Theoryboi

I think ultimately the number itself isn't as important as the breadth. As many have pointed out, they've evaluated 'safes', 'possibles', and 'reaches'. My advice to anyone reading is to make sure you don't put your eggs into too many dream schools. Especially with the current state of admissions (or likely the lack thereof), I can't picture many people being able to very accurately predict where they will be admitted right now, so do yourself a favor an apply broadly. Treat every one like its a dream, because in some sense, 2021 admission has a realistic chance to be a total fantasy considering how many schools have already shut the door to apps.

I think my schedule was maybe a bit unorthodox compared to what others have experienced, but I will share anyways. As part of my program I am employed as an instructor of record for an undergraduate class (meaning I am THE instructor, not an assistant). So I taught an IR class twice a week for an hour and fifteen minutes each session, and had 3 graduate classes which were once a week for two hours and fifty minutes, also this of course involved prep time, grading, etc. Teaching was awesome and my students really helped keep my spirits up as the semester wore on. I don't think most programs will involve this sort of work, particularly in the first semester, so it probably won't apply to many reading this post. 
Basically, like I said above, I had to do a ton of reading week in and week out as we would expect for a PhD program. One class, on Theory, mandated we read at least one book a week, sometimes two. Another, a security studies class, involved one book with a few related articles a week. The third, a methods class, was more like 4-5 articles a week. The first class I mentioned also mandated a short paper be written every week (750-1000 words) on the book(s) we read. Otherwise, there were not really week-to-week assignments for the other two classes, though they each had a presentation at one point in the semester. Two classes had book review essays (about 2000 words each), and Final papers ranged from 4000 words in one case and two called for 6000 words. 
Of course, much of this occurred online, so I was mostly isolated in my room. On a non-work note, but related to the day-to-day, I found it difficult to connect with people generally speaking, and I wouldn't say this is for lack of social grace, but rather just the Covid situation really complicating things. I have one close friend from my cohort and we made it a point to hangout once a week so we had some form of human interaction. Hopefully for those reading, this will be less of a concern by the time you start your programs. So there isn't a great sense of cohort comradery at the moment, but hopefully that will improve as time goes on and conditions improve.
I found I had great flexibility with my schedule overall, as I had no obligations on Fridays generally speaking. Still, I was working pretty much seven days a week, and only took a few full days off here and there. I know many of my colleagues felt very overwhelmed by the workload/schedule demands, though I can say I was able to manage it well enough. As others have said, my experience was more demanding overall than during my masters work, and it was both the most challenging, yet rewarding semester of school I have experienced. But, the stakes are high: my cohort has already had one drop out and it remains an open question if one or two others will return after winter break, so I don't know if I had the typical case of people, even in my own program. So, if your number gets called, don't take the opportunity lightly! When it gets tough I always remind myself how many people would love to have the opportunity and the funding I am fortunate to have. Maybe that thought can help when things inevitably get tough; after all if a PhD was easy, why would we all covet it as such? 
 

I think my schedule was maybe a bit unorthodox compared to what others have experienced, but I will share anyways. As part of my program I am employed as an instructor of record for an undergraduate class (meaning I am THE instructor, not an assistant). So I taught an IR class twice a week for an hour and fifteen minutes each session, and had 3 graduate classes which were once a week for two hours and fifty minutes, also this of course involved prep time, grading, etc. Teaching was awesome and my students really helped keep my spirits up as the semester wore on. I don't think most programs will involve this sort of work, particularly in the first semester, so it probably won't apply to many reading this post. 
Basically, like I said above, I had to do a ton of reading week in and week out as we would expect for a PhD program. One class, on Theory, mandated we read at least one book a week, sometimes two. Another, a security studies class, involved one book with a few related articles a week. The third, a methods class, was more like 4-5 articles a week. The first class I mentioned also mandated a short paper be written every week (750-1000 words) on the book(s) we read. Otherwise, there were not really week-to-week assignments for the other two classes, though they each had a presentation at one point in the semester. Two classes had book review essays (about 2000 words each), and Final papers ranged from 4000 words in one case and two called for 6000 words. 
Of course, much of this occurred online, so I was mostly isolated in my room. On a non-work note, but related to the day-to-day, I found it difficult to connect with people generally speaking, and I wouldn't say this is for lack of social grace, but rather just the Covid situation really complicating things. I have one close friend from my cohort and we made it a point to hangout once a week so we had some form of human interaction. Hopefully for those reading, this will be less of a concern by the time you start your programs. So there isn't a great sense of cohort comradery at the moment, but hopefully that will improve as time goes on and conditions improve.
I found I had great flexibility with my schedule overall, as I had no obligations on Fridays generally speaking. Still, I was working pretty much seven days a week, and only took a few full days off here and there. I know many of my colleagues felt very overwhelmed by the workload/schedule demands, though I can say I was able to manage it well enough. As others have said, my experience was more demanding overall than during my masters work, and it was both the most challenging, yet rewarding semester of school I have experienced. But, the stakes are high: my cohort has already had one drop out and it remains an open question if one or two others will return after winter break, so I don't know if I had the typical case of people, even in my own program. So, if your number gets called, don't take the opportunity lightly! When it gets tough I always remind myself how many people would love to have the opportunity and the funding I am fortunate to have. Maybe that thought can help when things inevitably get tough; after all if a PhD was easy, why would we all covet it as such? 
 

