gradpumpkin

Do we think more Vanderbilt interviews will be going out or was that wave all of them? Has anyone in CP gotten an interview? ?

Thank you so much!! Was starting to lose hope but this is a great start. Congrats to you as well!!

Just checked my spam mail and magically found a waitlist to UVA! I have no idea why that would be flagged as spam by Gmail but I'm excited to be considered! One question for those who have been waitlisted... did yours indicate that you were HIGH on the waitlist? or just that you were on it. My POI said that I am high on the waitlist and that they are very much so hoping a spot will open up for me, so I'm wondering if they said that to everyone or if that's a separate distinction.

I reached out to someone at Emory and they said they are reviewing apps right now and will release results mid-February! It looks like it has been late January a few times in previous years but also the second week in February some years. Fingers crossed for all of us!

For those with Michigan State admits, congrats! Did your status portal change? I'm wondering if they're being released individually over a few days or all at once.

Anyone have guesses as to when Ohio State will put us out of our misery/give some closure? In the past it seems like acceptances and rejections are pretty much back to back but it's been almost a week since the initial wave of acceptances and my status still says pending.

FYI- I heard from Texas that they've sent out all acceptances and waitlists already, so anybody still waiting will likely be a rejection. Don't lose hope, it's still early!

Congrats! Did you interview?

Their website says they admit about 50 people (in normal circumstances). If they're doing individualized emails and sending acceptances AND waitlists today, it definitely would take more than just the morning to complete. My guess is they'll come in throughout today and then rejections in the next day or two, based on previous trends.

Anyone claiming the Texas admit? Seems a bit early.

How many of you still have "Pending" in the Ohio State portal? I know a lot of acceptances have been posted already, but I felt really confident about my fit/qualifications and had good connections with multiple faculty. Is it time to give up hope?

Does anyone have any insights into Emory? I know they usually come out around this time. I'm curious as to whether GRE-required schools will see greater, equal, or even decreased applicant pools because of the overall trend with GRE this year. Is the massive increase in applicants mostly people who are only applying to GRE-optional schools? Will score averages at GRE-required schools be lower this year? Just wondering if anyone has thoughts since everything is so ambiguous right now.

There's definitely a grace period, and I've seen schools say that they can come in 2 weeks or so past the deadline. I wouldn't assume that they'd start until after the new year, but it's hard to be sure and it's probably better to be safe than sorry. If your recommender agreed to write the letters, they should be willing to follow the deadlines. Maybe check back in with them and gently stress the importance of submitting the letter granted the money and work and time that you've put into your applications.

Thank you all for this great advice! I'm wondering if any of you could comment on what the typical schedule, workload, and "day in the life" would be for a first-year PhD student. I know it will vary a lot based on programs/fellowships, but just trying to get a general idea and advice on how to manage it as best as possible.

Thank you all for your input! That all makes sense. And @Sigabayou make valid points, but I've seen explicitly on department websites and directly from departments themselves saying that they want to be notified of your other offers once admitted, even this year. I did not mean at all that I'm hoping to take unnecessary funding away from a department. Negotiation of packages (to include more than just money) is a common practice in admissions to the best of my knowledge, especially from graduate schools themselves and not just departments. My assumption would be that departments will only accept students that they are capable of funding and that this money is already allocated, even if that means smaller cohorts.

I've noticed that lots of applications give you the option to report other schools that you're applying to as part of their admissions process. Is doing this a bad idea? I'm not sure what they use it for, but it seems like a trap to me. For example, if a school gives you space to list 5 and I'm applying to more than 5, is it wiser to list my schools ranked higher than them, lower, or just not at all? I was planning on just notifying schools when I got offers/funding info to leverage and negotiate funding. Thoughts?

Most of the suggested lengths for programs that I've seen have been about 1,000 words. I would trim it down and keep it to two pages like people have have previously replied. Good luck!

I would suggest putting that on your CV. My guess is that while these portals (which are standard and used for every department) ask you to redundantly list out stuff you've already mentioned elsewhere, departments will be primarily looking at your actual materials. So, no I wouldn't count it under employment, but I would count it as work experience on your CV if it is related to political science.

Does anyone have suggestions on academically-oriented Masters programs to apply to that would help prepare for a PhD? I know about MAPSS and CIR but am looking for a few more that would be strong preparation programs in case I strike out on PhD admissions this year and need to try again in a future cycle. Specifically looking for ones with good funding/fellowship/assistantship opportunities, as I would not be able to pay full tuition anywhere. Bonus points if they are well-suited for comparative politics!

I was wondering what everyone thinks about submitting vs. not submitting GRE scores this cycle granted that it's optional for most places. I know it will vary, but I'm wondering if it is better to submit not that great of a score (160-162V, 155-157Q, 5-5.5W) or to not submit at all since we have the option- especially for schools that post higher score averages. I think the other parts of my application are a lot stronger. Any thoughts?

Just to add a related question since this is a GRE thread, I was wondering what y'all think about listing GRE scores on my application (in my CV or elsewhere) and not sending in official scores for GRE optional schools. Basically, still providing my scores for test optional schools but not paying the fee for each and every school to send the OFFICIAL scores since it's optional anyways. I'm applying to a lot of schools and am trying to cut costs where I can. Would this result in them putting any weight into my scores? Or just worry about me being dishonest about the scores? Also, is there any kind of threshold for what kind of scores you think are send-worthy vs. not? I know this would obviously vary by the ranking of the school, but I'm wondering, for example, what kinds of scores are sendworthy for a top 20 vs top 40 school. Any thoughts?

I've got a similar profile but I'm in Comparative so I'm also curious! Best of luck this cycle ?