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MidnightSkywalker

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Posts posted by MidnightSkywalker

  1. 15 hours ago, Tako said:

    I only got funding from UW (that email from UCSD hit me in the gut too... plus requiring Econ summer class despite being an Econ minor haha). 

    I am visiting next week UCSD so I might bring it up but I already contrived to UW (better area studies, my interests align better with the faculty, and so forth). 

    I know it's disappointing but Chicago is great too! Maybe we can try again as PhD candidates for UCSD? 

    I am kinda leaning towards Chicago too. It's a great school, and I wish spending one year there might open up some new research opportunities and pave my path to good Ph.D. programs! I wish we could study together at UCSD in their Ph.D. program :) Best of luck to you!

  2. 21 hours ago, lafcfan said:

    Same here. A real hit in the gut. The thought of no funding really makes decisions harder for me. I'll try to reach out to at least see if I can find out why I got absolutely no funding

    I am going to do the same thing, but it really makes me sad :( 

  3. Gahhhhh I just checked my email, and the funding info came. NO FUNDING at all! Really disappointing :( I am going to try to negotiate it with the program director, but I really like GPS.... I'll have to go to Chicago then. Anyone received the no funding email and trying to get some more money from the department? 

  4. 3 hours ago, Ajb415 said:

    Just received email for full funded MIA program. Super exciting news. Tough decisions ahead. Anyone know the likelihood of getting a graduate assistant position? 

     

    On 3/10/2019 at 8:15 PM, TheSAfiltercoffee said:

    Received an email for the Admission Director regarding a full funding for the MIA program! I am so happy!

    CONGRATS! That's such an amazing achievement :) I wish I could get the same email soon too.

    Is any of you guys an international applicant by any chance? Did your letter mention what award/fellowship/scholarship it is? When did you apply and hear back from them about the admission result?

    I'm sorry to ask so many questions all at once lol. My application was originally submitted for the Ph.D. program in political science, and the graduate coordinator suggested I transfer it to GPS for the MIA program. I received an email from GPS that I was nominated for admission, but after that, I didn't hear anything back yet. This makes me so nervous.....

  5. 6 minutes ago, chloe123 said:

    Hey! I received my acceptance today too. No funding either. I checked their website and it states that the IR department does not offer funding for Master's students. I will likely be turning it down. An amazing school and program but just so, so expensive as an international student.

    I am an international student as well! Well, I am going to give it a shot. It's one of the most expensive schools around the world, so I won't be attending unless I get some funding either. Still, asking them if they can provide some funding wouldn't hurt... I hope you have a better offer from a better school!

  6. 9 minutes ago, Theory007 said:

    Did anyone receive a rejection from UC Davis? My application is still pending it seems...

    Here! Didn't hear from NYU, Chicago, and Davis. I guess it's probably a rejection at this point though. I'll never be able to understand why schools drag this on for so long :( A teeny-tiny part of me still thinks "hey... you might still have a chance.."

  7. Does anyone know if Chicago has a waitlist or not? Everyone I personally know who applied to the same program got their decision emails, both acceptance and rejection, and I haven't had any news yet. If they do, is there any chance I could be on the waitlist in this case? I heard Chicago doesn't waitlist candidates before, but I am just holding onto this little hope still.

  8. Ugh I see some posts about University of Chicago results on the survey, but I haven't received any email from them after submitting the application! What is happening? :o End this nightmare quick if you are not going to accept me, Chicago... :( I am like swimming in the pool of false hope now, though I know it's too late for the congratulations email.

  9. 11 minutes ago, guesswellsee said:

    Most likely, but I am still waiting on a few schools (only applied for Masters programs) and funding offers before I commit. 

    Good luck on other schools! I am happy that I got some offers from masters program at least after being rejected for phd programs. I will have to wait for fellowships before I decide too, but I am really looking forward to CIR's offer :) Wish you have a wonderful day!

