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afjackie

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Posts posted by afjackie

  1. 2 hours ago, The Converse said:

    Claiming a Yale rejection as well.  I was admitted to two programs this cycle, but I have had enough rejections to conclude my research interests are not worth pursuing.  Best of luck to those starting programs in the fall!  

    I would also like to point out that most of the top US programs are VERY orthodox and VERY narrow-minded in what constitutes "worth pursuing." To the point that there are many good (and scholarly articles) out there about how political science is writing itself out of relevancy. I didn't apply to any top 10 programs this time for that reason, because I am passionate about my research and much life and professional experience has convinced me of its relevance. I was specifically told by a political science professor this year to keep in mind that, "just because it is a compelling real-world political problem, doesn't make it an interesting political science question." While I can see how that might theoretically be the case, there is still a huge problem with the privileged ivory tower getting to decide which random and often irrelevant political science questions deserve attention this decade. I have no idea what your specific research focuses on, but if you are passionate it, don't give up. Don't let a very small portion of the profession that has made up the rules on what is worth pursuing or not tell you otherwise. The rules are constantly rewritten and the more scholars that are out there pursuing interesting, relevant, cutting edge work, the more that becomes the norm. I'd urge you to seek out other scholars who are interested in similar questions, and worry less about the rankings of the programs they are at (not that you didn't do that this time - I don't want to assume!). But I do know that a lot of amazing academics who wrote the book on something didn't come from top ten or top twenty programs, but wound up redefining how those programs taught. 

    I'll get off of my soap box now! Sorry for the ramble, I know I don't know you, but you've been a good influence on this forum and I hate to see great potential scholars disheartened by a system that isn't designed to create innovation and advancement but rather to replicate itself over and over again. I hope the future sees an army of political science renegades constantly redefining the profession we are all so passionate about!

    (To be clear, I'm not putting down anyone who goes to or got into a top 10 program - that is amazing, and if your research interests fit go get it! I'm just advocating that there are other very relevant areas of research outside of what some of those programs are willing to consider.)

  2. 21 minutes ago, poliscihopeful2021 said:

    I'm astounded than an Ivy league university department can only offer a spot to 2 CP students, even if it's a pandemic year. Same question for Columbia and UPenn, both of whom didn't admit students to be able to support current students better. Maybe there's something about university funding that I don't get but where do those Ivy league endowments go???

    My understanding is that part of it is money, but part of it is time. Many current PhD students are having to extend their time in program due to Covid-19 - particularly those who have had to put fieldwork on hold. So in addition to funding constraints, some programs aren't taking on a full cohort because they don't want to wind up with too many PhD students in the program at one time and not enough supervisory support to do their current and future students justice. 

  3. 8 minutes ago, PolNerd said:

    Nada. I even emailed the DGS, crickets. And to add, anyone got any acceptance or rejection since the few over the weekend? What is going on with this department?

     

    15 minutes ago, cbsag123 said:

    Has anyone gotten on NW's waitlist yet? i saw a weird post on the results page but I don't trust anything on there..

    I got a rejection this morning. Came at exactly 12pm EST, just like all of the previous times Northwestern notifications were sent out. Seems like their system sends out notifications every day at that time, based on what has been inputted into the system at that point. Feels to me like they are just coming on a rolling basis as data gets entered into the system, but it could be possible they are holding some back on an informal waitlist. If you look back at previous years, it does not look like Northwestern does an official waitlist. 

  4. 11 minutes ago, loiewo said:

    Seeking advice! Would you go to a 40s ranked PhD or a T10 ranked masters?

    I think that depends on the funding situation and your career goals. Back in 2009 I turned down a funded PhD from UCONN to get my Master's at Georgetown, so a very similar situation. But at that time I was happy to pursue a foreign policy career, and the MPP from Georgetown opened all of the doors I needed. I managed to get what was at the time my dream job, but I also wound up with over $100,000 in student loan debt that I'm still paying off. So I think the biggest question is if you really want to go straight into academia and are therefore going to try and get the PhD as soon as you are done with your masters, and/or what your financial situation is going to be like during the masters. I don't regret mine, but if I had decided to immediately go for my PhD afterwards (instead of 10 years after my masters), I would have been super bitter about that student loan debt. 

  5. 1 minute ago, The Converse said:

    Haha, exactly.  There becomes almost this obsessive quality about just wanting to know.  It was like that with Berkeley, where it wasn't my first choice and I pretty much knew I didn't get in, but you just want to get the process over with. 

