expatbayern

Just got a follow-up from an administrator at UCSD about the visit weekend (3/10-11) that didn't have recipients addresses hidden. There were 54 addresses in the to: field (and no I won't reveal any of them...), which to me probably means if you're not among them, you're not in (though I don't know what they do in the way of a waitlist...). Sorry if that bursts any bubbles (and maybe I'm wrong), but I figure I'd rather know all the information than be kept waiting.

Sorry, I had to tell my wife, who is currently out of town, before I revealed it to a bunch of anonymous strangers on the internet... I received near-simultaneous emails about an hour ago from Peter Rosendorff at NYU (adcomm chair, actually sent via an administrator) and Lawrence Broz at UCSD (DGS). Someone else asked about fields, I think--I do IR (strong IPE/institutions focus)/Methods (have formal background, looking to tech up more in quant).

I got a call from U Washington this evening too, but I got the idea they were just trying to see if I really had any interest in the program before they make their decisions (which is supposed to be a couple of weeks).

Apply pretty broadly--admissions are pretty random, and one school may find something they really like in your application that puts you over the top while others (even ones that are generally lower-ranked or less selective) don't. The little-known school can hurt, less because of the degree than because committees may largely disregard your LORs if they haven't heard of the recommenders and are unable to trust their evaluations (if you're coming in from a larger or better-known school and a recommender says you're top 5%, they know what that means, but they may not be able to judge what the top 5% at your institution means)--this obviously isn't the case at top-ranked big-name SLACs, but if you're at a lower-tier regional LAC that hasn't sent a lot of students to top programs in your field, it's hard to evaluate your record. Cautionary tale: I was in a similar situation out of undergrad--little-known LAC, strong LORs but from relatively unknown professors. Here were my stats: GPA: 3.89 (undergrad majors in International Affairs and German, significant Econ coursework) GRE: 800Q, 720V, 5.5W I applied to just 4 places (all top-10), partly because I wasn't really certain what I wanted to do yet (which probably means my SOP wasn't very strong), and didn't get in anywhere. I've since done an MA at a top-10 place, got all new LORs (two from relatively big-name people), and have a much stronger SOP (as well as a solid writing sample in my MA thesis). It's certainly something to consider if you have difficulty getting into the top places.

Hmm... Mine still says the grad school is reviewing my file. Weird that I was the first here to hear back from the department (I think) but taking longer for the grad school to confirm. Oh well, I can't really imagine anything in my file that might cause concern at the grad school level.

You really need to put some work into creating a file for your recommenders to work off of, particularly if it's been a while since they've seen your work or have only seen it second-hand. Here's an excellent resource for what to include: http://www.charleslipson.com/Getting-a-good-recommendation.htm (Charles Lipson is a political scientist, but the info is pretty general as far as field). If there are other students you worked with in the lab who still work for this professor (particularly grad students who supervised you), ask her to discuss your work with them. Same goes for others--if you've taken a large course from a professor and did well in it, but they don't know you well personally, ask them to talk with your TA from the class who might be better able to evaluate you. Most professors will incorporate this sort of information into the recommendation.

This looks like pretty much what I'd be expecting. I was spoiled by the Rochester news coming two weeks earlier than it had in previous years--I keep telling myself "well, if they did, other places could be ahead of schedule as well..."

Interesting. Mine has gone to: "Your department has recommended you for admission. The Graduate School will be reviewing your file. Please refer to this page for updates."

Still reads "Your application has been received and is under review. Please refer to this page for updates." The letter from the DGS states that I have been recommended for admission and the grad school will contact me when my admission is finalized. I would expect that the status will not change for anyone until that happens.

For those who are wondering about UVA, a post on poliscijobrumors says they've started notifying.

I submitted my Yale app on 12/14 and was rejected today. It may be that the grad school is still going through and uploading results in batches, or they may still be deciding on the borderline cases. Given the prevalence of rejections among those who have heard back, I would say to stay positive and think of no news as good news at this point.

