poliscihopeful2021

Claiming an acceptance from UCLA in CP! Please DM me if you're an admitted student in CP from UCLA. 3a/2w/8r

Also claiming a waitlist at UCLA. What a roller coaster of a day! That's the end of my decision cycle - thanks to all the folks here. 2a/3w/8r

Claiming an acceptance from Cornell off the waitlist in CP. So thrilled! 2a/2w/8r/1p

I feel the same way about UCLA! Not a peep from them and it's been over 3 weeks since I last emailed them and they said they were slowing rolling out decisions

If it's helpful to know, NYU's visit day is next Friday, so most admitted students will likely wait until after the visit day to make a decision on their offers. Good luck and hoping one of your waitlists converts!

Oh interesting - that's good to know, thank you!

Thanks! That's good to know. I haven't received any communication from them yet, so wondering if I'm still even in the running.

Has anyone received official rejections or even waitlist offers from UCLA? I emailed them a couple of weeks ago and they said they were "making their way through the applications slowly", but that they would get back within a week. It seems a bit weird to me that a few acceptances went out earlier in the cycle but then there's been no waitlists or rejections.

Hi @aae322 I'm also planning to start at NYU's PhD program in the fall. We should chat over DMs! Pretty excited and nervous about the move to NYC.

Which school?

Lol just received a rejection from the CIR (to which I did not even apply in the first place but was referred to). Way to throw salt on my wounds, UChicago.

Congrats! What subfield? And which school are you leaning towards?

Also probably wait till you hear back on funding from Chicago - if you get a full ride and the extra year doesn't put you in debt, that would change the calculus.

That's a good question, and I unfortunately don't know too much about those two programs in particular. I think if you have a funded offer from a school where your interests are well matched, it's probably worth going to even if it's "mid-ranked". There's probably good reason you applied to these schools right? I would more strongly recommend a higher ranked MA program over a lower-ranked MA program, since it appears that would have a strong bearing on your PhD admissions prospects. If you manage to get off the waitlist, no real reason waiting another year without the guarantee of getting into a much higher-ranked program. If you think your application would change a lot in a year at Chicago, then maybe it's worth considering the MAPSS or CIR.

I would say that the MAPSS or CIR would probably be a better gateway to a PhD program (based on their placement record). Since they're both pretty competitive MA programs that seems to signal well to PhD committees that you are by default a competitive candidate. My two cents here would be - if UChicago gives you even a 2/3rds ride, strongly consider going, because you can work to pay off rent, and so the differential you might have to taken on in terms of debt should be small. Then again, I'm not familiar with your financial situation and if any debt at all is a bad idea, I would completely understand why it's not an option. But if I were optimizing primarily on admissions chances in the next cycle, I would pick the Chicago MA programs with a small amount of debt (nothing over 1/3rd of tuition) over a lower-ranked fully-funded program.