sorashinobi
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Posts posted by sorashinobi
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For the second time (it happened last year) I got two rejection emails from UCSD. I get the message UCSD!
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Just to add my two cents, I did my undergrad thesis on British politics at Michigan and it took me a while to find an adviser and second reader who had more than a cursory knowledge of the British system. If I were doing something on the US or developing world, it would have been much easier.
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Applied to Princeton, NYU, and Yale. Haven't heard anything from any of them. I hope that means I'm not out of the running for all three.
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This is pretty surprising. Umich is a great school though, so I hope you're not too worried about it. This ends my lingering pipe-dream that I might have made their waitlist.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that's kind of odd. Michigan and UCLA were my top two, so I am a happy girl regardless.
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On the waitlist for Rochester.
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They didn't mention that, unfortunately. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough; my expectation is that at least a few people from this board will hear from them. With a umich acceptance, I have a feeling you'll be a good indicator, actually! Best of luck.
Thanks! I'll post anything if I hear from them. I am in the UK for the year though, so if it's by post, I'll probably be one of the last to know. Good luck all!
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I e-mailed Rochester, and they said the committee has met, and they'll be making offers very shortly. I would expect by the end of this week.
Did the say how they would be notifying people?
On a separate note, I have a presentation tomorrow and have been working on it for the past 5 hours most unsuccessfully because I keep checking this site and UCSD's application page.
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Lurking here for a while, just thought I'd jump in to answer this (and the others like it). Look. It's chance. Luck. Whim. Whatever you want to call it. Maybe half the apps go out the window immediately because the person can't cut it, but the rest of the stack is filled with perfectly capable candidates. At some point, it comes down to "fit," which can mean anything from your project fits with longstanding faculty interests, your project happens to fit with something that a faculty member just started researching in the last month and that neither you nor any of the other applicants have any way of knowing even exists as an interest in the department, they happen to like whatever little bit of personality shines through on your app, or they think that you will happen to mesh well with some of the other applicants they are considering. Maybe you wrote a letter to one of the profs that made them laugh. It could be that the perfect fit you applied to based on faculty X is not actually a good fit because faculty X just turned in her retirement bid last week, something which you would have had no way of knowing. Perhaps you wanted to work with Y because you like his work, but it turns out that he secretly detests Hannah Arendt, whom you have mentioned as your hero. Perhaps the professor whose work you love the most doesn't actually take on grad students, or perhaps they do but they are the giantest douche in the history of douches and only take on the blonde lady types for their students.
I don't mean to rant. I'm just trying to make it clear -- a huge amount of this has NOTHING to do with our abilities. Because of the economy, there are twice as many applicants and half as many spots, and so a process that has always been dicey at best is all the more so. Being rejected is not an ontological statement about our failures as human beings. Seriously. I cannot wait to go to a PhD, and I love academia, but this is one of the most toxic streams of bullshit that it feeds us. You are not a failure if you don't get in. You are not a failure if you get in and then don't get a professorship at an R-1 before you've even finished your diss.
It would really help if we could do away with the conviction that this is strictly based on reputation and ranking, and that those things are the most important in the process.
I agree with you that a lot of the acceptance process is hugely influenced by intangible factors that we have little or no control over. And I also agree that simply being rejected in no way means that you are a failure (as someone who got rejected from all of the 5 PhD programs I applied to last year). However, I hope that the "it's mostly luck" mentality in no way diminishes the accomplishment that the people who were lucky enough to get in feel. They had to work damn hard and pure luck is not enough to get you in.
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Finally out of the UCLA limbo! I got in, but on the wait list for funding so I suppose that's another limbo though.
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I still haven't heard one way or the other from WashU. Anyone else in limbo? I feel like I'm being kept in a "just in case" pile or something. Either that or my file fell in-between the printer and Professor Schofield's desk.
I haven't heard anything. They sent an email saying the expected decisions by the end of the month.
