hawnsay

PROFILE:Type of Undergrad Institution: San Diego State UniversityMajor(s)/Minor(s): International Security and Conflict Resolution aka ISCOR (Major)/Islamic and Arabic Studies (Minor)Undergrad GPA: 3.61Type of Grad: San Diego State University (MA in Political Science)Grad GPA: 3.77GRE: 161V/158Q/6.0AWAny Special Courses: Seminar in Scope and Methods of Political Science, Seminar in Research Methods and DesignLetters of Recommendation: 3 LORs; 1st writer taught me as an undergrad and grad student and was my primary person for the comprehensive exams I needed to graduate with my MA; 2nd writer taught me as an undergrad and grad student and inducted me into Phi Beta Kappa; 3rd writer only taught me for grad school and was the secondary person for my comprehensive examsTeaching/Research Experience: TA as an undergrad student for ISCOR/POL S classes for one professor from 2012-2015; TA as a grad student for ISCOR/POL S classes for several different professors from 2015-2018Other: Dean's List as an undergrad for 7 semesters; inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during my 4th and final year as an undergrad; graduated with my MA in 2018 and worked for several years before applying for Fall 2022 PhD admissions cycleRESULTS:Acceptances: University of Missouri, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Georgia (from waitlist)Rejections: University of Connecticut, Cornell, University of Maryland-College Park, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Northwestern, Ohio State, University of Washington, VanderbiltPending: N/AAttending: University of GeorgiaLESSONS LEARNED: 1) I started studying for the GRE in January 2021 and took the GRE in June 2021. I'm not sure if that is a "long" time to study and prepare, but I graduated with my MA in 2018 and have been away from school since then. I performed better on the GRE practice exams I took before I took the real exam, so that was a bit of a downer. On the other hand, when I took the GRE in 2015 to start my MA program, I received a 159V/156Q/5.0AW so all of my scores DID go up this time around. I'm not sure how much it mattered, but I certainly think a higher quant score would have helped my applications a bit. 2) I reached out to professors in Spring 2021 and advised that I was going to be applying for school and needed LORs. They all agreed and were ok with submitting as many letters as needed. This worked out as I applied to 11 schools and I read horror stories of other applicants having a professor that would only submit a limited number of letters (I.e. to 5 schools instead of all of them). I did not see these letters so I do not know what they said or didn't say, but they clearly worked enough to get me into a few schools. As mentioned above, 2 of them taught me as an undergrad and grad student, while 1 only taught me as a grad student. Furthermore, 2 of them oversaw my comprehensive exams so they was something to discuss. 3) My writing sample was one of my comprehensive exam responses. I think this may have hurt my application a bit as it was not a formal research paper, and I did not have any publications or legitimate research experience. However, based on all of the documents I still have, I do believe this was my strongest piece of writing that I could use as a sample. Again, I cannot definitively say how much this mattered, but I imagine it did. 4) Fit certainly is important, but I don't think it is the only thing that matters obviously. Based on my own interests, I found Nebraska-Lincoln, Washington, and Georgia were my best fits. Other solid fits included Minnesota-Twin Cities, Vanderbilt, and Cornell. I know there is no such thing as a "safety" school when it comes to PhD admissions, but I did look at Missouri, Nebraska-Lincoln, and Connecticut as safer options based on ranking. Missouri and Nebraska-Lincoln accepted me while Connecticut did not, but Georgia did. I think this is a testament to how much fit matters, as a higher ranked school (Georgia) accepted me (even if it was from the waitlist) while a lower ranked school (Connecticut) did not. 5) I took an irregular path to get here. If I could turn back time, I definitely would have put the necessary work in to write a thesis instead of doing comprehensive exams. Furthermore, I would have tried to get RA experience and get something published. I do believe the lack of these experiences probably played the biggest part in my admissions results. 6) Be prepared to face a dilemma once April 15 hits and you have been accepted in at least one school and waitlisted somewhere. I had no choice but to accept an offer by April 15. Then a couple days later, I was accepted at my waitlisted school. I mulled the decision over and came to the conclusion that withdrawing from my original school and accepting the offer from the waitlisted school was better for me and my future. I firmly believe it is perfectly ok to do this, but you should communicate clearly to both schools the situation at hand prior to April 15. The DGSs at both schools knew of the situation and I even politely asked the original school for a deadline to accept their offer. They did not grant this so they had to know the possibility of what was to come. I wrote a polite, apologetic email to my original school and accepted the offer from the waitlisted school. The DGS at my original school took a couple days to respond, but she did respond with a short but polite email acknowledging the difficulty of the decision and wishing me the best with my academic career. 7) I can't say money shouldn't matter to everyone since everybody's situation is different, but I will say that I took a cut in funding to go to the better school. If you can afford to do so, consider it. There is a ton of debate over how much ranking matters past a certain point (I.e. some say ranking doesn't matter once you are like out of the top 25 schools...but does it really not matter anymore? Look at placement record, for example) but I do think a higher ranking school likely leads to an increased chance of landing the type of job you want. Just remember that we all are on different paths doing different things. If you want to change your path, it isn't impossible. Put the time in to give yourself the best chance possible, and if it doesn't work out, just be sure that you did everything you could to make it happen so there is no regret later on down the line. I can't think of anything else to add right now. If I do, I'll edit and update this. Anyways...if you got any questions, you know how to contact me.

Claiming an offer off of the waitlist at UGA and I have accepted the offer. Hopefully the spot that I freed up at Nebraska-Lincoln can go to someone that wants it!

I was about to email them and then I got an email at around 9:00AM PST notifying of an update. This brings my cycle to an end.

February 2022 has officially come and passed and still no update.

Same here. IR. No email and no portal update. Based on results posted from past years, they do take a while to send out all rejections and there are no official waitlist claims posted. In any case, I'm hoping that we are all still in the running for a spot.

I sent an email declining an admissions offer at Mizzou. It felt like I was breaking up with somebody lol. I hope this helps anybody that is waitlisted there and wants to go!

I see. Congrats on the acceptance, even though you are turning it down.

When were you accepted by Maryland? How were you notified?

I was accepted yesterday with a funded offer. At this point, UNL is where I will likely go assuming I don't receive any other acceptances. Fingers crossed for you!

Hypothetically, if I am accepted at UGA and nowhere else, I would most likely go there. It’s a better research fit for me than Mizzou.

Congrats! How did UW notify you?

They received nearly 100 apps and five offers of admission have been made so far. I might not be updated on a final decision for another month or two. Apparently my they found my app to be very strong, may be able to offer me a slot, and if so, they'd be thrilled for me to join this fall. That basically summarizes the entirety of the email.

Anybody else receive an email from the the UGA DGS re: being waitlisted? They let me know I’m ranked pretty high and have a good chance of being admitted, but I just need to wait the process out. For those accepted to UGA and not planning on going, please decline your offer soon!

Congrats! How were you notified?

Nothing yet. Will reply when I do.