jamesc6

Just passing by to say thank you guys for the community that came together on this forum for this cycle. If you look at other programs in gradcafe, I would definitely say that we are one of the most active communities and a very positive and healthy one.
Fortunately, I will be attending a program next year, and I am very happy. The cycle was brutal; it is obvious that many people were not accepted even though they could surely be great scholars. I think that with so few slots to fill, budget restrictions, and more applications, those who, by effort or privilege (or a combination of both) were in a better position, are the ones that got prioritized.
This is not especial to the pandemic or to the discipline. Since programs make a huge investment in students, the natural behavior is to look not only for promising candidates but also for people who are less "noisy" about their information and qualifications. In other words, I think that committees are not only trying to look for high potential candidates but also for less risky candidates. That means that people with well-known recommenders or graduates of well-known programs (Bachelors or Masters) tend to fare better. As I said, this is only normal, but I think it was a more pervasive factor in the context of this cycle. 
So, for people that didn't have that but were outstanding students or had good "local" recommendations (I am thinking especially about people outside the US or Europe) and a good research experience track, the battle was more uphill. In my opinion, if you are passionate about politics and research but you did not get accepted, it makes sense to try again. Doing more RAships, working on research, trying to land small publications, maybe improving other parts of your application should be the way to go.

Hey yall, I got off of the waitlist at Maryland as well this week and am likely to accept their offer after speaking with my advisor. I plan on declining my Illinois offer soon, hopefully that helps one of you guys! Thanks to those who made it possible for me to get off of my waitlists, and thanks for all the support on this forum and good luck to all ❤️

I was just notified that I got accepted off the waitlist at UMass!!!! To the beautiful person that turned down their spot, I owe you one! 

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

PROFILE (American Politics)
Type of Undergrad Institution:  West Coast R1
Major(s)/Minor(s): Double Major in Politics and Feminist Studies
Undergrad GPA: 3.93 (3.98 major GPA)
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 164v/155q/5.0
Any Special Courses: several upper division courses on teaching/tutoring undergrads
Letters of Recommendation: 2 profs (thesis/research advisors for each of my majors, one a Distinguished Prof, one an Associate Prof), former employer (political candidate/legislator and retired sociologist)
Teaching Experience: 2.5 years as a writing tutor for undergraduate students at my university, upper division teaching courses
Research Experience: Year-long politics senior thesis project that won a division-wide award for undergraduate research after completion, slightly smaller Feminist Studies thesis project on Feminist Science Studies, independently wrote and published two articles on the APSA blog last year
Other: I still wasn't sure if I wanted to go into academia right after receiving my BA, so I have 2.5 years of industry experience in government and politics (work on a Congressional campaign and in the district office for a long-time member of Congress), which I referenced heavily throughout my application as I felt it provided me with a unique perspective on American Politics (especially considering my interests in voting behavior and Congressional elections).
RESULTS
Acceptances: Boston University, UC Davis, USC, U of Arizona
Waitlists: CU Boulder
Rejections: UC San Diego, Yale, UChicago, Northwestern, Michigan, UMass Amherst, UT Austin
Pending: Harvard (presumed rejection), UCLA, UConn
Going to: Still deciding!
 
LESSONS LEARNED
- This was a tough cycle. Be gentle with yourself and don't make comparisons to those who came before. I have some good friends who got into some extremely prestigious schools in earlier years and I spent too much time comparing myself and my results with theirs. It's important to keep in mind that the landscape of grad admissions and academia has changed dramatically due to the pandemic, meaning there is no good comparison between the 2018/2019 cycles and the 2021 cycle.
- I'm glad I had some diversity in my LORs. Having recommenders from three different fields who all worked with me in various capacities felt like a risky decision last fall, but I'm happy I took the chance because I'm satisfied with how everything turned out. Because all three recommenders knew me very well in very different ways, I felt that they were able to each able to add something new to the table. For example, while my former employer didn't know me in a strictly academic context, she was able to speak to my tenacity and perseverance studying for the GRE and publishing articles while working 60-80 hour weeks on a campaign. I was also able to structure my SOP around the letters by speaking to the  three core experiences (one with each recommender) that shaped my desire to become a political scientist.
- Submitting my GRE scores for schools where they weren't required didn't necessarily make me a more competitive candidate. Like others, I took the GRE before COVID hit, assuming it would be mandatory for most of my applications. While only a few of my programs required I submit my scores, I decided to submit them across the board anyway, assuming it would help me stand out. I honestly don't really think doing this made a difference, especially because my scores weren't stellar. If I could go back, I would have saved the money.
- It never hurts to ask for what you need. My job ended in early November, meaning I had to shoulder application costs largely on my own, despite being unemployed (I didn't qualify for a lot of fee waivers because I couldn't get on unemployment with under a month between my job ending and the bulk of my application deadlines). I sent the grad coordinator for every single program I applied to a personalized email explaining my situation, and ended up getting multiple fee waivers. I also had a situation earlier this month where I was concerned I would have to turn down an offer because of an administrative snafu, but I was able to get it all straightened out by talking to the grad coordinator and DGS. Ask for what you need -- it's usually worth it and the worst you'll get is a no.

PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution: R2 state school
Major(s)/Minor(s): political science, area studies
Undergrad GPA: 3.9
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 170V/167Q/5.0W
Any Special Courses:  2 grad seminars, data analysis (R and Python), one stats course
Letters of Recommendation: 1 professor, 2 associate professors, all had supervised research projects
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Experience: some work in R, undergrad thesis
Writing Sample: section of undergrad thesis, kind of related to research interest
Other: 
RESULTS
Acceptances: 2 T25, 1 T40, all $$
Waitlists: 2 T15, 1 T40
Rejections: UCSD, UVA, Princeton, Chicago, Yale, Cornell, Gtown (assumed)
Going to: not sure yet
LESSONS LEARNED:
1. If I had planned on applying to PhDs earlier, I would definitely have taken more straight math classes.  I had coding and applied experience, but I don't think that was enough to signal my quant prep.  Coming straight from a no-name state school, I also think taking the GRE and doing well on it was critical to my successes.  The best schools I got into required the GRE, and I can only assume it helped me.
2. I think a writing sample more closely related to my research areas would have been good. I don't think it's essential, but I could have set myself up better there.  My sample was strong and I contextualized it in my SOP, but I fear it might have introduced some questions about my interests that I could have avoided.
3. There's no such thing as a safety school! Other than my CHYMPS rejections (not unexpected), I was accepted to and rejected from schools across the spectrum.  Also, if you're picking a T40 school to apply to, don't make it Georgetown (seems like everybody does).
4. Only apply to schools you would go to!  This seems obvious.  My preferences definitely shifted throughout the app process and waiting for results, but I would have happily gone to any school that accepted me.  I was also lucky to get some acceptances early on, which made the weeks of rejection much easier to handle.  I totally agree with @Habermas - start imagining your life instead of agonizing.
5. I'm sure fit is important, but I thought I had a solid fit with professors everywhere I applied, and I don't see much of a correlation between that and where I got in.  I don't know the right balance between how many profs to mention and how much detail to go into, but I would say some thematic interests and some methodological interests is a good bet. DON'T stick to experts in only one area (for CP).
6. I'm going to disagree with what others have said here about SOP reviewers - the people in your life who aren't poli sci profs will be looking for something different than adcoms.  Your SOP should focus on the questions you want to ask, preparation, and fit, and the important stuff should go first, not a personal story of your first interest in politics.  Save civilian reviews for later, once you've decided on content.
7. This cycle sucked! I was waitlisted at places where I might have gotten in normally, and who knows how much waitlists will move this year.  I feel really lucky to have been accepted to some great programs where I know I'll be happy. Good luck to you all.

I think a few things I did right were:
Not be content with my first (mid-160) quant GRE score. I wanted to do quant work, I knew that I needed exceptional scores, and I knew that this year especially, "good enough" was not gonna be good enough. So I took the GRE again and I think that really helped, especially because my math background was pretty good but not stellar (e.g., only took some undergrad calc, no real analysis). I also did this because I was applying to several GRE-mandatory programs, which I thought would place a ton of weight on my scores, and because I assumed that GRE-optional ones would mostly receive very good scores because of selection effects (only high-score applicants would send in their scores). Apply to places with a good fit. I didn't apply to stellar places like Harvard or Stanford polisci because there's just no one there that does what I want to do. Incidentally, the places that I got rejected from were all places where I struggled to find more than 2 faculty members with whom I thought I had a good fit beyond broadly similar research agendas (e.g. democratization, institutions, development). What I mean by "fit" is, has this professor recently written a paper that made you think, huh, that's pretty close to what I'd like my dissertation to look like?  Not contact faculty. Not that it would have hurt necessarily, it's just that it's unlikely to help in any way. Better invest the time and energy reading faculty's work and seeing how it fits with your interests. There's nothing they can tell you that you can't already find online.

Got into Chicago Harris! I'm over the moon -- such a great way to end the cycle!

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. 

Claiming a Harvard Government waitlist in CP.

Thank you all so much for your kind words yesterday after I got my first, and likely only acceptance! It was quite an overwhelming day so I was logged off the forum for most of the day after I got the call.
Congrats to everyone who has gotten good news in the meantime, and good luck to everyone still waiting it out! I have gotten literally only rejections until getting into my dream program, so don't lose hope!

