Dwar

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: International - Top School in Turkey
Major(s)/Minor(s): Totally irrelevant major (TEFL) 
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: UK - Political Science
Grad GPA: Distinction
GRE: Not taken
Any Special Courses: Basic stats courses and 1 year of relevant language. 
Letters of Recommendation: 3 tenured faculty. Two in my subject area, other one is from my undergrad major.
Teaching Experience: Teaching languages in 4 different countries. 
Other:  Field research that led to a publication. Published an article at an International Law journal, other one is also accepted to be published in the next few months. 
 
RESULTS
Acceptances: Ohio State ($), Michigan State ($), Indiana ($), Florida ($), UC Santa Barbara ($).
Rejections: Princeton, Yale, UMichigan, UCSD, Cornell, UCLA, Northwestern, Rice, Georgetown, Notre Dame.
Going to: Ohio State.
I won't be adding to all those great suggestions that other candidates mentioned above. One note is that if you're coming from an irrelevant major into political science, you need to be able to show you can do research in political science. In my case, it was the field research and publications. 
 

Thanks everyone for another season on this forum!
I'm proud to be associated with you all (even if we're anonymous) and grateful that we are such a good community! The main application thread had, as you can see, well above 500k views since November, which is really quite mind-blowing to me.
To those of you who will be reapply next year, I'll be back then and look forward to reconnect. I'll sign in from time to time and please feel free to reach out if there is anything I can do, help with, or give you advise on. I certainly do not know everything but I do know some things and would be happy to help.
Best wishes to you all!

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution:  SEC, Top 10 public institution according to USNews
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political Science, Anthropology, Minor: Sustainability
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad:  n/a
GRE: n/a
Any Special Courses: R class, Research Methods, Honors Thesis courses
Letters of Recommendation: 3 -  My thesis advisor who is also the chair of the polisci program at my uni, lecturer I have a good relationship with, lecturer for my R class who I also have good relationship with
Teaching Experience: n/a
Other: Basic R skills, no publications, just my in-progress thesis was used for my writing sample
RESULTS: 
Acceptances: UIUC, University of Maryland
Rejections: Rice, UCSD, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, MIT, Michigan, Georgetown, Wisconsin
Going to: Maryland! ?
Lessons:
1. Trust the process. I have adopted this philosophy that I always know that I'll end up ok. This cycle really tested that patience in me. I really wanted to get into grad school, but I knew that if I didn't that I would find something else and be ok. 
2. results do not correlate to your worth. I knew this but it still hurt when I got another rejection, and I didn't think I would get in anywhere.
3. If I could do it again, I might have applied to a wider variety of programs/ Cast a wider net. While I applied to many schools (12) I could have applied to more programs. I only applied to Polisci PhDs, but could have considered Sociology programs, Public Policy programs, and even considered more masters programs. 
4. Find a hobby or get busy. I was so wrought with stress and anxiety this whole time. i thought that the applications were the hardest part but the waiting and rejections were so much harder on me mentally. I started working out more and focusing on making progress in the gym. I crocheted and tried to focus on homework. I procrastinated finishing my thesis. I spend some safe online time with frends, watched a couple of new netflix shows, etc. 
5. Where ever I ended up I knew I would be happy. I recieved my first acceptance and prepared myself to go there, started looking at apartments and things to do in the area. I was ready to commit if my last application was going to turn out as a rejection. When I got my second acceptance I went in with an open mind and chose carefully, while still listening to my heart when needed.
6. You are so much more qualified than you think!! I am finishing up my undergrad with what I feel is little to no experience so I doubted myself a lot. Why would any school want me? What do I have to show up against so many other scholars with grad school/real job/research/publication experiences? When I got my first waitlist it helped subside all of those thoughts for a moment, I was good enough to be on a waitlist so that must mean im actually a competetive candidate wow I couldnt believe it. Even now I have this sense of fear that my acceptance is going to be rescinded for some reason. 
7. Listen to your mentors. and ask questions!! My thesis advisor is an experienced Professor and researcher in the field. He's the one that recommended me to apply to at least half of the schools I applied to. When my advisor was suggesting schools, they suggested Maryland and emphasized how much of a good fit that would be for me and how they wanted to see me go there ultimately. It seems like they knew from the start where I would end up or it was just a really good prediction ?