1st-year Theory/IR PhD student here: no quant for me.
 
My advice for theory folks is: 1. get ready to read 2. pre-reading before you start is a great idea 3. Even if you think you have a really strong base in theory going in, you probably don't. Most of my theory cohort came in super ill-prepared and it showed.

1st-year Theory/IR PhD student here: no quant for me.
 
My advice for theory folks is: 1. get ready to read 2. pre-reading before you start is a great idea 3. Even if you think you have a really strong base in theory going in, you probably don't. Most of my theory cohort came in super ill-prepared and it showed.

I think it's always a good idea for the same reasons as others have listed. I actually discussed my now-supervisors work explicitly in my SOP and got in, so just make sure you know what you're talking about and I think it can be endearing.

The problem though is that while there are race and gender critical theorists dispersed, it can be difficult to find a program which has a concentrated cluster on different topics which might interest critical scholars. I myself focus on critical security studies, which is not easily found many places in the U.S. Since OP wants to do critiques of economic ideology, they have a similar set of problems to deal with. Unless you really want to focus on gender and race issues specifically (I don't), then the places where you may fit is smaller than it seems in the U.S. I can say as someone who has been in a few academic programs both analytic and continental-minded, the more you are involved in the community, the more you realize that continental theory is anything but monolithic. So the Frankfurt acolytes have very real differences with the Foucauldians, and the feminists have very different methodological predilections from the semioticians. OP just needs to figure out where they fit into all of that and dig for places which have people who do what they do. So like CU Boulder is great if you want to do race, gender, environment stuff, but they would have little to offer me in terms of security studies, as an example. In my department, the security people are generally Foucauldian, while the political economy people are generally Marxist/post-colonials. It's all cordial of course, but there are divides to be aware of.

My advise is not to engage with this guy, he's a troll. He shows up once in a while just to be rude and upset people. It's just not worth it.

I was told the same nonsense in undergrad. A major in political science will get me nowhere, but I secured a full-time job working in politics before I even graduated. For people that understand networking and how to properly position yourself in modern America, there will always be jobs. Maybe not always as a professor, but as a researcher for the government or writing for a publication. Also, there is a staggering amount of universities across the world to consider. Some of us do not mind moving, have language skills, and U.S. PhDs look good on applications.
We have a short time on this planet and many of us just want to pursue what makes us happy. You have no right to act like you have any idea what you are talking about trying to ask us some pseudo-profound question. You should ask yourself what choices you made with your life to find yourself here on a grad school forum trying to discourage excited people from getting PhDs.
I am not going to make my life decisions based on some person on the internet acting like they know better. Get off your soapbox.

