GabriellaG

Just got accepted to and summarily declined CU Boulder offer as I've already accepted somewhere else so hopefully someone on the waitlist can still get in!

PROFILE:Type of Undergrad Institution: PrivateMajor(s)/Minor(s): International RelationsUndergrad GPA: 3.4Type of Grad: Public University in Netherlands - Rijksuniversiteit GroningenGrad GPA: 8.0/10 on Dutch scale - around an A on American scaleGRE: 161V, 148Q, 5.0 AWAny Special Courses: noneLetters of Recommendation: Yes Research Experience: 3 yearsTeaching Experience: yesSubfield/Research Interests: Conflict Studies, Security Studies, RussiaOther:RESULTS:Acceptances($$ or no $$): Colorado State University $$, George Mason $$Waitlists: CU Boulder, University of DenverRejections: George Washington University, YalePending: Georgetown (but that's obviously not happening)Going to: Colorado State University Lessons & advice: Retake the GRE again. I didn't think the scores would really matter if you had research experience but looking at everyone else's scores in retrospect, I would have taken it at least to improve my quantitative score. Advice: get a good score and actually spend the time preparing (I did not) Reach out to professors of universities earlier! I didn't think to reach out to professors and instead just researched schools and didn't do the personalized focus of getting one-on-one meetings with POI's whose work I found interesting. Advice: Reach out to students, professors and anyone at the schools you are interested in. Are they happy in their programs? Is it worth it? Would have applied to more safety schools and more schools that fit my interests. I focused too much on the top 50 list. Russia is generally a pretty hot topic these days so I kind of assumed that most schools would have a focus in it at some level - but if I had to do it again, I would look for the best Russian programs and looked for schools that maybe weren't as well known to ensure that I had more options. Advice: Look more broadly than just the popular schools and their programs. Visit campuses. Being international made that quite difficult, but in retrospect, I would have planned one large trip to meet with people and see the campuses and living areas if possible. It would have made my decision and my schools to apply to easier to narrow down. Explain my graduate GPA better. I don't know this for a fact but I suspect that what disqualified me for some schools was that my GPA looks low from an American perspective. If you're going to the US and applying for a PhD program, convert your grades to the American GPA level. Even though an 8 is perceived as a really good grade in the Netherlands, in the US, it reads like an 80% which isn't good. Advice: Make sure you target your CV and add explanations to your applications to make sure that your grades and GPA are presented in the most accurate light possible. Stop stressing so much. Stop checking Gradcafe and application websites so much that they become your most visited sites. It's not worth it The acceptances and rejections will come when they come.

Claiming the Denver waitlist. I decided to turn down the waitlist as I'm already going to CSU (most likely) so good luck to other applicants on the list!

It was fairly generic I think? Just an email from the head of Graduate Admissions and I checked the portal and it was also there as well. Also claiming a Yale rejection (completely expected haha).

Claiming an acceptance to George Mason!

Claiming the acceptance to Colorado State University! Whew. I feel like I can finally breathe again.

Thanks guys! Much appreciated!

So I know that some people have been writing to their schools they want to go to (at least so it seems here and on the results section) and asking about waitlisting, timelines, etc. And I was just wondering what the group's opinions are on trying to make your case to either a waitlist school (by ex: saying you would accept immediately if they offered it), or to a school you haven't been accepted to yet. I've been going back and forth on it myself. It seems like it could be both harmful and beneficial depending on how you framed it. But I was just curious if any of you have done that and if you've gotten a generally positive or negative response from it? I'm dying here haha - I need to do something otherwise I'll go mad.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks @Dwar!

Congrats And actually congrats to everyone that got in yesterday! I'm on the European time zone so I always feel a bit delayed in issuing responses/congrats! And to everyone that was rejected, you've still got this! As someone who hasn't gotten any acceptances yet, one rejection and one waitlist, I'm trying to keep a positive attitude that even if I don't get in anywhere, it just means I get another chance to try next year and get some good work experience in the meantime. Also the weekend is here and since there (at least I would assume) won't be any acceptances/rejections over the weekend - we can all breathe a sigh of relief, step outside and chill for 48 hours.

Congrats to you both

Congrats!

Same. Still waiting to hear back from five schools and that doesn't stop me from checking this website and their application sites every day multiple times.

Agreed! @niceward it's still early in the application process. Stay positive!