Just want to chime in that you don't have to do this, and those who aren't in a position to do so shouldn't feel any pressure to do this. A kind email and an update on your plans is usually enough. Remember that for your profs this is a part of their job, and it should be something they're happy to do (obviously this depends on how well they know you). I'm not saying you *shouldn't* give gifts if you want to, but it's not the norm, and shouldn't be in my opinion.

I just received an offer from MIT
 
No idea if the previous ones were legitimate though.

I just got a call from the program director for Government & Social Policy at Harvard letting me know I've been accepted!
Really can't believe it, I had completely given up hope for this cycle.

PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution: State School (R2)
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political Science and Economics 
Undergrad GPA: 4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: didn't take 
Any Special Courses: lots of quant background, even though my subfield and speciality don't require much (or any) quant. 
Letters of Recommendation: extremely good. All three are professors that worked/supervised me for years. 
Teaching Experience: Not a TA position, but similar teaching capacities/responsibilities at the undergraduate level 
Other: research conference presentations, thesis, research grants  
RESULTS
Acceptances: University of Michigan, UChicago, Berkeley
Waitlists: Cornell
Rejections: Princeton, Northwestern  
LESSONS LEARNED
This cycle was very challenging so kudos to everyone that had the energy/resources to go through it!!
I don't come from a background that 'preps' you for academia/graduate school, quite the opposite actually. For future applicants that have the odds stacked against them, start preparing early!! Make spreadsheets, go through each faculty profile, go through graduate student profiles, look at recent graduates, recent dissertations, etc..Determining fit is much harder than people make it out to be. I still believe that I was rejected from places that had a much better fit for me. However, you can't tell if your professor of interest is not taking any students this year, going on leave, new hiring happening, grad students with similar research interests are staying longer than expected, or if there's no grad student with similar research interests. This is why it is very important to reach out to grad students that have similar interests. Don't send them vague emails!! Make sure you have done your research and ask questions that can help you determine if you should apply and how to tailor your SOP. A lot of grad students would be happy to help and direct you. Also, look into PhD pipeline programs, diversity visits, and summer research opportunities. Anything to signal basic familiarity with the field would be helpful (depending on your background, extensive knowledge of graduate level political science is not needed nor expected). 
 
Also, tailor your SOPs!!! Don't write them with only 1-2 faculty in mind, think about the department and subfield as well. I didn't tailor my SOPs, and I regret that (also, good SOPs take a lot of time). 
 
Always happy to connect with future applicants!! Good luck to all. ?

I honestly have no idea. My application material is pretty much the same for all schools. Stanford is a great fit for me, but so are some other programs that rejected me (in my opinion, some of which are probably better fit + lower rank). So I am guessing luck is indeed very very important.

I have accepted an offer despite pending decisions because I feel confident in my decision. 
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Public EU Uni 
Major(s)/Minor(s): Law
Undergrad GPA: 3.7, with honours 
Type of Grad: Top 3 UK 
Grad GPA: Distinction, equivalent to 4.0 
GRE: N/A
Any Special Courses: Stats with R, Quant Analysis 
Letters of Recommendation: 2 tenured profs, 1 associate prof - all know me very well and I took courses and conducted research with them
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Experience: 3+ years RA experience, several research internships w/ governmental department 
Other: Several publications in peer reviewed journals and blog posts 
 
RESULTS (PHD)
Accepted: USC, UChicago (both funded) 
Rejected: Indiana, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Boston U, LSE
Waitlisted: Georgetown
Pending: 2 EU options 
Going to: USC
 
Lessons
As this was my first and only cycle, I really consider it a success and am so grateful to have gotten any offers given the immense competition. 
What I strongly recommend/advise: 
1) Have professors (especially the ones writing your recommendations) and current PhD students read your statements. Make sure they are tailored to each department you are applying to and always highlight POIs. 
2) Don't apply to places where you don't have fit. 
3) Rankings are not everything, especially depending on your expectations of a program, and your end goals/ career trajectory. 
4) Don't be hard on yourself if you don't get any offers from 'higher ranked' options or any offers at all. It usually isn't a reflection of your abilities, rather it's a reflection of the reality that there are hundreds of equally qualified and capable scholars out there. 

