sad pepe
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Posts posted by sad pepe
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22 hours ago, natpvh72 said:
Personally, I'm surprised that my school this fall (Iowa) dropped from #37 last year to #46 this year. Makes me wondering why given that it seems to be a solid program ?
I'm kinda surprised too, it's a great program in my mind, and not a bad placement record either. Iowa was one of my top choices last year, I was waitlisted first but unfortunately didn't get an offer in the end... But great that you'll be joining Iowa!
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5 hours ago, Dwar said:
USC seems to have...disappeared?
The only reasoning I can see behind this is the re-classification of the USC program as either a policy or IR program? Maybe because of the unique cross discipline nature of the graduate department there?
Tulane (ranked 89th last time) has also gone missing... all political science doctoral programs should be on the list right?
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On 5/1/2020 at 11:30 PM, polsciguy88 said:
I would strongly, strongly, advise against making the assumption that foreign markets will happily hire candidates from US universities. Many foreign markets are extremely insular and are not necessarily based on 'prestige' structures. It's more common for hiring networks to be based on informal networks, not 'merit.' This is true even in highly developed countries such as Spain and Italy, but even more so in the developing world. Furthermore, the language threshold is extremely high; very difficult to lecture/teach and be a valuable colleague when you are not extremely well versed in a particular language.
Makes sense, but I'm mainly talking about East Asia since I'm more familiar with the region. They love hiring those with degrees from the US/UK, plus a lot of courses are offered in English nowadays. It's not hard to find foreign faculty in universities in those countries, and a lot of domestic faculty members in those countries also hold US/UK degrees, most of the time from well known programs too. I'm not so sure about other parts of the world tho.
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Yeah you should definitely ask. My guess is that they've already made their decision.
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15 hours ago, anwesha08 said:
can someone please tell me whether or not Suny Albany sends out rejection emails if not selected for doctoral graduate program.
Also, by when can I expect wait listed candidates admission decision to be taken?
Have you checked your application portal? Updates could be posted there without them informing you about it, it sometimes happens. If nothing there, you should definitely email the DGS and ask. Considering it is already the end of April, I'd assume all decisions have been made.
Which program are you applying to? I actually applied to their political science program, but for some reason was rejected literally a week after I submitted my application, which I thought was odd because I thought I was a great fit and the fact that the program is not ranked that high (I was waitlisted by much higher-ranked programs). Either way, they did send me an email telling me to check my application page.
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4 hours ago, andvoyages said:
apparently a lot of people got that "additional review required" status and after a few days they were denied.
I'd love to hear more about this too, it sounds pretty scary... I think you should just email your department/DGS directly and see what's up? Correct me if I'm wrong, usually there are two "decisions" for graduate admissions: the department makes the initial decision, then the graduate school of the university makes the second and final decision. I've always thought the second step involves double checking eligibility/transcripts and sort of finalize the whole thing. I guess speaking to the DGS directly would be more helpful in this situation? If they say you're admitted then there shouldn't be any problems.
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10 minutes ago, Dwar said:
Question for folks: Let’s say during the summer your school announces online classes for the rest of the year, would you still move there?
^What I've been pondering lately. It may not matter as much for those already physically in the US right now. But since I'm currently all the way in Asia, it'd be very hard to have classes online due to the time difference.
I'm just really hoping the quality of our education won't be compromised too much if we are forced to start our grad studies online
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Well, withdrawing from a commitment is never ideal, unless it's absolutely necessary to do so (e.g., personal illness or changes in family situation, etc.). The faculty from that program will likely not be happy about it. But at the end of the day, you gotta do what you need to do, as choosing the right program to attend is probably one of the most important decisions we'll make in our lives. So if that's what you end up doing, be as polite as you possibly can and apologize.
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I would say, from an ethical perspective, your situation is *a little* better than the normal "accept now, back out later" situation, because you went from having little or no funding from one program to being offered an acceptable amount of funding. That changes things. Of course the faculty at the first school may not be thrilled about it, but if you feel like you must change your mind, it's best to just be honest and let them know that the funding situation has changed, and they'll probably understand.
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Hey guys, this may be a stupid question, but when should we accept/decline an offer on the 15th? Generally speaking, is it okay to wait until 11:59 PM to make a decision? Or should we decide by, say, 5 PM, before the faculty gets off from work?
I'm currently on two waitlists and am hoping to hear from them before the 15th ends, and I'm not looking to do the whole "accept now, back out later" thing.
Also, how normal is it to ask the program that offered you admission for an extension? I've seen people call it disrespectful because you're basically telling them that they're only a backup and if given a choice, you wouldn't choose them. But with the 15th arriving very soon, the prospect of getting a decision after the 15th is really scaring me...
Would love to hear what you guys think. And good luck with your own decisions!
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On 4/7/2020 at 3:02 PM, pipettingerror said:
Is it possible to accept an offer and then drop out a bit later?
