Dwar

Thanks for the advice! I’ll be sure to do that!!

oooooo, thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to ask when I reach back out! also, how long would you recommend I wait to reach out to the DGS? I was contacted about the waitlist last week, I am thinking to wait until Monday (a week from now) to reach out and ask some questions about it. Do you think that timeline works? should I contact him sooner or later? I am just super inexperienced with this and the school is my top choice, so I'd hate to do anything to screw it up, but at the same time I am so anxious for information it is killing me.

Is that generally when it would happen? Also, are most visit days in March or February?

Thats awesome! and ya, this is super emotionally draining. Honestly I am dreading having to do it over again next cycle if neither of the two waitlists pan out.

Congrats on that! I am honestly trying to contain my urge to email them every day and ask for an update, the wait is killing me. My plan is to email the second program a follow up email two weeks after the initial contact, so in about a week or so. But gosh this wait is painful, honestly part of me would have preferred a rejection over the purgatory that is waitlists.

Oh wow, thats a lot of applications. Congrats on the acceptances though! Have you contacted the DGS of the schools you've been waitlisted at? Or have you just been waiting in silence?

Hey Guys, Figured I'd start this thread to talk about waitlists and for those of us on them, and to just generally chat about them. I have gotten all of my decisions back and currently am on two waitlists, all of the rest either being rejections or unfunded offers. When I started this I whole thing I thought the wait would be over by spring break (a week away), boy was I wrong.

I totally agree that both placement and rank play a role in the decisions. UC-Davis is a top 20 School though, and looking at their placements they seem to have some good ones.

I would advise you guys to both go to the schools that you've been accepted to this cycle. Unless there is a very specific reason why you either don't want to go to that specific school, or really want to go to a different one. Both UC-Davis and Wisconsin are amazing schools and will serve you well on your careers. Plus, and this is the big thing, grad school admissions processes are always a crapshoot. There is really no guarantee that you'll get in somewhere different next cycle, or even somewhere at all.

No problem! glad I could help!

First off, congrats on your admissions! those are some great schools so being admitted to them is definitely something to celebrate! More to answer your questions, you seem to be concerned with where recent grads of those schools end up, as you should be, this is a huge time sacrifice so you should be sure that you are committing to the right school so the time commitment doesn't end up being a waste. My first advice would be to look at where recent grads end up, I know that many schools provide that info either on their website, or on request. That information should give you a good idea about where the school's strengths are, for instance if they place a lot of people in political science departments, or public health departments, or in industry, then it should say in that information. For questions to ask program administrative staff and faculty, ask questions about things that are important to you. Besides placement, time to completion is generally a good thing to ask. Another is funding info, for example is it guaranteed for all five+ years or do you have to reapply every year? What is your work/research requirement for funding(How many hours a week)? is there one? Another thing you could ask would be their attrition rate, like of the starting cohort how many students actually complete the program? How many drop out before the qualifying exams? How many fail their qualifying exams? For your question about prestige, I definitely think that it plays a role in hiring professors. Academia is famously snobbish so they often times will look down on grads from "less prestigious" schools. It is also a way for them to filter out the applications that they receive for every job opening. So unfortunately prestige does matter. Placement info would be a good indication as to what kind of schools the grads work at, and how the "prestige" of the school either works in their favor or against them. In terms of your Canadian v. American question, on here the conventional wisdom would say that the big three in Canada (McGill, U of T, UBC) generally place pretty well in both American and Canadian schools. Unfortunately I am not familiar with how American schools are viewed in Canadian academic circles, so I can't help you there. But, I do know that at UBC there are some American professors, for example a U-Minn grad works in the IR sub-field. Hope it all helps! and congrats again!

I've always had success emailing the grad coordinator, they are usually one of the non-professor staff members within the department. As for what to ask them, I have usually said something along these lines of asking if there is any update on your application. Obviously these emails should be written respectfully and all that stuff. If that doesn't work then maybe reach out to the Director of Graduate Studies for that specific department, I would generally ask the same thing to them as well.

@JoshL Thank you so much for all that info! I truly appreciate it!

Thank you so much for that information! I’ll be sure to keep that in mind should I end up applying!

Hey! I am really interested in UBC for the next cycle, my only concern is the insane cost of living in Vancouver, and from what I gather the stipend that is generally awarded appears less then the cost of living. Do you have any info in how grad students usually get on with that in the program? like does the department generally give more then their website would lead on? or is there outside funding readily available for students? Thanks!

Thank you so much for such a long and detailed answer! honestly both UBC and U of T are amazing schools and I would love to attend them! If I do end up applying to the schools, ill be sure to contact them about the visa/application process. While I am on the subject, do you or does anyone on here by chance know the ranking systems of the two schools? US news only ranks American schools, so they do not show up in them, and I am honestly not familiar with Canadian schools so I don't know if their placements are good or not. So any help on this question would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the info!

Hey! I am really interested in both U of T and UBC for next cycle, but I am an American without any Canadian citizenship. I am wondering if anyone on here is going through or has gone through that process as an American, like how does it work? Do those schools fund foreign students? and I know there was a big commotion in this country about the changing visa laws and how that would affect grad students, but whats the process like over in the great maple north? Thanks!

Hey Guys, Just wondering what your opinions are on the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech are? They are an APSIA member, so I assume they are a legit program? Georgia Tech is also a well-known school, but I haven't really found any info on them online. So have you guys heard of them? and if so, whats your general opinion on them? Thanks

Thanks for your kind words! and ya, I am trying to look at it not as a reflection of who I am or what kind of student I am, but honestly that got harder and harder as the rejections began to pile up. Grad school is still my dream so I plan on applying next cycle, I hope for better results. And good luck with all of your applications! I wish you and everyone else on here the best of success, this has been a great resource, and one that I truly appreciated during the stressful application season. its also really opened up my naive eyes about the whole application process, and the tips and knowledge i've gained from here will go along way to improving my application for next time.

ya, either official or unofficial rejections at this point. I did get one unfunded admission, but honestly thats as good as a rejection, im broke af and cant afford to do this without funding.

welp, looks like I won't be getting in anywhere this cycle. Congrats to those who have been admitted!

Oh I feel that in my soul, even if the last one is a rejection. I just can't wait until I no longer keep grad cafe open on my browser.

I was warned about that early on, and I avoided it in the SOP's. It isn't that I necessarily don't want to go into academia, its just that the way the academic market is trending, it is harder and harder to get a TT position. So I figure if I work for a few years in industry and then try out academia, i'll be a better candidate. My passion mainly is in research, I love doing it and its what I want to do for my career. Honestly i'm not too picky about what industry thats in, if its in a research university, think tank, or government agency.

Thanks for the advice! i'll definitely consider it!