peggy.olson

I personally don't consider this as an issue as long as people do not post inappropriate comments on schools/departments. 

EDIT: Forgot to note — I graduated in spring 2018, and took a year off in between undergrad and grad to work as an RA
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: SLAC known for sending students to PhDs
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 (my school is known for major grade deflation, tho — this GPA put me in the top 10 percent of the graduating class)
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q / 5.5 
Any Special Courses: I took a lot of political science classes and had a 4.0 in my major (around 10 classes, most of which were 300+ level), and I took five grad-level research seminars (i.e., you read 6000000 pages a week and produce a large paper at the end). Also took upper-level Econ courses and intro stats + data science classes. 
Letters of Recommendation: Presumably pretty good. I knew all three profs very well and took multiple classes with all of them.
Research Experience: Aside from my senior thesis (mandatory for all seniors), I worked as an RA with a visiting prof my second year and our paper was accepted to ISA (I wasn't there to present, though). I worked in a think-tank in a former Soviet country as an RA for a summer. Also interned at a public interest magazine and wrote freelance print articles for them for 2 years afterwards. Worked as an RA for a global humanitarian non-profit/NGO. Worked remotely as an RA for a federal agency in a former Soviet country. Currently working as a super data/quant heavy RA at an academic dept at an Ivy League but not within my own major or specialty.
Teaching Experience: None but I worked like a million on-campus jobs.
Subfield/Research Interests: IR first, CP second. Conflict studies, mostly.
Other:  Native fluency in another """strategic"" language and can read in two others. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke $$, Columbia $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern
Pending:
Going to: Most likely Columbia     

LESSONS LEARNED:
Firstly, this is super obvious but like...research schools and programs as much as you can. I went into this super blind and clueless (I'm first-gen) and knew for sure I had a #1 choice but was having a hard time figuring out the rest. Come January, I was definitely regretting not applying to more schools and would have DEFINITELY regretted it if I hadn't gotten into my top choice. I'm not recommending applying for more schools just to apply to more schools (like, I applied to Yale but have no idea why really), but make sure you know exactly all the programs that might fit well for you and consider them all seriously when applying.
Second, I really think connections are incredibly important. Ask your profs where to apply and where they know people — aka so they can personally put in a good word for you.
Third, STUDY for the GRE as much as you can. Again, I kind of went into this blind and clueless and did not study for the GRE as much as I should have. I had maybe a week of serious studying before my exam. I decided not to retake it but I had a pretty low quant score. My writing sample (a quant-heavy thesis) and my current job and skills hopefully offset that low score, but this is one thing you can do to even out the playing field for yourself a bit. 
 
 SOP: PM me! It starts with a relatively quick anecdote about my personal history to explain why I'm interested in poli sci (and IR and CP specifically) and then I go straight into my research interests, then my current job, then my thesis, then other research, and then a paragraph about fit. 

I would if I hadn't booked the ticket and arranged everything with the faculty. The problem is I knew I got another offer only after I arranged the school visit with them.

This is going to totally out me to any adcoms, if I haven't already done so (but hopefully very few lurk here) 
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: R1, somewhere in the top 30-55 ranked polisci PhD programs. Ranked 50-100 of undergrad schools. Yes, I'm trying to be a little vague. 
Major(s)/Minor(s): econ, stats, political science
Undergrad GPA: a hair under 3.9. It's probably worth noting that my last 2 year GPA was much much better than the first 2 year GPA. 
Type of Grad: none
GRE: 94-98th percentile on all sections. Only took once. 
Any Special Courses: 3 PhD-level courses (All A's), plus all the mathematical goodies that come from a major in stats (including calc 1-3 and linear algebra)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors, 2 tenured, 1 assistant. 2 are big enough names in their subsubfields and polisci is small enough that application readers probably know who they are even if they're in different subfields. 
Research Experience: some RA work, some research intense coursework, one independent project funding by an honors college fellowship, published in only an undergrad journal
Teaching Experience: 3 years of TA work, but in math
Subfield/Research Interests: American, methods, behavior. Specific interests include inequality, political participation, public opinion, REP, policy, geography, and how these all interact via cool methods. 
Other: 1 year at an unrelated but quantitative job. Experience with coding. Again, I'm pretty decent at math relative to the typical applicant. Also gonna mention that I'm not an underrepresented minority, nor do I come from an underprivileged household, or anything like that, so no big diversity points for me. For schools that asked for personal/diversity statements, I explicitly said something along the lines of "yeah I'm probably here somewhat because of some privilege. I had a 20hr/week part time job in school, but if you really think about it, only needing to work half time while getting to go to school is really freaking lucky relative to so much of the country"

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$) -- all $$: Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley (no word on funding for another week actually, but I think they always fund everyone), UCSD, MIT, Columbia, Duke, UNC, NYU, UCLA, Ohio State, WashU, Emory  
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Harvard, Michigan
Pending:
Going to: I have a vague idea abut I'm waiting for visits to decide for sure. 
 
