Theory007

I think this one is slightly better - it captures Politics, Political science, Government and removes the LSE posts: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=(politic*|gov)+-london

My suggestion is to not try to prepare for interview questions. I understand it can be nerve-wracking and that you want to do well, but the best thing you can do it to represent yourself as honestly as possible to whomever you speak to. Besides, interviews are not only about whether or not you can answer academic questions but if you seem like a decent person someone could work with. And if you're getting an interview it probably means that your academic credentials are good enough but that they are trying to figure out if you're a good fit overall.

That makes complete sense to me! If other programs do the same it may result in decision delays across the board.

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

UC Davis is a very strong department and its acceptance rate is low. Even if you had a good chance of getting in (which you may or may not have), you should apply to several other programs. A lot of people here apply to 10+ programs. You don't have to apply to that many - but apply at least to half a dozen or so to maximize your chances. Remember that "fit" is what matters many places. Unfortunately the big deadline is tomorrow on December 15th so either you have to act fast or look at the much smaller pool of programs that have application deadlines on January 15th.
Hope that helps - good luck!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

One question; did you take the GREs this year? Unfortunately the GRE from this year is kinda useless if you took it this year and many programs will not require the test for their applicants for the 2021 cycle. If you got that score at a test center you are golden since adcoms will actually consider your score, which they wont do for many other applicants. 

I was pretty busy (though I do have 2 kids!). My schedule itself was fairly flexible in what exactly I had to be doing at a specific time of day (other than classes, office hours, etc.), but it was still pretty busy. My program front loads a lot (not all do this), and I was taking two substantive field (CP & AP) as well as Methods and a required social science research course, so we're pretty busy this year. For a lot of weeks, I pulled one all-nighter (or ran on 3-4 hours of sleep) per week getting my reading/Methods homework done.
For me, Zoom was really, really tough. We've got two kids + my working spouse in the background all the time, so I constantly was getting interrupted and distracted. I still managed to do pretty well, but I can't wait to have an actual school/learning space and office. I think if I had that, I wouldn't have had to pull so many late nights!
I knew a good amount of R before, though of course debugging can take a bit regardless. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist ;). Definitely brush up on this! I also wish I'd brushed up on my math skills beforehand, but the pandemic changed a lot of my plans. Math Camp was like drinking out of a fire house. 
I also tried to make time to work on some projects in the pipeline -- better to start on publications earlier rather than later! 
This year is really weird (obviously), so keep that in mind. But overall, it's a really, really busy time, but very rewarding!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

Unfortunately it's true.

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

As I mentioned in my previous post, admission decisions are likely to begin coming out soon. I encourage all you amazingly smart and driven people to do your very best not to go insane in the meantime. I recommend to try to stay busy with other things and resist the temptation to check your email every 5 minutes. Know also that you may feel disheartened when you dont hear from a school on the day where acceptances come out. Unfortunately that is just a part of the process and usually it does not speed things along to inquire professors and staff about your application.
Finally I'll say that even if your applications are not successful this round then do like many of us have done and reapply next year or the year after. A phd is not something anyone can accomplish over night and it really makes no difference if you postpone by a year or two. But best of luck! I'm sure many of you will receive great - and life transforming - news the coming months!

Hello, I was accepted to both as an out-of-field applicant. They're both 2.5 years, which is great for us out-of-field people. I just declined at UVA and will be accepting at Syracuse with the main motivation being that Syracuse offered me scholarship money and UVA did not. So your situation may be different, but I'll talk about my visits to both and my impressions of the schools.
UVA - Clean, professional atmosphere, the "campus" must be referred to as "grounds," clinic is used for both psych&speech, professors are friendly&knowledgeable (Dr. Robey esp - do not hesitate to email him with any questions!), for our track there are 2 semesters of on-campus clinic, 2 semesters of externship (Charlottesville area), and 1 full-time internship anywhere in the country ( you can go back to DC!). There are specialty groups such as fluency, accent mod, aphasia, etc.. which grad students can lead. There is very little flexibility in the curriculum so no electives or chance to "specialize" - you get a very well-rounded exposure to all types of populations&settings (child&adult, school, med, etc...). Many students come from out-of-state and out-of-field, so it's not unusual to be in your situation. Research is not really encouraged (but it is available), which is also why I chose Syracuse. UVA a highly clinically-focused program, preparing you for professional practice, so not many people do master's theses or research projects. Weather is warm, of course, and the surrounding areas are very safe. Housing is very affordable based on craigslist ads
Syracuse - the building was isolated from the main campus, so it's sort of in a quiet area. The clinic was clean and professional as well. There were more treatment rooms than UVA if I remember correctly. Clinic is used for speech&audiology. Professors were friendly&knowledgeable and introduced themselves (I got to see all of them at this open house event rather than just 1 at the short UVA tour, so keep that in mind). There are 5 semesters of on-campus clinic, 2 semesters of full-time internships (one of these must be in the Syracuse area, the other you MAY be able to complete anywhere, depending on grades&performance in the program so far). There are a small number of electives in the program. One placement must be with children, one placement must be with adults. The faculty gets really excited when students are interested in research, and it's encouraged to volunteer/work in a lab, etc... There's a lot of exciting work being done in the labs (I didn't hear about the labs at UVA so I assume there's not much there) - like ultrasound biofeedback and EEG and even a pharmacological clinical trial with the voice professor! Weather is generally cold&snowy, but it was sunny on my visit day so that was nice The city & surrounding areas are sketchy, but the immediate university area is safe. I plan to stick to the campus so this is not a major concern. Housing is also very affordable and there are many apartment complexes near the university area (some offer snow removal and covered garages!). Oh and a lot of the students come from in-state (many were from Buffalo or some other upstate NY cities), a few of them were from out-of-state (CA, NJ, PA). There's also a good amount of people without a background. I met several older students at the Syracuse open house (many who've been working for a few years), whereas at the smaller UVA visit day the students seemed fresh out of undergrad or 1-2 years out of school.
These are just first impressions so I don't know as much as current students could tell you, but hope this helps! I'm obviously biased towards Syracuse but both schools are very good choices! Congrats and good luck with choosing. You can relax a bit knowing you'll get a great experience at both schools.