cjh19

I don't expect too many folks are still waiting at this point, but I am declining offers at the University of Texas and at George Washington. Now I just have to decide between Iowa and working for another year. I've still got 24 hours, right? Right?

Dr. Remington is very prominent in Russian politics and institutions, my own area of interest. Sadly I just got the news today that there was no room for me to move off of Emory's waitlist.

I agree that the thread is useful--I'd been thinking of starting one myself. I think the benefit is putting people's backgrounds and outcomes in one convenient place, with observations and suggestions for the next round of applicants. I know that I've spent a fair amount of time combing through the enormous main thread and the undergrad stats thread to put together backgrounds and outcomes for other posters. I think this would spare next year's applicants the trouble. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad Institution: University of Pittsburgh Major(s)/Minor(s): Politics and Philosophy, Russian and East European Studies Certificate. BPhil degree. Undergrad GPA: 3.92 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: GRE: 800V 660Q 5.5 Any Special Courses: Graduate course on qualitative comparative research design Letters of Recommendation: Three full professors Research Experience: Honors thesis comparing French and Russian political institutions and democracy Teaching Experience: N/A Subfield/Research Interests: Comparative, post-communist political transitions SOP: Standard Other: Couple of University research fellowships, one not-super-prestigious national scholarship, currently a research fellow at an NGO in Washington. RESULTS: Acceptances($$ or no $$): No funding at Texas-Austin, George Washington. Very generous offer from the University of Iowa. Waitlists: Emory Rejections: Cornell, Stanford, Berkeley, Indiana Going to: What would you have done differently? I think the result this year was fair. Economic situation might have contributed to the lack of funding. I'll come back and edit this if I think of anything I regret doing/not doing.

Sorry fenderpete. I had the same experience last year, but I think my life turned out better for it. Cold comfort, I know. If funding doesn't come through for me at my schools, I'm considering reapplying in a year or two. It's discouraging, but every year of experience/education makes us more competitive the next time around, right?

I would also probably go with the DGS unless they specifically ask for something else. By the way, congratulations on your extremely successful application cycle--I can't even imagine what it's like not to feel the sting of a rejection. Feel free to PM me if you're considering Pittsburgh--I did my undergrad there and I'd be happy to talk it up.

Agreed. GreatMix, I think the sooner, the better. The sooner you give notice to the school, the sooner they can get a clearer picture of their incoming class and extend offers to others. I'm sure they want the process to be over almost as much as we do. I think it's impolite to both the department and any waitlisted applicants to delay giving an answer if you've already made up your mind. All the politeness necessary to mollify the department's hurt feelings can be included in your email

After interviewing this weekend at Emory, I was just informed that I'm on the waitlist. They were real nice about it, though, so no hard feelings.

By the end of next week? They might as well say they'll tell us on Foreveruary never-teenth. EDIT: Thanks for checking on it, though, aria.

Fair enough. Thanks for the tip.

Yikes, one of my last two schools. Alright, let's get this over with!

Indeed they are. First official rejection. My signature used to be so full of hope and promise!

Well done, that person!

Thanks for your thoughts, everybody. I hope that a funded offer will come up, either from Texas or somewhere else, but I feel like I need to get a sense of what my options are in case that doesn't happen. I appreciate your feedback. I'm with you on the reluctance to take on significant debt in pursuit of the phd. I would have to be pretty confident that funding would become available in the second year, but I doubt the economy will be in much better shape this time in 2010. Even then I would seriously consider staying here in DC (or throwing up my hands and herding sheep for a while somewhere). Like all of us, my hope was/is to start grad school this fall. It's discouraging to think about not entering a PhD program for another 2-3 years. Still some time left in this cycle, though, something could change. Anyway, thanks again, and don't let me put a stop to the conversation if you have something else to say. I'll take all the recommendations I can get.

I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on this, before admissions season comes to a close and everyone goes off to better things. While things aren't over yet, the worst case scenario for me this year is admission to one school, the University of Texas, with no funding. This is not bad, but also not great. I'm currently working as a research fellow at an NGO in Washington. This gig can go through the beginning of November, if I want it to. If I'm lucky, I might be able to get a job out of it, either at this organization or with a friendly one. So the dilemma is, should I take a guaranteed spot at a pretty good school (with no funding from the department), or work through my fellowship, try to get a job at the end of it and apply again with a few more credentials to my name? The downside is going through this process, with all its uncertainty, all over again (this is my second year applying). Plus there's no guarantee that I'll be able to land a job in November. A third option would be to apply for a masters and go that route, although that runs up against the money issue, as well as delaying the start of a PhD program by two years. So what do you think, either about my case specifically (UT vs. the Great Unknown) or the situation generally (decent school, no money vs. chance of a better school, funding next year)? If it matters, these are my stats: GPA: 3.92, University of Pittsburgh BPhil--honors research degree GRE: 800v, 660q, 5.5 Honors thesis published electronically by the University, two other minor publications. My current job involves some publishing in my own name, but not in academic journals Two university-wide fellowships, one national scholarship (not super prestigious), my current fellowship Study abroad in Moscow, decent Russian language Subfield: Comparative (democratization, post-communist political transitions) I appreciate any comments; perhaps others are in similar situations.

The UNC website says that around 15 students enroll in a typical year. Going from 15 to 6 is quite a crunch. I'm not at all offended if I don't get in under circumstances that desperate.