BrownSugar

I’m not too sure if it would make difference as initial reviews of applications would have started at basically every uni, and I know that they say they don’t accept materials after the review starts. If it makes you more comfortable, you can still try for your own peace of mind. 

Usually, Princeton seems to release last few days of Jan/start of Feb. I am not sure of the others since I have not applied there and didn’t really research that. 
As for Rice, I assume you meant third week of January? Hahaha if it were February, most of our anxieties would be gone 

First-gen here. I want to echo this. Also, do not forget that some professors - undoubtedly some on the adcom - are first-gens themselves.
I see many posters writing authoritatively about what will be the most crucial element(s) of the application or what makes a stellar application. Based on what? Second-hand anecdotal evidence? A "logical" deduction of scattered and unverified information across Gradcafe and Reddit? Your intuition? A professor once told you?
While it is true that SOP's, WS's, LOR's and grades all matter in some way,  I think it is important to emphasize that adcom members have some agency and aren't just ticking off boxes like robots. One of the reasons why we are all waiting for such a long time is because picking out the right candidates requires considerable deliberation based on the sum of variables that constitute your application.
As _baby__yoda said, there are many cues that can signal graduate school success. The combination of those cues will be unique for every candidate. Maybe your GPA is low, but you have 4 competitive scholarships. Maybe you have only taken two quant classes in undergrad, but you worked as a data scientist for 3 years. Maybe your background is not in political science, but you published in a top political science journal. 
And then, say if you have made it into the "promising applicants pool," much will come down to luck (an element we routinely underestimate in daily life) -- it is truly a crapshoot.   
Rooting for all of you.

I know, I did say they send “decisions” in batches, not admits. I was speaking in more general terms, because I’m sure people have anxiety for programs that may not be in the “top”. Also, “most” indicates that there are outliers, which is also important to consider.  

What we all need to keep in mind is that not everyone uses/posts on gradcafe (this includes those with rejections and offers). Gradcafe is not a complete overview of the admissions process/results.
 In addition, most universities send decisions in batches. Whether admits from the last few days/past week are real or not, more decisions will continue to come. This is merely the beginning.
Good luck! 

Thank you for this! As a first gen POC, sometimes I feel like I’m waaaay in over my head, so this was very comforting to read tonight. 

My advisors just informed me that their department did experience the widely-discussed huge increase in applications.
They waived the GRE and saw a considerable number of applications from people who appear to have applied just because they could. In other words, a decent portion of this year's marginal applicants were unprepared for graduate study and seemed to lack an understanding of what it means to be a doctoral student and to conduct political science research.
This is just one university, but it made me feel a little better. It affirms what someone on this thread previously noted: just because applications doubled does not mean that the competitiveness of admissions doubled. 
ETA: this info was given to me by people I trust but it was given in a general and vague sense... I don't have a super specific insider knowledge. I hope this info is encouraging to others as it was to me, but take my word with a grain of salt. 

For what it's worth, I also find the following app useful. (I found it either on a thread here or on reddit, I think). It includes some GRE/GPA ranges as well as results for other disciplines, so will provide results for the History programs you mentioned as well @scarletwitch! 
https://fretpwner.shinyapps.io/GradCafeStatistics/
(Yes, I recognize how obsessive this makes me triangulating previous cycles across multiple applications lol?)

My opinions aren’t “well informed” but I certainly can’t imagine universities lowering their standards, i.e. expected average GRE scores. 
I also think GRE-required programs won’t see as much as an increase of apps as that for GRE-optional ones. I myself only applied to GRE-optional universities, and so did most of the “international” students I know. Of course, this is merely anecdotal. 

What we all need to keep in mind is that not everyone uses/posts on gradcafe (this includes those with rejections and offers). Gradcafe is not a complete overview of the admissions process/results.
 In addition, most universities send decisions in batches. Whether admits from the last few days/past week are real or not, more decisions will continue to come. This is merely the beginning.
Good luck! 

I know emotions run high when important stuff is on the line, but I would advise everyone to take it down a notch with the mutual accusations.
I (and I bet many others) would really appreciate a space to just wait it out and comment things as they happen, rather than to read through unpleasant comments (I do not wish to name anyone in particular).

LSE alum as well!