Congrats to the Yale admit. I was not so lucky, but I had already decided I was a pretty bad fit there, so I'm not too broken up about it.

If I know I'm in at one or more top choices before the campus visit days of some safety schools that have offered to fly me out, would it be unethical to go on the visit while knowing in the back of my head that the chance of my attending there is slim to none? All of the schools I applied to have professors I'd like to meet/network with, and for some it would be nice to see a new city or visit friends in those programs--but I might feel like I was stringing a school along in order to get a free trip.

Same.

That's word-for-word what mine said. It seems to be the form letter that went out to all the admits.

Did everyone hear the same thing in terms of fellowships from OSU (won't get details until mid-March), or did some people get more specific funding info?

My status at my.wisc.edu is also still Pending, and if I click through it reads "Your application has been received and is under review. Please refer to this page for updates." I'm guessing this is because of what the letter says about just being recommended for admission by the department and the grad school needing to finalize my admission. So don't take the lack of an online update as a bad sign.

Just got a letter from DGS at Madison (small envelope) dated 2/2. Department has recommended me for admission. Excerpt: "The Graduate School will be notifying you once your admission has been finalized. I will also be providing you with more details of your funding package. For now rest assured that you are guaranteed full tuition, a stipend, and inexpensive health care coverage for at least five years as you make normal progress through the program." Visit dates are 3/26-27. So if you applied here, go check those mailboxes! Of course, mail may take a couple days longer to get to non-Midwestern locations...

I would love to see some more updated info, too. It looks like there are lots of places near campus that one could buy a fairly decent house for sub-$100,000 (which means mortgage payments below what I pay in rent for a 1-bedroom now...). Any current students who own/have friends who do? What are pluses/minuses of 19th Ward, South Wedge, Park Ave, other areas? If I wanted to hold a house for longer than 5 years and to rent it out to students after I left PhD program, would that be pretty easy to do?

Well, you have to hope the time, effort, money into applications pays off in the long run. In utility, of course, not in dollars. I hope none of us are thinking of PhD applications as a rational move in terms of dollars... :wink:

Rochester! That was not what I was expecting when I got the Unknown number phone call this morning. I had gotten myself in a frame of mind where I was certain the first three I'd hear back from were OSU, Madison, and Yale, all of which are second-tier schools for me. Turns out my first decision was from Rochester, which is a top choice, and when I told the guy on the phone that they were the first I'd heard back from, he said "I'm sure you'll be hearing back from lots of others--you've got a great file, and we're excited about competing for you." It's so incredibly validating, relieving, etc., because I was pretty certain I had the stats to get into at least one of my top choices, but these past weeks, I just kept thinking, "what happens if I don't get in anywhere, or just into one or two places I don't really want to go (even though I applied as safeties)?" Not trying to brag/show up people who haven't received acceptances yet--I hope everyone has this same wonderful experience of knowing "well, I don't have to worry anymore, because even if everyone else rejects me, I'm going to a great program where I can succeed." And for the folks who have been waitlisted/rejected at places that aren't your top choices, remember that your top choices are your top choices because of fit, and they'll recognize that too--like me with Rochester, I'm a modeler, so I'm excited about them and they're excited about me, but that doesn't guarantee I'll get in at lower-ranked programs where I'm not as good of a fit. Sorry for the huge rant, I'm just shaking with excitement.

A couple of years ago (basically straight out of undergrad), I applied to just four places (all top 5-10) because I wasn't able to take the time to really figure out where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, etc. Didn't get in anywhere, but referred to CIR at Chicago, did that, and this time around I think I'm a lot stronger candidate in terms of knowing what I want to study and picking programs where I could successfully do that.

At some point between 10am and 1pm Central, my status at OSU went from Evaluation to Academic Review. I'm crossing my fingers that this means the department has recommended me for an admit and it just has to go through the grad school, but who knows?