    Right! After finishing an interview with one of my top choices today, I spent the rest of the afternoon listing the variables I could isolate to help decide which program would be best for me (i.e. department and advisor fit, collegiality, access to outdoor and social activities, financial support/stability, etc), ranking each variable by importance, and then ranking each school for each variable, and then finally weighting the variables accordingly and coming up with a final sum for each school. I'm clearly obsessing a little bit and just want to know what my final choices are so I can obsess even more about my variables :)

  6. 4 minutes ago, PolNerd said:

    Northwestern better be sending those rejections, as promised, today. Just want to get it over with and finally start obsessing about Cornell.

    Yeah I was wondering if their comment of wrapping up the process "within the next three days" on Wednesday meant three days including Wednesday, which would be today, or three days from Wednesday, which could be Saturday or Monday depending on if they meant business days...

    I clearly haven't been obsessing over this :)

  7. Just now, kmccorm327 said:

    Hey! I talked to the same poster about this, so if you want to see my response, look below. The main university really isn't that conservative. You can make of your education what you will there. I almost went to law school there as well, and was under the impression that graduate school similarly isn't conservative. 

     

    I went to Notre Dame as an undergraduate, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

    In terms of undergrad, ND is a little weird, in that males and females are separated into single sex dorms -- think kind of like frats and sororities -- and prohibited from entering those dorms at specific times (late at night). Some dorms are super lax about this, and others aren't. You won't be dealing with that because you're a grad student.

    That being said, I absolutely LOVED my time at Notre Dame, and wish I could go back. Football season is INSANELY fun, if you're into that kind of stuff. Tailgaiting is amazing, and people are extremely friendly. You can literally walk up to a random tailgate and be invited for food, drink, etc. 

    Outside of football season, it can get pretty cold. But it's fun to attend other sports games, like hockey, basketball, etc. The bars near campus (which has been built up a lot in the past few years) are also really fun. 

    While religion is definitely important at ND, I wouldn't say it encompasses all aspects of academia. I grew up Catholic, but am currently not practicing. I never felt any pressure to *convert* or return to the Church. I doubt you'll be required to take religion classes like I was as a freshman there. Outside of that, I really don't remember a specific instance where religion had any impact on my studies there. I had several teachers who were atheists, Jewish, and everything else. If you want to take religion classes, they'll definitely be available. If you don't, there's more than enough classes that likely won't mention religion at all. From the political science classes I took while I was there, the teachers never shied away from controversial topics. 

    I hope that helps. If you want to reach out to me directly, I'm happy to chat more about it. TLDR, I loved ND, religion can be important there if you want it to be, but it can also be completely avoided too. 

    Thanks, I totally missed this answer somehow!!

  8. On 2/10/2021 at 10:39 AM, rash_sulganni said:

    Hi good people,

    I have a virtual house/interview with Notre Dame next week and I kinda feel positive about it (not to count my chickens before they are hatched lol). From what I gather, ND is a bit conservative due to the Catholic background (not a problem for me). But I was wondering how much that affects the whole graduate and uni experience considering I would spend the next 5 years or so there. I will appreciate any useful info regarding life in ND.

    Hi there! I am interviewing this week for Notre Dame's joint PhD in Political Science and Peace studies and I was originally concerned about the same thing. I talked to many people, to include professors, very candidly before applying and what I've gleaned is that while the main university is rather conservative, the political science department and the Kroc, Kellogg, and Kenough institutes are a bastion of liberal and progressives values and ideas. I've definitely gotten that sense during my interviews, as I am particularly interested in feminist and critical peace studies. South Bend itself also has a slightly  progressive bent, though it is a relatively small city in the process of revitalization and reinvention and is definitely surrounded by some conservative areas. There are pros and cons for sure, but from what I understand I don't think the conservative attitudes will permeate all that much into the graduate programs/graduate life...

  9. 55 minutes ago, piggylan said:

    Is there any hope for UCI? I saw several admits on the results page last week but nothing then. 

    UCI has given those they have sent current offers to until Monday to let the school know if they plan to attend the virtual visit day (i.e. if they are still interested in the offer or definitely planning to turn it down). I can't be sure of this, but I would suspect they will wait at least until Monday to see if they get a lot of people turn the initial offer down before they send out rejections/waitlists/more offers. So maybe there is still some hope? 

  10. 3 minutes ago, gbheron said:

    Wondering what people think about this: If I got an offer from a T25 this cycle but didn't get into most other programs I applied to, is my best option going there and considering myself lucky to get an acceptance at all? Or would it possibly be better in the long term to just try again next cycle when admissions will likely be easier and there is a better shot of getting into a T20 or T10?

