Helix

Harvard's PEG program is great for more applied stuff, but I think before you choose something like that you should have a very clear idea of exactly how much econ you want and what kind of position you're shooting for on the other side of your doctorate. PEG's cohorts are very small and admission is very competitive, and while you "get the best of both worlds" in some sense between government and econ, it involves you being shuttled between departments and schools during your tenure at Harvard, with residency in different departments at different times. In some ways this might be ideal for your research; in others, it might make it challenging for you to establish relationships with a broad array of professors who will help you land jobs in academia (on the other hand, if you want a policy-school or policy job, this could be totally fine). The PEG program, though, focuses a lot more on rigorous methods and theory (economic) than it does on any particular region, so if it's regionally-focused policy/governance you're after, I would say that you should at least consider other options. For folks at HKS, I would give Ryan Sheely a serious look; and maybe Calestous Juma if you're interested in *really* applied issues of policy related to development (e.g., technology and agriculture). I agree with all of balderdash's recommendations, but I'd also say that you might want to check out Catherine Boone at UT-Austin if you're interested in applying to a broader group of schools. Re: Blattman. He just announced that he's moving to Columbia on his blog. He did an MPA/ID at the Kennedy School (at Harvard) before doing a PhD in Econ at Berkeley--you might actually read some of his Q&A posts on his blog if you're trying to decide about programs ("how to get a PhD and still save the world" etc.) You should also consider whether you need a PhD to do the kind of research you're after, or if a master's would suffice if you're interested in a policy career.

The call was earlier this afternoon, around 1:30 or so.

UT March 1-2 UC Irvine March 1-3 UChicago March 8-9 UCLA March 8-10 Michigan March 15-17 Wisconsin March 22-24 WUSTL - Mar 23-24 Rochester March 25-27 Minnesota March 26 FSU March 29th-31st

I don't think this message is code, I think it's just an auto-accident. I also got this email on Tuesday even though I'd already gotten the acceptance call on Sunday, and then the confirmation email today of the full offer details. I'm not sure if they've already made all their offers, but it seems like it's not systematic by subfield either (I'm comparative and the other poster on here was theory if I remember correctly), so there might still be hope. That said, they've already started with the communications about the visit day and talking to faculty and grad students, so it's not clear how exactly that would work with additional phases of acceptances. I would suggest calling them on Tuesday if you haven't heard anything by then...

They're on Central time so in theory they still could send them out in the next half hour...

I second this. I'm also feeling a little neglected on the communications front from Madison and it's making me even more nervous waiting to hear back.

Relatedly, since we've had multiple suggestions on amusing ways to bide your time waiting for a ping in your inbox, does anyone have suggestions on quick ways to boost your ego and get a pick-me-up (aside from blaring "Eye of the Tiger" and doing your best Rocky impression, for those of us whiling away with no privacy in cubicles all day)?

Do you think the NRC survey-based measure captures the same thing as the "perception from within" for the USNWR rankings? I've been struck by what look like meaningfully sizable differences between the regression-based and survey-based NRC rankings. And I get that rankings are meaningless on the margin, and I get that the NRC rankings are "outdated" because the data is several years old, but in general I wonder if the perception of expertise > whatever "expertise" the regression-based measure supposedly captures.

Emory said that the final results would be out late this week or early next at the latest, so I would say sit tight--news is on its way.

Ditto on the Stanford rejection.

I'm as surprised as anyone--wasn't expecting that at all on a Sunday night...

Claiming a Minnesota acceptance. Weekends are officially no longer safe.

In the interest of keeping hope alive on Yale, did anyone who got an interview want to share their subfields? I'm thinking that interview scheduling probably depends on faculty availability so it might not be the end, just the ones whose interviewer has timing constraints? (cue naive optimism)

So to echo tergellian, does this mean that none of us are in the running? I haven't seen any posts on the board about being contacted for an interview, and it seems like it's starting to get to that point in February where it would be late to only just begin contacting students about that before making decisions, right? Certainly if it's mandated they may have no choice, but it strikes me that if the interviews pushed back the schedule of releasing decisions noticeably they might lose some of their top picks to other schools who notified sooner/had visit weekends sooner/etc. Also I think that the use of "this year" in that article is ambiguous (here's me being hopeful and optimistic)--I'd like to believe it could also mean in the application cycle that begins in the fall, they will be required to include interviews in the process. But I realize that flies in the face of the numbers at the end of the article, which make it sound like it's definitely *this* cycle where they'll be introduced.