LESSONS LEARNED: This is the part where I say that I applied so many places because I expected maybe 3 acceptances, and I'd apply to all of these schools again. I don't know what exactly I did "right" that other people haven't done. But I'm going to take a stab at it.
1. Coming from a large R1 where students rarely pursue PhDs in political science probably helped in a way. Less competition and professors really notice when you say you want to go into political science. When recommenders send their letters, they often also fill out a survey section asking stuff like "Is this student: a. best I've ever had (or best in years), b. excellent (top 1%),  good (10%)" etc. and my situation made it much easier to get an a or b vs. coming from somewhere like Reed or Swarthmore. Letters really matter, especially if the people who read your letters know and trust the people who wrote your letters, which gives R1s a big advantage.
2. I never contacted any prospective advisers. I think it can sometimes help but I know a lot of professors are very lukewarm-to-cold about it. Also I'm awkward, which is really why I didn't do it. Didn't seem to matter in my case anyways.
3. Work on the SOP a lot. People who have read mine include: 3 professors, 2 parents, 1 bf, 1 ex-bf (I feel the need to point out that my SOP writing period did not span two relationships, but rather the latter was an ex when I let him read it). Some will give you good advice, some will give you bad advice, and you'll absolutely get contradictory advice. I leaned on the side of professional as opposed to fun-to-read, which meant no sarcasm, only 1 half-joke, and very little personal background that isn't directly relevant to my skills. It took a long time for me to get mine to a place where I could say "it isn't going to get any better than this" but I did get there!
4. Don't refer to the Harvard Government department as the Political Science department like 3 times in your SOP. This probably isn't really why I got rejected from Harvard, but I'm pretending that it is. 
5. Try getting your writing sample published somewhere, even an undergrad journal. Even if it doesn't get published, you'll get a lot of experience in editing and polishing that mofo. I did all of this in the spring and summer, and didn't even have to touch my writing sample come application season (other than to mess with margins to get it to conform with grad school requirements). Major time-saver. 
6. A few less-than-perfect grades won't sink you. As a recovering high school valedictorian, having my first two years of undergrad be filled with B+'s and A-'s was a little painful. All my B+'s were in major courses, too. There were definitely nights when I anticipated my semester GPA dipping below 3.5 and it freaked me out so much. I worried that this blemish would sink my graduate school prospects. In hindsight, it's clearly fine.
7. While looking at grad schools, I noticed that so many PhD students at the most prestigious institutions were all graduates of prestigious, expensive undergraduate and master's programs, and often also had prestigious work experience (ie central banks, prominent NGOs, cool politics-related companies and organizations, big-name management consulting). This does not describe me at all. I'm not saying that there isn't an admissions boost for students who don't come from prestigious schools (and I wholeheartedly believe that the BA-to-PhD pipeline is much much better supported at those places), but it's not an obstacle that can't be overcome. In fact, 2 of the exact schools I most had this worry about both accepted me and offered me money beyond their standard stipend package. 
8.There's a lot of really good information at GradCafe, especially for those of us who again don't come from common PhD pipeline schools. There's an older thread where people actually posted their statements of purpose. These threads are really good to see the level of competition that is present for many schools. BFB's stickied thread is a must-read. There's also a lot of good information on PSR, but I wouldn't recommend going there unless you're used to reading reddit or 4chan. There's a learning curve before you can recognize what is trolling vs. good information, but that's, unfortunately, the best aggregated place for information on what's going on in the field. 
I know I just said a lot, but if there's more that anyone would like me to speak on, feel free to DM me or ask here. 

