HarrisonWinslow
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Posts posted by HarrisonWinslow
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I'll be attending Toronto's collaborative MA in political theory and Jewish studies, funded.
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I wish I could really believe that WashU isn't done accepting...
(Does "sending out letters" mean good ol' snail-mail, or email?)
Anyone know what's going on with Colorado? Are they accepting, rejecting, waitlisting? I mean C'MON, I just want to know...
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So, what's the deal with JHU and Colorado? JHU needs to send out their decisions already! (Please, please, please...anyone know anything about anything out there on this here forum!?
) And, what's the deal wth Colorado? I haven't heard anything, and, when I called, the very nice graduate admissions assistant said that I "haven't been accepted yet." Is this an unoffical waitlist?--like the results board indicates, she said, there were a handful of admits already and they will be visiting, and that I "should expect to hear by April." What does it all mean!? 
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Good thread.
I am visiting:
UC-Davis (March 3-5) and;
Michigan State (March 28).
I'll see ya there AP!
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Also out at Minnesota. I am originally from there, so, kinda glad 'moving back home' is no longer an option (but, if you ask my mom that's *never* outta the question!). I will be waiting for the official rejection from JHU. But, aside from that, I am done!
It feels pretty good.
Anyone visiting UCD or MSU should PM me so it won't be awkward when we're all there!
Best of luck to everyone still waiting!
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What're the odds that tomorrow's a big day? 1:1, I'm hoping! Minnesota and JHU! After these two, I, thankfully, am done! (For the most part, that is...)
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No problem. Glad to be of help and yes, let's definitely hope for good news for all of us on Monday! I don't want to stray from the admissions results topic, but hopefully I'll see you Wednesday evening/Thursday morning at UC-Davis?
Most certainly.
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Unclear at this point about JHU. My understanding with Minnesota is that only a few individual applicants, all of whom were accepted, were notified for various reasons, either because they were offered a special fellowship or currenty attend the university as an undergraduate and thus have friendly relationships with professors on the admissions committee. These notifications, were all either earlier this week or before. The two posted for yesterday remain unclaimed and appear to me to be likely trolls just trying to mess with UMN applicants' heads. If you scroll back through posts from the last few days, it seems that UMN faculty/staff, along with some at other universities, are aware of the way that any decision (good or bad) has a very good chance of being posted on GradCafe and thus my theory is that, similar to UCSD and UT-Austin, UMN is going to send all of its decisions out on Monday, whether people are accepted, rejected or wait listed. We shall see, but I'm pretty sure that will be the case, as we know that everyone will be notified by Monday.
Thank you AP for keeping me up-to-date. I hope we all not only hear on Monday, but hear great news on Monday.
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So, for the sake of clarity, did Minnesota or Johns Hopkins notify en masse, or were those posted notifications yesterday isolated, individual notifications? (I know that it is AP's job to sound this horn, but, it has come down to crunch time for many of us...)
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On 2/25/2010 at 7:59 PM, interista said:
Yes, you will. I was rejected from the PhD program last year and admitted to the MA program. I declined due to lack of funding and reapplied this year.
Sorry this is about 3 months late
I apologize for the tardiness, too. But, I would suggest to the OP that he also include WUSTL and Chicago and maybe even the Rhetoric program at Berkeley, also UC-D has a couple great guys, and if you feel adventurous, Johns Hopkins (though, you may be at a disadvantage there!). I was once thinking about going to St. John's years back--great program. To the other poster a ways back, St. John's offers only a BA in Liberal Arts, but, for us non-great books schoolchildren, that's the same as a double in history of science/math and philosophy/literature/English.
So, good luck, if you have any questions, OP, please feel free to email/PM me.
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In at Michigan State! Goes to show ya, if you ask enough times on this here forum you're bound to hear sooner or later! Haha.
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I still haven't heard anything from Michigan State. Is anyone else still waiting on them, too?
