balderdash

Well, that's reassuring. But it's not that I haven't submitted them in time or anything - I'm doing my master's in the UK, where there just aren't any fall grades...

Sorry, can you elaborate? And on what basis do you say this, personal experience? I'm in a master's with no fall grades. Does this mean that I'll be "moved down the pile"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rh6qqsmxNs.

I wish I had a better coffee maker.

Gotta say, though I'm not convinced by what you're arguing, I respect the thought and tenacity which you've put into it.

I hope you like the cold. And ice hockey. And having completely nothing to do.

Again, that is the way it works. You need to stop despairing and listen to what I'm saying from experience. If you started the thread just to wallow, then fine. But don't solicit advice then ignore it. And yes it is too much to ask. British universities aren't accustomed to giving out unconditional offers unless the person has already finished the degree. If it is Oxbridge, you will definitely not get an unconditional, as your offer will be "conditional" on acceptance to a college. Willingness to pay has nothing to do with the process.

I know it seems hard to believe, but you really have to trust me that it's not a big deal. You're not "negotiating," you're just pointing out that they've made an error. The way it works is this. The traditional "condition" for a British student would be a 1st, so they apply the same to international students and use a standard GPA conversion to make it uniform. This comes out to a 3.7, so they slap the 3.7 condition on the file. This, however, doesn't reflect the fact that GPAs are cumulative over 4 years, whereas in most British unis the first year doesn't count, the second is only 1/3 of the grade, and the final year is 2/3 (and only assessed at the very end of the year). So a 1st is a reasonable condition to them because it's entirely feasible pretty much no matter what the student got in 2nd year. But in the GPA system, a 3.7 may or may not be feasible. For me, my condition was low enough that basically I could've flunked the last semester, which was very credit-light (only 12) and still made it - not much of a condition, right? So just point out the fact that it's unattainable, and they'll say "oh, right, well, your new one is 3.XX" and it should be something roughly where you are now.

I'm just guessing, but is the conditional offer to Oxbridge? They seem to have a knack for this sort of thing. Anyway, if it's literally impossible (and not just really difficult), then contact the secretary of the department/admissions office (whoever gives the official offer) and tell them it's unattainable. They'll go back and change it in about a week. If they gave you an offer, they want you at the school, and it makes no sense to give you an impossible target - otherwise, why not just reject you outright? As I've said elsewhere on here before, I'm at Cambridge doing an MPhil, and a lot of my peers were in exactly your situation and had no problem getting it switched.

It's a daunting process, but chin up. She's probably being defensive because it sounds like she did do quite a bit of work on it, but I'm sure your relationship with her isn't permanently altered. Blame it on a technical failure or something. And when it's all over, get her a bottle of wine and give it to her personally.

Thank you, but oh my God, you should not have showed me that. My anxiety has tripled, my productivity plummeted.

Sorry, where are you looking?

First, congratulations - I know I'd be elated if I were in your position, so make sure to go out and celebrate. Unfortunately, everywhere that I've seen (admittedly, all for Poli Sci) have said that amendments to the CV cannot be made after it is submitted. Still, I would get on the phone to your schools and ask if you can submit a supplementary letter in which you just say "also, I've got this essay in an edited collection coming up..." They're likely to say that they can't guarantee that it gets looked at, but I imagine some will take it and add it to the file. Still, it's a big enough achievement that even if only one or two schools see it then the effort will have been worth it.

What's going on with this, dude? How'd it work out?

What's funny to me is that literally every post you make is intended to be inflammatory. For all of your proclaimed familiarity with the academic literature, you've missed out on the one essential attribute of all successful social scientists: humility. So good luck getting a job even if your doctorate is from Harvard. I'm sure everyone will want to hire an arrogant weasel as their colleague. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I forgot to add an edited volume, The Lord's Resistance Army, by Allen and Vlassenroot. Beyond that, I need a few in-depth studies of particular rebel movements in the Great Lakes. Does anyone have recommendations on the RCD, FDLR, LRA, or ADF?

Actually, I don't think many of us want to be at Korbel. I don't mean that as an insult to the school. Rather, I think most of us in this subforum don't have much interest in the trajectory offered by professional schools (ie, aimed at producing diplomats, policy wonks, and such rather than academicians) such as yours.

Geographically, I grew up closest to Boston. This has prompted my dad to remind me at least weekly that "it'd really be best if you went to Harvard." Cheers. I had no idea, pops.

Maintenance, unless Oxford has a particular meaning of the term of which I'm unaware, isn't a fee but rather what they call living expenses. So they estimate what food, transit, books, et cetera will cost you. Food is relatively cheaper in the UK, so I usually get by on a shoestring of about 25-30 pounds per week. But if you value your sanity, I'd plan on about 40-50 per week in food, plus any expenses you expect to have. Keep in mind train/bus fares, printing/photocopying, books, and essentials (like a coffee pot) that you will have to buy.

Well, I'm not sure what you mean by "positive science oriented department," as this is a thread in the Poli Sci subforum. However, if you look to the top of the thread at the Africanist literature that was discussed, it's actually pretty influential work that are must-reads for specialists in the field... As for reading exclusively academic stuff - I don't know about any of you, but I'm still working toward a related degree right now, so reading is pretty much guaranteed anyway. Even if it weren't, it's what I'm passionate about. Why would I read something less interesting?

I don't know their specific policies, but pretty much universally, this is the case. You're always allowed to go back on your word, but you'll lose the deposit.

Yeah, Homo Economicus was one of those things that made me go "gosh, I wish I'd thought of that first!" I haven't seen the Lee-Ann Fujii work, so I'll add it. Lemarchand is Emeritus at Florida (I thiiiink FIU but I'm not sure), so I think he's done teaching except for guest lectures and such. He came and spoke at Cambridge back in December on a personal invitation, so I was lucky to have a chance to converse with him. It was one of those conversations where you know he's infinitely more informed than you, you know? As for the application stuff, I'm interested in hearing from you as well, so I'll PM.

I see we have similar interests. I met Lemarchand a few weeks ago - the guy is an absolute boss. And the Kalyvas book is good, but dense. If you don't care about the specifics of his Greek case study, then you don't have to read about 75 pages of the book. I'm actually going to go back and read the canonical IR texts - Mearsheimer, Morgenthau, Waltz, et cetera. I haven't read enough of them yet for someone looking to do a PhD with an IR focus. Other reading to do: Cramer, Civil War is not a Stupid Thing Straus, The Order of Genocide

Crime in Bawlmer is no worse than in DC, in my opinion. Of course there are bad areas, but like in DC, there's absolutely no reason to go there. Also, the JHU shuttle lines are extensive enough that you won't have to walk through them. I'd say live in Mt Vernon - it's a stop away from the medical campus, and it's halfway between Penn Station (trains to DC) and the Inner Harbor. It's pretty much where all of the city's educated twentysomethings live. As for other good areas, I gave (what I think is a pretty comprehensive) list a few posts back. As for trying to live in DC and taking the MARC - I'd advise against it. One of my friends lived in Mt Vernon and went to SAIS (in Dupont Circle, DC). She hated it so much that after a month she found an apartment in DC and ended up only doing the MARC thing for one semester. Apparently nothing ever ran on time, it was always uncomfortably crowded, the cost got to be too high, and she spent so much time commuting.

Also, there's no need to post the question in three separate subforums.

Yeah, I think the ranking definitely has some "psh, I got to University of X, which is waaay better than Chicago" bias. But who knows.