artibasos

PhD student here, but I spend some time at GPS. As far as I know, TAships are fairly rare for GPS students - econ/poli sci have their own grad students - but I do know people on RAships.

Type of Undergrad Institution: very small elite tech school Majors/Minors: Physics Undergrad GPA: 2.9 Type of Grad: MS, physics Grad GPA: 3.56, 4.0 in social science classes GRE: 169 V 168 Q 5.5A Any Special Courses: first-year PhD courses in political science at top 10 school, some policy school classes Letters of Recommendation: big name conflict prof, two political science profs at top 10 school, physics adviser Research Experience: a metric fuckton of theoretical astrophysics research. So, no relevant research. Teaching Experience: none Subfield/Research Interests: conflict, methods RESULTS: PM me for specifics if curious. Acceptances ($$ or no $$): UC Davis ($$), UCSD ($$), NYU ($$), RAND ($$), IHEID (MA), Columbia (MA) Waitlists: none Rejections: HKS, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Chicago Harris, Stanford, Berkeley econ, MIT econ Going to: honestly, I have no idea Lessons learned: don't get nearly die during undergrad, get half a PhD in physics and then decide to become a political scientist? or do; I mean, I got into some respectable schools, though I did aim a bit high.

from admissions: "Please check your application online on the 15th of March"

I know! I have a conflicting final that the prof won't let me reschedule (I've tried).

Has anyone who got into NYU heard from POIs? I have not and I find it moderately concerning...

Same, but IR.

Her. There is not particularly, though I am clearly interested in quant-heavy subjects & methods.

I did submit a 25 page theoretical physics paper for mine. It appears to have received... mixed reactions. (for context: field-switching physicist; this was encouraged by several professors, because it's my best original research. I also submitted a supplemental political science essay.)

So I guess that’s a no from MIT, judging by the results page.

I’m at 4/14 and am also slowly losing my mind.

Interesting to hear from people that would choose NYU over Columbia. I am in the opposite position - where I am obsessively checking to see if Columbia has announced. NYU was a last-second addition to my list - love the quantiness, less happy about NYU housing options* - and I got in somehow? i am currently living in fear that the January Yale and Columbia admits were real and that’s all they’re going to accept. * lesson from two years in a physics PhD program: do not underestimate how much housing matters to your general well-being

In @ NYU, Princeton rejection. 3a/0w/1r/10p

me.

In @ UCSD, standard financial package. I am Relieved. (edit: I also already go here, so if you have UCSD questions, PM me.)

Now to wait for UCSD... (1a/0r/1 shadow reject (Princeton)/12p.)

In @ UC Davis. Financial info to come.

Undergrad: Physics at a top STEM-focused school, GPA 2.9 (yeah, I know) Graduate work: Currently in PhD program for physics, masters expected fall 2018, leaving with that. Supplemented with policy school classes + first year PhD sequence in political science at top 10 program. GPA 3.56; social science GPA 4.0. Work experience: researcher/writer for television show, reaching an audience of a few million people. Most of my work experience is physics research; I've worked at three national laboratories, doing everything from high energy experiment to astro theory. Research experience: nine (!) conference talks, six summers of physics research, currently in a PhD program for physics on multiple fellowships. Zero political science research (I mean, I've, like, written some papers for classes, but nothing important). GRE: Q168 V169 AW 5.0 LORs: 1 Big Name conflict prof at policy school, one moderate name quant-y political science prof, one less well-known policy school prof, history/political science prof from my undergrad, my physics adviser Interests: political economy of conflict School: mostly political science programs + MIT/UCB econ (yeah, I'm not getting in there) + HKS PEG + Harris My profile is mostly fine... except that undergrad GPA.

Ooh, I get to be The Weird One! PROFILE:Type of Undergrad Institution: Top-tier domestic technical institute with little to no social sciences (bonus points if you can guess where)Major(s)/Minor(s): PhysicsUndergrad GPA: 2.94 (yeah, I know. There were... extenuating circumstances, and I've already gotten into a PhD program once with That GPA) Type of Grad: Physics PhD, leaving with a masters (by choice; my department is mildly annoyed I'm leaving), top 15 physics program at institution with a top 10 political science programGrad GPA: 3.36 (4.0 currently in political science, but we shall see what fall term grades bring)GRE: 169 V, 168 Q, 5.0 AWAny Special Courses: Started first-year PhD sequence for political scientists this term + a couple classes from our (top-15) policy schoolLetters of Recommendation: Physics adviser, Big Name IR prof at policy school, not particularly well known but tenured prof at policy school, undergrad political science prof, medium name prof from political science departmentResearch Experience: haaaaaaaaaa. I'm an astrophysicist. So tons, half a dozen conference talks, worked at three national labs, etc, but none relevant to my new field.Teaching Experience: I tutor a bit, I guess?Subfield/Research Interests: IR/conflict/political economy Schools: UCSD, HKS, Chicago Harris, Princeton, Yale, MIT econ, MIT political science, Berkeley econ, Columbia, Stanford, probably NYU and UC Davis (because a prof basically asked me to; apparently they're pro-physicist) I have directly been told by my rec letter writers that I am an "odd case", so We Shall See How This Goes. Clearly I've got the quant skills, but honestly, physics doesn't do sky-high GPAs like political science, and the particular programs I went to *really* don't. My GPA is low-ish for my program (and was very low in undergrad), but is not *exceptionally* low in the way it would be in political science. It remains to see if political science programs are aware of that. (Hopefully the two competitive PhD fellowships I got in physics will make that obvious.)