sloth_girl

What subfields? And is the application portal updated?

I'm Comparative Politics and did have an interview. Also got 2 emails from POIs today.

Also claiming a Wisconsin admittance. They guarantee funding for 5 years, so unless Ohio guarantees that as well I'm definitely preferring them so far.

I got the same email. I know UCLA can be a bit fickle on funding people, so outside funding likely matters a lot to them compared to other schools.

Happy to help -- just keep in mind it's based off my rudimentary data scraping and last year only

Below is a table I made using previous year's admissions data. I know Wisconsin told me they would have decisions by end of the month.

So at some point after submitting your app, you should have received an email with the subject line "Ohio State University Username Activation." It then has you follow a set up process for my.osu.edu (see attached image). It's through this that you can check your app status.

Claiming an Ohio State acceptance!

Good luck with interviews! Just got done with mine. Nothing to stress much over, but it means you are on the short list, so congrats!

Thanks! Helps ease my anxiety somewhat. Not a POI, but another CP scholar, via email this morning.

Claiming an interview with Wisconsin -- CP

Also, does Columbia even do interviews? Most schools don't do them from what I've heard.

Agreed. It doesn't need to link to multiple accounts to have multiple results pop up. Also, it wouldn't make sense that no one on here has claimed one. Just don't understand why someone would go this far with trolling -- REALLY bored I guess?

Since you're younger, it could be worth taking a year after graduating to do a pre-PhD program or research-based job to bulk up your research abilities and resume. Interning in campaigns usually isn't relevant unless you were in a data heavy role. Presenting at conferences/publishing (even in just an undergraduate journal) will have more mileage. Also, get going on the GRE early in case you need more time to study/take the test. The thing that matters the most is fit with the departments you are applying to, so stay up to date on research and faculty that align with your interests. Also worth contacting professors to let them know you want to pursue a PhD so they can (hopefully) be mentors and give you feedback.

Should we report all those as spam? Not sure if that would get them blocked (which they should be).

I heard that 1-2 years ago, they didn't have any female applicants accept at Duke. Duke offered a lot of extra funding/resources to one of my friends (who ended up going to Michigan) in an attempt to rectify this. I also know the "no new grad students for 2020" has upset faculty at Duke. Luckily I hadn't yet paid the application fee to Duke when I got the email. Seems odd they announced in December?

Going through the past 5 years or so of this forum will help. There are also a lot of good resources available (Duck of Minerva, Chris Blattman, etc.). There is also a pinned thread with advice from Professors that is useful. The biggest things to take away from everything are that 1) it can largely be a crapshoot and a lot of admissions is out of your hands, 2) ranking/funding is important, and 3) FIT MATTERS. As for preparing, go present at conferences (e.g. MPSA, university-held, other smaller regional ones), reach out to any former students from your institution that are in/graduate from PhD programs, and make a comprehensive document with rankings, advisors of interest, overall fit, cost of living, median GPA/GRE, etc. Speaking of the GRE, start prepping/taking it EARLY. Good luck!

Bumping this again -- please fill out if you can as this helps us future applicants

Thank you so much, BFB! I think you significantly helped lower my blood pressure ?.

Dear BFB (or whoever; I'm not picky), First of all, thank you for doing this. You're one of the nicest academics, and I loved your iTunesU Data Visualization class. 1. How important is publishing if you're going from undergrad to PhD? I've published in an undergraduate journal and won 1st overall and 2nd categorically in local conferences, but is that enough for a T25 program? If not, what are some good journals that you've seen undergrads specifically publish in? 2. All the research I did was independent, though I did have faculty advisors help out. Thus, I was never an RA. Is this problematic? (I was a TA for methods courses beginning at age 18). 3. Does field work and language count towards anything? I did survey research in East Africa and have studied Swahili for a few years now. 4. Here's my main question: I'm a bit of an odd case because I'm stuck in Utah while my husband finishes his Master's (bet you can guess my religion and undergrad institution ?). As such, I'm pretty much relegated to private sector work (specifically at a survey platform designing company marketing surveys). Is this going to hurt PhD admission chances? How can I signal to the adcomm that I'm a good fit despite this (highly unwanted and emotionally frustrating) gap year? 5. Related to the preceding question: will being a woman with a young daughter hurt my chances? I know academics like to think of themselves as progressive, but I have been deliberately cut out of research opportunities due to "being a mom." I'm very stressed psychologically about this. 6. Should I (a) get LOR writers to address family challlenges/health issues or (b) address those myself in the SOP (and if so, how?). The specific issues were suicide of mother and bed rest during pregnancy that affected grades (though my uGPA/majGPA was 3.93/3.97, so probably it doesn't matter? Without these issues, I suspect I would have published/researched more.