Mazarin

Hey everyone! I've found this forum to be invaluable this past year as I navigated the PhD admissions process and am blessed to be heading into a great and funded program in a few weeks! As I've been organizing and filing away all of the resources I've collected over the past two years or so, I've realized I have a massive list of documents and links that may prove helpful for future applicants to have all in one place. Below is a vaguely organized-by-topic list of blogs, documents, gradcafe posts and other resources that would be great reads for all of you planning to apply this coming cycle, especially this summer as many of you are starting the process. I have to say that I don't necessarily agree with all of the advice given on these pages and some are more relevant to adjacent fields, but they at least informed my decision making and preparations for what was to come. This is by no means comprehensive and you should consult as many sources and people as possible, but I hope you find some of these links useful! Best of luck this season, and remember that admissions results are not indicative of your worthiness or potential. 
Perspectives on deciding to pursue a PhD 
http://www.nunomonteiro.org/advice/grad-admissions 
https://shouldigetaphd.com/shouldigetaphd.pdf
https://duckofminerva.com/2012/08/applying-for-phd-in-political-science.html
https://www.apsanet.org/Portals/54/files/Brochures/APSA_EarningaPhD.pdf
https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/03/18/so-you-want-to-get-into-a-political-science-ph-d-program-episode-i/ 
https://thepoliticalmethodologist.com/2014/01/18/student-advice-should-i-go-to-graduate-school-if-so-where-should-i-go/ 
https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/06/16/provost-unconventional-background-describes-her-graduate-school-experience-essay 
https://chrisblattman.com/2007/12/12/how-to-get-a-phd-and-save-the-world/
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/27981-advice-from-an-actual-phd-redux-2/
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/12490-policy-phd-vs-political-science-phd/
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2011/08/professional-education-in-foreign-affairs
https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/international-relations-graduate-school-pros-and-cons/
https://theihs.org/blog/choosing-phd-program-in-political-science/
Guidance on going directly from undergrad to PhD
https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/2p8wwh/phd_students_that_did_not_take_time_off_between/
https://www.princetonreview.com/grad-school-advice/should-you-go-to-grad-school-right-after-undergrad
https://www.findaphd.com/advice/blog/3670/skipping-a-masters-on-the-way-to-a-phd-the-road-less-travelled 
https://people.fas.harvard.edu/~jkertzer/prospective.html 
Admissions
https://chrisblattman.com/about/contact/gradschool/ 
http://home.uchicago.edu/~mstaisch/Memo%20on%20PhD%20Applications.pdf
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/blogs/entry/547-starting-your-statement-of-purpose/
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/45432-free-gre-resources-master-post/
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/48905-some-advice-on-writing-an-sop/
https://thepoliticalmethodologist.com/2013/10/13/what-courses-do-i-need-to-prepare-for-a-phd-in-political-science/
https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2014/03/some-advice-to-prospective-graduate-students-visiting-departments.html
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/122272-results-profile-lessons-2020/#comments
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/122468-adcomm-insider/
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/122443-what-would-you-have-done-differently-in-the-process/
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/122124-good-sop-examples/
http://www.ericachenoweth.com/teaching/grad-school 
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57d2eeebbe65947fb325749e/t/57db3d47f7e0abec4167cf9e/1473985869102/5+Rules+for+Statement+of+Purpose.pdf
https://ls.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/statement_of_purpose.pdf
https://brightlinkprep.com/gre-scoring-algorthm-deciphered/
https://www.btaa.org/docs/default-source/diversity/gradschoolguide.pdf
http://www.nunomonteiro.org/advice/recommendation-letters
https://contemplativemammoth.com/2013/04/08/so-you-want-to-go-to-grad-school-nail-the-inquiry-email/
https://cyrussamii.com/?page_id=2121
Admissions Statistics
https://imgur.com/a/EuNTB 
https://tableau.dsc.umich.edu/t/UM-Public/views/RackhamDoctoralProgramStatistics/ProgramStatistics?:embed=y&:showAppBanner=false&:showShareOptions=true&:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no&FOSDParameter=All+Rackham  (many if not all schools will have a page like this with data sorted by program)
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/122652-grad-cafe-political-science-data-stuff/
https://fretpwner.shinyapps.io/GradCafeStatistics/
Funding Info
http://www.phdstipends.com/ 
https://academicpositions.com/career-advice/phd-professor-and-postdoc-salaries-in-the-united-states
https://www.profellow.com/fellowships/17-predoctoral-fellowships-for-new-phd-candidates/
https://apps.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship-finder/?action=main.search&grp1=12&grp2=20&grp3=22&q=
PhD Resources
Important notes for women scholars:
https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2018/10/when-you-re-only-woman-challenges-female-phd-students-male-dominated-cohorts  
https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/03/11/should-women-get-ph-d-s-in-international-relations/ 
https://irevolutions.org/2012/05/09/advice-to-future-phds/ 
https://www.apsanet.org/RESOURCES/For-Students/Institutions-Granting-PhDs-in-Political-Science
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker?page=14
http://gradresources.org/
https://www.apsanet.org/Portals/54/APSA%20Files/Data%20Reports/Employment%20Data/Graduate%20Placement%20Report%202016-2017.pdf?ver=2018-02-02-103603-070 
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/123896-tips-for-choosing-between-schools/
https://sites.google.com/site/honestgraduatenumbers/ 
https://chrisblattman.com/2012/09/09/phd-students-writing-an-nsf-application/
https://contemplativemammoth.com/2011/11/22/how-to-get-a-faculty-job-in-20-not-so-easy-steps/
https://theprofessorisin.com/
https://law.vanderbilt.edu/phd/How_to_Survive_1st_Year.pdf
https://economics.cornell.edu/grad-student-advice
https://benjaminnoble.org/blog/
https://predoc.org/opportunities
https://chrisblattman.com/teaching/
https://medium.com/the-renaissance-economist/the-economics-pre-doctoral-fellowship-what-is-it-and-should-you-apply-for-one-27965bcf7c3
Placement
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/118154-the-story-of-one-cohort/ 
https://alexandreafonso.me/2019/02/11/academic-hierarchies-in-us-political-science/