EDIT: Forgot to note — I graduated in spring 2018, and took a year off in between undergrad and grad to work as an RA
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: SLAC known for sending students to PhDs
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 (my school is known for major grade deflation, tho — this GPA put me in the top 10 percent of the graduating class)
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q / 5.5 
Any Special Courses: I took a lot of political science classes and had a 4.0 in my major (around 10 classes, most of which were 300+ level), and I took five grad-level research seminars (i.e., you read 6000000 pages a week and produce a large paper at the end). Also took upper-level Econ courses and intro stats + data science classes. 
Letters of Recommendation: Presumably pretty good. I knew all three profs very well and took multiple classes with all of them.
Research Experience: Aside from my senior thesis (mandatory for all seniors), I worked as an RA with a visiting prof my second year and our paper was accepted to ISA (I wasn't there to present, though). I worked in a think-tank in a former Soviet country as an RA for a summer. Also interned at a public interest magazine and wrote freelance print articles for them for 2 years afterwards. Worked as an RA for a global humanitarian non-profit/NGO. Worked remotely as an RA for a federal agency in a former Soviet country. Currently working as a super data/quant heavy RA at an academic dept at an Ivy League but not within my own major or specialty.
Teaching Experience: None but I worked like a million on-campus jobs.
Subfield/Research Interests: IR first, CP second. Conflict studies, mostly.
Other:  Native fluency in another """strategic"" language and can read in two others. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke $$, Columbia $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern
Pending:
Going to: Most likely Columbia     

LESSONS LEARNED:
Firstly, this is super obvious but like...research schools and programs as much as you can. I went into this super blind and clueless (I'm first-gen) and knew for sure I had a #1 choice but was having a hard time figuring out the rest. Come January, I was definitely regretting not applying to more schools and would have DEFINITELY regretted it if I hadn't gotten into my top choice. I'm not recommending applying for more schools just to apply to more schools (like, I applied to Yale but have no idea why really), but make sure you know exactly all the programs that might fit well for you and consider them all seriously when applying.
Second, I really think connections are incredibly important. Ask your profs where to apply and where they know people — aka so they can personally put in a good word for you.
Third, STUDY for the GRE as much as you can. Again, I kind of went into this blind and clueless and did not study for the GRE as much as I should have. I had maybe a week of serious studying before my exam. I decided not to retake it but I had a pretty low quant score. My writing sample (a quant-heavy thesis) and my current job and skills hopefully offset that low score, but this is one thing you can do to even out the playing field for yourself a bit. 
 
 SOP: PM me! It starts with a relatively quick anecdote about my personal history to explain why I'm interested in poli sci (and IR and CP specifically) and then I go straight into my research interests, then my current job, then my thesis, then other research, and then a paragraph about fit. 

EDIT: Forgot to note — I graduated in spring 2018, and took a year off in between undergrad and grad to work as an RA
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: SLAC known for sending students to PhDs
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 (my school is known for major grade deflation, tho — this GPA put me in the top 10 percent of the graduating class)
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q / 5.5 
Any Special Courses: I took a lot of political science classes and had a 4.0 in my major (around 10 classes, most of which were 300+ level), and I took five grad-level research seminars (i.e., you read 6000000 pages a week and produce a large paper at the end). Also took upper-level Econ courses and intro stats + data science classes. 
Letters of Recommendation: Presumably pretty good. I knew all three profs very well and took multiple classes with all of them.
Research Experience: Aside from my senior thesis (mandatory for all seniors), I worked as an RA with a visiting prof my second year and our paper was accepted to ISA (I wasn't there to present, though). I worked in a think-tank in a former Soviet country as an RA for a summer. Also interned at a public interest magazine and wrote freelance print articles for them for 2 years afterwards. Worked as an RA for a global humanitarian non-profit/NGO. Worked remotely as an RA for a federal agency in a former Soviet country. Currently working as a super data/quant heavy RA at an academic dept at an Ivy League but not within my own major or specialty.
Teaching Experience: None but I worked like a million on-campus jobs.
Subfield/Research Interests: IR first, CP second. Conflict studies, mostly.
Other:  Native fluency in another """strategic"" language and can read in two others. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke $$, Columbia $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern
Pending:
Going to: Most likely Columbia     

LESSONS LEARNED:
Firstly, this is super obvious but like...research schools and programs as much as you can. I went into this super blind and clueless (I'm first-gen) and knew for sure I had a #1 choice but was having a hard time figuring out the rest. Come January, I was definitely regretting not applying to more schools and would have DEFINITELY regretted it if I hadn't gotten into my top choice. I'm not recommending applying for more schools just to apply to more schools (like, I applied to Yale but have no idea why really), but make sure you know exactly all the programs that might fit well for you and consider them all seriously when applying.
Second, I really think connections are incredibly important. Ask your profs where to apply and where they know people — aka so they can personally put in a good word for you.
Third, STUDY for the GRE as much as you can. Again, I kind of went into this blind and clueless and did not study for the GRE as much as I should have. I had maybe a week of serious studying before my exam. I decided not to retake it but I had a pretty low quant score. My writing sample (a quant-heavy thesis) and my current job and skills hopefully offset that low score, but this is one thing you can do to even out the playing field for yourself a bit. 
 
