Dwar

Congrats! And i think i speak for most of the people on here when i say that i am eagerly awaiting your profile!

Welp, I received my last application decision last night. So I guess this cycle is over for me! I'll be posting my profile in the other thread once I make my decision (probably on Sunday). I wish everyone the best of luck with the remainder of the cycle!

100%

Thanks so much for this! it is super interesting to see all this data in one format like that. I also think it's pretty interesting how this data puts the overall website user bias on display so clearly. For example, the average GRE scores that you found are pretty far ahead of the average GRE scores for political science that ETS reports (157v 152q). I think it just goes to show that people should not take this site as a general representation of the field. This isn't meant to disparage your work or anything like that, just making an observation.

Congrats on the acceptance! And a 9% acceptance rate is wild

Hey did anyone’s MIT decisions say how many students applied and/or how many were admitted? I think acceptance rate info for top colleges is fascinating.

Good on MIT for sending out rejections and acceptances at the same time. That seems so rare these days.

That's wild. I thought in most funding offers its contingent on like a 3.5 or a 3, (The offer i have says i need to maintain a 3.0), so either UCLA has massive grade inflation, or their students are just hella smart?

Gotcha. I didn’t apply this year or anything, was just curious. I know that in the past top programs like OSU and UCLA have had trouble funding all students. Didn’t know if that was still the case.

Do you know if they are going to fund everyone this year? I think they’ve had trouble doing that in years past

This is 100% appropriate. You’re more likely to hear a positive response if you tell them they are your top choice. For waitlists I’d say that contacting the DGS a few times (maybe once a month or so) to just check in is appropriate. But I’d also try and figure out when events are and contact after. For example, a lot of programs judge a students level of interest by their attendance at a recruitment event. Similarly a lot of students decide if they’ll attend a school after a recruitment event. So if you can figure out when the event is for your waitlisted school then It may work better if you email them a week after the event ends.

Oof i'm sorry dude. Thanks for the good luck but at this point i have accepted the rejection. I just hate how schools do this thought, send them out at a very slow pace.

Totally get that. I emailed them in early Feb when acceptances were coming out and the coordinator got back to me and let me know that the decisions were being made and that i'd hear very soon. Have not heard anything besides that. And i'm with you on just wanting to get this decision back. PSU was one of my top two choices this cycle. Thankfully i got into my other top choice and intend to accept it after the visit day (assuming they pass the vibe check). I'd just feel so much better about accepting it once i hear back a definitive answer from PSU.

HAHA SAME. Have you received any sort of information from them? like have they told you that you're on their waitlist? I have not heard anything from them, but it seems that the rejections are trickling out. I think they started on friday.

I’ll echo what was posted above that it varies from school to school and from year to year. For example last year Duke received a higher then average Yield so I’m assuming they did not utilize their waitlist. The general advice that I have however is to show your interest and inform them of any other offers. Let them know that if offered a spot you’d take it. AdComms are more likely to pick you if they know you’re a sure thing. In terms of Northwestern specifically, I really have no advice. They are Hot Stuff and they know it so they can afford to not respond to questions and keep everyone in the dark.

I like your username

Hey just want to let you know that I'm not sure you will get a faculty response. This thread was really active a few years back with multiple faculty input but it has since died down. BFB was the only faculty member that has even logged on in the past year or so and that was mainly to let us all know that he will not be coming back on here as he stepped down from the DGS role at OSU. BUT, if I may, i'll share what one of my faculty mentors (and LOR writers) told me regarding rankings. She said that rankings don't really matter, to a point, but what matters is the outcome/placement of students. She advised me to look at the placement of grad students and determine If I would be happy in the sorts of jobs that the grads get. So, in your case, I'd suggest that you take a look at the placement in the department that you are concerned about and see if you can see yourself in those sorts of jobs/roles and be happy about it. At the end of the day grad school is about getting a job and that should be the most important factor when deciding between schools.

Hey All, I know that this cycle is really picking up steam for some people, while for others it is starting to close down. Either way I know that most of us are facing some sort of rejection. I wanted to share this Reddit thread from last year where an AdComm professor in a social science field provides an in-depth analysis of the admissions process. The Professor discusses how and why students are accepted or rejected. They also answers a ton of questions in the comments section, so be sure to read below the initial post. I'm hoping that this will be able to offer some insight into why rejections come and de-mystify some of the admissions process. I know that in face-value a rejection just seems like a label of failure, but many times it isn't the case. Often times it is internal department politics that we, as applicants, would have no way know knowing or foreseeing. AdComm Reddit Post

Your positivity is awesome! You’ll go great places my dude.

Ditch the undergrad mentality. When i applied the first time I went into it with a very undergrad idea about things. For example, I applied to schools that I’d always wanted to go to for undergrad, wrote my SOP as if it was an undergrad admissions essay, and just went about the whole thing as if I was in high school. The biggest piece of advice I can offer is to ditch that mentality and look at it from a graduate POV.

I got in a dead-end relationship. Definitely would not recommend, but it did distract me for a while.

Just know that this is not a reflection of your worth, nor is it a reflection of your potential.

Just want to put it out there that second cycles are not a big deal and can definitely work. Not getting into any programs this year is not the end of things, if a PhD is really what you want then doing a second cycle is absolutely no big deal. Last year i left the cycle with no funded offers, and this year i received a funded acceptance from my top choice. I know that this isn't what ya'll want to hear right now, but just know that this is not the end!

Yes. That’s the recruitment event where they try and convince you to attend their school.

It couldn’t hurt. Not sure how much power they may have over the decision, but it definitely can’t hurt your situation.