catchermiscount
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Posts posted by catchermiscount
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I was wrong - Rochester was first today. Good luck to all.
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OK, you clowns - I am full of piss and vinegar in the afterglow of my Steelers' dynamic performance. Time to put our money where our mouths are. Which school notifies next, and when?
I bet UNC this afternoon.
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Oh, they were the first to reject me when I applied back in 2007 (I believe it was February 2). Now, I was an incredibly shaky candidate, so it's certainly possible that they just wanted rid of me sooner than later. So yeah...no inside info and probably erroneous. High five, me!
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spark25 said:Which schools are expected to notify the applicants next week. Perhaps we can put a list together each week of schools that have in the past years notified students during the same time frame.
Excepting the schools that we have already heard from -- UC-Davis, Emory, Illinois, Michigan State, and aTm -- the list for this week includes:
ALMOST GUARANTEED
North Carolina (and from my information they're very close)
Ohio State (many, if not all, of us got our status changed, so it looks like they're mobilizing)
Virginia
Wisconsin
POTENTIALLY
UCLA (sent out a batch of rejections February 5 last year)
WUSTL
UC-Berkeley
Stanford
Yale
I think that's about it for this week. My guesses for the week are UNC, OSU, UVA, UW-Madison, UCB, and Yale. I also guess that OSU will be next.
Continued good luck to all!
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Enough of this tomfoolery! We have all developed ulcers over the past six months or so. It's a Friday night, and I'm sure we all could use some fun instead of fretting.
This is what I propose:
1) We all go out and get belligerently drunk;
2) We buy midgets (see my post in the what-are-you-going-to-now thread of the Waiting It Out board);
3) We wake up somewhere that we have never (consciously) been before;
4) We find our way home under the rule that we're not allowed to spend more than $5 doing so;
5) We take a few aspirin at home;
6) We come on the board tomorrow morning and report the results of debauchery -- at least what we can remember.
Who's with me? Screw it - I'm getting sloshed either way. You should, too!
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Congrats to the recent acceptances. For those of you that got into Michigan State, feel free to IM me with questions about the department, East Lansing, or anything else.
Continued good luck to all.
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I'm curious what this means too. Mine still says "evaluation" as well. What does it say below that?
The explanation underneath is: "Your application has been sent to the graduate program for academic review." Is that the same as what it said before? I knew I should have been taking verbatim notes like a theorist!!!
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Ohio State has changed the application status from "evaluation" to "academic review." Not sure what it means, but wheels are turning at least.
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I got the call, too - 8:15pm. I'm sure I'll be hitting you up for info as we go, tidefan.
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Jorge quit. Economy dried up his grant money.
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C'mon. All it means is that they know about the department they are currently in...it can't mean that they know about OTHER schools.
True story.
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rlayla:
I like the way you think. Sorry to say, I have to keep my lips tight about specifics. The good news is, schools are getting busy making decisions and the news will start pouring in soon enough!
Same here, before you get any ideas about getting info on Blochester or Glintzton or SloshU!
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One school appears to have finished its first round as of this afternoon. Not sure when they'll act on it.
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It's amazing how sharp the difference is in terms of the granularity with which you look at programs AFTER you're immersed in them and AFTER you get the perspectives of faculty members that think about this all the time. Odd - very few of us get into a doctoral program and then have to write another SoP. But hey, being the exception is fun.
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First, I will light up the Cuban Cohiba that I've been nursing for this purpose and take a most satisfying puff.
Second, I will go and collect from the guy in my office that's running the book of where I will/will not get in. Most people (who are very smart for doing so I might add, but this is fiction) have been against my first choice, so it'll be a nice little haul.
Third, I will go and sincerely thank the people that wrote my letters of recommendation and inform some of the people in my office that need to know this so that I won't be stepping on toes when the time comes.