 SOP: PM me! It starts with a relatively quick anecdote about my personal history to explain why I'm interested in poli sci (and IR and CP specifically) and then I go straight into my research interests, then my current job, then my thesis, then other research, and then a paragraph about fit. 

EDIT: Forgot to note — I graduated in spring 2018, and took a year off in between undergrad and grad to work as an RA
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: SLAC known for sending students to PhDs
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 (my school is known for major grade deflation, tho — this GPA put me in the top 10 percent of the graduating class)
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q / 5.5 
Any Special Courses: I took a lot of political science classes and had a 4.0 in my major (around 10 classes, most of which were 300+ level), and I took five grad-level research seminars (i.e., you read 6000000 pages a week and produce a large paper at the end). Also took upper-level Econ courses and intro stats + data science classes. 
Letters of Recommendation: Presumably pretty good. I knew all three profs very well and took multiple classes with all of them.
Research Experience: Aside from my senior thesis (mandatory for all seniors), I worked as an RA with a visiting prof my second year and our paper was accepted to ISA (I wasn't there to present, though). I worked in a think-tank in a former Soviet country as an RA for a summer. Also interned at a public interest magazine and wrote freelance print articles for them for 2 years afterwards. Worked as an RA for a global humanitarian non-profit/NGO. Worked remotely as an RA for a federal agency in a former Soviet country. Currently working as a super data/quant heavy RA at an academic dept at an Ivy League but not within my own major or specialty.
Teaching Experience: None but I worked like a million on-campus jobs.
Subfield/Research Interests: IR first, CP second. Conflict studies, mostly.
Other:  Native fluency in another """strategic"" language and can read in two others. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke $$, Columbia $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern
Pending:
Going to: Most likely Columbia     

LESSONS LEARNED:
Firstly, this is super obvious but like...research schools and programs as much as you can. I went into this super blind and clueless (I'm first-gen) and knew for sure I had a #1 choice but was having a hard time figuring out the rest. Come January, I was definitely regretting not applying to more schools and would have DEFINITELY regretted it if I hadn't gotten into my top choice. I'm not recommending applying for more schools just to apply to more schools (like, I applied to Yale but have no idea why really), but make sure you know exactly all the programs that might fit well for you and consider them all seriously when applying.
Second, I really think connections are incredibly important. Ask your profs where to apply and where they know people — aka so they can personally put in a good word for you.
Third, STUDY for the GRE as much as you can. Again, I kind of went into this blind and clueless and did not study for the GRE as much as I should have. I had maybe a week of serious studying before my exam. I decided not to retake it but I had a pretty low quant score. My writing sample (a quant-heavy thesis) and my current job and skills hopefully offset that low score, but this is one thing you can do to even out the playing field for yourself a bit. 
 
 SOP: PM me! It starts with a relatively quick anecdote about my personal history to explain why I'm interested in poli sci (and IR and CP specifically) and then I go straight into my research interests, then my current job, then my thesis, then other research, and then a paragraph about fit. 

EDIT: Forgot to note — I graduated in spring 2018, and took a year off in between undergrad and grad to work as an RA
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: SLAC known for sending students to PhDs
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 (my school is known for major grade deflation, tho — this GPA put me in the top 10 percent of the graduating class)
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q / 5.5 
Any Special Courses: I took a lot of political science classes and had a 4.0 in my major (around 10 classes, most of which were 300+ level), and I took five grad-level research seminars (i.e., you read 6000000 pages a week and produce a large paper at the end). Also took upper-level Econ courses and intro stats + data science classes. 
Letters of Recommendation: Presumably pretty good. I knew all three profs very well and took multiple classes with all of them.
Research Experience: Aside from my senior thesis (mandatory for all seniors), I worked as an RA with a visiting prof my second year and our paper was accepted to ISA (I wasn't there to present, though). I worked in a think-tank in a former Soviet country as an RA for a summer. Also interned at a public interest magazine and wrote freelance print articles for them for 2 years afterwards. Worked as an RA for a global humanitarian non-profit/NGO. Worked remotely as an RA for a federal agency in a former Soviet country. Currently working as a super data/quant heavy RA at an academic dept at an Ivy League but not within my own major or specialty.
Teaching Experience: None but I worked like a million on-campus jobs.
Subfield/Research Interests: IR first, CP second. Conflict studies, mostly.
Other:  Native fluency in another """strategic"" language and can read in two others. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke $$, Columbia $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern
Pending:
Going to: Most likely Columbia     

