ep2175

...just wanted to throw another factor in the midst, in case anyone has any input / words of wisdom. i study the middle east, and a bit concerned that stanford can't offer me much on that. important? not important?

thanks all. very helpful advice across the board. i will be weeding through grad student dissertation topics this afternoon. as for the weather - i acknowledge the point and admit i would love to live it up in california for a few years. but that said - i'm from new york, so a connecticut winter is not going to kill me. plus - we east coasters just love to have something to complain about. don't really know what i'd do without it, at this point. AllFiredUp - fair enough. i'll try to get it together soon.

i'm turning down berkeley and ucla as of tomorrow. i had funding at both so best of luck to those of you on the waitlist - i hope you get a spot!

in need of some advice here. i'm studying ethnic politics & violence (focused on the middle east), and trying to decide between stanford and yale. at this point i have visited both schools, and liked both - though they are very, very different programs and departments. perhaps some of you can help me wade through the pros/cons of it all? part of the issue is that when i visited stanford, most of the faculty who i'd be working with was away (david laitin, lisa blaydes, jeremy weinstein) -- so i only have other peoples' opinions to go off of. when i visited yale, i met with almost everyone i have an interest in working with, including some leading political theorists (i found stanford a bit lacking in the realm of theory, but i might be wrong). people out there who know the program at stanford - what do you think? those who know yale - what do you think? some details that might help on the feedback front - i do not have a background in political science (i studied area studies), so at this point i am very open methodologically. i'm interested in learning the whole range of tools, but i just don't want to get stuck somewhere that is dogmatic about the discipline (which is what i've heard from some about stanford).

i'm having similar prioritization troubles. though, i think it's getting easier the more people i talk to at each school. i was offered roughly the same funding package at each school, so that's not weighing too much into the decision. not sure what your funding deals look like ... but putting aside for a second that variable: berkeley was a top choice of mine from the start, but then (after a series of conversations) i found that the professor i'd most likely be working with is very hard to deal with, and is taking her research in a new direction which does not align so well with my research interests. because of that, it's further down on the list. i'm still going to visit and am putting off a final decision until i've met face to face, but that's how i feel about it at the moment. on the other hand, stanford, which i had not really thought a good match initially (because it is so quantitatively-focused and my background is in qualitative) has become one of my 2 tops owing to my conversations with faculty & current grads. they've been able to more fully explain the way their program works, and the areas that they currently specialize in - which happen to align really well with what i want to do. i think the specifics help quite a bit here - what is your subfield? and your specific interests within that subfield? which school has the best people to work with on that? and which school has been doing the best job of placing people? for me, most other factors, important though they may be - location, etc - come after that. hope that helps a bit!

haha, i was just thinking the same thing - i'm on 122nd!

in the same boat as you ... still haven't heard from them. from what i understand, they send (or, rather sent out) their acceptances by email, but they send out all the rejections / wait list notifications by physical mail for whatever reason, hence the time lapse.

thanks for the info. i'm not too optimistic about getting in - and it doesn't really matter at this point, i suppose. i think i am just anxious to have the waiting process over.

great - will see you there i guess. speaking of columbia - they've notified all their admits by now, right? (haven't heard anything, and am assuming i should expect a rejection or waitlist notification?)

... never thought i'd get in either!!

still deciding... but it is at the top of the list. am definitely going to the admit weekend to check it out. anyone else in poli sci going?

thanks so much for the feedback and advice! very helpful information. i plan to visit both stanford and yale, so i guess we'll go from there.

yeah, definitely got that sense from chaudhry. as far as stanford goes ... seems to be a similar problem in terms of a dearth of ME people. lisa blaydes is apparently away until the 2010-2011 academic year. that said, there are some good people doing work on violence / ethnic conflict in the department - david laitin, jeremy weinstein, and jim fearon. laitin and weinstein are on sabbatical til fall 2009 though... overall i've been pleased with my interactions with them. they have been very helpful and communicative. however, i do think the department is particularly geared toward quantitative methods / formal modeling / game theory ... which is definitely not my thing.

who would have thought that getting in is as stressful as waiting to hear? regarding berkeley - what are your opinions so far? i've been in touch with chaudhry, but 1) she seemed really focused on political economy, and 2) she seemed like she might be the kind of person who forces her research interests on you. she is the only ME person in comparative. i've had a really nice interaction with ron hassner, but he is IR. otherwise, i guess i'll wait and see to meet them in person.

I am completely lost. I am trying to pick a department, balancing the need to find a strong comparative department with the need to find a department with good Middle East scholars. I am interested in social movements, violence, ethnic conflict, and democratization ... any advice? I'm having a hard time cutting through the hard-sell to figure out which departments will actually allow for a good balance between substantive research interests and regional research interests.