In Latin America:

FGV-EBAPE (Brazil) has a great public policy MA and is accepting applications for a few more days. I believe UFMG and UnB, also in Brazil, should begin their admissions season soon.
 
https://ebape.fgv.br/en/programs/msc-phd/administration/enrollment-and-selection-process/information
http://ppgcp.fafich.ufmg.br/selecaodocs.php
http://ipol.unb.br/galeria-imagens/processo-seletivo-mestrado-e-doutorado
 

I'd love to get some perspective on taking online classes (think Coursera) to make up for gaps in my quantitative education.  I graduated UG a while back and did not take any math or data science classes.  Given the importance of the quantitative aspect in admissions, how do you think an AdCom would view Coursera classes in Calculus, Stats, and Data Science (with R)?  My assumption is that at the very least it would serve some signaling purpose (i.e., I recognize and acknowledge the importance of math in the field) - is that correct?  Or is it a complete waste of time?  Thanks in advance for your insights!

Hello! I actually don't think this should be too much of an issue as long as you have finished the entire coursework of your master's and had your dissertation delivered in accordance with the MA programme's deadlines and regulations. Usually the sine qua non condition for beginning a PhD in America is that your undergrad is finished. Just make sure to check with your PhD school's graduate enrolment if everything is okay and explain your situation in detail. I don't think they will cause you further problems but it's always good to make sure of it

Hi all. I have been admitted into an American Ph.D. program. At the moment I am in my last semester of a terminal MA, and things were going smoothly until I realized that I won't be able to get my official degree until September (a couple of weeks after the Ph.D. program starts). By that time I will have finished all my courses and I will be able to study in person in the US, but I wonder if graduating from the MA after my Ph.D. starts may be an issue for my registration/standing in the Ph.D. program. I have already reached out to my prospective university to ask if this would be a problem, but I am yet to hear back and I would like to know if anyone has had a similar experience. 

I'd look at UCLA and Johns Hopkins for as they are probably the centers of continental thought in the US. But lots of programs will have some theory professors who do continental thought and would be able to supervise what you are interested in. I'd look at the theory faculty in all programs in the top-50 ish and see where you'd be a good fit. Applications are tough and many qualified applicants do not get in anywhere so I'd encourage you to apply broadly.

