Tufnel

You must be super-quant. Did you apply to Stanford GSB?

I was required to do a thesis in order to graduate. It was pretty open, you could go in any direction methodologically as long as you could find an adviser that would support it. There was a length requirement, I think >60 pages. Apart from that, you could be a qually or a quant, step on disciplinary lines, etc. Some of the law school bound wrote papers that read more like something you'd find in a law journal than in JOP. They just made sure they could find an adviser, since the adviser was also the grader. Personally, I can't see why you wouldn't write it. If you want to go to graduate school, hopefully you enjoy doing research in political science and writing about your research. I understand the desire to use your time most efficiently but really, what's a better use your academic hours than conducting a serious research project? It's great practice and illuminates how much you actually enjoy political science. Assuming you don't apply the fall of your senior year, a senior thesis also provides a well-developed writing sample. Though it will be too long for most departments, you can take a selection from it. It should be more rigorous than that which you wrote for a seminar. While both the value of the writing sample and the experience provided by a thesis are uncertain, I think it's fair to say they matter at some schools. At least one explicitly states that the writing sample is the most important piece of the application and requests long works in particular.

Well, to be fair, there are a few. Some I like... - Stevie Ray Vaughan - seriously, SERIOUSLY, changed my musical direction in life. How I wish he were alive... - Janis Joplin - 13th Floor Elevators - Spoon - Explosions in the Sky - White Denim - Okkervil River A few of those are really old. And some might be wrong. It would be 10x easier to list bands from Brooklyn and even easier to list artists from places that birthed a movement (the number of important bands from Haight-Ashbury alone rivals most decent cities). NY, Chicago, LA... All undoubtedly produced more bands. But they are all difference cities with cool musical characters. No best. I get pissed when music becomes a pissing contest. I'm psyched that we have an eclectic bunch of music-playing, bread-baking, food-appreciating academics-to-be. I'm not sure if you're my people but you're more interesting than I anticipated. Anyone have huge coffee addiction problems? I can't cook a thing but I can brew some mean coffee. I roast my own beans and all that jazz. I bet someone here is a barista and shares my need for counseling.

Actually, you may have the trend reversed. From what I understand, research fit and expression of interests have always been the critical component of the application. The rest is sort of a "clear the bar" evaluation in which one hopefully demonstrates intellectual competence through GPA, GRE, etc. It seems that said bar has risen higher. You're still not getting in on the basis of numbers and never were, you only need better numbers to be considered seriously. Personally, I wish this were like law school applications - he with the greatest numbers wins. It'd be simple, like doing battle in a nerdy, abstract, GRE-centric way. Instead, we have to wrestle through faculty CVs to find a research fit, knowing all too well that the relevant faculty members may leave before applications are reviewed. I just want to take a test and be done with it. I'm not an adcom, so what do I know... ....I need to get away from this website....

Haha - that's awesome. I've never played with a box on my head. I vote for a grad cafe band. We have a guitarist and a bass player. Drums anyone? A banjo would be sweet. And a steel pan. And bagpipes. And an accordion. And backup singers/dancers, Britney Spears style. We'll be awesome.

No doubt nor disagreement here. Is that you in your avatar? Do you play? I can't exactly tell what's going on but the kit in the background suggests that it's a show.

The whole "music capital of the world" stuff is tiring. It sounds like plain 'ole annoying "everything is bigger in Texas" Texas. As a musician and music buff, Austin is great but so are New Orleans, Seattle, Nashville, and San Francisco, among others. LA and NY are great but it isn't really fair to include them given their population. Don't get me wrong... I think Stevie Ray Vaughan is the closest thing to god that I've ever encountered, that Eric Johnson has amazing guitar tone (and that he's one of the few, if not the only, personally interesting uber-technical guitarists), and that Focus Group is doing some really cool stuff. But different strokes, I say. Liberal music awesomeness erases thoughts of preferential superiority. You like thin crust, I like deep dish. I get too worked up about music.

Personally, this is a concern. I didn't apply to Berkeley but have an app outstanding at UCSD. If they make the right choice and admit us both, we'll have a grad cafe symposium about the degree of justifiable concern regarding California's present budgetary constraints. Frankly, I'd be looking for any excuse in defense of a few years in San Diego... How I love Mexican food...

I'm considering living in a housing co-op wherever I do my PhD. The advantages are rather obvious. Insta-community, generally receptive to lefty vegetarians, etc. And while it doesn't seem like they are much, if any, cheaper than an apartment, the ability to have a say in the governance of my housing unit is appealing. If anyone has any experience with co-ops, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I don't have any substantive questions, I'm fishing more than anything. What should I know about co-ops before jumping in? What disadvantages am I missing? Will it interfere with my work? Social life? I don't quite know what to expect.

Crossing my fingers man. Best of luck.

RWBG nailed it. http://en.wikipedia....ki/Nigel_Tufnel This calls for a digression. The sustain! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7rWiY5obI

I'm catching up on films, drinking lots of whiskey, running (not after imbibing - though that's always funny), and most importantly, playing lots of music.