Fourth, I will buy a midget named Jorge. Jorge is the Champion of Graduate School Admissions! Jorge and I will walk around campus, brandishing my acceptance letters and inviting randomers to my house for a festive dinner party that will inevitable devolve into an orgy representing both little- and regular-sized people. Legs and arms everywhere, but my grip will remain firm on my acceptance letter.
Then, my first choice will hear that I have hired Jorge the Champion of Graduate School Admissions and that I used him to have an orgy at my house. They will immediately retract their offer, and so Jorge and I will be destitute. As my contract with Jorge runs through April 15, he will be stuck with me as I go into my blue period. I will write short stories about an anonymous tragic hero named "him" and very bad haiku about the inevitability of death. Jorge will spend his time knitting. As my landlord will have kicked me out by now (I have no idea why), Jorge and I will be stuck living at the YMCA. I will spend my time racking up new high scores on Ms. Pac Man and plotting elaborate sabotage schemes for the old men's morning water polo game.
And then, on April 14, a letter postmarked February 10 or so will arrive at my box at the Y. Jorge will spot it and run up to me as I sit at the foot of my bed, now bloated and bearded. He will hand me the letter, addressed from my top choice. It will have only two words: "just kidding!" "Indeed!" I bellow happily, immediately standing tall and 30 lbs. lighter with a nice shave. "Jorge," I shout, "we need to recruit talent for another celebratory orgy! But this time, frame it as a Trivial Pursuit party!" Jorge will go pick up new Trivial Pursuit cards (because really, is there anything worse than the old ones that ask about The Fresh Prince?) and a Value Pak of roofies. "Delightful!" I declare in my new English accent as I pull on my freshly-tailored velvet suit.
The game played, the booze drunk, the roofies used, the velvet suit stained (dammit!), the orgy had, Jorge will watch as the clock strikes midnight. It is now April 15. He quickly writes the letter letting my top choice know that I will be attending and approaches me in my drunken, sweaty stupor, tugging at my sleeve. "It is time for me to go, Mister Pete," he will say (even though my name isn't Pete). We share a tearful embrace complete with me lifting him to heights he's never known. Then, he walks away...except when he does, he DISAPPEARS into the cornfield.
Jorge, my Champion of Graduate School Admissions, was a magical nymph the entire time.
And THAT is more likely than me getting into my first choice.
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Might as well throw my hat in the ring.
First field: IR
Second field: Methods
Specific interest: security, rivalry, bargaining models, sanctions, public opinion on foreign policy
Undergrad education: 3.5 GPA, directional state school - 4.0 at the school itself but inherited a 0.22 semester from a previous university.
Grad education: MA expected in May from a top 25 doctoral program - I'm transferring due to faculty instability. 3.95 GPA.
VGRE: 700
QGRE: 800
AWAGRE: 5.0
Methods: Grad courses in probability/stats, OLS, MLE, scaling, time series, simultaneous equations, intro to formal theory.
Letters: two fulls and an associate from my department. Should be positive, and they know me well.
Assistantships: TA for four semesters. RA for one semester.
I applied to 14 schools, which you should be able to see listed in my signature. Best of luck to all of you!
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Aren't the new NRC rankings for poli sci supposed to be coming out soon? Anybody have any insights? Thanks in advance.
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I realize now that I never got around to answering the GD question. My bad. The above is meant to support the assertion that a test-prep course probably isn't necessary with the right kind of preparation. As a similar student with little math background who didn't take one, all you need is the right mindset. Sorry about that.
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A few things:
1) Credentials: I took the GRE twice, and averaged 775 on the quantitative section (750 first time, 800 second time). I did little to no preparation for either exam, and I hadn't taken math in 5 years. I'm currently a doctoral student in a quantitatively-oriented (but not super mathy) political science department preparing to transfer thanks to faculty attrition.
2) Let's prepare our opening mantra. It's not math. It's not math. Say it to yourself. It's not math. It's not math. So what is it? Problem solving! Think about it. They put two things in front of you and ask you which is bigger. That's not exactly math. It's logic, analytical thinking, critical thought, but it's not just math. I know it sounds like semantics, but if part of your problem is approach-oriented and built upon a foundation of insecurity, then this little paradigm shift should help.