I did an MSc in International and European politics at a UK university (not Oxbridge, but only one peg below). Like you, I studied abroad in UG and it lit a fire within me to go back. I had the benefit of being able to take both Europe-focused courses and general IR, which I think helped to keep my profile broad. I actually discovered there that I don't really care for EU politics and wanted to focus more on IR in the broadest sense. I will be starting a PhD in the US this Fall (though this does not qualify anything that I say beyond mere personal experience).
I am not really going to answer your questions on competitiveness, as I don't feel qualified to speak on that level (and frankly neither is anyone else on this forum who will likely chime in at some point). I think any of the schools you listed would qualify you for great PhD programs should you chose to do that later on. I will say though, given that you are are unsure about the PhD route, its likely that you could do an MA and then decide, 'this isn't really my thing'. I think an MA is a worthwhile endeavor in its own right, and end-in-itself for some. But I think the experience you could gain from living abroad beyond only adds to the value of doing a degree in Europe. This is just one guy's opinion, but I feel it was even more life-enriching than the UG experience I had. If being immersed in another culture is important to you, as you say, then I say go for it. 
Also, I did not go there, but you should maybe consider the joint MSc through LSE and Sciences Po. I think it could be a really cool fit for you given your interests.

I did an MSc in International and European politics at a UK university (not Oxbridge, but only one peg below). Like you, I studied abroad in UG and it lit a fire within me to go back. I had the benefit of being able to take both Europe-focused courses and general IR, which I think helped to keep my profile broad. I actually discovered there that I don't really care for EU politics and wanted to focus more on IR in the broadest sense. I will be starting a PhD in the US this Fall (though this does not qualify anything that I say beyond mere personal experience).
I am not really going to answer your questions on competitiveness, as I don't feel qualified to speak on that level (and frankly neither is anyone else on this forum who will likely chime in at some point). I think any of the schools you listed would qualify you for great PhD programs should you chose to do that later on. I will say though, given that you are are unsure about the PhD route, its likely that you could do an MA and then decide, 'this isn't really my thing'. I think an MA is a worthwhile endeavor in its own right, and end-in-itself for some. But I think the experience you could gain from living abroad beyond only adds to the value of doing a degree in Europe. This is just one guy's opinion, but I feel it was even more life-enriching than the UG experience I had. If being immersed in another culture is important to you, as you say, then I say go for it. 
Also, I did not go there, but you should maybe consider the joint MSc through LSE and Sciences Po. I think it could be a really cool fit for you given your interests.

I continue to be fascinated by how much emphasis Americans put on rankings. Every single school in the top 10, 20, 50, etc., undoubtedly deserves recognition, but the amount of energy and effort that some people on this forum (and some of my American classmates and coworkers in real life) put into rankings is astounding to me. UC Berkeley and Columbia are both great schools; the USNWR ranks one higher overall, one higher in polisci, etc., and the same can be said for many others. Ultimately though, the USNWR rankings are based on more than just graduation rates, alumni giving, etc... A full 20% of the criteria that goes into the USNWR ranking formula is "expert opinion". Contrary to what @BunniesInSpace and some others on here might argue, "expert opinion" is completely subjective. Some of these schools also mis-report data, as evidenced by UC Berkeley's recent removal from USNWR (https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2019/07/26/uc-berkeley-removed-from-us-news-college-rankings-for-misreporting-statistics/#31432c247578). 
Seriously, every one of these schools is great. If you get worked up over whether your school is top 10 or top 20, or where in the top 50 you are, you're going to have a hard time in the real world when you realize in your mid 30's that rankings didn't matter anywhere near as much as you thought they did. 

No shade but it might well be because of all those people who applied to +20 schools with +3.9 GPA and +165 GRE Scores. That's why we see some people getting accepted into +10 schools while others with more modest scores not being able to even be waitlisted. It's just a sad system.

I think it depends on how strong your stance is and how well the piece conforms with academic norms. (Yes, I realize that rhymed.)
 
If it doesn't...

No, but really, if I don't hear something by five o'clock, I'm going to smoke so much weed that it somehow gives me a pulmonary embolism.

Congrats! I appreciated they gave the funding details right away. 
 
Yes I did. Unfortunately I don't have any insight into that at this point. They asked for an RSVP to their visiting day by February 7, so I assume all decisions will go out by that time. Best of luck to you if you applied!!

I think it depends on how strong your stance is and how well the piece conforms with academic norms. (Yes, I realize that rhymed.)
 
If it doesn't...

Nah, you'll be fine. I just wanted to use that meme. 
As you say, there are some sympathetic to Palestine in the department and that sounds like an interesting comparison to me. 
I was more guessing you were saying like "Israel should take the West Bank" and I was thinking ... yikes.
 