I got into UT Austin off their waitlist! Heard from them this morning (IR). I am DELIGHTED! And I will be accepting the offer  
I have also contacted Rice to ask them to take my name off their waitlist, so hopefully it might help someone there  

First of all: it freaking sucks coming to a program with a dream of getting outstanding political science training and then get disappointed. I'm sorry you are going through this. It's painful and difficult and you should do your best (as you are) to get out of there asap.
But I agree that you cannot transfer. But some programs, also good ones, accept a ton of transfer credits. So you can go to a new program as a new student but skip out on 2-4 semesters of coursework. Also if you were to start over, it's not the end of the world. Many students join new programs and have to do or redo coursework. I would also consider using my original recommenders and not rely on the new ones. If you want to leave a program and you ask current professors for recommendations you risk not getting in anywhere. If you then choose to stay in the current program it would be no surprise to me if you'd have an even harder time getting support from anyone.
Would you mind DMing me the program name? And if you'd be willing to elaborate on your experience I'd love to hear about it (without names and all that stuff). For one reason or another people ask me for advise about where where to apply and what programs to attend. so I'd very much appreciate getting a first-hand account of a program that does not work out. And I could give you mine if you were interested
I basically agree with @MrsPhD. But would:
1. Spend the summer researching new programs. Look at every program in the top-50 or so and write a list of programs that you could complete at an accelerated pace. When you have this list of 3-6 suitable programs, add a handful of programs where you'd be a good fit even if you had to start over.
2. Take an honest look at my application material. Depending on your GRE score most people would benefit from redoing it. Study all summer for it and take it 3-4 times in August-December. Use the Manhattan Prep Books to prepare and sign up for the online Magoosh and complete the full program within your time constraints. It's cheap and best bang for the buck. There is lots of advise on what material to use to prep for the GRE but if you use what I suggest you'd be able to get 160 at least in both sections, which will make you a contender for most programs (except top-10 programs maybe).
Work on your writing sample. Adcoms are not looking for an incredible original paper I think but one that demonstrates your research interests, one that shows that you understand the basics of social science research methodology, and one that is fairly well written. Others may weigh in on this.
Your SOP is the most important element of your application. It's the only piece of writing that you KNOW that adcoms will read for sure. So it has to be perfect, or almost perfect. There is also lots of advise on how to write this well, but I'd recommend asking @BunniesInSpace who knows a thing or two about how to write a good application.
3. Given that you said above, I'd then ask my original recommenders for a new set of recommendations. You'll have to come up with a good way of framing your request otherwise they may refuse. Other people may disagree with me on this though.
I'd also consider not returning to your current program this fall. You'll have to weigh your options though.
Hope this is somewhat helpful. 

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: R2 private university 
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.98
Type of Grad: R2 public university
Grad GPA: 3.95
GRE: 165V/155Q/5.0V
Any Special Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: 3 profs (1 independent study supervisor, 1 MA thesis supervisor, 1 professor from my MA).  
Teaching Experience: 2 terms of TAing.
Other: 
RESULTS: 
Acceptances: UC Irvine ($), UC Santa Cruz ($), UMass Amherst ($)
Rejections: Northwestern, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, UVA, 
Pending: Michigan (unlikely), UBC (unlikely), York, BU,  Boulder
Going to: I'll never tell ?
1. It definitely helps to reach out to professors beforehand.  I reached out to faculty for all 3 of the the programs I was admitted to.  It signals interest, and in a competitive year like this one, it's an additional boost to your application.
2. Start your SOP early.  I started mine 2 or 3 months before the deadlines, although some start even earlier.  My first and last paragraph were the same for all programs, but the contents were tailored to specific programs.  I wouldn't advise writing a generic SOP.  Adcoms can spot it in a mile away, and it won't do your application any favors.  Demonstrate interest by talking about your interests and how they fit with that of the program.
3. Make sure your SOP delves into specific research questions and puzzles, instead of just outlining the work of others.  During the last cycle, I made the mistake of spending 2 or 3 paragraphs outlining a professor's research, and then spending 2 or 3 sentences vaguely connecting it to my interests.  Needless to say, I wasn't successful that year.   The professors already know their own research, and I didn't need to provide a long summary of their work to demonstrate interest.  This year I devoted the bulk of my SOP (3 or 4 paragraphs or so) to fleshing out my own research question, and then I linked it with the profs' interests briefly.  If I was a prof, I think this is what I'd want to see.  They want to see that you can think for yourself and ask probing questions to research.  
4. I'm glad I did an MA, because I had a solid writing sample to attach to my application.  Definitely important to pick a good writing sample.
5. Make sure that the programs you are applying to are strong in your sub-field.  I applied to Michigan, for example, mainly because of its prestige.  But I realized after being on the wait that it is not so strong in theory.  My acceptances can compete with Michigan in theory, even though they may not have the same overall rank.
6. This has been an exceptionally tough year, so I just feel glad that I've either been accepted or wait listed at more than half the programs I applied to.  In the end, it was never-wracking, but I am happy with my results!  And this community has been wonderful.  
 