Also, when/how does Baylor notify?
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Hey guys, I just wanted to start a thread for UC Davis. I am flying out there for their welcome weekend, so I was hoping to see who else was going as well. Also, because I only know about the theorists there, I was wondering if anyone else could point me in the right direction for UCD's strengths in the other subfields (if we decide to go there, we all have to choose at least two!).
Thanks, see you guys down there!
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So, if we haven't heard from Michigan State or Chicago yet, should we consider ourselves out? (I have been away from the forum for a couple of days [GASP!], so I am completely out of the loop--congrats to everyone everywehere, though!)
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If we haven't heard from MSU yet, should we count that as a rejection?
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I said nothing about GRE scores, but I guess you could equate those entirely different situations. I am simply saying that going to a top ten is not the only option available. I know many successful political scientists who went to schools that are lower ranked. I only wanted to share my personal experiences with the process. I also wanted to explain that (as someone else noted above) sometimes a higher ranked degree can have a stigma attached to it. I am in no way saying that this applies to all graduates of top tens, and it is certainly mitigated by a good record and a grounded attitude. To answer your question, having a pedigree will get you looked at. However, in many cases it takes more than that to land the job. Part of what I was trying to do is point out that there are a fair number of top ten graduates who end up worse off than some others. This is a double-edged sword as often times they refuse to apply to lower ranked places, and when they do they are often beat out by folks with better records. Many people do great from, and indeed many of the best academics almost always come from the top tens. I am not discouraging attending these places, but I just want to caution people that getting into grad school is only the beginning.
CPaige, I am not trying to generalize or attach something negative to all top ten programs/students. I can only speak for my own experiences. I have met many great people who attended top tens, including the advisor I mentioned above. I have also met many condescending people from these places, especially graduate students. If you think Yale is right for you, then go for it. I probably would have gone had they accepted me last year. I did not then, and still do not want to work there or any other Ivys for that matter. This is a personal choice and preference based on many things. I certainly am not indicating that they would be bad places to work, or that there is something wrong with the students.
I simply take issue with people trying to discourage others from getting a better education than they already have. Life is not all about jobs and money. My goal is to remain in an intellectually stimulating environment as long as I can. This can still happen without attending Harvard and teaching at Stanford. I appreciate the idea of making sure that people know what they are getting into, but frankly I find it insulting to assume that we all do not. I also find it troubling that some seem to suggest that somehow those who attend lower ranked programs and teach at direction schools are somehow inferior people. In the end, they did the best they could with the options they had available. Maybe I have been reading Pol Sci Job Rumors for too long...
I completely agree with you. And, as for my equating the two, I did it as a clarification measure (which logic you repeat). As someone who applied to only one reach in/near the USN&WR overall top 10--and the rest in the top 15-39--I am someone who had just started to become aware of the tensions and questions you raise. So, thank you very much.
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First, I would like to thank The Realist for sharing these thoughts on the process. ... So, go to your top tens, and go to your lower ranks. They all have their rewards and shortcomings. Just know that in the end, there is more to it than that.
I think we can all agree that Austin and Athens are better than Ann Arbor.
Just an observation. It seems as if you are equating a top program PhD in the throes of TT application pools to GRE scores in PhD application pools: you will definitely get your application looked at, but that's about it--you have to have something else, too. Is this a fair summation?
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In terms of your question about teaching something that you can't stand--it can be helpful to teach something you don't like just to be a more marketable job candidate. One of my profs teaches methods courses and she can't stand it, but her ability to teach methods is one of the main reasons she got a job at my institution (according to her). It may not be too bad, you would prob only have to teach an intro course and maybe an upper-level every few semesters, depending on where you end up and what your teaching/research requirements are.
Thanks guys for the replies. I meant this thread less for actual theorists, but more for all subfields. Any thoughts? Anyone out there planning on mixing their subfields? Actually, any programs with interesting subfields/interdisciplinary subfields?
