GabriellaG

Just got an acceptance to Penn via email (I'm CP for those that don't know already)

Thanks guys! Much appreciated!

This is 100% appropriate. You’re more likely to hear a positive response if you tell them they are your top choice. For waitlists I’d say that contacting the DGS a few times (maybe once a month or so) to just check in is appropriate.
But I’d also try and figure out when events are and contact after. For example, a lot of programs judge a students level of interest by their attendance at a recruitment event. Similarly a lot of students decide if they’ll attend a school after a recruitment event. So if you can figure out when the event is for your waitlisted school then It may work better if you email them a week after the event ends. 

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Totally get that. I emailed them in early Feb when acceptances were coming out and the coordinator got back to me and let me know that the decisions were being made and that i'd hear very soon. Have not heard anything besides that. 
And i'm with you on just wanting to get this decision back. PSU was one of my top two choices this cycle. Thankfully i got into my other top choice and intend to accept it after the visit day (assuming they pass the vibe check). I'd just feel so much better about accepting it once i hear back a definitive answer from PSU. 

It is my birthday today, and while I am not asking for acceptances, I am asking for no rejections, at minimum. 

Thank you so much -- I'll be happy to post once I've heard back everywhere. 
Haha luck always plays into graduate admissions -- there's no way to control a lot of the factors that affect admissions (e.g. availability of advisors, funding, etc.). I think I did well for the things within my "control" and overcame some things in my background. But I'll say this: both good performance and luck are necessary but not individually sufficient for admissions to graduate school. 

Haha, I'm still trying to figure that out myself! I know I did a pretty good job at the main points that others have talked about (e.g. get good GRE scores, good uGPA, well-crafted SOP, etc.), and I'll be posting my profile and info once the cycle finishes. But honestly, I think I just got very lucky this round. When I talk to POIs, there was a lot of "oh, we just hired this person and this person straight out of grad school who you have great fit with!", which I couldn't have anticipated. I'm not confident that any other application season would have yielded the same results if that makes sense. 

Congrats to you both

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
 
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
 
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. 

Feel free to message me, if you need to vent or anything. I feel like a little whiny airing out my woes publicly like this, but the DMs are for crying. ❤️

Hey @niceward [and anyone else who's in a similar situation].
 
If it's not too bold of me to say, I see you. (I think.) It's really lonely. Like, fingernails-clawing-out-your-insides lonely. I want to write a more thorough post on this later [mainly out of my own selfish need to process this stuff], but in brief: after a lot of success/luck—in terms of programmes, grades, scores, and self-guided projects/publications—I struck out the first year after I received my MA. The second go-around, I only got into one school, which really wasn't a good fit for me at all; it took a lot of faith, but I turned it down and re-applied a third cycle.
 
I wasn't always the best at coping. Let me rephrase that: one of my research interests is Stoicism, and I'm sure that on many occasions, the way I reacted to my emotions and experiences had Seneca face-palming from beyond. And, you're right; friends and family often don't get how any of it feels. They don't know what to say to you. You don't know what to say to them. It's like not having any kind of emotional/experiential 'mirror'. And it's also depressing/slightly infuriating [on an internal level, usually] to have all of these passions and interests and not to have them echoed by those around you.
 
From what you write it sounds like you're still waiting on a few schools. I'm sending my best thoughts that you and others get really great news, really soon. But regardless, please feel free to DM me at any time—even if, I don't know, you just want to gabble about the awesome research interests you undoubtedly have. Or if you want a sounding board. Or to be indignant, or to have any of the feelings you might judge yourself for having. This goes for anyone dealing with rejection/waiting: I don't care if what you really just need is to vent, stream-of-consciousness, to someone who maybe has some idea of what you're going through. If you want, I'm happy to provide... well, I guess since this is a forum, 'an ear' wouldn't be accurate, but a set of eyes, sure.
 
Anyway, like I said. Sending lots of good thoughts. And if grad school is important to you, you're always allowed to try again. Keep writing; keep going; rock on.