    Also a T25 is nothing to be embarrassed about! That's still a great program! And you won't find much difference in your career between say a T15 and T25 PhD, especially not if you are a good scholar and publish. 

  11. 1 minute ago, polisci_gal said:

    Wow. I feel like the admissions process is just going to get tougher and tougher as the years go on if this is the case. It's also interesting to see how some programs have completely paused admissions this year because they want to focus on their current students (ex., Columbia, UNC Chapel Hill, etc...)

    Yeah when I realized Columbia and MN weren't taking applicants this year I almost considered waiting until next year to apply, but after speaking with the POI at Northwestern and some others I realized there is no guarantee it is going to get easier in the coming years and it might actually get progressively harder. But hey, maybe some unis won't change their cohort size! Only time will tell!

  12. 1 minute ago, icemanyeo said:

    My biggest concerns this year:

    1) Will universities permanently move forward with smaller PhD cohorts? I know some schools like Chicago have restructured and are increasing funding to PhD students but significantly reducing cohort size as a university-wide initiative.

    2) With less graduate students available to teach introductory courses, does that extra labor fall on the smaller cohorts, will there be more adjunctification, or an increase in teaching loads at research-intensive universities for TT faculty?

    I was told by my POI at Northwestern back in November that there was a good chance they and many other programs would have smaller cohort sizes going forward as PhD programs are having to come to terms with changing realities. 

  13. 4 minutes ago, gradpumpkin said:

    Thank you all for sharing about Masters programs! Were any of y'all able to get funding for these programs? I am highly considering them, but really can't make it work unless it is fully funded (ideally even with a stipend, if that's even possible). 

    I feel like a stipend for a master's is highly unlikely, but maybe someone else managed that? You can probably find a paying internship, though, once you are in the program (depending on your location, of course). I did manage to get funding to cover almost my entire MPP tuition at Georgetown, but had to take out student loans for most of my living expenses. They didn't offer me any funding at first, but I had another offer so I went back and negotiated. The funding for master's programs is DEFINITELY negotiable, so maybe apply to more than one place so you can then have a stronger negotiation position. That's my two cents! Don't be afraid to ask, and don't be afraid to ask for more! 

  14. I am genuinely hoping that everyone on here get's an offer this year, but if any of you don't just know you are not alone. A lot of us on here have been through more than one cycle. I applied for only 5 programs (all top ten) back in 2017, and while I knew it was a risk I thought I had a baller CV, great score, and a master's from a top school - so I was genuinely crushed when I didn't get in anywhere. But I took the opportunity to work on my academic/researcher creds and to REALLY think about what I wanted out of a PhD. This time around I focused on fit above rankings and had a much clearer vision of my research questions and goals. I don't know if I'll get into my top choices this year, but I have succeeded in getting more than one offer! So I just want to stay, hang in there. Don't lose hope. I hope it works out for everyone this cycle, but if it doesn't, know a lot of us have been through it before and you can come out the other side a better academic and more well-rounded candidate. Sending feels to you all!

  15. 35 minutes ago, soep13 said:

    Hi, everyone! I long time lurker. I've been rejected of almost every schools. Today, I received an email with information for the MPP program in UC San Diego.  I will give it a shot since I was rejected in the PHD program. Does anyone is going to apply to the MPP and what are your thoughts of the program?

     

    The email states that I have fee waiver and I can use my SoP and LoRs for this application.

    Congrats if you have good news today and my best wishes to all who are waiting (we are in the same boat) ?

     

    I don't know about UCSD's MPP, but I got my MPP from Georgetown and it was great. It is a HIGHLY marketable degree.

  16. 20 minutes ago, verschiedene said:

    I might have missed this in these 70 pages of discussions but has anyone any news on Northwestern? I'm theory subfield btw. 

    Northwestern confirmed to someone on this forum last week that they haven't send any results out yet, and that they hope to do so by Feb 15th. I am still keeping my fingers cross for this week, but it sounds like given the high number of applicants this year it is possible we might have to wait another week or week and a half. I'm anxiously waiting as well, IR subfield. 

  17. 45 minutes ago, retrotomato said:

    Personally, I don’t know what to do right now; not elevating the level of negativeness but I’m pretty sure that I’m rejected by every program and this year is my second cycle. Getting exhausted. 

    Hang in there! It is the second cycle for me too, and a lot of other people here from what I've seen. I'm sure you are exhausted but it is very early in the decisions process and I will think happy thoughts for you! 

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