For me, it was the same. I also switched fields, specifically from law to policy, and did a one year MSc in the UK. It was useful for me in that way and also getting a lot more research experience in the field and writing a dissertation etc. I would heartily recommend it as an affordable back-up choice, or an additional stage before starting a PhD (particularly if you can get funding, though it is difficult to get). I don’t think I would feel as competent had I not done my master. Therefore, I would say the personal advantage is significant, but I can’t say what difference it would make when actually applying to PhDs (apart from more research experience). 

LSE alum here! I heartily recommend it to anyone interested. The government department is brilliant. 

For me, it was the same. I also switched fields, specifically from law to policy, and did a one year MSc in the UK. It was useful for me in that way and also getting a lot more research experience in the field and writing a dissertation etc. I would heartily recommend it as an affordable back-up choice, or an additional stage before starting a PhD (particularly if you can get funding, though it is difficult to get). I don’t think I would feel as competent had I not done my master. Therefore, I would say the personal advantage is significant, but I can’t say what difference it would make when actually applying to PhDs (apart from more research experience). 

Hello Everyone

I was a lurking applicant to this website last year who managed to get into a great program. I decided to actually post after seeing the recent Ohio State acceptance just to provide some forewarning for that particular school's acceptance process. Of course, if you were accepted, congratulations! Getting the first acceptance is a massive relief and hopefully is only the start of a successful application season. For those who were not, do not worry! OSU is consistently the first to release a large batch of acceptances and it likely will not be until mid February for most schools to release their first acceptance letters.

Now, the reason I wanted to post is to provide a bit of a warning from my experience last year after being accepted to OSU. It goes without saying that it is a great program for a lot of fields, but the way in which they allocate funding to their graduates is abnormal relative to every other school. Specifically, from what I was told, the funding is not directly allocated from the political science department upon the admissions decision. Instead, the program has to wait until after the admissions decision to submit each admit to a grad school-wide review which then allocates the funds. Therefore, while most programs will present the stipend offer in the admissions decision, OSU waits for sometime to inform applicants as to if they have been funded.

It is possible that they have since updated this system, but it appears, at least thus far, that the acceptance process is the same in that, akin to last year, the portal is updated before the program sends a email. I do not know why OSU is one of the only schools who allocates funding through this process, but I can attest to it being frustrating trying to figure out if you received the funding needed to attend the school. Once again, if you got accepted, that is fantastic and it indicates that you are a competitive applicant for other programs. With that said, I did not want to see the same conversation, and subsequent stress, replicated in the forum last year where a bunch of accepted applicants are asking if anyone received funding with their OSU acceptances.

Best of luck with the remaining application season!

I haven't been admitted anywhere and have no information to suggest that I will be admitted anywhere.
Nevertheless, there is a part of me that is searching for any semblance of a silver lining to cope with this extremely stressful season... right now, I'm insisting on telling myself, "hey, maybe this means the job market will be less brutal in 5-6 year!" which is wishful thinking at best and delusion at worst!

What we all need to keep in mind is that not everyone uses/posts on gradcafe (this includes those with rejections and offers). Gradcafe is not a complete overview of the admissions process/results.
 In addition, most universities send decisions in batches. Whether admits from the last few days/past week are real or not, more decisions will continue to come. This is merely the beginning.
Good luck! 

What we all need to keep in mind is that not everyone uses/posts on gradcafe (this includes those with rejections and offers). Gradcafe is not a complete overview of the admissions process/results.
 In addition, most universities send decisions in batches. Whether admits from the last few days/past week are real or not, more decisions will continue to come. This is merely the beginning.
Good luck! 

I'm claiming one of those Northwestern admits. Got an email early this morning.

Guys, regarding Princeton on the results page:
It is a habitual "Princeton troll" lurking here for many years. Usually, it awakens somewhere on 7th-8th January, claims an acceptance to Princeton, and then disappears for another year. This year it reemerged almost a week later than usual (why?). - Do not take it seriously, even better - do not pay attention at all.  
But, seriously, it is way too early for Princeton, do not drive yourself crazy! 
 

Wow thanks I didn’t know this existed! Good luck to everyone!

I think this one is slightly better - it captures Politics, Political science, Government and removes the LSE posts: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=(politic*|gov)+-london

I live in India right now and it’s 4 AM ahhahahah, definitely not passing out now. ?

@ExileOnMainSt @BrownSugar Fingers crossed, and good luck to both of you!
At least we both know what we'll be doing this evening...