Perhaps this is the wrong mentality but I like to swing for the fences. Some people will hate it, but the people who don't usually think its brilliant. I'd rather be brash than boring. Hopefully it will work for you and you'll go into the fall with a reputation as an all-star.

I think the post was for the question of 1a/1p/1r/ etc thing, not the result lol

I think in general starting next week we will see a lot more decisions. It seems that most schools that get back to students in Jan do it after the 20th. 

My UK MSc was not funded. I went to one of "the big UK unis" and earned an MSc in IR. A big reason why I chose to go there was because at the time, I was very interested in regional integration theory (EU) and so I felt that Europe would be the prime place to study that, rather than here in the US. Also, the fact that I liked being in Europe was certainly an important factor. Additionally, given that I went to a very small (unheard of) US liberal arts college for UG, I wanted the big name school to augment my profile.
I am currently doing an MA in Continental Philosophy in Switzerland. I chose to do that because the U.S. is not a particularly great place to study that sort of theory and so I sought out something closer to the source. It's a bit of a less-traditional path to a Politics PhD, but its afforded me a wide swath of perspective that I don't think I would have gained otherwise.
I would say if your focus is on IR, Comp, or Theory then Europe could present some nice options for you if you have the means to move there. If you are an Americanist and/or do domestic policy then I can't see how Europe really makes sense. For me, being Theory/IR the wider world presents lots of options, though other subfields can be really dominated by US schools. If you are an American (as an example) and you went to Europe to study US politics, that might seems strange to an adcomm.
Also perhaps more Americanist-oriented folks will chime in, but I don't know that there is a lot of value in an MPP if your goal is a PhD in Politics. (Though if you want a PhD in Public Policy then it makes sense). My understanding is that an MPP is more of a Professional degree, whereas an MA/MS will be more academic-oriented and aligns better with a PhD. That's not to say that you couldn't make it work out, rather my perception is that an MPP/MPA is not on an equal level to an MA/MS. 
 

I'd wager most people here are PhD applicants (as I am). Though I went the European master's route (x2) before reaching this point, so don't feel alone.

I personally do not have good GRE scores. (But I am sure that I am good at math, or writing in English).

I respect those who have high GRE scores. It is a skill that I do not have. I also do not know the answer to how my GRE score would help me in my academic career. Yes, it is a skill, but I am not sure if it is a useful one to invest time, energy, and money. 

While GRE may show a level of knowledge of words/complicated reading structures/math. Ironically, Pols professors try to write papers as simple as possible, especially in quantitative studies. While in quant, scholars prioritize math, it is no longer important to know interest rate problems or round area calculation, etc. Statistic programs provide what we need. If one is not satisfied with the results of the software as statisticians, they can use manual regression/Anova/Manova, etc. formulas/equations. GRE math does not teach how to do the manual calculation. All the methods and techniques are a different skill that a grad student develops over time. Where is the role of knowing GRE math? - Nothing.  

I support what Ohio tries to do. I think GRE should be dropped as a requirement for Pols Ph.D. programs. 
#GreExit 

"I want to be President types"
- I lol'ed as images of people from undergrad whizzed through my head.

Current grad student here - I used gradcafe when I was applying and found it to be beneficial (yes this is a new profile to protect my identity and what school I attend). I wanted to put forth some advice that does not get said often on here - no matter what you are asking on here, take people's advice with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, you are getting advice from people on here who could be profs, grad students, or those with even less experience then you have.  You do not know how good someone's advice could be. You don't know if someone else knows what they are talking about or not. Ask questions, take advice, but just like wikipedia make sure gradcafe is not your only source of information. Reach out to current grad students you know, your professors, and crowd source questions you have on things that are beneficial for you in this process. 
In my few years of grad school, if I learned anything it is the fact that every program is so different. For admissions, some want different things than others, some will be ok with a bad grade or a bad GRE score while others will not. Often on here, I see things posted by perspective students that they claim are facts which I know to be true at some programs but are not at others. Just because it happened once at one school does not mean that is why or how it is happening at another school. Use gradcafe but do your due diligence when you have questions or are looking information. Your professors are your best source of information.
 
Good luck with application season, don't stress out too much once you submit apps, and have a great holidays.