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Hey guys, I thought I would just put this question out there: most of us, obviously, have chosen our intended major subfield of political science, but what are your guys' thoughts on a good combination of the other fields (because, you know, most programs require competency in at least two other fields)? What is most marketable now/in five or six years, do you think? Especially for us lowly theorists, what are we going to do? Theory/American? So at least we can get a job teaching US Government 101? Is marketability even a good strategy? What if you cannot even stand American politics? Would it be worth it in the long run to suck it up in the name of a (possible) job in a field you are probably not even good in anyway (I mean, c'mon!, theory can only make you better than everyone else--which doesn't necessarily mean employed)?
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If we haven't heard from Michigan State by now, should we consider ourselves rejected?
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I got the same e-mail. Really MN? That long?
I'm wondering if some people got a different version of this, as apparently some people got the "we need that letter because you are considered for a fellowship" versus "we need it". Which raises the question: if they already decided who was up for fellowships last month, why are the leading everyone else on?
I don't know; I only know that admission process is by no means rational or understandable. Also, the person who said that he/she got the "fellowship" email from the graduate division, but we got "missing letter" email from Judith. I'm guessing it's the same problem occuring in different stages, and in fact most people should be able to be nominated for fellowships, shouldn't they? Oh well, I'm just guessing.
Hey, I also got the mass email, and my "we need a letter for fellowship..." email was from Judith. So, I would say that they honestly haven't even really begun yet.
But, here's to good news for everyone!
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I know that UCD's is March 4-6th, and Texas' will be in late March, I believe. As for travel assistance, UCD said they would pay for everything. My guess is because it's all the way out there in California.
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Generally, departments are limited in the number of students they can nominate. So no, it's not likely that there are separate piles for admission and fellowship. More likely, fellowship nominees are selected from the pool of applicants the department is going to admit either way.
I hope what I'm saying makes sense.
I agree with rising_star. Essentially, your LOR-writer's absent-mindedness was a blessing in disguise, as it sounds like it prompted them to let you know earlier than the rest of us U on Minnesota applicants that you're at least admitted.
Thanks, guys! (I'll let you know what happens when it happens!)
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Hey guys, just a real quick question:
I received an email from Minnesota's grad assistant a month ago asking for a letter that hadn't come in yet because they said I was up for a "fellowship nomination." (Of course, I got on the ball so it was sent in ASAP.) But, my question is (and it never dawned on me until that email) are all of the applicants at big state schools lumped into two categories automatically, e.g., an admissions pile and a fellowship pile? My thought was that, since the university itself can give out funds (or, rather, that departments compete for additional university funds) it is quite possible that the department might just throw every app into that pile for consideration. Is this even remotely reasonable? I guess I was just wondering if others got the same email from Minnesota, too. And, if so, what they thought it meant.
Thanks.
PS I apologize if this is on the wrong thread, I wasn't sure if this warranted a whole new thread!
Advice from an actual PhD (redux)
in Political Science Forum
Posted
I think it is true that, at least, Toronto does well with theorists. I cannot say how well they have done recently (hopefully better than most other programs...) but it is known for being an extremely impressive theory department (coupled with the philosophy department, damn!). For theorists looking, I would suggest this website--it was incredibly helpful when writing SoPs--(if you don't know it already): www.politicaltheoryprograms.info
From here it seems Toronto places well in the North America--now, not like HYPetc.--but still well considering the state of theory. The list below illustrates that it is a great degree if you want to stay in Canada, but there is some movement in the US from Toronto (not R1 Unis, more SLACs):
Alberta, BC, UBC, Calgary, Carleton, Georgia State, McGill, Northern Illinois, Ottawa, TAMU, Toronto, UT Austin, WashU, York, AND this year, a Toronto ABD got a VAP at Bowdoin.
So, as always, go to the best program you can. But, unlike other sbfields, keep in mind that theory is less constrained by borders.