BrownSugar

All I can say is I’m not surprised that it’s happening with NW. I’ve heard terrible things about NW from professors and was cautioned not to apply, which I didn’t.

Let's not go back and forth with each other on this NW debacle. We can all agree NW is handling this process terribly. Not much anyone can do about it.

Congrats!! I also applied for CP but haven't heard anything back ? Hoping you get off the waitlist though!

Can anyone claim the Cornell waitlist? I am getting quite antsy just waiting on them even though they did say early March.... Also hoping we can get Yale next Friday or March 1st at the latest (given past trends).

This positivity is largely welcome both today and throughout the remaining weeks haha

Wishing you nothing but the best in your next steps!! Thanks for being a really positive force on the forum

I think so. When I asked the department directly they said official decisions would come early March.

For me, when I thought about fit for the statement, I looked to see if there were professors conducting research / have published / conduct any form of work in the specific areas and methodologies I am interested in, and also whether or not they’d be at the department when I would potentially be entering. There were other important aspects for ‘fit’ for me personally but these were things I looked at when deciding where to apply and how to tailor my statement. Edit: fit is becoming increasingly more important in Europe as well, particularly for the more competitive and higher ranked universities. So don’t take it for granted. I’ve lived and studied in Europe myself.

Wow. Sorry about that Glad you’re not waiting pointlessly anymore though

A Master’s at almost any uni will help with PhD apps in so far as showing that you have a higher level understanding of the field and more research experience, and allowing you to further develop yourself as a scholar. In terms of a difference in rankings, of course a Master’s from a highly ranked school (Top 30 worldwide for instance) will be looked at more favorably than a lower ranked one. That’s one purpose of rankings after all. To know if international schools are reputable in the US, I would talk to any US professors or PhD students you know because a school can have a great global ranking and national reputation e.g. UCL or Amsterdam, but will not be as known or reputable in the US. If you want to do a PhD in Europe, this is simpler. Feel free to message me to talk about it more! I’m very familiar with both the US and EU systems. Edit for change of wording.

I would suggest emailing.

To be honest, I hate questions like this because I need to work on my self confidence and identifying and accepting my strengths. But, I will try to answer it for you I think it’s two things. Firstly, my graduate level research experience and publications. My background is not purely political science so I have been insecure during the entire application process. So I think my master’s degree and publications really showed my competences and abilities. Secondly, my statement was very strong. I got feedback from various professors and current PhD students. I think it’s very important you know how to show that you’re knowledgeable of political science generally, as well as the specific areas of research interests and then work in your past experiences to show your competences etc. I also didn’t try to ‘force’ my fit anywhere except BU and Princeton (and I got rejected soooo).

A couple of people have been accepted by Georgetown this week. I was informally waitlisted. I do not think all decisions (even acceptances) have been released as when I spoke to the admissions chair he said all decisions would be made by the end of the month.

Now that my hopes have fallen for my remaining US unis, has anyone reached out to Yale regarding the timeline? (not that I anticipate having much of a shot) hahaha

It is the worst. The response you got doesn't make it any easier either, since 'may send additional acceptances' does make it seem like they've sent out their 'for sure' acceptances, and are now waiting to consider people who might be potential waitlists or see how many people reject the offers.

This is the age old problem. Damned if you get a decision, dammed if you don’t because your mind starts hoping for the best but expecting the worst ?

Got an email from my POI at Georgetown indicating that they are interested in my research but cannot admit me at this moment. Placed on a 'very short waitlist'. No other info. Good luck to everyone else waiting! Congrats to everyone who heard from Cornell! Really hope I can get some good news from there!

Good luck!! It actually is not easier to get PhD funding at LSE, but it's a good sign if you haven't heard from them yet. It likely means you are being considered by the funding panels because they meet in February!

Definitely too early.

Thanks for letting us know!!! I think him having written ‘notifications will be sent... shortly thereafter’ could also indicate next week, if decision making concludes on Friday, for instance. So I’ll try not to keep my hopes up too much haha

I contacted the department, they said decisions will come by month-end.

Seeing that Princeton was delayed, and Cornell is also delayed, I expect not. I'm thinking first few days of March.

LSE has started to adopt a US approach to their PhDs. Therefore, you first begin by doing the MPhil. If you don’t perform well enough to advance to the PhD stage, then you finish the program with just the MPhil, similar to an en-route degree in the US. If you perform well enough, you automatically advance to the PhD stage after defending your prospectus etc.

Besides Sciences Po and Sorbonne, I really wouldn’t recommend any others. French universities do not have very strong reputations in Europe (my entire undergrad and grad education has been in Europe), so I am not sure how they would be looked at in the US. Edit: Also forgot about PSL!

I have an MSc from the UK. I think it’s implications are nothing but positive. I’ve gained more theoretical knowledge and research experience, wrote a master’s dissertation that has been published in a peer reviewed journal etc. In addition, recommendation letters are even stronger imo as you’ve done work at a higher and more intense level with your professors. So I wholeheartedly recommend looking into getting a master’s first, not just to be more competitive but also more prepared for a PhD.