Theory & Quant

From what I understand, American academia is very very snobbish and elitist so there are very few non-American schools that American academics actually know about and respect. The obvious ones being in the Anglo sphere (Big three in Canada, Oxbridge, LSE, Essex, and Edinburgh in the UK, ANU, Sydney, and Melbourne In Australia, and Auckland and Otago in NZ). Outside of the Anglo sphere maybe Sciences Po is really the only widely known and respected school to American academia.
I don’t know what country you’re from so it’s difficult to make that specific judgment. I’m also not saying it’s impossible to break into the American academic community by attending a foreign school not listed above, it’s just far more difficult. 

Honestly I think this year is going to be abnormal. Public schools are facing potential budget cuts that may constrain future classes, so programs may be more conservative this year. Private schools are not immune to this either, as there is a potential future decline in enrollment. Not to mention this has potential implications for the academic job market that may cause more graduate students to stay beyond 5-6 years creating an increase in the amount of money coming out of a department. All this is to say, academia is not immune to everything happening in the world right now. If anything, it is more so susceptible. It is not completely impossible, but I think the odds will be lower then most years for getting off the waitlist. 

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 50 LAC
Major(s)/Minor(s): Unrelated field
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: Top 5 Law School
Grad GPA: No grades (roughly middle of class)
GRE: 170 V / 165 Q / 6.0 AW
Any Special Courses: Multiple graduate level poli sci and econ courses
Letters of Recommendation: one economics professor, one poli sci professor, one law professor; all fairly prominent; multiple courses under each
Research Experience: Senior thesis, multiple (4+) theses in law school.  All qualitative, which may have hurt the application
Teaching Experience: N/a
Subfield/Research Interests: American, theory
Other: N/a

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): One top 10, one top 15 (both fully funded)
Waitlists: N/A
Rejections: Six (all top 10)
Pending: N/A
Going to: Undecided
 
LESSONS LEARNED: I really didn't see much order behind my application cycle.  I was rejected by every school to which I thought I had a great fit and was accepted by two good programs which did not seem to fit my research interests well (limited overlap in both subfield and methodology to what I expressed in SoP).  I am very happy with the options I have, but either will involve significantly modifying my research program away from what I expected in order to match departmental strengths and faculty interests.
 
I suppose the lesson would be to apply broadly to places you would attend if admitted, even if you think the fit is poor.  The admissions committee might see things otherwise.  If I had applied only to places I thought were a good 'fit,' I would not have been admitted anywhere (although I did not apply outside the T15).  I was also migrating over from a related field which approached many of the same issues, but from a different direction and with different terminology.  My inability to 'translate' into polisci-talk may have hurt my perceived preparedness for graduate study in the field.
 

SOP: Not sharing full text.  Outlined in roughly a half page each two of my best research projects in graduate school and how I hoped to expand them into a research program during my PhD.  Named 3-4 professors per school whose research seemed to substantively overlap and discussed the level of overlap.

Hi everyone!
 
I've been following the thread for a while now, but commenting here for the first time.
I just got a wait-listing from the Government Department at Georgetown (I applied for IR), and although very cliche,
I hope I could ask any of you who received acceptances but plan on attending other institutions to please inform Georgetown that you won't be attending.
Georgetown is my dream school and the only thing close of a chance for me in this cycle so I'd really appreciate any help!
 
I hope you all stay safe in this hectic period of time!

https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2014/03/some-advice-to-prospective-graduate-students-visiting-departments.html I found this post on the topic on Leiter Reports, a well-known philosophy blog, particularly helpful. The comments are also useful. 

Given your interests, I would say LSE should easily be on par with Cambridge. I have been a student in the Department, and I can say that the teaching on courses such as Philosophy of Science (PH400) and Philosophy of Social Science (PH405) is excellent. The program is particularly helpful if you would like to get a better overview of the fields before applying. Further, the dissertation still allows for a significant research component. 

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

Are the Yale posts genuine? Seems a bit early as compared to last year. If yes, then congrats to those admitted. (To be very frank with you though, it's hard to congratulate a person I have never met or even talked before - so I always find the ubiquitous congratulations here a bit odd, if not disingenuous.)