iskander

I just finally got my first admit, to American University SIS. I'm happy but the stipend is only 25K which seems really hard to live on for DC area. Would people here generally expect a higher stipend than this or are you just supposed to make it work?

This is kind of random at this point, but I just want to vent a little and warn people about dealing with UT Austin's admission for future cycles. I had a minor issue with a transcript (something out of my control) when I applied to the LBJ School which I communicated about with admissions a bunch before application and was told should be fine. Since mid January (when people started getting UT Austin results) to last Friday I spent A MONTH calling and emailing the school to try to get in touch with someone and see if my app was being reviewed and if the transcript issue was resolved. An entire month with not a single person from the university getting back to me. I finally talked to admissions today and was told that my app was not reviewed, it's too late to change anything, if i had talked to admissions about it earlier then i might have been able to resolve the issue (as if I hadn't been trying), and that i can apply again next cycle. A complete nightmare and disgusting, unprofessional way to treat an applicant over a tiny issue in my app. Even if I did apply and get i to the school at this point I'm not sure if I'd want to go.

Did anyone ever get results from UT Austin? I've been trying to talk to someone from the admissions office about a question for literally a month and I never get an email or call back.

Did anybody get a rejection from Columbia? I'm trying to figure out if not hearing anything means wait listed or rejected.

Got rejection from UCSD political science dept. Did anyone get results for the joint program with GPS though? That app hasn't updated for me.

Just got wait-listed to American. I know being wait-listed is a good thing but damn can I get a single straight acceptance letter so i can stop worrying Jesus. Also for the person asking about UCSD, I was told I would get results by the end of this coming week so I assume that goes for most people.

Yep by email (responding to the MIT question, grad cafe won't let me quote on my phone for some reason).

Just got wait-listed to MIT.

Damn i hope it's not actually a seriously bad thing to reach out to PhD programs for updates. I have an issue with one of my apps which I completed but is still even now marked as incomplete (admissions said it should be reviewed regardless) even though it isn't really. I haven't heard anything from the program and it's still marked incomplete so I've been calling and sending emails repeatedly to the school (because they never respond) just to make sure that after all this time the app is being reviewed. Hope that doesn't come off as desperate

I see people getting rejections from Princeton. You guys are getting it from SPIA, right? Not some other political science department? I still haven't heard anything from SPIA.

I called and got an email back telling me my app was under review and that i should receive results in the next two weeks. Also just wondering, is anyone here getting accepted to some higher ranked places and rejected from lower ranked? I've only received 2/11 results so far, but neither is a straight acceptance and these were my mid tier/fallback schools; one of them even had a Prof who studies exactly what interests me and put in a word for me with the admin committee. Don't want to be melodramatic but it makes me think i was an idiot to even have applied to the higher ranked places, even though I feel like i have a pretty strong, if maybe unusual, profile.

Just got wait-listed for University of Maryland :/. Only getting responses from lower ranked places i applied to and got one rejection and one wait-list, doesn't leave me very hopeful. Also what page are we supposed to update acceptance/rejections/wait-list on?

Just got rejection from GWU

I applied to Georgetown but also no response yet and not sure when they send out emails. For writing samples, I have a family member who has been on a lot of academic committees to distribute scholarships and stuff like that, so not the same as a PhD but I assume kind of similar in spirit. He basically told me that a committee looks at writing samples like you probably imagine, ie. they'll look at the abstract, first few pages, conclusion etc., but no one has time to read 20-30 pages to check if you have some spelling mistakes or typos in the body of the paper.

I also haven't gotten anything for Brown yet.