LESSONS LEARNED:
Firstly, this is super obvious but like...research schools and programs as much as you can. I went into this super blind and clueless (I'm first-gen) and knew for sure I had a #1 choice but was having a hard time figuring out the rest. Come January, I was definitely regretting not applying to more schools and would have DEFINITELY regretted it if I hadn't gotten into my top choice. I'm not recommending applying for more schools just to apply to more schools (like, I applied to Yale but have no idea why really), but make sure you know exactly all the programs that might fit well for you and consider them all seriously when applying.
Second, I really think connections are incredibly important. Ask your profs where to apply and where they know people — aka so they can personally put in a good word for you.
Third, STUDY for the GRE as much as you can. Again, I kind of went into this blind and clueless and did not study for the GRE as much as I should have. I had maybe a week of serious studying before my exam. I decided not to retake it but I had a pretty low quant score. My writing sample (a quant-heavy thesis) and my current job and skills hopefully offset that low score, but this is one thing you can do to even out the playing field for yourself a bit. 
 
 SOP: PM me! It starts with a relatively quick anecdote about my personal history to explain why I'm interested in poli sci (and IR and CP specifically) and then I go straight into my research interests, then my current job, then my thesis, then other research, and then a paragraph about fit. 

It sounds like I'm getting rejected from Harvard too at this point, which hurts a little but is ok. Literally everyone but Harvard has emailed me today, which has caused a lot of heart racing. 
I hope everyone is seeing this exchange on the results page about the LSE econ student from Bath. It's a little funny. 

EDIT: Forgot to note — I graduated in spring 2018, and took a year off in between undergrad and grad to work as an RA
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: SLAC known for sending students to PhDs
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political science
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 (my school is known for major grade deflation, tho — this GPA put me in the top 10 percent of the graduating class)
GRE: 166 V / 156 Q / 5.5 
Any Special Courses: I took a lot of political science classes and had a 4.0 in my major (around 10 classes, most of which were 300+ level), and I took five grad-level research seminars (i.e., you read 6000000 pages a week and produce a large paper at the end). Also took upper-level Econ courses and intro stats + data science classes. 
Letters of Recommendation: Presumably pretty good. I knew all three profs very well and took multiple classes with all of them.
Research Experience: Aside from my senior thesis (mandatory for all seniors), I worked as an RA with a visiting prof my second year and our paper was accepted to ISA (I wasn't there to present, though). I worked in a think-tank in a former Soviet country as an RA for a summer. Also interned at a public interest magazine and wrote freelance print articles for them for 2 years afterwards. Worked as an RA for a global humanitarian non-profit/NGO. Worked remotely as an RA for a federal agency in a former Soviet country. Currently working as a super data/quant heavy RA at an academic dept at an Ivy League but not within my own major or specialty.
Teaching Experience: None but I worked like a million on-campus jobs.
Subfield/Research Interests: IR first, CP second. Conflict studies, mostly.
Other:  Native fluency in another """strategic"" language and can read in two others. 

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Duke $$, Columbia $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern
Pending:
Going to: Most likely Columbia     

LESSONS LEARNED:
Firstly, this is super obvious but like...research schools and programs as much as you can. I went into this super blind and clueless (I'm first-gen) and knew for sure I had a #1 choice but was having a hard time figuring out the rest. Come January, I was definitely regretting not applying to more schools and would have DEFINITELY regretted it if I hadn't gotten into my top choice. I'm not recommending applying for more schools just to apply to more schools (like, I applied to Yale but have no idea why really), but make sure you know exactly all the programs that might fit well for you and consider them all seriously when applying.
Second, I really think connections are incredibly important. Ask your profs where to apply and where they know people — aka so they can personally put in a good word for you.
Third, STUDY for the GRE as much as you can. Again, I kind of went into this blind and clueless and did not study for the GRE as much as I should have. I had maybe a week of serious studying before my exam. I decided not to retake it but I had a pretty low quant score. My writing sample (a quant-heavy thesis) and my current job and skills hopefully offset that low score, but this is one thing you can do to even out the playing field for yourself a bit. 
 
