CactiCactus

Yes, I have. Good luck!

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: STEM focused R1 Major(s)/Minor(s): Business Administration / Spanish, Latin American affairs certificate Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0 Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: None GRE: 167 / 167 / 5.5 Any Special Courses: Took several polisci courses but as you can see I did not major in it Letters of Recommendation: 2 PoliSci professors, 1 Spanish professor Research Experience: None Teaching Experience: None Subfield/Research Interests: IR / CP, Latin America Other:¯ \_(ツ)_/¯ RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): UCSD, UChicago, Georgetown, GW, UT Austin (all $$) | American and NYU master's after being rejected by PhD (no $$) Waitlists: none Rejections: Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, Emory, American, NYU, Columbia, UCLA, Stanford, MIT Pending: none Going to: Between UCSD and UChicago LESSONS LEARNED: Overall, things I thought were strong about my application: GRE, GPA, letters were probably very positive, interesting/unique work experience, being from a rural town. Things that were not strong: research experience, teaching experience, limited relevant coursework, writing sample was probably meh (although I don't have a lot with which to compare it). If that profile describes you at least in part, take heart! I obviously was coming from a non-polisci background. I'm sure that hurt me at some places and helped at others. It probably depended on the rest of the cohort they were forming. That being said, I realized I wanted to do a PhD late in undergrad and forged strong relationships with PoliSci faculty at my school, so just remember it's never too late to do that if you're worried about it. I did a study abroad with 2 of my letter writers and took multiple classes from the other, so they knew me quite well, including in a non-academic environment for the former two. Apply widely, both in terms of number and profile of school. I applied to as many schools as I reasonably thought I could put my best effort into their applications, and where I could see myself living. I got rejected from schools in the 60s in the USWNR rankings, and accepted to a top 10. My acceptances were at quite a range, and I was shocked with how well things went. So apply to as many as you can because you never know where you might get in. A couple of my application advisors recommended applying to only 5-7 schools but I'm very glad I didn't follow that advice. I also started the applications themselves as soon as they opened. Review your SoP with honest feedback givers that understand what professors will be looking for. The structure of mine changed significantly throughout the process and I went through several drafts. The more time you can give yourself for tweaks, the better. I worked in a mostly unrelated job for what will be 2 years before starting my program. I didn't hide from that and played up the benefits and technical skills that I learned on the job that would be helpful on the SoP (given how quant heavy a lot of research is now, my being a data analyst probably helped). My writing sample was honestly pretty bad imo, especially in hindsight, but I translated it from my original text in Spanish which hopefully gave me brownie points? One of my letter writers offered to reach out to professors at other schools that they knew well to let them know to look for my application. I don't know if they actually did it or if it had any effect, but I can't imagine it hurt and probably would have asked them to do it even if they hadn't offered. Obviously depends on your relationship with the writer but if you're close I would encourage doing this. A lot of people on here talk about fit and I guess that's true, but I don't see that as being the biggest factor in my applications. I didn't get in to some schools where I had a very strong fit with the faculty, and did get in to some where it seemed more tenuous. I honestly don't see an obvious common thread between my acceptances. YMMV. I'll add to this if I think of anything else but hopefully some of those ramblings are helpful. Editing to say if anyone is reading this in preparation for future application cycles, feel free to DM me with any specific questions. It's a hard process and Bill and Ted taught us to be excellent to each other.

Finally got an email to check Columbia's website and had my presumed rejection confirmed. Just waiting on Harvard and NYU (still...) now. I just want to be able to really start cranking on comparing my acceptances, is that too much to ask?!

You definitely don't need to wear a tie as a man, based on the visit I've done. People were in everything from jeans and a polo to khakis and a button down/blazer. None of it really seemed out of place.

