GabriellaG

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution:  Private
Major(s)/Minor(s): International Relations
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: Public University in Netherlands - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Grad GPA: 8.0/10 on Dutch scale - around an A on American scale
GRE: 161V, 148Q, 5.0 AW
Any Special Courses: none
Letters of Recommendation: Yes 
Research Experience: 3 years
Teaching Experience: yes
Subfield/Research Interests: Conflict Studies, Security Studies, Russia
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Colorado State University $$, George Mason $$
Waitlists: CU Boulder, University of Denver
Rejections: George Washington University, Yale
Pending: 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. 
 

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!

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!

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:  Private
Major(s)/Minor(s): International Relations
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: Public University in Netherlands - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Grad GPA: 8.0/10 on Dutch scale - around an A on American scale
GRE: 161V, 148Q, 5.0 AW
Any Special Courses: none
Letters of Recommendation: Yes 
Research Experience: 3 years
Teaching Experience: yes
Subfield/Research Interests: Conflict Studies, Security Studies, Russia
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Colorado State University $$, George Mason $$
Waitlists: CU Boulder, University of Denver
Rejections: George Washington University, Yale
Pending: 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! 

Looks like the cycle is over for most people. Just wanted to echo what @Dwar said earlier; if things did not work out for you this cycle then do not be discouraged. For many of us it took more than one cycle to get into a good program and you can do it too! Good luck everyone.

Also claiming a Yale admit (CP for those who don't know) 

Claiming an acceptance to George Mason! 

Claiming an acceptance to George Mason! 

Claiming an acceptance to George Mason! 

Claiming an acceptance to George Mason! 

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

Officially struck out this year so I'm done here for now, but congrats to everyone who got in this cycle! For those who did not, solidarity :). 

Congrats! 
And i think i speak for most of the people on here when i say that i am eagerly awaiting your profile! 

Claiming a rejection from Columbia (email to check the portal this morning). Also claiming a Harvard acceptance (got a call this morning). Only have Yale to hear back from, and after that I'll post my profile. 

Great work on running this forum Dwar! You made things a lot easier on most of us this cycle!

JT at CU Boulder confirmed for me that I am on an unofficial waitlist. I pretty much already knew this, but it is nice to have a degree of certainty regarding something about this process. 

Welp, I received my last application decision last night. So I guess this cycle is over for me! I'll be posting my profile in the other thread once I make my decision (probably on Sunday). 
I wish everyone the best of luck with the remainder of the cycle! 

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

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

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

Same! I'm so happy!

Got an offer from Columbia! I got a notification to check my application and my offer was posted as an update.

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.