Hello and welcome to GadCafé. I suspect the forum is less active than usual after each admissions cycle ends and before the next one starts. I am as far away from normative political theory as one could possibly be, and I unfortunately do not know many theorists. However, one of the moderators seems to be a theory person @Theory007. I leave the user mentioned here  

Most of the programs in the US accepts the submission of the degrees until the end of the 1st year of your PhD. That was told to me by the admission officer at the PhD program I was accepted to.

Hi guys, it's my first entry here as I begin searching for the perfect PhD programme 
 
Here are the details: I'm currently researching the extreme right in Brazil (where I'm from), from a theoretical-post-marxist-laclaunian-mouffian-kinda-foucauldian perspective. Wanna find the perfect place to pursue the research I'm currently doing (my master's degree is on history of political thought/political theory). It is my undestanding that it's not that easy to find programmes alligned with that post-structuralist perspective, so I wanted to hear your thoughts on what you guys think would be good picks. Right now, I'm obssessed with Berkeley's centre for right wing studies, so I would like to hear yout thooughts on that too :) 
 
Thank you so much, I'm so glad I found this forum!

Thanks everyone for another season on this forum!
I'm proud to be associated with you all (even if we're anonymous) and grateful that we are such a good community! The main application thread had, as you can see, well above 500k views since November, which is really quite mind-blowing to me.
To those of you who will be reapply next year, I'll be back then and look forward to reconnect. I'll sign in from time to time and please feel free to reach out if there is anything I can do, help with, or give you advise on. I certainly do not know everything but I do know some things and would be happy to help.
Best wishes to you all!

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: International - Top School in Turkey
Major(s)/Minor(s): Totally irrelevant major (TEFL) 
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: UK - Political Science
Grad GPA: Distinction
GRE: Not taken
Any Special Courses: Basic stats courses and 1 year of relevant language. 
Letters of Recommendation: 3 tenured faculty. Two in my subject area, other one is from my undergrad major.
Teaching Experience: Teaching languages in 4 different countries. 
Other:  Field research that led to a publication. Published an article at an International Law journal, other one is also accepted to be published in the next few months. 
 
RESULTS
Acceptances: Ohio State ($), Michigan State ($), Indiana ($), Florida ($), UC Santa Barbara ($).
Rejections: Princeton, Yale, UMichigan, UCSD, Cornell, UCLA, Northwestern, Rice, Georgetown, Notre Dame.
Going to: Ohio State.
I won't be adding to all those great suggestions that other candidates mentioned above. One note is that if you're coming from an irrelevant major into political science, you need to be able to show you can do research in political science. In my case, it was the field research and publications. 
 

PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution: International Student
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political Science (Comparative Politics)
Undergrad GPA: 3.86 (equivalent)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 168V/168Q/6.0W
Any Special Courses: Political Methods Course, Statistics Courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Professor, 1 Associate Professor, 1 Assistant Professor (I've worked extensively with all of them).
Teaching Experience: I've been an undergraduate TA for six different courses
Research experience: Undergraduate thesis (which turned into my writing sample), RA for eight faculty projects
RESULTS
Acceptances: WUSTL, OSU, NYU, and MIT (all funded); Chicago (MACSS, 2/3 tuition covered)
Rejections: Texas (Austin), Chicago (PhD), Michigan, Harvard, Berkeley
I don't really feel like I "learned" a lot during this cycle, mainly because we get so little information about what we did "right" and why we did not get into the places we didn't get. Besides, we are working with such a small sample that it is easy to make unwarranted generalizations (for instance, looking at my results you could conclude that international students are guaranteed to get in at universities that are usually abbreviated using acronyms...) So, I'll echo some of the previous points that have been raised, as I feel they are sound advice.
1) I think starting early is a good idea, it gives you time to go through your materials several times (although don't over edit! especially your statement, at some point it's just not worth it) and you give recommenders enough time. Also, going over the online forms is a pain, so dedicate some time to that.
2) I would say that taking the GREs is mandatory for international students, even if they say its optional. I just cannot see them accepting an international student (that is not from a hugely famous school) without any frame of reference. One exception could be doing an MA in the US, but that is quite a lot more expensive than just preparing for the GRE.
3) I got offers without doing an MA so I'm glad I did not postpone the process, but maybe in other cases it would make sense (e.g. a bad undergraduate GPA).
4) I was glad of the amount of schools I applied to, I think nine is the sweet spot (as long as you diversify your pool).
5) During the process I only spoke with one professor from the departments I applied to, and it was because we knew each other previously. I think contacting people you don't know just to say "hi I'm applying to your department" is probably not productive. If you have questions, just ask the graduate coordinator. Again, maybe it helps (how can we know, really), but to me it felt wrong.
6) While we can do a lot of research about each department we apply to, some things are just out of our control. For instance, I later learned that one of my POI in one school had moved to a different school a year ago, without any sign of it a) in the original school's website, b) in his google scholar; c) even in his personal webpage. Lesson: academics suck at updating public facing portals, so just assume this will happen with at least one professor and don't worry about it too much (I doubt that was the reason that I didn't get in that particular place).
7) I think fit may be somewhat overrated. I applied to places that had people that were close to my current interests, but at the end I still weighed how broad the place was when making my decision. And I believe the committee assumes you'll change your interests once you start the program. So I guess just apply to places you like?
8/ When waiting for the results, assume that not hearing back is a rejection. I don't think there was a single case this year of someone getting an acceptance later (without being on a waitlist, of course).
9) Finally, some stuff that helped me decide where to go: a) everybody loves the place they are in, so read between the lines for criticism and stuff that is not great about their departments; b) speak with current graduate students individually (for instance, I asked the professors I spoke with to contact me with some of their graduate students), and not only the ones that directly approach you; c) open houses are useful, if only to meet your potential cohort; d) during one-on-one interviews with faculty I usually asked them about their current and future projects, which was useful for gauging how much I wanted to work with them; and e) former graduate students are also a great resource, particularly what their dissertations were about (for instance, if no one has done anything related to your current interests, that is a red flag).
I don't regred hanging around at Grad Café one bit, even if it was stressful sometimes. It really helped seeing other people in my same situation, and everyone are so nice. Take care, and good luck!

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Large public university (Latin America).
Major(s)/Minor(s): Law
Undergrad GPA: 3.54
Type of Grad: Law
Grad GPA: 3.9
GRE: 169/164/4
Any Special Courses: Quantitative Methods for Political Science (graduate); Comparative Politics (graduate).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 political science professors I worked with at my university.
Teaching Experience: TAed for the graduate class "Data Science for Legal Research".
Research Experience: Undergraduate and graduate thesis, multiple RAs during undergrad and grad. 
Other: Paper accepted at IPSA, editor of university's law review, 1st place at undergraduate admissions exam, two research fellowships, programming experience with Python and R, public interest legal work related to political science.
RESULTS (PhD)
Acceptances: Michigan ($$$), Duke ($$$), UT Austin ($$), Rice ($$)
Waitlists: WUSTL
Rejections: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, UCSD, Berkeley, Yale, NYU, MIT
Going to: Michigan or Duke
LESSONS LEARNED
1. Do well on the GRE, especially if you don't come from a traditional/quantitative background. Yes, they say it's optional, but if you are an unorthodox candidate you should do it. It's an opportunity to signal some quantitative competence and general knowledge of English. 
2. Cast your net wide. You never know where you are going to get in, it's a very noisy and obscure process. I was rejected by some schools where I had very, very promising talks with faculty. At the same time, I was accepted at places where I almost didn't apply because I thought I had no chance.
3. Do a Master's degree if you can. Even if it's not at a top school, it signals that you want to pursue an academic career. It also gives you time to RA for professors in your desired field.
4. Really spend time on your SOP. I suggest the following structure, that I learned by reading other successful SOPs: 1 introductory paragraph listing each research interests; 1 paragraph per research interest, detailing what work you have done on each one; 1 concluding paragraph explaining why you want to go to that university in particular.
5. Learn computer programming. You can get wonderful research opportunities just by offering to write code. I recommend the book "Hands-On Programming with R", by Garrett Grolemund. The online version is free.
6. Focus on your strengths, particularly if you aren't already a political scientist. Explain why your background makes you uniquely qualified to do the work you want to do. As a Latin American lawyer, I got into programs with strong judicial politics and/or Latin American politics groups. I would have a much tougher time if I wanted to specialize in American Politics.
7. Accept that you can't really control the outcome. Luck plays a HUGE role in the admissions process. If I had to apply again next year, I would probably get into an entirely different set of schools.