  10. On 3/3/2019 at 8:19 AM, guesswellsee said:

     Hello! I was accepted with a partial tuition waiver (2/3), but I only have the 2019 application option (no 2019 fellowship option) under the "2019, Master's Degree, International Relations". The final portal (after you click the 2019 application) has a status update link which then takes you to the offer and scholarship info. There is also a link to reply to the offer of admission. So I am not sure what the "2019 fellowships" would mean in your case, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

     

    Thanks! I wish I could just have a clean and nice closure soon :) Are you going to attend CIR then?

  11. 1 hour ago, jane15 said:

    Hello all, I guess lots of you guys are receiving letters from grad schools nowadays. 

    I am international applicants from South Korea, applying for the 9 schools of International Affairs program.

    It sounds a little bit early to make final decisions but I am seriously considering where to head in recent days so I need your opinions about each school and program as many as I can (I already checked US news and FP rankings..)

    I am thinking of either having a professional job (I know it is really hard to get a job in the US as an international student but think it is worth to try... ) or getting a doctoral degree. 

    Especially, it will be a great help if you give me comparisons between AMERICAN SIS  and UCSD GPS because I love DC for their great geographic advantages such as accessibility to think tanks, governments, and internship opportunities but at the same time financial and employment-related problems are also considered. 

    Thanks! 

     

    The schools and program names which I got in so far are listed below:

    AMERICAN SIS - MA in International Affairs, Comparative & Regional Studies (Scholarship pending)

    UCSD GPS - MA in International Affairs/regional specialized in Korea Studies (Scholarship pending)

    SYRACUSE MAXWELL- MA in IR (Scholarship pending)

    UNIVERSITY OF DENVER JOSEF KOLBERT SCHOOL - MA in International Affairs, 25k/year

    PENN STATE SIA - MA in International Affairs, 20k/year

     

    Pending: SAIS Johns Hopkins, LSE, GWU, UW 

    Rejections: none 

     

    Go check out the Government Affairs topic! They have threads for each school, including the ones you mentioned. You will have more information about those programs there :) 

  12. Hey for those who received a CIR admission with full/partial tuition waiver offers, did anything change on the application portal at all? I see a new application for "2019, Master's Degree, International Relations" that has two options when opening it: 2019 & 2019 fellowships. I didn't receive any email from the department yet, but would this mean I got accepted to CIR? I didn't even know I would be obsessed with small details and overthink this often before I started my PhD application :P

  13. On 3/1/2019 at 2:12 PM, Tako said:

    I don't know if this will help much but I believe the February 11 deadline was for financial consideration specifically for those who were denied PhD admission. I hope you receive substantial funding! :) That is the largest factor for me as well (not quite international but will move from SC to CA if I can secure funding) but we'll find out soon enough. I have heard of fellowships and other opportunities that fully fund students for the first year. 

    Oh that's reassuring to hear. I wish to see you all in San Diego :)

  14. I also received the "nominated for admission" message for MIA program a few days ago. I am really surprised that I heard back from them so early! It's only been like 2 weeks since I applied. I applied to the MIA program after being rejected from the PhD program in political science on February 11. The graduate coordinator contacted me to apply to the MIA program instead, so I took my chance! Little did I know that GPS might be a better fit for me than a PhD program in political science. The curriculum seems amazing, as well as the job prospect and faculty members.

    My only concern is money. I wouldn't be able to afford it unless I receive some substantial amount of scholarship. And I guess the merit-based scholarship is only for those who applied before January deadline, right? I am an international applicant as well, so I feel like I won't be getting some fellowships that will actually make it possible for me to attend. Does any of you know how much funding you could get as an international student? It's truly frustrating to give up on my dream to pursue higher education because of finance. Do you think I would have any chance of getting a full ride? I know it's ridiculous to seek answers here, but who knows ;)

    Congratulations everyone! I hope to see you all in San Diego :)

  15. On 2/21/2019 at 7:43 AM, HanZero said:

    My first post here. I had been following what people were saying, and attempting to shore up my deflated morale. Applied to Princeton, Harvard, Brown, UPenn, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Michigan Ann Arbor, UVA and McGill in CP. Had written to POIs at these places and they had written back saying they thought the proposal was a good one. GRE was ok V:168,Q:163, AW: 4.5, one joint published paper, but no conference work. I did have 5 years of work experience relevant to the field I was proposing my topic in; some POIs even highlighted this point as a strong part of my application.