Thanks for the info! but damn, 19 programs?? I felt like I had no life for months and was going way overboard with 12 lol, good on you for putting in that much work, hope it pays off

I applied to 12 PhD programs and haven't heard a thing from any of them. Do most uni's send out acceptances and rejections first though? Like, if you haven't heard anything yet and some people have received rejections, that means you're kind of being waitlisted even if you haven't gotten an email saying that? That wouldn't be so bad I guess. Or I'm completely wrong, idk. Also someone said that UT Austin was sending out responses, right? I still haven't gotten anything, and I'm not even really sure if my app's being reviewed; I had a really stupid issue where I couldn't submit one of my transcripts (basically study abroad transcript, not main education) and I was told my application would be reviewed anyway even if the system wouldn't allow me to submit. It's been marked as "incomplete" ever since though, and I hope they didn't just throw it out.

I've got one last PhD app to finish up, weirdly due the 18th. I've applied to 11 programs, mostly lots of top 10 programs and a few top 20, looking at doing stuff related China/security and more generally IR. I haven't really kept up through any forums during the application process so i have absolutely no idea about my prospects. My stats are: gre 160 Q, 168 V, 5 writing. I speak Chinese and Spanish fluently, along with another not very useful language ok. Have lots of experience living abroad. Got a master's of international affairs from a good program (i think top 10?) and graduated with a 3.67 gpa (program was curved to 3.3). I've been working for a couple years in jobs that are definitely related to what i want to do, although they aren't strictly like academic research. I was also an RA for two professors and a TA for a summer class (technically a "reader" not full TA) during my master's. I have reqs from 2 professors i studied with as well as from a manager at my job (work is relevant to my interests). One of my recommenders disappeared at the end of the application period so i had to fill in his req with a req from another person I work with (who at least has a doctorate. In terms of quant, I did work in Stata in my grad program but i really need to refresh my very rusty skills. I applied to a bunch of programs because i really have no idea how I fall as an applicant. I think my gre is kinda bad and i don't have any published research, but i think my work experience, international experience and language skills, and having gone to grad school and done fairly well are strong points. Anyone have any opinions on how I might do?

I'm thinking of applying to polisci/IR Ph.D. programs this fall and want to do a program related to China and security. I have a few questions about how competitive I'd be for top 10 or top 15 US programs and/or top European programs, so I'll just list some of my qualifications. Undergrad: University of Michigan polisci, GPA: 3.79, graduated with honors Masters: Masters of International Affairs at UCSD GPS, GPA 3.67 (curved) (was on full tuition scholarship) Lots of extra curricular work/activities during my master's, including being president of a grad student organization relevant to polisci interests Lived and studied in China for 3 years, speak fluent Chinese, have used it professionally a lot. Also lived for a year in Latin America and speak fluent Spanish. Worked in relevant corporate research jobs for 2 years GRE: Can't get into account right now, but I took it in 2017 and got basically perfect verbal, like 156 math I think? and I think 4.5 writing. So my questions are the following. First, is my master's GPA a problem? At my program we were told you needed a 3.7 to really be competitive for a Ph.D program. The GPA was curved to a B+ average for the program though, so I believe I was above average. Second, would my professional experience be taken into account? I have several years of research experience but it was for corporations so I'm not published or anything like that. Finally, do I need to retake the GRE? I only took it once and I'd really rather not take it again if I can avoid it.

I have a master's of international affairs from a pretty good school, I've been working in a research-heavy IR-related industry job for a couple years, and I speak a few languages. I've been thinking about doing a PhD since I finished my master's and would like to do something related to China and specifically security issues (I'm kind of flexible on the subtopic though, I don't have a specific thesis idea formed yet). So the main topic, I'm planning on applying to at least a few programs in the US, but if possible I would really prefer to do a PhD in Europe. I'm used to moving a lot, and I'd really like to get to know another country while I study. Also I did undergrad and master's in the US, I think it would be interesting and potentially useful to study and get a European view on some of the issues I've studied. My impression from researching different schools is that American polisci/IR PhD programs are largely considered to be superior and a big part of that is a better education on quantitative methods. I much prefer qualitative stuff because I'm not that good at quant, but I recognize quant is important so I do want to get a strong background in that. After all that, my question is are there any European polisci/IR PhD programs that provide good training, are respected to an at least similar level as American universities, and specifically have faculty/research that is related to China? Thanks.