Thanks! Agreed that for LatAm CP UT is very strong. My research interesting are sort of right on the brink and could go either way between CP and IR, so I'm a little worried about going somewhere that's very strong in one subfield but not so much in the other. I have not heard about funding from Texas. And yeah, the car is definitely a consideration at both Texas and UCSD, whereas I could probably sneak by without one at Chicago. Appreciate the info about rent, and good luck to you as well! Either one of those would certainly change the calculus

Ok cool, I’ll definitely look into it more. So it seems like you’re leaning towards UCSD, if you don’t mind me asking?

Thanks so much for this! Great to know about the housing. Is that info on their website or did you find that out through alumni? I have an unmarried partner that I would looking to live with..not sure that would work in the grad student housing. I suppose I can’t be unique in that situation, though. That insight in methods research is also very interesting. Appreciate you taking the time to detail it. I also noticed the teaching load, but I wouldn’t mind that. I enjoy teaching and figure it would be good practice to make sure I have the fundamentals down.

I'm waiting on Columbia, Yale, and Harvard, so considering my chances at those three seem slim, I figured I'd go ahead and solicit some advice from you fine (and informed) folk regarding my options. If there's a better or more appropriate place to do this, someone please feel free to direct me. I've been accepted to: George Washington, Georgetown, UT Austin, UChicago, and UC San Diego. I am sort of eliminating the two DC schools because, although I love the city and it would be my number 1 destination to live, I'm concerned about the programs' placement records/rank. If anyone disagrees with that logic, I'd love to hear your thoughts. UT Austin I am still somewhat considering because it has a strong Latin American regional focus among its faculty, which is my primary region of interest (I'm IR/CP by the way). I've also heard Austin is a great place to live. UCSD and Chicago are obviously the two schools of the bunch with the best placement records and reputation, but they're very different in terms of pros/cons. San Diego is, by all accounts, a great place to live, but its cost of living is higher while its funding package is lower. Chicago's weather and surrounding environs don't compare favorably to San Diego's (proximity to nature, other major cities, etc.), but it pays substantially more while having a lower cost of living. And Chicago as a city is very cool. I've heard that UChicago has been on a bit of a slump which has led to it being just outside of the top 10 according to USWNR, but is apparently back on the upswing now? Historically I know it is a tad above UCSD but recent placement records suggest that UCSD has been better over the past decade in terms of placement. Anyway, that may have been a poorly organized word cloud but if anyone else is twiddling their thumbs speculating and weighing pros and cons I would love to hear some more input!

Thanks for the recs! I definitely will check those out if it ends up being my destination! Yep, whoops, sorry about that, OP!

Thanks very much! I definitely feel very fortunate. That definitely makes sense re: Chicago, and it’s great context to have. Wondering if you have any insight on UCSD’s trajectory too? Not to push my luck :) I’m sort of at the crossroads of CP and IR, and Latin America is my primary region of interest, with some European stuff sprinkled in. I did see that USWNR has UCSD at #4 for IR, which is fantastic.

Thanks for your detailed response! Currently, my two best choices (in terms of rank) are UCSD and Chicago. It seems like a relative toss-up in a lot of ways from my perspective, but maybe I'm way off. Obviously very different climates, and the funding at Chicago is higher despite a lower cost of living, but I'm speaking more from a future prospects standpoint.

That map is very interesting! Curious if you (or anyone else) has any more high-level thoughts on the results of it. It seems like Chicago's bubble is very big compared to its USNWR these days, whereas a school like UCSD that's in the top 10 now is pretty small. Is that because Chicago historically was very strong and it's slightly less so today? Obviously still an excellent program. Looking at the recent placement record of both schools, it seems like UCSD is doing a bit better with tenure-track positions (although Chicago does have a lot of prestigious post-docs). I guess I'm just wondering people's thoughts on UCSD vs. Chicago, as the chart got me thinking. Perhaps I should just make my own thread...?

Someone from my SOP. I was surprised to hear something from them this soon given they're apparently usually in late Feb.

I got a call from a Georgetown professor and then an email from them saying that I was in when I didn't manage to get to the phone in time. I haven't received any communication other than from the one professor.

Same. I'm stunned and delighted!