of those (Pitt) that has actually sent out any offers. You seem to have applied to programs that release offers later, unfortunately.

Seems like today will be relatively silent. I guess the Midwest and West Coast schools are still on the table. How am I getting more impatient as this process goes on?

@Hates_Goats and @RevTheory1126 Seems like this is a problem for them every year (although this is the first year they've done a waitlist from what I can see). I also don't like how their DGS doesn't send out emails, even generic ones. Everything is so sterile. My guess is just that they (either the department or the people running the website) are disorganized/inefficient. Personally don't think it reflects well on them at all. I would expect a rejection. They have sent out acceptances in one batch every year, with only rare acceptances coming after (probably due to people declining offers).

@tkid86 Grad school may have me knots, but animal gifs are the purrfect way to unwind.

Waiting is ruff. Feels like life is on paws. @GradNYC I didn't reach out to anyone, only mentioned them in my SOP. My adviser warned me that it a. it likely won't help and b. at worst could annoy future advisers. The only people I contacted were those who visited my university for a guest lecture, and that was after attending the lecture and speaking with them briefly afterward. Another one I did work informally for (mostly through another professor at my university). I actually haven't heard back from any of those schools except the last one. @necspenecmetu if they don't have the funds, you might have to wait until later (like when you visit) and see if anyone who did receive full funding has declined the offer. That might free some for you, but they can't make money appear out of nowhere, unfortunately. Negotiation goes best when you have a bargaining chip, because they do want you at their school. Another offer at a similarly-ranked program (but with funding), or something like that.

Might be too early? I've rejected a few schools but am in no way decided and I imagine it is the same for a lot of people. Others haven't heard back from many/most of their schools. I imagine a thread like this will be more useful in March.

@RevTheory1126 if it makes you feel better, most people have not heard from UND, and they don't actually do interviews with most of their candidates. My POI is an alumni of my school and I've done research for them indirectly (coauthored book with a professor of mine here, I did some coding for them b/c they needed a Portuguese speaker, mostly interacted with my professor here except for a few email exchanges to the POI).

They fund everyone. You'll get an email to check the portal (or it may be uploaded already?) with your offer. On another note, just got off Skype with UND. POI says he expects decisions soon. Of course, upon asking for clarification, that meant next week. But he said he'd keep me posted, and I'll share the deets as they become available.