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Good to know, thanks! Hopefully I get something in the mail tomorrow, then. At this point, accepted or rejected, I'm just ready to be done.

Was that for a PhD?

Oh, look, it's a double whammy today. And my day had been going so well...hopes resting on George Mason? I think I can count this year a wash.

My latest favorite came from my mother the other day. "Well, then, that's not God's plan for you." My emotions went from to (No offense meant to anyone that would consider this comforting. It just doesn't work for me.)

Got mine, too. This was a ridiculous wait for a 'no'. Also, totally expected, but man, that's twice the school I've wanted to attend since I was 10 has turned me down.

I still haven't heard a peep from 3 schools. Not even on the application systems.

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi. Love this series (it comes after Old Man's War).

Well, it's finally April, when I should hear from my schools. Almost two full months without information is killing me. I'm not even excited anymore. Seriously, if I get in it'll be met with a resounding "meh". I guess that's how they let you down easy, make you wait so long! I just hope I hear Monday.

Yes, you're the one with the interest in security and defense policy! I was seriously beginning to think I was alone in this world with that combination (IR/policy schools) and emphasis. So we could either be very competitive...or both accepted if they like that focus. Have you done (or are you currently) a masters or anything past undergrad in the field? Sigh. I figured it'd be April, it's just very frustrating because everyone wants an answer from me now. Boo.

Are you who posted acceptance to the MPP program on the results board? Or are you a PhD candidate (acceptee)? Oh, lie. I just saw your program as MPP. Does anyone know about when PhD may be announced?

Heh, I'm an addict, too. I don't check the websites, but I'm here every day. Despite my remaining schools informing me I wouldn't know until April. No news for over a month already and I've still got half a month to go before finding out the inevitable soul-crushing news. I've got to keep sane somehow! Cruising GradCafe does that.

My number one Plan B is to move to DC and get a government job...but then again, the environment for obtaining said government job seems as competitive as getting into a PhD program. So I'm having issues deciding what's best (and feasible) for me.

Depressed, stressed, freaking out...seriously, the first time around wasn't this bad, I swear! (No seriously, time must heal the pain because I was 1/4 last time around, but I feel like it was much less stressful. Or perhaps it's the huge difference between pleasing my undergrad profs versus my grad school profs and cohort.) I have little hope, too, Benzene. Georgetown is a 99% chance of a no, and Johns Hopkins, while the best fit, is by far my reach school. I have very little hope of getting in this round.

SAIS told me April.

Hmm, a comparativist doing conflict? You're rare. One of my IR profs is always talking about how comparativists have kind of given up civil conflict to us IR people (and one of the CP profs also articulated this). We do a lot of civil conflict at my school.

One of my profs loves to tell us about the various failed relationships of poli sci. I don't know if it's a subtle warning or if dramatic retellings of male professors leaving their academic wives for students is just more interesting to him.lol

Any new Georgetown admits today? Anyone know if they're done now, or if they were doing admits by field...? Should I give up hope now?

Monday at the latest? Just acceptances or mass email for everyone? Monday...due to be a very good or a very horrible day.

I can't answer everything, but I can agree that yes, my smaller school always places and while you're not going to get placed at Harvard (at least not straight out), most do get placed in R1s or the teaching schools they want. Also, I think small departments are just as likely to have opportunities for conferences. My school has at least 5 2nd years going to MPSA this year. Last year, one of the 1st years went to a conference after only 3 months in the department. And of course, all the upper years are pushing out conference papers like machines. I guess it depends on the focus of the small school. Ours is definitely on publishing and attending conferences. (Small is subjective. We have 3 IR profs, 2 policy, and only 4 CP. American is our biggest field, but I feel, overall, in comparison to Harvard and Georgetown and such, we're much smaller.)

Ugh. I really hope my schools pay attention to the writing sample as a.) writing is what I do best (English always was my best subject) and b.) that, while my GRE Q score shows that I can't do geometry and math without a calculator, I can at least craft a regression equation and run STATA.

I've been seeing a lot of comments on the results board saying "4.0 gpa, 800Q, 3 publications..." and they're still being rejected. Now granted, I don't know how many of those are from political science applicants, but it made me curious. How many of you have any publications? Are they from undergraduate universities? What about masters students? Publications maybe not in journals but from jobs? My school is very focused on journal pubs, but as a masters student, all my professors insisted I should focus on things besides attending MPSA and trying to rework papers over Christmas to get into journals. Obviously, it's a little late, but I can't help but wonder if I've wasted my time as a masters student and that all of you excellent people who got into the likes of Harvard and such have 2 or more publications in or pending at top journals.

Ah, then I don't have to worry about us entirely competing.

Accepted at Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford? Congrats! What is your IR focus, out of curiosity? (Curious because you applied to Georgetown, too.)

I found out today I won't hear about JH until the beginning of April. And my GM app isn't even due till March 1st. GAH. They're killing me. I can only hope by then I'll have gotten an acceptancenotice from Georgetown.

2 years ago this time, I'd applied to 4 and heard one no (early admission). So, I'm exactly where I was back then. Hopefully, I get at least one acceptance this time, too!