EDIT: If you need help with some aspect of your application, please feel free to send me a private message :)!

Claiming an acceptance from Chicago MAPSS. Funding details to come later!

Great advice here.  I'm not sure I have much more to add, except that I'd echo point #3.  This is especially important, and hard to do, unfortunately, on Zoom.  I'm not sure I really have a good answer.  Although its a pain, try really hard to talk to at least 2-3 current students.    

Hello, thank you for posting this question here. I think it is quite an important one as we do these visits virtually in the coming weeks/months. I would add the following to the previous answer:
1. As much as this may seem minor, if you have any questions regarding the coursework and curriculum of the first few years, you should feel free to ask them. 
2. 2nd to 4th year students in general are excellent people for you to ask questions about the programme.
3. Getting a feel for the "vibe" of the grad student and department community is indeed quite important. You'll likely be there for 5 or 6 years, so this probably matters more than one would imagine at first.

Hey, I guess no one here probably is a 100% sure of the answer to this question, but I applied to one program and people have received both admissions and rejections, I still haven't heard anything from them. I've emailed the GSAS and the Department, and nothing. There are two issues that make me cling on to hope, 1) is that I didn't submit proof of English tests (I submitted TOEFL and IELTS scores but I took the tests three years ago, so they told me if accepted I'd have to retake them), 2) is that I got an email from the school's scholarships committee about a month ago informing me that I could apply to a specific scholarship for people from my home country, they said it was independent from admissions, and I had to send a separate application for the scholarship.
I wonder whether that could be a reason I haven't heard back with positive nor negative news, but at the same time I guess if they were considering to accept me they would have told me already. But as people here have claimed rejections as well, I don't understand why I'm in limbo, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions as to what to do, my desperate soul would really appreciate it  Thanks!!

Welp...never give up! Having to redo my profile.
PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution:  Midwest SLAC
Major(s)/Minor(s): Conflict Studies
Undergrad GPA:  3.99 CGPA / 4.00 Major GPA
Type of Grad:  Chinese C9 - Chinese Ivy
Grad GPA:  4.00
GRE:   N/A
Any Special Courses: Graduate-level Econ, Intro Stats Class, SWE classes in Java and MySQL, Honors Thesis, Graduate-level Political Econ
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Professor, 1 Associate, 1 Emerita
Teaching Experience: Taught as a lab assistant in Languages dept.
Other: Lots of conference presentation experience, two undergrad pubs 
RESULTS (PHD)
Acceptances: Concordia
Rejections: Princeton, Chicago, Michigan, Berkeley, Rice, Cornell, Yale
GOING TO: Concordia
 
LESSONS LEARNED
1. Unless you're in theory, quantitative skills matter more and more every year: The field is leaning towards quant methods as time goes on, so get some coding/technical (R) and stats experience under your belt as soon as you can.
2. Competition for spots is getting much more intense: A lot of schools reduced cohorts of 15-20 people down to 8 this year.
3. Connect with professors early: Don't wait until October or November to email a POI. The sooner you can get in touch with them, the better.
4. Fit is just as important as departmental knowledge: You might have two professors you are interested in working in, but they are leaving the department that year. Fit and information are two of your best assets. This ties into point 3 as well.
5. Don't beat yourself up: Most applications to graduate school are not successful. Rejections are not a reflection on your academic abilities or your personal worth. Make sure you have a good support system and healthy coping mechanisms before going into application season because your stress levels and patience will be tested.
6. Don't count yourself out until the end: I really thought I would be rejected from all my PhD programs, but at the end I managed to receive one fully-funded offer! I am really grateful.

You should consider the fact that the median MAPSS PhD placement is around the same rank as UT Austin:
 
In Political Science, 16 of 19 MAPSS applicants (84%) have funded offers. They include admits at UChicago (5), Notre Dame, UPenn, UCLA, Cornell, Ohio State, Texas-Austin, Oxford, UIC, South Carolina, Toronto, Wisconsin-Madison, Boston College, Florida, NYU, Vanderbilt, UVA, Indiana-Bloomington, Yale, Georgia, UC-Davis, UC-Santa Cruz, Kentucky, and Florida State.
 
https://mapss.uchicago.edu/past-phd-placements-political-science

+ 1. Congratulations to everyone accepted, all 8 of you!
 