    Two months of intense tension later, I have rejects from Princeton, Brown, Ann Arbor, UVA and possibly McGill. Any attempt to email said POIs is returned by a ‘sorry we had too many applicants’ rather than how to improve the application. I am expecting rejections from the last three as well, Harvard was a bit of a stretch in any case. 

    Thanks a lot to people like Tedmonkey, for putting out how to try and get back at this application process. I’m at a total loss right now, after having put in almost 8 months of concerted effort building every part of the application. I don’t know, at this point, what I can do to make it better...

    In any case, if there are people like me here, who got wiped out this application cycle, and who are trying to get back on the application cycle, maybe we could create a separate thread and support each other over the next year, which I have all reason to believe, will be brutal.

     

    Let's make it happen! It will be great to help out each other for the next cycle.

  16. On 2/20/2019 at 10:30 AM, Tedmonkey said:

    Don't give up hope until all schools have responded. However, if you do need to reapply next round I can let you know what I did for my second round that has been successful. I studied and retook the GRE to improve my scores, I personalized all of my SOPs with detailed information on my fit to each individual department, I also have been working on an independent research paper and submitted it to present at conference (and was accepted). One other thing I did was to create an Excel file of every PhD program in the country, and a few Canadian ones, where I created a formula that weighted different factors of fit. For example, since my research deals with the LGBTQ community, does the school contain a PhD, Master's, or Graduate Certificate in a field related to gender or sexuality studies or political science faculty that did research in this area. These columns were weighted at 3 times value, other things that are more wish list were weighted at 1 times value, and some between at 2. Then I sorted by the total of the weighted value and chose high, mid, and low ranked schools to apply to. Last year I applied to 11 schools and got 10 rejections and 1 wait list (that failed). This time I only applied to 5 schools and so far am at 2a/0w/1r/1p and 1 withdrawn application (back-up school and already got in somewhere I prefer more). The school I am thinking of going to, at this point, is ranked around 50 so a solidly mid-ranked school. Also, reevaluate your reference letter sources and see if you could have done better there.

    Oh my research interests revolve around gender, sexuality, and racial politics! Nice to see someone pursuing a similar academic interest :) That excel file sounds like a stellar idea. I should create one too! I am definitely going to look into the fit of each school this time, and re-take the GRE. Well, I will have to re-evaluate every part of my application to make sure I can make it next time. Thank you so much for your comment, and wish you have a wonderful weekend!

  17. On 2/19/2019 at 10:46 PM, e2e4 said:

    I wouldn't lose hope just yet.

    If you can't get feedback from schools you applied to about your application, you might have people who sit / have sat on admissions committees look over your statement if you have to reapply. They would probably be the best ones to ask if there is some glaring mistake. Apparently there is a certain formula and language of writing these things, which I was not totally aware of when I applied.

    After polishing up my sop, I reached out to 3 professors who have been in the admission process for the past few decades; one in the English literature department and the other two in the political science department. With some minor suggestions, they all told me it was fantastic, so I got a little conceited.. As a non-native English speaker, it's took me almost 2 months to craft such a well-written essay. I'm just frustrated that it didn't work this time, but I am going to make sure to have more people read my essays. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

  18. On 2/19/2019 at 10:31 PM, schuaust said:

    Here's a bunch of stuff that probably isn't helpful or reassuring at all, but hopefully has the intended effect (to be reassuring and encouraging). 