If you are sure that you won't be attending, it's best that you decline the offer and leave the spot for someone on the waitlist. Accepting an offer only to back out later is disrespectful to say the least. It's something you can do, but really shouldn't. But of course people have different ideas about this, with many on this forum suggesting that it's both normal and fine. After all it's one of the most important decisions many of us will ever make in our lives, so if you really feel like that's what you should do, then do it. Though my suggestion is to only do it if you have a very good reason to not attend after accepting your offer.
- pipettingerror and IvanC
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It's a vicious cycle: everyone is waiting for everyone else to accept/decline, leaving those on the waitlist wondering what in the world is going on. There's not much we can really do besides waiting for those with offers to make a decision, while they themselves wait for still others if they are also on waitlists. That's just how it works, and it's not rare at all to receive results after the 15th. But it's good to know that you have other options on the table, especially during these tough times.
It's also very common to apply a second time around or even third time. Grad school applications are very tough, and the decisions are to some extent very arbitrary. Many people have ended up doing very well with applications after failing to get in anywhere in their first try. So even if it doesn't work out in the end, you can always try again later!
Something to keep in mind though, given the economic impact of the coronavirus, grad school admissions will likely become very competitive in the coming years, with increase in the number of applicants and decrease in cohort sizes and funding. So if you have an offer this year, it's probably the best.
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With only a few days left until the 15th, I would definitely suggest shooting them an email. Let them know that you have an offer already and politely ask them if a decision will be made by the deadline so you will have the opportunity to make an informed decision on your end. I can only imagine how busy faculty/administration have been in dealing with the switch to distance learning, so some delays in admission decisions is understandable I guess. To be honest, if I were you, I would have emailed the DGS at those programs in March just to see what's up.
On 4/9/2020 at 6:06 PM, notsomuch said:Or should I accept this offer and later, if I get accepted to another university, reject it? What are the consequences of this action?
Different people have different opinions with regards to this question. I am personally quite against doing something like that. It just feels...wrong. But after all it is one of the most important decisions many of us will ever make in our lives, so if you really feel like that's what you should do, then do it. We as applicants/grad students are generally pretty powerless vis-a-vis university administration/faculty, so some would argue that in this situation, do what's best for you. But again, I wouldn't do it.
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This question has appeared a lot lately, and based on what a lot of people have been saying, it seems like in light of the economic impact of the coronavirus, the number of grad school applications will likely see a significant increase in the coming years, and as such admissions will become very competitive. Not to mention some programs will probably have smaller cohorts in the coming years along with decreased funding. Of course I don't know for sure, it's probably better to ask faculty members directly and see what they think? I'm guessing public universities will be hit harder.
To some extent we're lucky to have applied this year (and gotten offers).
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The DGS of a program I'm still waiting to hear from told me he'll "definitely get back to [me] before the April 15 deadline" in mid-March when I inquired about it. So I'll take it as he actually means it?
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12 hours ago, Dwar said:
U of Arizona Retracts PhD Offers
sad news out of the philosophy department over at Arizona. Hoping this doesn’t become mainstream.
WOW.
But they did say they'll allow those affected to defer until next year or have their applications considered in a more favorable manner should they decide to decline and reapply. I mean it still sucks for those affected, but given the situation that the world is facing right now, I'd say it's somewhat understandable? Or am I being too lenient?
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Hey guys, OP here. So the DGS of the program (the one mentioned above as well as in a couple other posts, some of you may be aware) just emailed me and told me she had nominated me for a fellowship award designated for incoming grad students. Not sure how competitive it is but it's still great news nonetheless. The thing is, I have not accepted my offer yet as I'm still waiting to hear back from another program. So what should I write to her in response besides thank you? It's just a bit awkward considering I haven't committed myself to the program yet...
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!
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10 hours ago, BunniesInSpace said:
I hate to be the bearer of statistically bad news but a lot of programs (even super top programs) have had directive from admin to not go onto the waitlist this year because of tanks in the economy/to their endowment.
True story. One of the programs I applied to took forever to come up with a decision, so I emailed the DGS to inquire about it, was told that they were supposed to move on to second round of decisions, but told me that the university would not allow more funded offers due to the virus situation, so that's that.
I'm technically still on two waitlists. The DGS from one of them told me while he doesn't know for sure, there's a high likelihood of them not going to the waitlist at all. Didn't say why but come to think of it, it could also be some kind of university policy related to the pandemic?
- sloth_girl and Paulcg87
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On 4/6/2020 at 5:09 AM, Paulcg87 said:
I wouldn't worry too much about programs shutting down. I think the current/projected economic turmoil will actually strengthen and bolster many programs.
Well I sure hope that's the case. I'm aware of a couple low-ranked PhD programs shutting down due to budget cuts/shortage of funding, among other reasons. I think one thing to consider is that schools need to pay their PhDs (aka a financial burden, though on the other hand PhD students are a wonderful source of cheap labor) while undergrads pay to attend, so I can see schools increasing their tuition and admitting more undergrads in face of the recession.