JUST GOT A FULLY FUNDED OFFER FROM CONCORDIA!!!!!

Man, Harvard sure is taking it's time to send me my rejection.
I just want my cycle to be over ?

PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution: very small Public Ivy, T40
Major(s)/Minor(s): double majors in Government and German studies
Undergrad GPA: 4.0
Type of Grad: /
Grad GPA: /
GRE: 170/168/5
Any Special Courses: German philosophy, German literary studies, critical theory, Marxist theory
Letters of Recommendation: one letter from each of my major advisors (one tenured, one untenured), another one from a well-recognized scholar in the UK
Teaching Experience: four semesters as TA in German
Other: ICPSR summer (A and A+ for the courses I took)
 
 
RESULTS (PHD)
Acceptances (all $$): Northwestern
Waitlists: Harvard
Rejections: Uchicago, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, Cornell, JohnsHopkins, Duke, Ann Arbor
Pending: UCLA, UCSC (History of Consciousness), Oxford (MPhil)
Going to: Most likely NW
 
Lessons Learned
My experiences are not applicable to most people since I was applying to do critical theory, which is a very small niche intersecting political theory, philosophy, and gender studies, etc. So take advices regarding the nuts and bolts of application process from the other wonderful posts on the thread, and I just wanna leave some more personal suggestions. (ofc if you also want to do critical theory please pm I am more than happy to talk and offer those kind of advices)
1. Fit matters: Looking back, I probably should not have applied to places like Princeton, Duke and Michigan which have basically no one doing what I am interested in and I was just trying to widen my chances. So I guess my advice is to not panic, as hard as it is, and apply to a bunch of places. With that said, I don't think you should decide not to apply to top programs that really coincide with your research interests just because you don't think you "have a shot" there.  
2. Have a support system: I cannot emphasize this enough. This cycle has been particularly brutal. I've broken down in study halls, on subway, and in the shower. This didn't go away even after the cycle when I was at a school's visit day and listening to all other ppl's brilliant research ideas and suddenly had another imposter syndrome episode. 
It took me a long time to learn how to ask for help and realize that my friends have all been there waiting for me to ask for help (because, let's be honest, I was a mess psychologically). I am still learning how to say to people that I am in distress and need to talk. But you will need these emotional outlets not just for app seasons but also to be able to survive the years of grad school to come. 

PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution:  International university
Major(s)/Minor(s): Economics
Undergrad GPA:  3.7 
Type of Grad:  European university
Grad GPA:  4.00
GRE:   168 Q, 165 V, 5.5 AW
Any Special Courses: Lots of statistics and econometrics courses. 
Teaching Experience: Worked as a TA for two courses last year.
 
RESULTS (PHD)
Acceptances (all $$): NYU, Duke, Yale, Rochester
Waitlists: UChicago, WUSTL
Rejections: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, UCSD, Cornell, Georgetown, Michigan
Going to: Still don't know
LESSONS LEARNED
1. Take the GRE if you want to do quantitative research. Getting a good quant score will be good for your chances, and it is still a requirement for some good quant-oriented programs (e.g. Rochester). 
2. Fit matters. I applied to some places where my fit was very bad, and they all rejected me. Interestingly, fit was a far better predictor of where I got acceptances than ranking. 
3. Work on your SOP early. It is much more time-consuming than it seems. I left it for the last moment and it was very stressful. Also, ask your POIs and any academically-oriented friends you have to read it. The input from these people can be extremely valuable. 
4. If you are still an undergrad, also consider getting an M.A. before applying. 
5. I did not contact any POIs before applying, so I think it makes little difference overall. If you have a good reason to contact them, it may be useful, but I would advise against contacting POIs just because you feel pressured to.
Always happy to connect with future applicants.

 

yeah i've read every damn page of this thread and i can't think of anyone. people who i seriously thought would sweep this year (here and irl) have like 1 CHYMPS offer. unforunately i'm not very hopeful for waitlist offers, if there aren't a ton of cross-admits, yield is going to be insane everywhere.