Nickleby

Chicago has seen an extended slump, apparently (or as reported by many) partly/largely related to internal struggles between faculty that led to a lot of turnover. Also, for a stretch they had a chair who focused a lot on hiring theorists (or maybe more accurately "for some reason they were able to hire a lot of theorists for a period and were drained in other subfields") and they suffered in the area of keeping quant professors and attracting/grooming quant students. Well, we know which subfields the market has favored for some time now, so a natural consequence is that Chicago's placement has fallen in quality and quantity. I think pscwpv is probably correct that Chicago is on an upswing (at least trying to hire a lot of quants and non-theorists now), so I'd expect them to soon start placing better. One thing is fairly certain, with so much investment there, there's little threat they'll ever manage to fall out of the top 15, while this possibility is pretty real for a lot of the other schools that are sitting around 10-15. This is just one opinion on Chicago, of course, and I'm a degree removed. Regardless, great to be able to choose between two top schools, congratulations!

Chicago has seen an extended slump, apparently (or as reported by many) partly/largely related to internal struggles between faculty that led to a lot of turnover. Also, for a stretch they had a chair who focused a lot on hiring theorists (or maybe more accurately "for some reason they were able to hire a lot of theorists for a period and were drained in other subfields") and they suffered in the area of keeping quant professors and attracting/grooming quant students. Well, we know which subfields the market has favored for some time now, so a natural consequence is that Chicago's placement has fallen in quality and quantity. I think pscwpv is probably correct that Chicago is on an upswing (at least trying to hire a lot of quants and non-theorists now), so I'd expect them to soon start placing better. One thing is fairly certain, with so much investment there, there's little threat they'll ever manage to fall out of the top 15, while this possibility is pretty real for a lot of the other schools that are sitting around 10-15. This is just one opinion on Chicago, of course, and I'm a degree removed. Regardless, great to be able to choose between two top schools, congratulations!

I'm pretty sure most people interpret it as C=Cal - for now - which I gathered just from noting answers to others' questions. That said, I don't know how long the acronym has been around (in the grad polisci setting), but there are plenty of years in the not-too-distant past when Columbia (more recent) and Chicago (less recent, but not so distant) each rivaled or outranked Cal in many if not all subfields. As for the undergrad meaning, it sure wouldn't make any sense if M=Michigan or C=Cal, but would certainly make sense if C=either Columbia or Chicago, and M=MIT.

This is an extremely idiosyncratic process. I'm sorry to hear you've had to deal with so much rejection (what a crappy feeling, even if you're in good company). One thing I wonder about is your dual applications, to sociology and political science. I'm sure you realize this is extremely unusual, and I wonder how you have dealt with it in terms of letter writers? I'm assuming you have two totally separate sets of letter writers, and I'm assuming that each knows that you are applying in the other discipline? I have to assume this would raise concerns among both sets, with respect to their impression of your commitment to either discipline. I am confident that my letter writers are in part selling my strong commitment to, and total immersion within, political science. For that matter, I know at least two of them wrote specifically about my particular interest in, and aptitude for, my sub-sub discipline. And one of them made me strip my SOP of the word "policy" for several schools, fearing that I would appear oblivious to the tradition of disciplinary boundaries at those schools. If you decide to go another cycle (big IF given your acceptance at BU and maybe other places), I would suggest picking one discipline or the other and having a direct conversation with your letter writers (who will preferably be strictly tenured political science faculty, if you pick polisci) to make sure they are convinced of your devotion to the study of political science and your thorough preparation for rigorous study and research in your chosen subdiscipline. Good luck, and I hope you can chuck my advice right out the window when you either decide on BU or you receive a "yes" from a preferred school!