Also, I am stuck in UCLA limbo. Haven't heard anything one way or the other. I am assuming that I am rejected but I would still like to know.
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Given that it is 10:30 where I am I have early class tomorrow I am now faced with the dilemma of staring at my inbox for my Chicago rejection or attempting to go to sleep.
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I am doing my Master's right now at the LSE and I have to tell you that I found my undergraduate thesis absolutely indispensable. What I tell people who ask is if you don't plan on going past your BA, don't bother, but if you do, it is an absolute must. Not only does it get you a great relationship with a professor who knows your work (a great source for letters of rec). Also, it is a great way to get research experience in an environment where you're not expected to really know how to do it. At LSE they give you next to no guidance (won't even read chapters or drafts). Lastly, it gives you the opportunity for publication. I am convinced one of the reasons I got into PhD programs this year is because of my thesis winning awards and getting published.
Bottom line, do it if you want to keep going with your education. The worst you have to lose is some sleep.
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I got rejected from Michigan by email last week and am wondering how many people actually got in.
GradCafe Results are showing a few admits to Ann Arbor....Wondering if you can share any inside info on how selective they are, or whether they already formed a waiting list?
Michigan was pretty much my dream school, and I'm just neurotically clinging on to any possible hope, or at least an explanation of how tough it was to get in this year. Thanks for indulging.
I went there for undergraduate and still got rejected last year. I finished my honors thesis and went away to LSE for a Masters degree before being accepted this year. My understanding is that they get somewhere around 400 applications for 35- 40 spots.
Out of curiosity, what was your subfield?
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Hey folks,
[Edit. Sorry for the typo on the heading. I hastily wrote it, and it should have said "Interview OR Withdraw"]
I have a bit of a dilemma and would love to hear any opinions on the matter. So, I applied to six Ph.D programs. For clarity sake, let's say A, B, C, D, E, and F.
A,B,C, and D were schools that I really wanted to attend if accepted. So far, I have received one acceptance and am on the wait-list for another (and was told by a faculty that I am in a very good position on that wait-list).
E and F were schools (for mostly reasons of fit) that I figured that if they were my only acceptances, I would visit first and then make a decision as to accept or to go into a terminal MA program and try next year with A,B,C, and D.
Or simply put, A,B,C,D > E, F
Now, School E has contacted me for an interview. What would be the best (for me) and the most polite thing to do?
1) Is it better that I do the interview as I do any other interview, as I might find myself really liking the program after visiting? (I find the chances of this, however, very unlikely).
2) Is it more polite to simply decline the interview and withdraw my application and spare everyone involved the hassle?
3) Or should I do the interview for formality sake, but do mention that I've been accepted elsewhere?
My personal opinion would be to go interview anyways, and don't offer up the information that you have been accepted elsewhere unless explicitly asked. It's always good to keep options open and it might be helpful when negotiating funding with your first choice to be able to say you have an offer elsewhere.
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Thanks! I am so nervous waiting for replies that my ability to find the bleeding obvious threads seems to have diminished.
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I am out of the country for the year and it appears that most of the schools aren't going to cover even half the cost of an international flight. I feel like I am at a huge disadvantage because i am not going to get the benefit of learning from other people's questions and also not getting to talk face to face, especially about financial matters.
So...
1) What questions would you ask professors/ administrators/ grad students?
2) Any tips on dealing with financial negotiations over the phone?
Thanks!
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I took the "carpet bombing approach" and applied to 13 programs: UCLA, UCSD, Michigan, NYU, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Penn State, Rochester, Chicago, and University of Washington.
I've heard back from Stanford, Michigan, and Penn State and am still waiting on the others. Anyone know if there are schools that don't notify first by email? I am in London for the year so it can take FOREVER for mail to get here from the states.
I just want to get put out of my misery and know already!
Political Science - Fall 2011 Cycle
in Political Science Forum
Posted
Is anyone still in Chicago Limbo? I haven't heard anything yet, so I am assuming it's a rejection.