Theory007

How are ya'll coping with the whole corona-virus situation? I'm guessing that all major universities have cancelled their visiting days by now and many universities have taken their classes online for the rest of the semester. For those not being able to visit the programs they were admitted to, how are you going to make your decisions on where to go? In a broader sense, it all feels a bit surreal with European countries shutting down left and right, and knowing that the worst is yet to come to the US. There is a sense of panic where I am in central US with schools cancelled, shortage of goods in the grocery stores, and paranoia all around. What is your experience?

Boy, that escalated quickly.

edited

There was some talk about rankings within the top 50 so I thought I would add the ranking that I've always had in the back of my head. I'd say that any university within each category is indistinguishable from the others within the same category. For example, I think the ranking (or preference one would have) would pretty much be a tossup between any university in the top 20, i.e. Cornell, Northwestern, Ohio, UCLA, UNC, UPenn, Wisconsin are pretty much equal programs, and same is true for all other categories. But most people would prefer any program in the top 20 to any program in the top 30. This also means that universities are not ranked within each category - Columbia is not ranked higher than Yale for example. They are pretty much equals. The list is my own but based on a combination of university ranking, polisci ranking, and general reputation. It ignores very many important things. Rankings within subfields vary widely. And of course I think it would be reasonable for anyone to go to a slightly lower ranked program but where the fit is better. But if the fit was the same, I think that my ordering would be acceptable to most people. In reality you will notice that the ranking does not follow the official ranking very well at all. Just to given an example: Brown and Georgetown are both ranked pretty low in the official rankings, but anyone would still prefer a spot there to any program in the top 45 or top 50. Even if Brown and Georgetown are ranked lower at the moment I think it would be reasonable to expect that it is a matter of time before they rise. And UC Davis is a highly ranked program but I still think most people would be indifferent to a spot at it vs. Brown. I should say that it is not my intention to make anyone unhappy by placing whatever program they are at in the lower end. The ranking is based on my own idea of where I think the programs are compared to one another. And if you disagree, which I think many will, then let us hear what changes to the list would be reasonable.

Even if I agree with you that there's a significant gap in the top 50, this is not a very nice message. This forum is meant to relay information and provide support to others, but talking like that benefits no one. If you disagree with the original message then let us hear why but don't talk like that.

Looks like the cycle is over for most people. Just wanted to echo what @Dwar said earlier; if things did not work out for you this cycle then do not be discouraged. For many of us it took more than one cycle to get into a good program and you can do it too! Good luck everyone.

Even though I agree that this probably does not give that much useful information, this post deserves a like due to all the work you must have put into it! I wish I was better at coding and scraping myself. If you still plan to upload this on GitHub I will be waiting for it!

Yeah, but if you do what you need to do in phd courses you will get A- or A. Anything below - even a B+ - would raise serious red flags to the department anyway so it does not matter. And this is also true for departments that require a 3.0 average.

aren't you admitted to Princeton? I understand weighing my options though

Last year they invited people who were waitlisted for funding to the campus visit. So cruel imo

And, as far as I have heard, Oxford/Cambridge are weak in methods training compared to to basically any school in the US top-25. LSE is great though. But that is something to consider before you aim at schools in the UK

You're too modest. Surely it's more than pure luck that you're like one of the most competitive applicants to political science programs in 2020

Amazing! You clearly had a great cycle. Since you've gotten into basically every top program I am curious about what you think made the difference for you? What is your secret?? haha

That's extraordinary!

Why don't you contact Northwestern and see if you're on their waitlist? Call/e-mail

Well done! Would you mind sharing your profile?

Hi lexuwhit. I think you might have better luck in a different forum. Posts here are exclusively for aspiring political science grad students.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! THAT'S SO AMAZING EXCELLENT TERRIFIC TREMENDOUS OUTSTANDING!!!! Plz show Dwar some love people!!

Congratulations! You must be over the moon!

Congrats! That's outstanding. Did you by any chance submit either of those posts that had lower GRE scores? Just want to confirm that it's real.

UVa waitlists a lot of people but few get admitted.

Damn you are getting into everything! Would you mind sharing your profile, anonymizing facts that could identify you? Congratulations!

That is so amazing!

oh i didnt see that. I still call BS with those numbers

Since no one has claimed an acceptance in this forum, I think it is safe to assume that it was just another troll.