polisci_gal

Thoughts on when Boston University will sent out acceptances/rejections/waitlists? I have seen in prev. years its generally this week.......

Honestly same @icemanyeo I'm trying to keep the faith but with tweets from various professors across the country expressing how qualified candidates won't be admitted due to budget cuts doesn't really boost my confidence. All I can say is February is going to be an excruciating month waiting to hear back from the various programs. Ugh. C'est la vie, I guess.

Good luck with your thesis! I'm taking some course right now which are keeping me busy, but I can't help myself from just opening up a new tab on chrome every now and again to check the portals..........

Haha I know! I'm excited to see where you (and everyone else) gets in. The solidarity from this online community has helped to keep me (somewhat) sane during this waiting period. lol

That is a lot, wow! I only applied to 8..... 7 in the USA and 1 in Canada. I probably would have applied to more but it gets $$$$

This seems pretty promising. I mean don’t schools kind of plan for at least some of their admits to not accept? So if you’re at the top of the waitlist it seems plausible that you’d get admission, but you can never be 100%. I have hope for you though!!!

SAME. I know we're all in the same boat. It still feels like each day is soooo long waiting to see if you got an e-mail or not. I know it's still too early to be panicking as a lot of programs will probably send out admissions in February, but i can't help myself from refreshing all day

Anyone claiming the Boston University acceptance?

I'm definitely enthusiastic about Western - they've got amazing faculty. I understand that relocating your family to the US would be difficult for sure - however, most of the US programs are fully funded and come with healthcare plans which makes going to the states a really attractive option for PhD programs! Thats actually the reason I applied to mainly US schools and only 1 Canadian! Edit- to give some context, I did my bachelors in Canada and my masters in the US.

Thanks for starting this @KayCee I applied to 7 US schools and 1 Canadian school (Western).

I don't think that this will make any difference to your admission decision - if they feel that you're a strong candidate it's possible that they'll connect with that professor to see if they'd be interested in working with you, but it would depend on their process. Many professors I expressed interest working with and/or had chats with prior to applying mentioned they weren't on the admissions committee this year and might not find out about admission results until I do. That being said, some also mentioned that even though they weren't on the committee, they were still permitted to give input on applicants and it was helpful to know me and my research interests. All in all, I think that each place is different- and I wouldn't sweat it too much! Try not to overthink

I didn't apply to Princeton, but it looks like there have been quite a few recorded admissions! Congrats to everyone!

This is an interesting thread. I am like @icemanyeoin that i went into a masters straight out of undergrad and am currently in the process of completing it while applying to PhD programs. I will say that even though I had some research experience and relevant employment experience during my undergraduate degree, my masters has kind of made me feel like I was even more ready (and capable) to pursue a PhD. For example, I have had the opportunity of working with more relevant figures in the subfield that i'm interested in because of the school I'm currently attending, and was able to obtain LOR from both undegrad + grad profs who could speak to my growth, potential and suitability for the programs. For my case too, getting an MA was a necessary step in this process and I think that my undergraduate profile alone wouldn't have made me a very competitive candidate. One thing I will say that I have heard is that having a masters degree over just an undergraduate degree when applying to PhD programs could help is that both your LOR writers and your success in your graduate courses can demonstrate your ability to thrive (or not) in graduate studies - which is ultimately what a lot of admissions committees are looking for (i.e., will you actually be able to succeed here). All in all, I think a lot of this depends on you and your individual profile as a candidate. Everyone goes through different things in their life and I feel like the timeline of being ready to pursue a PhD could vary for everyone. Just remember to be confident in yourself and try not to compare yourself to others too much - we' are all different but all of us will bring a lot to the table, regardless of what our journey was to get here. You've got this! edit: my masters degree is in political science and I majored in political science in my bachelors too

I watch a lot of this girls youtube videos (shes a PhD at Yale), and she just put one out on PhD interviews....might be helpful? *Disclaimer I did not watch the whole thing lol*

You've got this!!! You're going to do amazing. Best of luck and hope you get in !!

I feel this big time. Next few weeks are going to be rough lol

Other thing I want to get other applicants input on....How many of y'all reached out to profs/potential supervisors at the schools that you applied to for PhD programs? I connected via e-mail, phone, or zoom with at least 1 professor from each school I applied to, but I was wondering if its also common to just submit applications without connecting with faculty beforehand? Im only really asking out of curiosity and Also perhaps am second guessing everything about my application process? Lol

This is comforting. I would think so as well - since i presume a lot of people chose not to submit scores this year as it could potentially hinder their application (unless they were really confident with their scores).

Ok thoughts on not submitting GRE scores this year? I will disclose that I didn't actually take the GRE ( for various reasons) and thus did not submit scores to any schools. Some of the potential supervisors I spoke with said it really wouldn't hinder an application to not have them, as the scores would just be considered an extra/supplemental document. What do y'all think? Do you think that it is *essential* to submit or not submit? Even though the schools waived the requirement will it hurt an application to not submit them? Why am i second guessing my whole life lol

@guest12345678the fact that you've been published as a sole author in a political science journal is impressive. I also think that you grad GPA is attractive to admissions and faculty as well. Having experience in research and teaching is another great boost. In terms of the SOP- I know thats a big part of admissions, did you have any of your LOR writers review it? If you got the go-ahead from any of your mentors or profs then that would be helpful too! Seems like you've got a pretty good profile overall though. I hope you get in somewhere!! I"m sure you will. All the best

Fair enough. I think because these are some of the top schools perhaps more people applied because they waived the GRE this year and felt as though they had more of a shot at getting in than if they had to submit GRE scores? Just a thought. I'm curious to see if other schools (more lower ranked ones) had an influx in applicants or not...

Hard to speculate, but I think (and have read) that historically during recessions people tend to go back to school. I'm guessing if the COVID-19 situation remains similar throughout the year then application numbers will continue to increase (as guaranteed funding for 5 years is valuable/attractive in this economy)

From each of the faculty that I spoke to prior to submitting applications, most of them still stuck by the previous years standard of hearing back anywhere from mid Jan to mid Feb. So i'm hopeful that even with the influx of applicants, we will still hear back in the next few weeks! Im obviously checking my e-mail way too much tho.....cant help it!

They're not. See website (or below I have copied and pasted their announcement): https://politicalscience.unc.edu/graduate/admissions/ "Prospective Students: We regret to announce that UNC’s Political Science Department will not accept applications to our graduate program during the 2021 admissions cycle. To ensure that the department has resources to adequately support its educational mission during the Covid-19 pandemic, we will hold off on bringing new students to the program until 2022. The decision to eliminate a cohort of future graduate students was a difficult one, and we apologize for any inconvenience. We look forward to reading applications again in the fall of 2021 for the 2022 cohort."

I think this really depends on the program and they should specify on their website. However, I am under the impression that most programs require all supplemental docs (incl. LOR) to be submitted on/by the deadline.