Claiming one of the UT-Austin acceptances.

I'm in the same boat--there are a few that could make me decline Madison, but also Stanford seems like a good bellwether for determine if/where I might get offers in the next few weeks. I applied all over after getting burned last year so I'm grateful to have an acceptance under my belt, but the waiting is painful nonetheless. That said, I'm not sure if offers would come today. Seems like from the last couple years, they send out offers ~3.5 weeks after the start of the quarter, and since (as someone remarked earlier) their quarter started a week late this year, I'm wondering if we won't get put off til next week...

@jasonmonty: I think those tabs on the MyUT thing are new since when we submitted applications (I just realized I hadn't checked my status since November...), but I don't think they necessarily mean anything. It makes more sense that it would be a system-wide thing once some programs have started admitting applicants, and it seems that some other departments have started sending notifications. @tanjaoui: UofC started sending out notifications last year on Valentine's Day. Very fortuitous for some. For others, not so much. I'm CP also.

You might be able to find a more concrete answer by re-reading last year's results thread, but my recollection of those Columbia posts was that the early ones were trolls. Not sure though.

I didn't get the UW Madison email--what gives? When was it sent?

It seems that several schools are doing that this year. I'm not sure what to do with it--whether I should submit something that's entirely too long for adcomms to reasonably consume (60-100 pages) with an outline or table of contents for them to refer to, or submit one of my shortened samples that's closer to average length (20-40 pages) but doesn't include everything from the original paper. It feels like a test of my judgement in addition to my writing...

Does anyone know how long the writing sample for Yale is supposed to be? I had in my notes that they didn't require one (maybe this was the case in past years?), but now I see that their FAQ says they do. I've scoured the graduate bulletin but can't find any hint of the length they're looking for. I called the department but no answer yet...

So, looking for some advice or commiseration. I'm still making final tweaks to some of my application materials but am basically done, and 2 of my recommenders are awesome and submitted their letters a month or a month and a half ago. One of my recommenders, however, has yet to submit anything, and the first deadline is coming up on Thursday. I emailed them yesterday and resent letter reminders, but so far haven't gotten a response. I'm more than a little nervous, but also don't want to be obnoxious with emails and phone calls--any thoughts on what to do? Anyone else in the same boat?

Between you and the other folks who have finished already, I'd love to know how you are able to recognize the diminishing marginal returns to additional edits (or in my case, obsessing over the SoP and whether or not my writing sample communicates anything) and just turn it in already. I almost can't wait to just be "waiting it out."

Are you more interested in the policy angle of things or did you want programs with just an especially strong focus on security? If it's the former, I would check out the Rand Graduate School; if it's the latter, maybe also consider looking into Columbia. SIPA has a security focus for their master's and doesn't have a PhD program in policy, but their department (to my understanding) has several strong folks working on security related issues, and you could also easily draw from the SIPA crew.

My understanding is that there are two ways that fit with faculty (or the broader resources at the school--does your current school have a great Near East Lang & Lit department to lean on? or folks in the history or anthro programs with regional expertise?) makes a big difference. The first, and most immediately important, is their ability to guide you as you pursue your dissertation research. It doesn't necessarily matter that they don't study your region as long as you have substantive interests in common with them for this, I think. So if you wanted to study Middle East language policy through comparative historical analysis and all they have are folks who do formal theory comparing the U.S. and Canada's electoral systems, you could be in trouble. The second way, which I think is important in the long run, is their ability to guide you into a research/faculty job after you graduate. If where you would want to transfer they have folks who work on what you like, but are all junior faculty and their placement record is blah, but the folks at your current program are more well-known at least in the field (again, assuming they have any expertise you can draw on at all to muddle through the dissertation process) you might be ok just where you are. Just my two cents from a not-yet-admitted point of view.