PROFILE
Type of Undergrad Institution: Private University on East Coast, Top 50
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political Science and Area Studies, with Minor in Language
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: M.A. in Area Studies
Grad GPA: 4.00
GRE: Q 162/ V 170/ AW 6.0
Any Special Courses: Two graduate level stats courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Full Prof from Undergrad; 1 Associate Prof from Grad; 1 Assistant Prof from Grad
Teaching Experience: N/A
Other:  1+ year of graduate RA work; 2 years of Professional Research work; 1 conference presentation; Fluency/Proficiency in two languages relevant to research
 
RESULTS (PHD, Comparative)
Accepted: Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins
Rejected: Princeton, Yale, Stanford, UT Austin, Cornell, Northwestern, Michigan, Chicago
Waitlisted: N/A
Pending: Harvard
Going to: Still pending
 
Lessons
I'm going to focus mainly on issues beyond preparing everything well in advance and getting lots of advice:
1. One point does bear repeating, this cycle was a complete mess. If you are reading this and 2020-2021 didn't work out as planned, I'm sorry, you probably didn't deserve it. I watched real life friends and gradcafe acquaintances that seemed destined for top programs get devastating results. I got headscratching rejections from schools that seemed like perfect matches. This is the worst cycle to try and draw inferences from. 
2. Emotionally prepare for the results cycle. I was blindsided by how all-consuming January and February would be. Be intentional about how you are going to structure your time to keep yourself on task with other responsibilities, I guarantee it will take more discipline than riding the adrenaline of preparing and submitting your files. Plan in advance that you simply will not be functioning at 100% or even 50% during this time. Kudos to those who can, but realizing this in advance would have been productive for me.
One trick: once you get into a school you could picture yourself attending, assume that you'll land there and start imagining your future accordingly. Once I did this rather than holding out for the remaining lottery tickets, I found more peace. If you did this process right, you should be excited about getting in anywhere.
3. I wish I had contacted more POIs in advance. While many people told me that this was not part of the "culture" of political science applications (as opposed to History and Anthro where it is standard practice), it seems like the vast majority of the people on this forum did this and I assume it didn't hurt. Perhaps more importantly, it may have helped me manage my expectations better about schools I later found out weren't taking anyone in my sub-subfield.
4. Doing a Master's is more helpful than many people may lead you believe. Not because of the M.A. itself, but because of how much more "mature" your ideas will be when you sit down to produce a writing sample and SOP. Area studies M.A.s are typically funded much more generously than policy degrees, and are a particularly good option for comparativists if you can use your electives to build some quant chops.
5. Fit is important but...you likely do not yet have a full grasp on what every scholar in your field is currently doing or where their research is going. You may say, "but I read all the journals in my field and made a spreadsheet a year in advance!" So did I, but that scholar whose work only seems tangentially related to yours? They may actually be just beginning a book project that is spot on for your interests, with no indication of that on their CV. This is where contacting POIs and networking comes in, and where applying broadly rather than looking only for matches made in heaven can work. 
6. Stuck on your SOP? Think out loud. My first few drafts of my SOP were jargony messes. The most productive way of moving past this was calling someone who was familiar with my field on the phone and trying to pitch the ideas verbally. Slowly but surely, this strategy helped me find a way to express my interests to a broad (poli sci) audience in the plainest english possible. By the end, my SOP and the intro of my writing sample read more as punchy journalism than academic writing. This was definitely for the best.

I think most standard political science programs (not the "boutique" empirical/formal programs like Rochester or NYU) consist of 90% of the cohort struggling through the methods sequence, then doing simple regressions throughout their career. That's to say I wouldn't rule yourself out of attending a standard or "quant" program. There are only a few programs that really train methods-heavy political scientists (NYU and WUSTL immediately come to mind, as does Stanford), and basically only one that actually trains proper methodologists without substantive interests (Harvard with King and Imai). Keep in mind, however, that even Harvard has a substantial body of qualitative faculty and students and you only need to take one quant course there. Many comparativists at Harvard are qualitative (e.g. Steven Levitsky). So, in sum, I would suggest looking at broad programs that have a variety of methods and epistemological approaches.

I would consider applying to British PhD programs. On the whole political science in the UK is significantly less quant heavy than in the United States and with a lot more methodological variety! 
 
If you’re focused on the United States, Northwestern is considered to have a qualitative bent. I’d also recommend UBC in Canada which afaik, and I might be mistaken, is less quant focused than Toronto or McGill.

Claiming a Stanford rejection. Also got a Duke rejection earlier. Pretty sure I've been rejected at Maryland and Vanderbilt too so the only school left is MIT. Regardless of what happens, I'm still happy that I've been accepted to Emory with funding. Any acceptance is a success, esp this year. Best of luck y'all!

Got a Yale reject! Surprisingly not upset  I won’t be waiting on anymore applications. I’ll be accepting USC’s offer!! 

What bites about being on waitlists is that you know that during a normal year, you might have been accepted.  One POI even told me that in a personal email.  ?

Question regarding older admissions news. Did anyone ever claim a UVA admit?

Claiming a waitlist for Yale! Stoked! What a year.