Learn619

I believe that Irvine will be making a big push upwards. There is definitely a positive vibe in the sociology world that good things are happening there. But, what do I know?!

So... Updates: Someone got an acceptance from CUNY! And it looks like UC-Davis is still making phone calls for admits, so for those of you who applied to Davis, it looks like there is hope!

According to last year’s posted results for Stanford, generally speaking, they rolled out acceptances throughout a five day period- between Feb 4(Sat.)-Feb 8(Wed.) So there is a chance all Stanford admits were not sent out yet. Be optimistic!

This link was great! Thanks for providing a great laugh in a very stressful time!

Indeed! This is something that a lot of GradCafe users here ponder... as we're sitting here, reading more and more messages and checking years'-past application decisions posted on here, gauging when we think we "should" be hearing back from our Universities... It's a noble idea to just ignore this website, and await your own results, but I suspect that, for most of us, the desire to lurk on these message boards will win out as Feb. 1 nears! Cheers!~

Wow, that is a really interesting story & career shift. Good for you. What exactly is the career trajectory you're looking for here? Do you want to be a "Diplomat", intelligence officer, policy analyst, etc? Also, given your lack of academic background in the Social Sciences (Pol. Sci, Int. Relations, Sociology, Economics) or even Humanities (History, Philosophy) you may want to try take some courses related to political/military history & affairs, international relations theory, policy studies, or any number of interesting disciplines. The field is incredibly broad, so there are numerous courses that can fit your intellectual interests for this area of study. These types of grad-programs do accept students without backgrounds in the aforementioned fields, but it certainly helps to have some recently taken, relevant classes prior to applying to these types of programs. Also, as an undergrad, did you happen to do well in the courses you presumably took in Politics/econ./etc.?

I am inclined to suggest Fletcher for you, if you want to pursue a career in academia. You will undoubtedly get a phenomenal opportunity to delve into a particular area of interest for your master’s thesis at Tufts, which can serve as a great 'writing sample' that PhD programs will require of you when applying. There's no doubt that you'd have opportunities to write substantive papers at any of the schools we're talking about, but a large-scale research paper completed at Tufts should be very helpful in developing your academic credentials.

Thanks for the info. Did they happen to mention, or did you get any indication as to how helpful their Sociology department or career services would be in helping you fill the void for that gap year? Perhaps trying to find a research position for you on campus, or something along those lines, otherwise the gap year proposes an awkward element of "what do I do/Where do I go for the next few months while I’m waiting to apply for PhD programs." From what I understand, similar 1 year programs (such as U Chicago's MAPSS) are pretty helpful in giving you relevant work to do in the gap year while you're waiting to apply, but who knows how truthful that actually is. That's just based off of what I've seen others on this board mention.

Have you contacted anyone at Brandeis-Sociology and asked what the "typical" MA student route is for this degree? I know sometimes in the 1 year social science degrees the departments encourage you to wait until the following year, prior to applying to PhD programs since your 'connections' with the faculty at the University will be in their nascent stages at the time you'd be applying to PhD's in your first (and only) year in the program. I would be very curious to know what Brandeis recommends here.

What would you be studying in your PhD? Political Science, Policy Studes, International Affairs, etc.? Also, what is the goal of the PhD? To go into Academia, a think tank, to move up ranks in a place of employment, etc.?

I would lean towards AU, particularly If location is at all an important factor for internships/employment. There are tons of people I've seen post on this forum who will tell you that "these agencies have people from all different schools and backgrounds", and I'm sure this is true, so either way your academic route seems solid. I think that overall, AU will simply give you a leg-up in the "getting your foot in the door" career route, and a major contributing factor there will be the fact that you have access to countless venues relevant to the US security-apparatus located there in DC.

Just for knowledge, what is your intended career trajectory, post -grad degree? Do you want to work for the US Gov't (security-related agencies?)

Is your American U concentration: US Foreign Policy? Also, will you be attending the 'regional' accepted-students conference for your respective program that AU is having in the upcoming week?

More decision emails are being sent out right now! Everybody check your inbox!

While I can't comment as to mentioning the FSO in the SoP (because I did not do it), I will agree with the premise that you've put forth with the different decisions from different programs/schools. Of the 3 (SAIS, Fletcher, SIPA) that you mentioned, Fletcher seems to lend itself best to the 'foreign service' type of aspiration/atmosphere. I'd say that SIPA is probably less so, and SAIS is somewhere inbetween Fletcher & SIPA on that spectrum. But then again.... what do I know?!

