JPYSD

I am in CP, however, even if you applied to the "Politics" DPhil and not to the "IR" DPhil, subfields don't really matter for the application. I know more people that have gotten results from the Politics DPhil. IR was rather quiet so far. They follow a list that they "work through" and send out acceptances on a rolling basis/in batches. March 5 was one of these days. I also know that some rejections were sent already, which really shows that you have nothing to worry about for now. It was confirmed, however, that all acceptances and rejections will be sent out until March 22nd.

Claiming Oxford DPhil in Politics acceptance! Upload button disappeared in the portal about two hours ago. Supervisor/POI mentioned in the application was copied to the e-mail, funding information is pending. Really happy, although I am not sure if I would end up going or prefer my US option...

Because there have been some questions related to them: UPenn indeed hasn't send out rejections, but I am quite sure that they sent all acceptances and waitlists. Their program is really small, so not many people get accepted every year (far below 10 usually), so it makes sense that we only saw one acceptance here and two waitlists. NYU also hasn't send out rejections, but that is in line with their usual procedure, since they reevaluate applications that weren't initially "successful" for their master program, which for whatever reason takes them so long every year.

No. However, I know that while most Oxford master and DPhil applications are rolling admission/decisions, they actually do send out DPIR DPhil results relatively reliably on one date, usually within the last 10 days of March. I am an internal candidate and haven't heard anything from other people here either... Funding decisions usually come one or two months later, if you haven't gotten Nuffield, which should already be included in your decision letter.

Anyone claiming the Yale rejection from Friday? And do we know if they sent all acceptances out already? Seems maybe to be POI-specific this time?

Someone claiming Stanford? That seems way too early...

I have also been expecting it since Friday last week. Although they released their decisions on the 10th last year, their schedule seems to be different every time and usually hints to the last two weeks of February, so most likely next week...

Let's see if some universities "have some roses" for us today, after it has been rather quiet the past days 🙂

Harvard usually sends out acceptances on the 22nd/23rd of February, so mid next week. Yale is different every year, but according to last year (which was on the 10th), they should send out acceptances very soon, maybe even today...

...and Berkeley is a bit weird this year. They already released some acceptances (I think I saw 3 here?) almost two weeks ago, but haven't sent out any rejections yet. Usually, there were way more acceptances and rejections came right after, so they might come out with more soon or just have a really small cohort this year.

First of all: Don't lose hope! This cycle is far from over. To your question: I think it really depends what kind of master programs you are speaking of. I myself will have two master degrees, but both are in fields that make sense for my academic profile in that they are narrowing down my sub-specialization. Say, one master in more general political science and one master in area studies, specifically to the region I would like to focus on in CP. Having two or even three master's in the same general field (ergo "just" political science, IR etc.) would indeed seem a bit off. Two master's is usually the maximum you see. Maybe try to gain research experience in between? Reach out to professors and ask if they are aware of RA positions or pre-doc programs? Find a think tank or NGO that is closely related to your research area? In the end, it is most important to keep your research idea "alive" and stay in good contact with your recommenders. But yes, I would say that now is the time to prove some of your research capabilities, and a related job would be more worth than a third master. Of course, it also is a financial decision in the end. I was only able to do both master's because I received full funding for both... Work experience is never seen as something bad, even if unrelated to Political Science for a year or so. And if you by any chance have financial flexibility, try to setup a research project yourself, do some fieldwork and try to publish something based on that! This will all be much more worth than a generic third master degree.

Hello Saurabh 🙂 Good luck with your application! I don't think anyone in this group has heard back by the University of Rochester yet, however, we are all Political Science applicants. Maybe it would be better to find the respective subject forum or check out Reddit. Anyways, good luck!

I would assume either on Friday or early next week, according to the past years

Claiming Chicago! CP. Did not submit GRE. I am so incredibly happy, since this was my top 3 choice! Especially after getting rejected at Brown and probably at Princeton, NYU and Berkeley! E-maii from department was in spam, funding included.