 SOP: PM me! It starts with a relatively quick anecdote about my personal history to explain why I'm interested in poli sci (and IR and CP specifically) and then I go straight into my research interests, then my current job, then my thesis, then other research, and then a paragraph about fit. 

I really thought they coordinated these, but as far as I know there are at least 3 T10 school visits (of the like 6 or 7 I'm so far aware of) in that same March 31-april 2ish timespan. 
I'd recommend not reneging on Duke, especially because they've paid for the tickets. I'd ask Columbia politely if they'd be able to accommodate some other time, and explain that while your prefer them, Duke was much quicker in all this and you know it would be a lousy thing to do to bail. Maybe emphasize that you're sure that many others are in this situation. I know I'd love to visit Columbia but have also committed to a different visit in the same timespan, and I'm sure you and I are not the only ones in this boat. 
I haven't specifically requested an alternate visit day anywhere, but multiple have offered it and have in fact said that an alternate visit day provides a better real look into the grad program (though whether the funding is there for the alternate visit is probably not all universally there). 
 

ya that is tough. I have a paranoid fear that snubbing departments is a bad look and the academic world (particularly within a subdiscipline) is so tiny that it's the wrong way to start, but you might just reach out to your preferred school and say you've already RSVP'd to another visit weekend, is there anyway you could come another time to meet with professors and get a lay of the land there? I think most would be happy to do that, particularly if it's just you meeting with a few professors and grad students.

FINALLY rejected from Northwestern lmao

claiming a Yale acceptance!
I thought its' a rejection because it was a generic email to check the portal.
Assuming a Harvard rejection I'm finally done!!! Thanks to everyone on this forum who made January and February less stressful. Best of luck to y'all.

Really appreciate schools that send out all decisions all at once. It's not that hard!!!

in case anybody is interested: i just called up northwestern and the graduate program coordinator told me that they were still waiting to send out an entire second wave of decisions over the next two weeks so i guess the wait may still be a little while longer 

Yes! Just got the email and I'm over the moon

what is with northwestern slowly releasing like 2 rejections a week but only on Saturdays lol

In at USC (IR) with full funding, specific details to follow. I expected to be happier or relieved at my first acceptance, but after submitting USC as my first application, I've realized it may not be a great fit for me, and I'm extremely concerned about their placement record. Their visiting "weekend" is Sunday night through a Tuesday, which means I may not be able to make it as I possibly start a new job the week before. I'm local, so  I'm considering sending an email to ask about whether I can come in to speak with some faculty on their own time.  It looks like I will be rejected everywhere else, as I only have Yale, Harvard, and Oxford to hear from. 
This whole process is so bizarre, and I'm ready for it to be over one way or another. I don't want to "sell myself short" by accepting a program that might be the wrong fit or "lower" than I could get if I had some serious time to improve my quant GRE score. On the other hand, the thought of going through this again, spending so much money on application fees, and putting my life off for another year (I graduated from my Master's program in 2017) is terrifying, and it seems presumptuous to assume I could do any "better" that this year's outcome.  
 

what is with northwestern slowly releasing like 2 rejections a week but only on Saturdays lol

what is with northwestern slowly releasing like 2 rejections a week but only on Saturdays lol

what is with northwestern slowly releasing like 2 rejections a week but only on Saturdays lol

what is with northwestern slowly releasing like 2 rejections a week but only on Saturdays lol

what is with northwestern slowly releasing like 2 rejections a week but only on Saturdays lol

Ya Kaylvas leaving was big, but Wood is still there, and while the OCV closed because he wasn't there to run it, they've started up a consequences of political violence workshop that has essentially the same framework just without the fellowships. I also think Kalyvas is still on the grad students' committees that he was on before so hasn't abandoned anyone. But it is pretty crazy to think if you got in yale five years ago to do civil wars you probably assumed you'd won the lottery, but by the time you graduate, Sambanis, Lawrence, Kalyvas, and Lyall all left. That said, their younger hires' research is really interesting and it'll be interesting to see whether they try to replace Lyall with someone else. Yale still has crazy amounts of money and cache. Chicago has similarly acrimonious internal politics but has managed to turn around their department with an overall endowment that's about 1/4 of Yale's. I doubt they'll ever be *the* place to study civil conflict again but I won't be shocked when they're a very strong department in a few years.