3) I agree with the sentiments above: think like a testmaker. On practice exams, ask yourself: "just what is it that they're testing in this question?" It can be any number of things: algebra, geometry, logic, arithmetic, or just plain balls (my term for picking the simple answer when there are more complicated traps). Each of these genres has its own little tricks to learn to get through the test faster. For example, on an algebraic question, in the event that you don't enjoy putting things in easily comparable terms, you may want to establish a system where you plug the following series into the varaible: negative integers, negative fractions greater than -1, 0, positive fractions less than 1, positive integers. Categorizing questions and establishing systems for each type might make it go a bit more smoothly.
4) Consider what your goal is. Let's say you've decided that, for a theorist, 700 is a competitive score (which may or may not be true, depending on the kind of department you're applying to). Fine. Given the way the test is set up, you'll want to spend a lot of time on early and middle questions, so don't feel like you have to get to every single stinkin' question. The only people that need to get to the end with lots of time to think are those gunning for 800s (we call this strange kind of person "an economist").
5) Try to find some fun in it. Whatever it is that you enjoy about reading a text closely is somewhere related to what an applied mathematician enjoys about solving his or her kind of problems (now isn't the time for the KKV "unified logic" argument, but it's the same kind of idea). This will help you later, because, unless you're at a really qualitative school, you're probably going to have to take probability theory, basic statistics, and OLS regression in your first year or two.
6) Day of the test: no caffeine! Get some whole grains, light proteins, and a slow-burning carb like oatmeal. You'll be less jittery and will be able to get through the exam with more energy. I know it's hard for a theorist to go long without their cigs and coffee (I kid, I kid), but that should help.
Let me know if anything needs clarified or if I can be of further service. Good luck!
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Thanks. I, too, am IR, and despite being in grad school already, I don't have a lot of access to the specific outlets. Thanks again!
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Hey all:
I'm in the process of compiling information for the 2009 application season. I've learned the hard way that faculty attrition can derail an otherwise successful early graduate career, so I'm looking for good sites/wikis with good information about departmental issues (attrition, research, good colloquia, job talks, etc.). I hesitate to call these "gossip sites," because they're about far more than that, but you get the idea. Any suggestions? It's difficult to pin just one or two down.
And let me say my howdies to those getting ready for applying! Good luck to all of us!
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I'm in much the same boat - all of the professors in my subdiscipline have left my department, so I'll be leaving after completing the MA. Perhaps because of this diaspora, I've been considering a very broad class of programs - like you, somewhere around 15 to 20. I don't want to apply to more than about 10, but I also don't want to sell a potentially good program short by eliminating them at the wrong time.
Obviously, we both need to whittle the list a bit. I've spent the last few days making Excel spreadsheets with all of the characteristics of the 20 or so schools I had on my original list. The spreadsheet includes basic stuff like admission statistics and rankings, but it also has four columns for faculty I'd like to work with. It's amazing how fast the schools begin to stratify themselves when you look at potential advisors all at once like that. At school X, there are only three faculty I'd really like to work with, but they're all amazing in my very narrow field. On the other hand, at school Y, there are a bunch of people, but none that really stick out like at school X. So, some schools are better in my "Prof 1" column than others...and since I'm wary of putting all my eggs into one fickle professor's basket, I'm really concerned with the top three professors at each school.
Here's hoping we get to manageability soon! Good luck.
PoliSci 2008-2009 Cycle
in Political Science Forum
Posted
Quantitative analysis from the theorists, ladies and gentlemen!!!
And before I get accused of hating on the theorists for chasing unicorns: I think theorists are by far the smartest, and, given performance in my deparment (a top-20 methods place with a solid theory department), they are among the best at picking up methods. Don't be hatin'. And of course, good luck!