On 4/6/2020 at 5:09 AM, Paulcg87 said:I was born in East Asia and raised in Canada so I have dual citizenship and about half of my family is still in Asia. I'm currently in Southeast Asia working.
I also have an East Asian background. I was born in the US but grew up in Taiwan. Got my bachelor's in poli sci from a top-10 school (referring to the US News global rankings here). Been in China since 2014, got a master's first and have been teaching at a Chinese university since. I thought I have a pretty relevant background especially since I plan on doing research in comparative politics/China, but still got rejected by my top choices. Guess my underwhelming undergrad GPA and mediocre GRE scores didn't help lol
9 hours ago, raduan said:My biggest fear right now is everything reasonably returning to normal to have classes in the Fall, but am still not allowed to enter the US because, as the curves are shown, we are still in the beginning of the COVID crisis.
@raduan I feel you... As many have mentioned, hopefully things will start to settle in the next couple months. The uncertainty absolutely sucks tho.
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6 hours ago, Richelieu20 said:
Unfortunately I have to refute what you are saying because a school that offered me a position has just rescinded its offers for all the political science admits. I don't think anything is crystal clear at the moment. Let alone admissions and funding, schools generally avoid giving certain answers to questions regarding next terms.
Wow that is absolutely horrible, and quite worrying too... Do you have other options available? I'm also interested in knowing the reasons they give you for rescinding the offer.
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On 4/4/2020 at 8:52 AM, Dwar said:
My advice to everyone on this forum is to take the acceptance you have and hold on for dear life.
Yeah that's what I'm planning on doing. So all in all I've gotten two offers from my safeties and am on one waitlist. Besides the public one I mentioned above, my other offer is from a private university that enjoys more "prestige"/name recognition, though not necessarily a "better" school in my opinion. In terms of their political science rankings, both programs are ranked pretty low on the list. @Theory007's advice is practical, but seems like the consensus right now is that grad school admissions will be super competitive in the coming years. And even without the pandemic, I probably would have accepted one of my offers anyway considering this is already my second time trying (first time was for fall 2016, didn't work out too well so decided to work for a few years first) and the fact that at 29, I'm already a few years older than most incoming PhD students...
On 4/4/2020 at 8:22 AM, raduan said:However, I would say that almost everywhere else in the globe would happily welcome a professor with a PhD from virtually any American university.
True that. And I'm not completely against the idea either since I myself have an East Asian background, so finding a position in East Asia wouldn't be that crazy of an idea. Just that if given a choice, I'd still prefer to live/work in the States.
Thanks @Dwar and @Paulcg87 for your responses! I'd like to think I'm pretty realistic with my expectations, not aiming for anything out of my rich, and definitely not doing this with the hope of becoming rich. I actually really want to research/teach what I love, it's just that teaching at a school where the vast majority of the students don't care about their academics is demotivating, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
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I've been having the same worries lately! I'm 29 so I assume I'm already a few years older than the average incoming PhD student (I have no idea about this one though).
I've only been admitted to my two safeties (provided that I get rejected by programs that have waitlisted me in the coming days). For the one I'm considering attending, the amount of stipend I was offered is already pretty low, and I'm now even more concerned about a potential pay cute in the coming years due to the economic impact of the coronavirus. Another source of concern for me (and probably won't apply to most of you here) is the likelihood that some departments will just call it quits with regards to their PhD programs. Many departments have done this before (among others, Tulane shut down its PhD program after Katrina, only to restart it a few years ago). If it happens (god forbid), it'll undoubtedly hurt the ranking/reputation of the program, and will in turn hurt the students' chances of landing a job after graduating. After all, who'd want to hire someone that graduated from a "failed program"?
May I ask where the OP and @raduan are hailing from? I'm American with sort of an international background. Been living in East Asia for the past 6 years for master's and work. The move back has already been stressing me out sans the virus. And now? I don't even want to think about it...
Also, as some of you have mentioned above, I'm also not looking forward to the idea of starting my PhD studies online... Tough times ahead for everyone, let's all stay healthy and hope everything works out in the end!
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@Phoenix88 May I ask what your major is? I'm guessing science/engineering, based on seeing your application to Embry Riddle. I'm doing political science, and from what I know, it seems like grad students in social sciences always get less funding than those in med schools and science/engineering departments. But you're absolutely right about the variety of opportunities that we could seek!
EDIT: My bad, didn't see that you're majoring in Aerospace Engineering.
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So I'll be starting my PhD studies in political science this fall, most likely at a large public university in a Midwestern state that has a handful of public universities.
In view of the coronavirus situation, I'm really concerned about the potential impact of the virus on the economy, which I worry will in turn lead to state governments cutting funding for higher education, which will then lead to a pay cut for PhD students in the coming years... This is especially worrisome considering that the amount of stipend that I was offered is already less than I'd like (can probably barely survive).
Am I right to worry about this?
Updated US-News Rankings
in Political Science Forum
Posted
@natpvh72 I actually applied last year, currently enrolled in a low-ranked program -- but hopefully I'll get the most out of it.