balledematch

Also would like to wish my congrats to the Madison folks! Great program and MadTown is great.

I'm feeling it too. I think good things are right on the doorstep...or that could be the 80s music just pumping me up

Congrats to everyone who heard good news today! I'm in the UK and vowed to not check OSU until I got back home at ~midnight....still in review (sigh). Glad to hear that so many among us are getting off to such a great start at so many great schools. I'm sure it really takes the pressure off. I hope to join you lot soon.

Congrats ^ 2 to those accepted yesterday! The one thing about this process is how the results just sort of trickle out for most schools. Beginning to sweat OSU

Thanks for the nice words, everyone...I'm with those of you who have promised friends and family (mostly my dad, really) that I would stop acting like a neurotic nutter the second I get into just one place. Hopefully it happens for all of us within the next 10 days or so! I'd give nearly anything to just hear some good news asap. Makes it difficult to concentrate on my master's lol oh well

Congrats to everyone who has received good news so far! I applied to OSU as well, so I was very interested in hearing about the acceptance already posted. All this action is just making me more and more anxious....second cycle and all....

+1

Lol yeah same here

CONGRATS to whoever that is! I know from previous years that aTm typically notifies around this time, so it's probably real

+1 It can't be that hard if literally every other school can figure it out. smh

I'd guess they probably go by subfield, but not sure

Congrats! Typically in years past, they've used the admit weekend as a sort of final round interview.

Thanks so much for this! I'm overseas, and haven't had the means to call them. I now feel much better, and can resume worrying about actually getting in somewhere. You, my friend, have earned my eternal gratitude. I owe you a beer.

I'm super annoyed with Columbia....just like last year, they say they haven't received my official GREs, even though I had them sent to the correct place in mid-October. To make matters worse, it's been a week and their admissions office still hasn't emailed me back. I sent them a screen shot of the confirmation that ETS sent the scores. I can't decide if this is worse or better than worrying about if I'm going to get in or not.

Welcome to the team!

i totally agree. #1 it would alleviate a lot of this agonizing waiting, because by now we would have most likely heard something about scheduling an interview with schools for which we were "in the running." #2 It would make the process less black box, and potentially eliminate some of the ambiguity involved with reducing ~200-500 (or what seems like infinite) applications to a smaller pool of likely candidates. However, as someone in the past on here said "interesting people don't make interesting academics." Also, I believe poli sci gets comparatively more applications than most other social science disciplines, so it would require a lot of work on the part of faculty. Finally, it seems like the only programs in poli sci that have done interviews in the past have been smaller programs with fewer applications (vandy, emory, etc.....but I think Yale is the outlier here since I believe they did some sort of skype interview last year. Not that I'd know from personal experience....sigh). Anyway, enough rambling. Happy Saturday!

Haha well my internet presence last cycle was quite depressing, unfortunately. Hoping to spread a little cheer and laughter (+ good results!) this time around. Also, I can't believe it's already January....unfortunately now I just jinxed it and these next 4 weeks or so will drag on foreeeeveer.

Third-ed (Is this a verb?)...I've read a lot of previous threads, and I'm pretty sure it's making me more anxious...especially considering this is my second cycle.

I hope it picks up too! Solidarity and moral support!

I did apply to a fairly large range. Was shut out last year, so like to think I really benefited from the "experience."

Hey Team, Just got all my apps sent in, and my rec's are all submitted. Big relief, but now just starting to worry about the results! Looking forward to good banter on here, and hopefully a lot of good news for everyone in a couple months!

Hey All, I'm back from a self-imposed GradCafe hiatus. Who else is excited to get this cycle rolling? I've been working on my SOP, completely rebuilding my research questions, and interests, as well as tailoring it to fit each school. In addition, I'm retaking the GRE next week in order to improve my quant score. It's been a busy summer, but after revisiting last year's results thread, I find myself perpetually inspired to improve on my horrendous last cycle, and hopefully walk away with a couple offers this time. Applying really does seem to be an exercise in experience, as well as drawing on the mistakes and advice of others. Last cycle's veterans have truly been a source of inspiration, in that they have proven that really smart people can get skunked, and come back and have a great next go-around. I'm looking forward to spending the 8 months or so hanging out virtually with you brilliant people!

Hey All, I'm back post-graduation relaxation time and starting to think about my 2nd cycle. When thinking about my profile, I'm most worried about my GRE score: 164V and 157Q. I'm an IR guy who isn't looking to do much quant, but I'm still worried about the scores. I come from a top 15 US university, and my letter writers say that I should apply to top 20 programs again, but I am pretty paranoid considering my shutout last year--I'm looking forward to LSE this fall, but would rather be starting a PhD. I know that all of this stuff can be a crapshoot, but I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Cairo Kid, Congrats on your acceptance! I'm glad to know that someone else is in the same boat. A year in London is never a bad thing (except for maybe the cost, and I'm hoping that it will bode well for a strong Fall 2013 application.

Hey Guys, I am excited to see that the F13 forum is already up and running. I applied to ten phd's for F12 and was unceremoniously rejected from each one. This goes without saying, but I am incredibly eager to begin applying for F13 (probably because I like to torture myself). This past cycle was a rude awakening for me because I was assured by members of my UG faculty (top 10 national university) that I would get in someplace, but didn't. I was naive in thinking that their assurances meant anything. This year, I am planning on focusing on my SOP and tailoring it specifically for each school, as well as applying to about 15, instead of 10. I am really looking forward to sharing this roller coaster ride with the rest of you, and I'm sure we will all be deciding between great programs this time next year! xoxo, balledematch