edwardsaid

Yes, I’m being waitlisted there but again it’s Stanford… I’m not betting on me getting off unless something miraculous happens 🙏

Claiming an R from Harvard! Finally concluding this tough cycle: 0A/1WL/9R. Congrats to those who got into their desired programs! Looks like I’ll be preparing another round of applications next cycle. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach it the second time? I’m planning to ask each adcom on feedback; would love some suggestions on how to go about this 🙂. Thank you!

Congrats to those who got into Harvard!

Anyone has an idea of how likely someone is to get off the waitlist of a T10 program these days?

Claiming an R from UCLA. It was an email to check portal. Welp.

It is all really up in the air. For your example it could be they were taking very hard courses and it's from a school with grade deflation like Princeton. Anyhow, GPAs are not a perfect measure for academic achievement as the norm can vary widely between institutions. It could also be institutional interests like the program needing a methodology-heavy candidate?

Thank you for making this thread! I’ve never been happier in my life to be waitlisted LOL

Claiming an R from UMich and a WL from Stanford! The best news I’ve had in a while 😭

Man, at this point, I'm just grateful to be accepted to ONE program. It's so crazy how hard it is to get into a political science program these days. Like what's the point of doing coursework in the first two years when you have to have all the experiences and stats before even applying lol

Agreed. Finding the right balance between the specificity and potential directions of my proposed topic was a challenge. Hopefully it's a good sign that you haven't heard from any schools. Thank you! I aimed high because the programs that would have the funding and the faculty to support my research would likely be in top programs only (MENA politics and extensive fieldwork with methodological innovation). I did apply for safety at UW but got rejected. Curious which programs you applied to!

I've received 5 out of 10 rejections, including UChicago's. Granted, my proposed topic was quite niche: China and MENA politics and political Islam. This could have been too risky. Still waiting for other programs like UMich, Yale and Harvard but the odds are not looking too good for me.

Claiming an R from UChicago! Oof this year is crazy! Even with my stats, past fieldwork, RA experience and a quantitative masters, I’ve gotten all rejections so far from the 10 programs I applied to. Congrats to those who got in!

Claiming Princeton rejection (CP subfield), 0A/3R/7P. Thought the program was a good fit but guess not. I’m becoming nervous that other programs will not accept me Congrats to those who got in!

Claiming another rejection from UC Berkeley as a CP candidate (2R/0A/8P). Damn this year must be really tough. Congrats to all who got in!

You applied to 20 schools?! That’s wild

It was a formal rejection. Got an email to check my updated status in the portal and it was a rejection letter.

Claiming a UW rejection here. Kinda surprised since I thought my stats would at least make this an easy admit for me. I guess fit really matters. (0A/1R/9P)

Has anyone else heard from the UCs other than UCSD and UCSB?

Gotcha, thanks!

Congrats on your interviews guys! I'm wondering which schools tend to do interviews and if interviews are a prerequisite to acceptance into programs.

Good luck everyone! The whole application process has been stressful for me with completing so many components and getting a potential letter writer rejecting my request. But thankfully it's all coming together. I'm applying as a CP/methodology candidate focusing on MENA/Muslim world politics. Hopefully it will turn out great.

If you're looking for flexibility and a shorter program, QMSS is great. If you're looking for a longer program with more teaching, go for MACSS. Otherwise, both programs are very similar. QMSS is particularly great for those with strong goals in mind.

I'm a QMSS student and I can attest that the program is great if you intend to go into public policy. There's a lot of alumni placed in prestigious think tanks like Brookings. The flexibility of QMSS is a pro-you can take classes in the Econ department, in SIPA, in business, etc. You can definitely tailor your classes to your goals. And QMSS teaches you coding in both R and Python (and even SQL, AWS and other big data tools). Another program is the NYU A3SR. It's headed by Jennifer Hill who is a close colleague of Andrew Gelman, the founder of our program.

I took a PoliSci grad class at Columbia and it was applied regression. It was def not for the faint of heart; I was lucky I knew R because the class moved really fast and the beginners were falling behind. From what I've heard, the workload is manageable but it requires you to prioritize certain classes and be highly organized. 20-40 page paper assignments are very common and you're expected to have some (at least major works) familiarity with the literature. Also, Columbia's PoliSci is HIGHLY quantitative-be ready for this aspect. Take an intro to R class, review your basic stats (up to linear regression), read up on linear algebra, multivariable calculus and real analysis (if possible).

Former think tank intern here. I was an intern at AEI and they hire based on academic achievements and research needs. My position required strong Arabic skills, which was a rarity. Other than that, it's very much based on luck because I applied very early.