platosman

Appreciate you saying this. I had the best fit at Cornell and it's my top choice by far. So far all I've got is a wait list at Boston Univ so I'd take whatever I can get!

Congrats to those who got good news from Cornell! Anyone in the theory subfield hear anything? Any info is greatly appreciated!!

My best guess is if there's class it's business as usual and decisions are possible. If they're off Monday then it's probably quite unlikely anything would happen

Haha thank you!! That's probably a good call. I'm gonna go outside for a bit...Good luck to you as well!

Out of the Past 5 years Cornell has released on 2/14 twice, 2/16 twice, and 2/22 once, which was the 4th Monday of Feb if I recall right. So, I'm expecting odds are today or Friday ~80% and if not its gotta be Monday. Top choice for me if you couldn't tell lol

Did you check the portal? Should be a "View update" button. If nothing, the generic email which told me to check the portal said if you can't view your letter email gsas-admissions@columbia.edu with the subject "Missing Decision Letter" and include your app number from the portal and a kind, short message. Good luck! Btw I got rejected lol

It was a generic email to check the portal so if you've already checked there: "You may view the update by logging in to the online application here. In the “Status Update” section of your Application Status page, please click on “View Update.” A new browser window will appear with your decision letter. If you do not see the letter, contact us at gsas-admissions@columbia.edu with the subject line “Missing Decision Letter.” In the body of the email, please include your full name and your Applicant ID number." Maybe try emailing them if you still can't see a letter? Unrelated but I got rejected lol.

Based on past 3 years I'm betting they'll release acceptances on wed 2/14

Anybody else waiting on BU? Strange day considering past 4 years rejections have been sent exclusively on 2/2 and acceptances any time before.

Imagining how nice life was when decisions were mailed. Check the mailbox after the post man's been there. Not there? Well there's 0% chance it'll come before the next time the post man drives by! The possibility of a decision coming literally any time of day sucks

No it does not necessarily bode unwell for your prospects since interviews in polisci typically are reserved for candidates the committee is on the fence with. Usually they're used to double check that the student is fit for a PhD program whether it be academically or personally. To understand what I mean by "personally" take it from an (alleged) admissions counselor from reddit on r/gradadmissions u/pcwg: "Racist comments, sexist comments, drunk, dismissive, wearing shorts, at the beach, thought we were a different school, creepy, one dude hit on a grad student in an interview (forgot about that one). Stuff like that. There are also the not disasters but people who project insecurity and apprehension. That isn't a dig at those feelings, but a comment on how hard a PhD is and how those perceptions will give us a lot of pause about bringing you in." Other than the absurd cases the committees know what to look for in our applications and will admit/reject based entirely on that. They didn't interview you because they're confident in their ability to read who you are as a person and would be in a PhD program whether that be favorable or unfavorable. Also check out this tool: https://www.martindevaux.com/2020/11/political-science-phd-admission-decisions/ self reported so take it with a large grain of salt but yknow

Thank you so much for the advice! I definitely will shy away from mentioning it in my SOP. But are you saying that even if I don't check the "I'm willing to accept terminal MA" button they may offer a not/partially/fully funded MA? I'm worried that if I don't check it they won't consider it an option for my application. Thanks again! For clarification I'm pursuing grad degrees in political science I somehow forgot to mention that part!

Hi all. I'm applying to PhD programs (Columbia, NYU, CUNY, Cornell, Boston U, Northeastern) for the first time in a moon shot since I just graduated with a BA in philosophy, minor in political science from a SUNY. Like the title says, I'm willing to accept a terminal MA and pursue scholarships on my own. Northeastern says, along with many schools, that there is a button I can click to indicate this. Great. However, NE also indicates that I "may also include this in [my SOP]," has anyone tried this or would you recommend it? Can it hurt me if I do so? Seems like I'd have to go about it in just the right way in my SOP so as to not let it weaken my interest in the PhD but also demonstrate my interest in beginning grad school regardless of guarantees into a PhD program. Thanks!