captmarvel

Most JD programs will care much less about an MA GPA than they will the UG GPA. That said, is there a specific reason you want to get the JD/PhD? I think very few programs pay you to get a JD the way they do a PhD (I could be wrong), and JD tuition for three years typically runs in excess of $150K.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: Ivy liberal arts college Major(s)/Minor(s): BA Political science Undergrad GPA: 3.71 Type of Grad: Ivy law school Grad GPA: 3.41 (that's honors in law school, just as a comparison point; obviously wouldn't be great for a grad program!) GRE: V170/Q160/AWA6 Any Special Courses: n/a Letters of Recommendation: well-known poli sci professor who I RA'd for, poli sci professor who advised my thesis, joint letter from two law professors Research Experience: quantitative thesis, RA for well-known poli sci prof, research intern at top think tank, RA for two law school profs Teaching Experience: TA in both UG and law school Subfield/Research Interests: AP RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): UCLA ($$), UCSD ($$), USC ($$), UCI ($$), UCSB ($$) Rejections: UC Berkeley, Stanford Going to: UCSD LESSONS LEARNED: 1. Reach out to professors to learn about their research and get a sense for how open they are to grad students. 2. Talk to as many current PhD candidates as you can to get a sense of the culture/environment of the school. 3. Don't be scared of being a "different" candidate -- it can make you stand out if anything. If you're someone who is making a career change and want to chat, feel free to reach out!

I didn't apply to UCD, but I applied and got in to UCSD and am happy to share details via PM if you want to reach out.

UCSD publishes its admissions statistics every year if you're interested: https://polisci.ucsd.edu/grad/prospective-students/admissions-statistics.html

Dude, you're such an asshole troll. You literally came back just to shit on someone who's been nothing but nice and encouraging to other people in this thread? Seriously? That's just embarrassing.

Yeah, also, you typically do the quant courses in your first year, which for plenty of people are likely going to be one of their lower grades, and now you're risking the next four years of funding. Plus, I have grad school friends who noted that sometimes you blow off a class because you have more important research work to do or something. I just don't see how this isn't a clear red flag for UCLA if you're comparing it to a similar school, and it seems like it would negatively affect their ability to be competitive among peers?

You would think. And a 3.7 is above an A- average! Does anyone know if this is a new requirement or if it’s been standard for UCLA?

Yeah, UCSD just says you have to remain in good standing, which is a 3.0. That 3.7 requirement is honestly a turn-off to me!

I was still surprised by the threshold, though, because if you got mainly A- grades you could be below the threshold and lose funding (note it includes tuition remission). Even a 3.5 would be less aggressive in my opinion.

UCLA's funding is contingent on keeping a 3.7 GPA. I don't know how tough that is in their program, but that might be a way they're trying to cull the number of fully funded students...

UCI offer declined, so hopefully one of you guys gets an offer soon!!

I'm going to be declining my UCI offer this week so hopefully one of you guys gets in!

Claiming a Stanford rejection. Glad to see they're continuing their tradition of sending rejections on Valentine's Day ? I'm actually very happy because the Bay Area would have presented some logistical issues for me, so I now don't have to make that tough choice. Congrats to all who got in and condolences to all who didn't!

Feel free to reach out via PM any time

Sending you good vibes and best wishes!!!

Man, rejection is rough. I am a career change applicant who has gone through a LOT of rounds of applications to various things throughout the past 15 years. As you can tell from this forum, a ton of people struck out one year only to come back and get into great programs the following year. So don't give up hope. Allow yourself to feel upset, though. It's natural and fine, and it shows you care, which is important! Take a break from this stuff for a while -- you have plenty of time to review and assess how to improve, but now it's going to be a bit raw. Watch some comedies, take a road trip somewhere if you have a long weekend, get outside. Best of luck to you!!!

Ultimately, the number of schools people apply to doesn't impact others because every person can only pick one school. So whether someone applies to 10 or 20 schools, they are still only taking up one spot. The cohort sizes are the same. The only consequence of people applying to more schools is schools utilizing waitlists more. That's frustrating, obviously, but it isn't really that harmful.

Stanford came out on the Wednesday/Thursday of this week last year (i.e., today and tomorrow). And they apparently have a dark sense of humor since they sent rejections on Valentine's Day...

To add to this, my sense is that SLACs like people with "brand names" on their resume, so that can help with placements there. Having professors with degrees from Ivies/Stanford can help the school market itself to parents in particular.

Agreed! Tell me the decision in the subject line and include funding. I still don't have funding info from my UCI acceptance that came 3 weeks ago!

Claiming a UCLA acceptance with funding info included!

Hey now, no imposter syndrome here. You clearly had a great application and are going to make a fantastic political scientist!!

Congrats! I also just got one (AP) via email. Very excited!

Same — email to check the portal and then rejection there.

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!!