Ayerbender

Thanks!

Pretty sure we are in the same boat for Duke. Are you sticking with the wait list, despite Yale? (I'm assuming you're withdrawing from each of the MA apps haha)

Congrats! That's super exciting To confirm: you still haven't heard from MAPSS or Oxford, right? I didn't see anything about them here, so want to make sure I'm not missing an email haha (Still haven't submitted app to LSE or UCL MA programs, but I think I have time; was waiting to hear back from rest of PhDs before spending another couple hundred bucks...)

Huh. No idea. Maybe contact the admissions office?

Should I bring the beer?

I would check your portal. Decisions came out mid-February

Me next! An Ode to Graduate Admissions Office: Dear admissions off- icer, I love your school. I Will do anything To be Admitted. I will even write a bad Poem. Did I get in?

Ok, well I'll email about Nuffield and funding, then. Thanks for your and @Dirichlet's advice!

Would you recommend I try to swap to Nuffield or St. Anthony's, then? Do they really offer a significant advantage? (Ironically, I was thinking of applying to Nuffield, but decided against for some reason I don't remember - probably because I don't really understand the system.)

Yeah, the fact that I might not get a "good" college is what led me to select one rather than select "No Preference". I didn't think it mattered that much :[ Is there any harm in selecting "no preference" at this stage? I can't imagine Oxford would have too much a problem with it - college selection doesn't affect admission - but I'm not entirely sure

Not sure if anyone knows about the Oxbridge college system - but as an American applying to the schools, I was very, very confused, and am wondering if I screwed up royally The applications say you don't need to pick a college, so I wasn't really looking at the colleges closely for the longest time. A couple days before I applied to Oxford, I selected College A as my "preferred college", because the atmosphere and college seemed pretty nice to me. I did very little research on the college system, because I didn't think the college system was a big deal (it wasn't in my undergrad institution) and because I didn't realize how closely funding was tied to a specific college (I thought all funding was automatic - again, like my undergrad institution). I now realize, however, that College B has a good funding package for my degree (if I'm accepted), and College A does not. I can apply for College B's funding. But I'm worried I now might be cycled in to College A... Does anyone know about the college system, and what my options are? (I'm pretty sure college assignments are made after decision, if that makes a difference.)

ND portal says no decision has been made on my application yet. Great...

But that's not rude. That language is pretty common in the business world

Removing my post because @Stdrauss's advice is better

Receive email from Oxford with subject "Graduate Admissions". Proceed to open email and find a request that I complete a survey... British schools are cruel XD

How did you like MAPSS? That would be my goal if I'm not accepted to a PhD program, honestly

I haven't seen any acceptances to MAPSS, but I could be wrong

I am hoping that they decide on MAPSS after PhD decisions, and it only makes sense they would do so

FWIW I have heard - and I might be wrong, so I would double-check - that MA programs at top departments -/-> real contact with the (top?) professors associated with the department. After all, professors will spend most energy on their work, then their PhD students. So you might have to put in extra work to get your name on profs' radar I was thinking of possibly transferring to philosophy at one point, and this is why I didn't look at NYU for an MA (despite having a top-notch philosophy program)

Congrats on the acceptance!

Oops, sorry What convinced you to switch, then, if you don't mind my asking? Just wondering

Yeah...

I'm not doubting it's a real thing. I was curious if there was a relation between his physics work and his political science research interests...

You should have started your writing sample by quoting Sokal's "Transgressing the Boundaries" haha Are you applying for a quant/science heavy subfield? Is there a connection between your physics work and your political science research interests (e.g. nuclear physics and IR)?

Need a few music and art majors for that