No, don't assume that! Based on the fact that your profile says you've been accepted to several other phenomenal IR programs, I'd say that there's still a great chance that SFS will accept you as well. They've assured their students that their is no rhyme or reason to their pattern of acceptance/rejection/waitlist releases, so we'll just have to take their word for that. Stay positive!

This is actually something that I've been wondering about as well, and was hoping to get some clarity on. I'm sure I've actually read the answers to this somewhere, and know that if I simply contact the school they could probably provide me with the required info, however I'm in 'grad cafe' mode right now, so I’d rather ask the question here! Hopkins SAIS states of its webpage: "Funding comes from federal, university, and private sources (such as corporations and foundations). Aid is awarded on an annual basis, and students must reapply for aid for their second year in accordance with stated deadlines and procedures. Recipients of SAIS fellowships in the first year may expect the same in the second year if they maintain satisfactory academic progress, have no failing or incomplete grades, continue to demonstrate financial need, and are full-time students. SAIS cannot be responsible for funding non-SAIS fellowships for the second year." What about students who were not offered SIAS funding/fellowships the first year (the application cycle right now.) Would such a person be able to go to a school (SIAS, to any other) their first year, incur 50K$ in debt, and then apply for merit-based/school funding for their second year? Or, do schools follow the premise that 'if we don't want to offer you merit based scholarships upon entrance, don't expect to be able to get one a second year either." It makes reference to those who already have obtained one for year-one, but what about those who did not obtain it their first year?

What is your intended field of concentration? That is an important factor here.

Don't Worry. Georgetown SFS stated that they are only 'beginning' to release their decisions as of the 15th, and it will continue until April 1st. Furthermore, they stated that the order of admission-notofications have no significance (debunking the theory of "acceptances are first the week, rejections are the second week, etc.") Check out the link: http://msfs.georgetown.edu/admissions/

Just out of curiosity, what exactly did you ask them? Was it something along the lines of "will more funding opportunities open up for those who have already been accepted in the weeks to come?" Basically following the assumption that as more people (who did receive funding) decline their offer, the department will then offer that money to applicants who initially received little-to-no funding.

Hi there ‘MTJ’, Your stats (GRE, GPA, etc.) appear to be phenomenal. I’m no expert on admissions, but I’ve researched quite a few of the programs that you intend to apply to and your ‘classifications’ of each program look to be quite accurate. Schools that are “quant heavy” such as Harris will probably appreciate your sound understanding of Econ, making you an ever more competitive applicant. A major factor in the decision process will surely be your (future) statements of purpose that you compose for these programs. This is especially true for individuals who want to prove that they are ready to take on an MPP program directly out of undergrad. As an overall applicant, for the “safeties, solids, & reach” schools, you appear to be quite qualified for all of them, and should be a very competitive candidate for admissions. Congratulations on your academic excellence thus far!

It is a Masters in Public Policy degree.

The value of such a letter would be quite small, if the individual could not speak strongly in favor of your skills, and any positive attributes that they knew you for while you worked for them. The LOR is nearly meaningless from a "big name", who can only speak in generalized terms about you, where if they replaced your name with "John Doe" in the letter, the letter description would remain exactly the same. The individual writing your LOR should feel comfortable writing you a strong letter, as detailed about your work/research/etc. as possible, to distinguish you from other worthy applicants. In other words, a LOR from an “important person” is no more or less valid than an average academic reference. It is all about what they say about you, not who they are. Also, congrats on the previous acceptances to several outstanding schools/programs! Your Quant-GRE score is superb!

Hi there, The GRE's are only one of the many important factors going into the admissions decision, however (in my opinion) they really are quite important. The GRE scores can be an important factor in showing that person-A, from a lesser known school, can "analyze and compute" on a quality level, on par with Person-B from a well known University. In direct relation to Denver, I know that they used to have "guaranteed scholarship" money for incoming students who had a certain GRE score, paired with a certain GPA level. This was as recently as a few months ago posted on their webpage, however I just went on their page a few days ago and could not locate it. They may have stopped doing this, or perhaps I just missed it. It is certainly something you could contact them about and ask, If you want a shot at decent funding from 'American', you'll need a high quality GRE score. You should head over to the "government affairs" section of this forum. That is where all of the American/GSPIA/Korbel type questions are talked about on a regular basis! Best of luck!

How long ago was your undergraduate degree obtained? Is there any chance that at least one professor remembers your work, that you contributed frequently in class, a paper that you composed, etc? If you mention in an email something specific the professor may remember about you, to spur the recolection of your performance as a student.