Mnemonics2

Ok, I did hear some info on UVa. The acceptances (two or three of them I saw?) are the departmental nominations for the big fellowship. Those decisions are made/sent out before others in order to correspond to a university deadline. You can even actually see that pattern on previous years' results. My guess (pretty confident) is that decisions will happen/come out next week at this stage. Monday - Wednesday if it matches last year exactly. That single rejection is....questionable. Or someone was told they were incomplete. Thoughts?

Oh wait. Paden? He's at the Public Policy School at Mason, not with the Political Science department. So you applied to the PhD in Public Policy? Because relax, they won't be out for at least a month (slightly different field).

Nothing from GMU yet? And I think American comes out significantly later actually...but hey, think about what happens if you do grab American. They do amazing standard funding packages!

Fair enough. Still, I've been convinced it will be any day. I kind of want to call the program to ask what the deal is but... ....anyone willing to call?

I'm flipping still about UVa....what happened there??

Yup, mine is taunting me too. Nothing from C'ville or anywhere else too.

Congrats! And while I know that confirmation that it has started is a prelude to panic for some (please don't), I just want to say how methodologically happy this makes me (boo trolls)!

I'm inclined not to complain if that is the case. Gets it completely over with quickly.

Sheesh. Can anyone claim on here?

Go to the drop down menu labeled as your name in the top right. Settings > Signatures (on the left of Settings).

Actually, back to a question I asked before (if someone could help me get this one): what is meant by a soft wait list? Last year, I applied to two schools and didn't hear anything until late March. When I emailed the DGS's of both schools, I was told that I was on the soft waitlist (official notification of waitlists had already gone out to other people though) and that they were "cycling through offers." I'm obviously hoping that those two schools will let me get farther this year, but I'm still unclear as to what the "soft" part means.

I'd like to point out that a lot of the reported statistics for accepted people on the results board vary over a big range (the UCLA ones with gpa's between 3.4 and 4.0, for example). So there really is a lot of hope for people who genuinely have a good research fit with a school....even (maybe particularly!) if they don't have 4.0 undergrad scores from an Ivy and perfect GREs!

All....what exactly is a "soft" wait list?

Agreed. Safety schools don't really exist in a situation where we are talking about getting into places only where we have good fit. I have one safetyish school....but really that was defined more by having chatted with professors and knowing up front that it was within my ability to get in (stats-wise) and also a great fit. So not really at all safety in the traditional sense.

It's quiet out there...too quiet...

I did an MA in PS. It does definitely help show that you are capable of grad work and, depending on all the extras you do during (publications, research with faculty, etc.), can really boost you.

Just make a throwaway google account and upload it. Of course, everyone would have to do the same in order to see it...and then you open yourself to potential trolls...

Ok. That makes me feel pretty good actually. Thanks

How do we feel about 3 years of funding versus 5? Does that calculation change if the incoming student has an MA?

Haha, no no. Apologies, I'm not claiming that (thank goodness (for now)). That was incredulity...I mean, the only non-trolling thing I can think of is that someone called the department and was such a clear reject that they were told no (or that it was unlikely in the extreme).

A UVa rejection phone call...?

I did publish. For reasons of anonymity during this process though, I'll refrain from details just now. I can give people more of an idea if they PM me. Or general questions are cool.

I was rejected hands down from most feasible offers when I first went through this process. I had a horrific gpa (serious undergrad illness) and I'm sure from my SOP that I didn't get tagged as someone who knew precisely what they'd like to study. Honestly though, in the couple of years since I just buckled down and tried my hardest to get into the broader national security/international affairs field in other ways. I got an MA in polisci (highly recommend if you can afford it!), really started working with a couple of professors, got published a fair bit (everything from professional blogs and online magazines like FP to a few peer reviewed journals) and worked on defining my interests. I also broke through several traditionally difficult-to-breach barriers in terms of working in international affairs research by sucking up the crap parts of young professional life (internships, living frugally) and applying big on things that would help me get seen when I did reapply to programs (fellowships, young leader programs in the field, conferences, etc.). And now, applying again, I've got one in the bag and four more to hear from (not yet sending out letters). TDLR, A few years really can make all the difference - it can even wipe out a terrible or unrelated undergrad record, if you put in the time.

Surprising number of "Political Theory" admittance entries up on the board.

Yea, I guarantee a few do too. A few I've met in the past have said how informative it is to look after decisions are out (so they can try and gauge responses I guess?).