    Looking at where you applied it looks like there are really no mid-range programs other than Florida State (which is really well respected). It looks like you still have quite a few pending, so don't give up hope, and remember that it is a very idiosyncratic process. Most of these places have 10-50 applications for every one that they accept (for example, Washington-Seattle accepted 10 people and had over 160 people apply). At the 70-100 range the competition is a lot less, but obviously the career prospects aren't as 'good' (if by 'good' you mean becoming a tenured professor at an R1 institution).

    I'm currently at an institution in the 90-100 range, and reapplied to programs because where I am does not have LGBT support ... at all ... and so in my second go-round with quite a bit of training and a massive data project under my belt I've gotten in only at a similarly ranked University, with a few still pending. So, it's kind of a brutal process that requires really solid applications all around, and even then, it's still luck of the draw (some people are exceptions and just stand above the rest). So don't give up hope, hopefully you get in at one of the schools you are waiting on a decision from (and fingers crossed we will see each other at UPenn, lol), but if it does require a second go-round remember that fit is the most important thing for getting in (beyond the strength of your applications) and to apply widely based on that. When you do, you'll see that it naturally constrains where you apply within each rank (so for me, that looks like --- Elite tier: Berkeley (UCLA, if I applied) -- High: Northwestern (haven't heard back), Minnesota, UPenn (UBC, if I applied) -- Mid-high: Washington-Seattle, Hopkins -- Mid-low: UC Santa Cruz -- Lower: Delaware, remain at home institution). Regardless, even at the lower institutions, a postdoc can really give you a better chance (we've had people get jobs at Kansas and South Carolina recently and are ranked pretty low). There's also a possible selection effect in some lower ranked Universities, at mine there are very few of us who want to be at research Unis, so most people are looking for teaching jobs at liberal arts colleges, or to work in the private sector. The people that have wanted research oriented jobs have generally been able to get them. I don't know how far that travels to other institutions. 

    Thank you so much for your insightful comment. I do think I should have had some strategic plans instead of just applying to schools I want to attend. I didn't have enough time to research each school I applied to, and that's probably the cause of defeat. I will keep it in mind when I prepare for the next cycle! I wish you the best :)

  19. 58 minutes ago, yubs89 said:

    Got it. Don't give up until the end. You never know!!!

    By the way, if necessary, do you plan to reapply? I was completely devastated in the last cycle, but I got into several places in this cycle.

    Yeah, I have a temporary job at a local NGO that ends in July, so probably I should have time to prepare for the next round.

    How did you improve your application? I don't even know what the biggest problem was. Maybe everything? I am not sure if I am just not right for the Ph.D. program, or my application was not good enough overall. I should have had other people evaluate my profile before I decided where to apply :unsure:

  20. Just now, yubs89 said:

    Why not attend UCSD?

    I applied to the Master's degree in International Affairs at UCSD, probably not funded at all. I should have been more specific there, sorry.. I don't think I'll go to UCSD though. I can't afford the tuition and cost of living. Wow this is getting even more sad now lol :wacko:

  21. Just now, TheBunny said:

    Thank you so much, but I really take these rejections personally. I know there is nothing like "safety" in Ph.D. applications as getting into any Ph.D. program is very competitive and connected to many variables such as fit, scores, interview, and personality. However, for many programs I got rejected, I thought I really have a shot, and that frustrates me so much. I guess I am not made for a Ph.D.

    I know how it feels like... I have been "officially" rejected from 3 schools, with some implied rejections from many schools that I thought I would have a shot. This whole admission process has been extremely stressful. But just one application doesn't, and of course can't, represent you as a whole. You still got into BU! This might not be the best encouragement I can think of, but I think it is amazing to have an acceptance in such a competitive process. I just like to think there were too many stellar candidates this year, not that I am underqualified. Let's just have tons of good food and shake it off. You'll have better deals from other schools!!!!

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