 
 

1. I strongly encourage you to stay in California for school for the following reasons:
a. Regional network strength and career connections
b. Experiential learning tied to California and learning about California solutions
c. All the California schools you highlighted here large Universities with lots of collaboration potential (if you try).
The key context is this - California (especially local and state) does policy development and administration decently different from the rest of the country (and more different than non-West Coast. The stakeholders, best practices, considerations, demographics, culture, and etc. are different. I realized this as someone who moved to California for a short period of my life and was simply wowed by how drastic policy matters are different in California. Bottom line, my East Coast sensibilities + educated context/background didn't really serve me well professionally and etc. 
A simple thought experiment to validate this is simply this. As a Californian, how do you think about regulation car emissions? - well you do it as a State... same with medically required practices and etc. For the rest of country, the answer is Federal government and maybe as part of a regionally aligned/multi-state compact - not so in California. I can probably go with a lot more thought experiments to illustrate this, but that should work. 
2. U. Chicago and Georgetown are essentially data analysis focused programs. Obviously data is important, but focusing on data means you are taking less time focusing on execution, org design, and best practices in your limited 2 years of grad school. Georgetown in particular is very federal powers focused and struggles with local and state stuff.
3. U. Penn is interesting because although Fels struggles in rankings, I think of hit as a very robust program that does really well for local and state governance within the Mid-Atlantic (although U. Penn is an awesome brand). However, this does not really apply to you.
4. Cornell is a program that is new and trying to reinvent itself with a cash infusion. It is not a good idea to go to a school that has a weak track record (though great University brand) and is far away from major population centers (UVA being an exception to this). 
5. Duke is probably the best all around program for state and local policy/non-profit in particular - however it leans East Coast (for obvious reasons). 
6. I love UVA as a program, probably the most leadership focused program. Most exits go East Coast as well. 

@GradSchoolGradI’d like to answer some of the questions you posed above to get your take on things:
1. My career goals would be to be a city manager or a county administrator in CA (home state). 
2. I’m interested in the areas of social policy/government administration. So more focused on the actual management of the organization as a whole as opposed to meticulous research into any one particular area of study. I’d like more of a holistic view to know a bit of everything to know enough to judge good decisions from bad ones 
3. I’ve worked all 4 years of my undergrad in this sort of stuff and I love it so I’m quite sure this is what I want 
4. I’m not necessarily into massive, bold innovation. I prefer more level headed, ponderous government thinking as opposed to radical new solutions that try to change everything all at once. 
5. So far I’ve gotten into: UCI, UCSD, UCLA, Cornell, UPenn, Georgetown, and UChicago (wait listed at UVA and Duke). Still waiting on Brown and Oxford and still negotiating up these programs in terms of financing (which is obviously a big factor). I would however like your professional opinion as to what you think. 

I'm ~committing~ 

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

Some I'm pretty sure got reclassified as policy/international type programs. Additionally, I think I've heard of a few that aren't ranked here and there. 

I think the small bump for UCSD and small drop for Yale and Duke were most notable among the Top 10. UNC dropped out of the top 10. WUSTL and Cornell moved up while OSU and UW-M moved down a bit. Also Emory seems to be climbing up. MSU saw a sizable drop -- sexual harassment scandal may have played into that. 

I'd also say that before, there were more ties (often 3 way) between schools, whereas now that's less common. 

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

Interesting! Thanks for the update.
I did some digging around, and if someone wishes to compare with the previous one here is the link: Top Political Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools (archive.org)

Hey All, 
Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. 
Take a look (link)

I got ACCEPTED into Ole Miss!! I am fully funded with a departmental assistantship!! I am still in shock that I got into my top choice school!! ?

Really excited! I love Montreal (and grew up as a native French speaker, so excited to be back in that environment) -- the faculty seem very supportive, and they have broad expertise in the research I want to do (LAC, ethnic conflict/nationalism). And to top it off, I already have an established support network since many family members + friends live in the city, so I won't have to brave the cold alone.
 
thank you ☺️

JUST GOT A FULLY FUNDED OFFER FROM CONCORDIA!!!!!

crybby^^^

Claiming an MIT waitlist for SS. I finally broke and made a profile after being a long-time lurker. This cycle, I've been waitlisted at MIT, Princeton (IR), and Chicago (IR) and admitted to Yale (IR). Still waiting on Georgetown, but I'm presuming rejection...
Congrats to all the admits this cycle. It's been brutal, and I'm looking forward to this all being over. 

I just received an offer from MIT
 
No idea if the previous ones were legitimate though.

I just got a call from the program director for Government & Social Policy at Harvard letting me know I've been accepted!
Really can't believe it, I had completely given up hope for this cycle.