I think the biggest reason is funding. Of course, one should not apply to a "safety school" that doesn't offer a decent funding package, but in almost all academic markets outside of the US, PhDs in the social sciences are just not funded. So you either need to work on the side (often forbidden by the program) or take up student loans. This is also the main reasons why so many UK students that have great universities with LSE, Oxbridge etc. in PoliSci there, often prefer a place like USC (to take the example from above) over a DPhil in Politics at Oxford. Oxford is mostly unfunded and (!) has really high tuition on top of that. Scholarships are really competitive and you receive the decision about those maybe in June. I am currently in the UK market, could probably stay there rather easily and still applied to much "less reputable" PoliSci departments in the US, solely for that reason. So, decent US PhDs = financial security, at least for the duration of the PhD. What comes afterwards, differs depending on job goals. Many of us just want a safe (and ideally reputable) higher education job in Political Science and don't necessarily care if that might be in the "home market" or overseas.

I am almost certain that UChicago hasn't sent anything yet. The two acceptances yesterday contain literally no information and came at a really weird time, and the one acceptance from roughly one week ago sounded like a troll. We might hear from them a little later (probably next week) this year, which is weird since UChicago seems to have been dumping acceptances and rejections in all social sciences/humanities especially since yesterday.

According to last year, Chicago could come out today/tomorrow. And still curious about (further) Berkeley acceptances/rejections... 😕

Yes! DPhil in Politics

I think one or two claimed them here (and also on Reddit), so I am definitely sure they are correct. It just seems weird since Berkeley always sent them all out on one day, and this time they seem to be spread out. I am more wondering if the rejection that was posted is true, since that doesn't really add up.

Do you think that Berkeley still sends out acceptances? According to last year, further results might come out today, however, they never sent in several batches, so maybe it is already over... Also, Chicago and NYU might come out this week!

really stupid question (I am new to this, haha), but what is the Reddit community or thread that everyone is talking about here? is there a general political science admission results discussion?

Thank you @Theory007! And I am sorry if I was not clear, but I already applied and was accepted into both programs, so I am literally just choosing between those two now ?

Thank you so much, @MrsPhD, that is very kind and helpful! However, these are also questions, where some of the problems lie: In both programs I would work quite close with my thesis supervisors However, in one program it will likely be a professor in a discipline very close to my interest, but with no real US ties While in the other program I would be supervised by two professors, of which especially one seems very established with a high international research output, but who is more connected to a neighboring discipline (not PoliSci, but related to my topics of research) Regarding quant I was not very clear. I did have two introductory classes in PoliSci research methods in my undergrad, especially in R. However, never did anything in depth/on grad level. Both programs have qual. and quant. methods components, but in a veeeery light manner. I know that all of those are very broad and vague questions that I have to figure out myself in the end. I still appreciate any help and feedback ?

Hello everyone, I am currently very unsure how to decide between two master options I have to then further continue with PhD applications: Background: Bachelor in IR (top 10-15 European school) with decent, but not crazy good grades (maybe top 20-30%) Currently enrolled in US master in a PoliSci related, but interdisciplinary field (top 10 school), with currently a top grade standing Decent (international) research experience, a few well known scholarships, a few publications (nothing too extraordinary), 6 fluent languages, lack of quant knowledge, no GRE done yet, good letters of recommendations in sight Goal: Top PhD program, ideally in the US Topic Area: IR or Comparative Politics, potentially on the more theory heavy side and with a focus on South Asia as a region Options: I have two second master programs lined up for the fall (both one year), both are quite research heavy and fall into the area of regional studies: MSc in Modern South Asian Studies (Oxford) MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies (Cambridge) Both would be fully funded (including living costs) through scholarships Question: I am really unsure which program to choose. Both are quite similarly structured and have a strong research component. Cambridge is more established in South Asian Studies, seems more academic (also is named "MPhil"), and somehow the department seems more up to date and "healthy" Oxford, however, seems more flexible and would allow me to focus a little more on the political science side of things, which might be important considering my wish to do a PhD in PoliSci Oxford might be more prestigious and relevant from a US perspective? Does anyone have experience with with South Asia within PoliSci or can give me any information about the standing of Cambridge and Oxford in the US PhD market or just generally evaluate my profile? Any comments are greatly appreciated!

Just received an update from Columbia that I would receive additional partial funding. With that and with Fulbright my tuition would be covered! Very happy about it Still deciding between Cambridge (so far basically unfunded, but generally cheaper to live) and Columbia. Any thoughts?