cber9604

Congrats ! You deserve it

It was not my POI but the person I interviewed with. He reached out to me to let me know what was going on.

I just feel like when you apply to 10-15 schools chances are that GU is not the top choice. The POI in my waitlist email told me it's really common for them to go on the waitlist, so there's a reasonable chance I got in. He probably sent you a similar choice, but it sure sounded like there was still hope.

Hey, it's still a good sign. You got a few waitlists from great programs, I would not worry about it. I think GU has a good chance of going into the waitlist just because it is not top 10. Keep your head up... for me a waitlist was a great surprise and honor ! Hope it works out.

Claiming a Georgetown waitlist for IR ! GU is my only application with McGill this year, so please decline offers if you intend to go somewhere else Good luck to everybody.

Yes, I agree. I am not aware really of the rankings, I have only applied to a few schools. Is GU a top 30 school ?

I would not worry about it too much, I clearly got an invite way later than some other candidates. They might to do it by waves or whatever.

Hey ! I applied to IR ! I would not consider myself a pure IR scholar, I mainly do IPE. But for GU, it logically falls under the IR subfield

Good to know, I also felt that was more of the vibe. Do you think it is a good sign in terms of acceptance or non-related? Last year I did not get an interview with GU so I was optimistic, once I got the news, that I had already made more progress than the year before. Thanks for the insights !

@EstherBritoAbrio I am guessing you got an interview invite for Georgetown as well ?? If that is the case, congrats !! I have no idea how it will go... I am quite nervous about it, to be honest. Did not know GU did interviews, excited to see what's this all about.

Hey, I think for PE or IPE journals you should look at International Journal of PE (IJPE), Review of International Political Economy, or JPE. There"s lots and depends on what you love. I'd also suggest to look at recent PE conferences... you can have a good insight on what's popular and who's working on what. Also, what you look for in PE depends on the country. Personally, I hate your definition of PE because it highlights one of the biggest division in scholarship on political econ. If you go to Canada (esp. franco), UK and France, you'll see that scholarship is way more focused on making sense of how the economy and its actors (firms, consumers, regulators) have an influence on power structures, on finance, on governance etc. The methods usually used are more than often mixed and the main goal is descriptive, explanatory and, in my eyes, much more valuable to 95% of the poli-sci community. Now, in the US, positivist way of doing academia pushes researchers to ''pile' knowledge on top of what has already been done, thus pushing academics in poli-sci to find ways in creating reproductible research and statistically significant. This approach does not make sense to many experts around the world simply because what make our research objetcs so unique is our inherent inability to really predict it. Sadly, the US way of doing things is understandably the dominant one and all the money goes to quant-heavy research because it allows to fix, to an extent, that sentiment of inferiority in regards to ''hard'' sciences and econ. And I look like somebody did me wrong but funnily enough I am doing research in IPE with a prof who does econometry and really heavy quant stuff. I did it because I think it is important to have the tools to dabble in different niches and truthfully experiments are really interesting to get curious insights in IPE/PE. I just do not agree with the idea that's more relevant because we got great p-values from a big N. think in reality it is rather weak because only a small portion of the people in the world can understand what we did and THAT, for the growth of the understanding of politics in our youth, is counter-productive. All that epistemological rant just to strongly suggest to also look outside of US-Quant dominated journals. It might be what you are looking for, and that is more than okay, but I think you'll be a much better scholar if you look at methods and approaches from around the globe. For example, States and Markets from Susan Strange is a great first read in terms of the UK way to look at PE (more internationally).

Thanks for the insights ! Yup could be a straight rejection and that'd be fine as well... my transcripts came in really, really late so it probably did not help. Reality is that's a rejection, and I have to prepare for next year more properly. Oh, I have been thinking about going to the US for study for a long, long time ; I am sure starting my adult life over there would be fulfilling and eye opening. It was not really a question of politics or values, more a comparison with the quality of life here in Montréal. I do not think there is a better student city in the world than MTL from the cost of living to the sheer diversity in people that can be met and things that can be done, experienced. I have ambitions as a researcher so obviously I think a Ph.D from the US is necessary, but with COVID and the political divisions in the US, Montréal had an appeal that made me reconsider If I should apply for 2021. I applied but not fully committed, so I am eager to try again next year with 15+ schools.

Lurker here ! Got my first official rejection from MIT in PE this morning. Tough pill to swallow as my fit for the MIT was very, very strong. On the other hand, had real issues with some administrative documents (their dep. was not particularly helpful, in fact they never answered to anything), so there is a STRONG chance my application was not even considered. This is in fact very frustrating but, in terms of ego and belief in my capacities, more of a status-quo kind of thing than a damning one. I will try for sure next year. Other than that, I only applied at Georgetown in IR and fully expect a rejection. Fit was strong, but competition seemed unreal. Truth be told, really not a bright idea to apply to only two programs, but truth is I was obsessed with a MsC program at Oxford which, coupled with the insecurity regarding political climate in the States (during Fall), took my attention away from an American PhD possibility. I found out in mid November that some schools did not require GRE scores, got in contact with a Pr. at MIT through a research partner in McGill a week later and brushed up a SOP with the help of said Pr. Thought I had a good shot, but made mistakes along the way which probably really cost me. This whole thing is a learning process and I am glad I went through it, even though I am unsuccessful. I think I have a strong profile but, at the end of the day, still am originating from a small francophone Canadian university. I embrace the challenge, I am only 24 years old (which I understand is fairly older than many of my compatriots on this forum, but still young in the general scheme of things), will come back next year with way more options and hopefully with better sample and a good GRE scores. Do not let this cycle, which has been affected by COVID in more ways that I think we can comprehend, dictate how you see yourself as an academic. Life has that weird tendency, a frustrating one to say the least, to create paths for yourself that will seem non-linear, filled with obstacles ; a zigzagging journey that will test everything you have. You do have to believe in this process and understand that Life has a plan for you and that you need to trust it. This cycle is one small event in a career that will, one day, bring you cherished friendships, discoveries and experiences. Do not give up. See you next year ! Peace.