I'm planning on it. I still need to see how scheduling and such plays itself out.

Also in at Wisconsin, notified by letter.

To add to the above, you don't have to be excellent to play an intramural sport. You don't even need to be good. Most universities offer many different sports, so you can play flag football (American football without the tackling), soccer, softball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, etc. The club sports teams are generally a little more competitive and require more commitment. I don't know anything about organized dancing teams or whatever but any decent city will have clubs and bars where you can dance. That's easy enough, find a friend that wants to go. Dance. Bars, and clubs to a lesser extent, are the cliche places to meet people in the states. The caliber of the people you meet varies significantly by the bar/club. I haven't started my PhD (will start this fall). Wherever I go, I will get plugged into the local music scene. I'll find some guys to play shows with, I'll do the occasional solo gig at a coffee shop or something, go to writer's nights, etc. But those are the things I always do, I will just be doing them in a new location and meeting people in the process. I also like to run so I'll probably join a running group somewhere (much more fun than running solo, in my opinion). My social circle has never consisted of similarly nerdy people. I've always been the bookish one. I like people with academic interests, I just get a lot of that during the day. Friends with a less academic persuasion help keep school in perspective.

These are largely expenses I won't incur. I definitely won't have costs to move my stuff (I try not to have much of anything) and I don't need more than a skillet in the kitchen. I don't "decorate" places I live, save with random free stuff I accumulate. The rent and meals are my only real concern. I'm thinking I can sell plasma or something for a few weeks or camp at a park.

Hope for Stanford is alive again... Ahh! I swear I'll never make it to September, I'll go down with a heart attack well before then.

I know I'm going to be way under the recommended amount, no matter the number. I'll probably be showing up with 2 suitcases, a packed hiking backpack, a computer bag, a few guitars and amps (no selling allowed), and maybe $600. It's going to be awesome, I know it. I'll sleep in my car, which I'm selling mid-summer. Oh wait... Is my Type B showing?

I will add to the reply above this post by saying that it's entirely possible and potentially beneficial to develop a life outside of your academic circle. I'm going to work hard but I will make time for a social life. Personally, my social life reinforces my work, just as exercise and sleep do. And I don't intend to spend all (or even most) of that time with my grad cohort. I need friends who are starving musicians and friends who spend their day trying to craft great latte art rather than political models. I plan to treat grad school as my job and correspondingly want some separation from people with whom I work. I want to meet people from other departments/schools and people outside the school. If you just get involved in the things you like, you'll make plenty of friends. If you like art, there will be groups and clubs that you can join filled with people with similar interests. The same goes for the symphony, hiking, whatever. I think it's fairly easy for Europeans to segue into a circle of friends, especially at places like universities (a bit more pluralistic). In general, it seems harder for non-Westerners because the cultural differences become more pronounced. That's all to say this: No need for anxiousness.

Then I think the results are fake. They didn't begin notification until the 10th last year, even later the year before. <br>

We've got an acceptance and a rejection from Columbia on the results page. I didn't apply but good luck to those who did.

Specific courses aside, a 3.7 isn't bad enough to preclude you at top places in and of itself. You're right around UCSD's avg. GPA. http://polisci.ucsd.edu/grad/prospective-students/admissions-statistics.html Note that your question is more or less unanswerable. For instance, if your writing sample is great, your LOR are strong, and your GRE is 1500+, I'd imagine it wouldn't make too much of a difference. On the other hand, given the choice between two identical applications, save performance in film courses, obviously the choice goes to the applicant with the higher grades. But all is never equal in applications. Additionally, we're all in the same boat as you, wondering if there is some flag in our app that we under-appreciated. This is the blind leading the blind. My advice: Take the GRE, do well, make sure your sample is solid, and apply widely. In my mind, your app (like all the others) is a black box. They are film courses. On one hand, film is relevant to maybe 1% of the discipline (tops) and thus one would imagine that your performance wouldn't be too relevant. On the other, they are film courses. How hard can film courses be? That's not intended to be a personal affront, only to propose a conceivable reaction on the part of those judging your app. I didn't really answer your question... The short answer... It's not a good thing but I don't think it is bad enough to preclude you from great schools.

You're bad for my recovery process. I was all out of hope and now you're rekindling it. I'm sick with nothing better to do than stare at my computer screen. For what it's worth (not much), the new admit could be from anywhere east of Europe. Best of luck. I'm hoping for some 11th hour magic for us both.

That's my gut feeling as well but, truth be told, we're all just guessing. I seriously have spent the last few hours at my computer staring at my email account. I got a spam email from "Norwich University" (what the heck?) but when it came in, I could only see the "University" in the heading. For about .4 seconds, I was ecstatic and thought it was from Stanford. Aye. Thanks. I developed an unhealthy fixation a strong interest in Stanford throughout the application process. This one will sting if I miss the cut.