Congrats!

First warning. Don't be a dick. 

really sorry to hear @niceward & @Romcomulus. hope you have more success in the coming days.

I don't think this is called for. And poli sci is a small world. Bitterness is not becoming

Just got my JHU rejection. I'm going to stay in today. Happy Valentine's Day. 

Just got an acceptance from Rochester! 

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 10 IR school, #77 overall (US News)
Major(s)/Minor(s): IR/Spanish
Undergrad GPA: 3.91
Type of Grad: UK Master's, #4 in Politics, #44 overall (QS World University Rankings)
Grad GPA: N/A, Distinction, prize for top of class
GRE: V166/Q160/AWA6
Any Special Courses: 
Letters of Recommendation: Undergrad mentor (Summer fellowship, 2 conference papers), Grad mentor (Master's thesis supervisor), Former supervisor (RA in public policy think tank), Former supervisor (RA in environmental think tank). 
Research Experience: 2 funded fellowships (undergrad), 2 years postgrad RA experience, BA thesis, MSc thesis, 3 postgrad conferences, 4 undergrad conferences, editor experience for 2 undergrad journals, 1 grad journal, and 1 "real" journal. 
Teaching Experience: 2 years tutor, supplemental instructor for college-level ESL classes.
Subfield/Research Interests: CP
Other: IR

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Notre Dame $$, UCSB $$.
Waitlists:
Rejections: Berkeley, Princeton. 
Pending: Stanford, LSE. 
Going to: Undecided. 
 
LESSONS LEARNED:
I want to tell you all a horror story. I personally insulted the CP field convenor of my then-top choice PhD program, whom I reached out to to see if I was a good fit. She gave lots of negative -- not constructive -- criticism, saying that I didn't really understand what I was talking about and that I needed to take calc before applying, or else I would have a "major hole" in my application. Mind you, this is 1.5 months before the deadline. After, I emailed my mom to let her know how our meeting went, saying something like "she was not nice." Only, the thing is... I accidentally sent it TO THE FIELD CONVENOR.
Needless to say, I did not get in.
A big lesson I learned is to be humble. Take feedback (even negative feedback) gracefully, and don't retaliate by talking about someone behind their back. And always, always check the "To" line of your emails.
Other lessons I learned were to start applications early, don't be afraid to go into a lot of detail in your SOP, and only apply where you think you would be a good fit. Even though I handled that situation the wrong way, looking back, I don't think I would have been happy in that program, nor would I have been able to handle the amount of pressure and negativity.
Good luck with everyone's pending decisions! Wishing you all the best for the rest of this cycle and beyond.

Hello everyone! As lots of schools have sent out decisions, I think it’s time to start this thread for the application cycle 2020. I believe everyone has his/her unique story to tell and I hope more people will benefit from it   
 
I will start with mine. not a fancy profile but I am satisfied since I worked hard to achieve it. 
 
If you don’t want to share SoP here, it’s totally fine. Maybe we can even have an SoP thread separately.
 
 
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution:   Unknown international school in east Asia.
Major(s)/Minor(s): POlitical science 
Undergrad GPA: 3.54
Type of Grad: Top 20 world ranking university in east Asia 
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: V161/Q167/AWA3.5
Any Special Courses: IPSA research methods 
Letters of Recommendation: MA , BA supervisor,  and a famous scholar 
Research Experience: MA is a research based degree, 3 conferences experience 
Teaching Experience: 1semester TA
Subfield/Research Interests: IR
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Penn state $$
Waitlists:
Rejections: rice, Emory, WashU
Pending: Vanderbilt, Maryland, UBC, McGill, UToronto 
Going to:
 
LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Take / prepare for GRE test as early as possible, especially for international applicant. I took 4 times in the past fall   Waste of time and miss chances for lots of schools
2. Try to attend conferences and talk to faculties. They might remember u 
 
 
SOP
will share it if someone asks