whirlibird

Yay! First of all, thank you PoliSci27! Second of all, just wanted to say that I don't see anyone normal around here. I see a group of amazing, hardworking people who know what they want and are going after it. Not to lay it on too thick...I really do mean that sincerely. I think it goes for anyone applying for a PhD program, regardless of where. We're pursuing a ridiculous dream, and it's awesome. Sorry...didn't mean to get all touchy feely. I just felt like it needed saying. ...hm...the Force is strong with this one...I'll have to bring out the big puns... (get it? Big puns? Big guns? You're right; they lose all their punch when I explain them...)

To second the seconds and third the thirds, great idea, Ironheel! ! (Space included to make sure you know one of them is for your username and one of them is for emotion!) I admit that 7 of my 9 applications were to top 15 programs, but I'm waiting to hear back from UVA and am excited after hearing from UT today. Is it cool for the bird to whirl in here? It's where most of my favorite (friendly, funny) people are... And I think the observation that there's a huge selection bias is spot on. The uber obsessive ones come here. Oh rats...guess that means I'm one of them...though, let's be honest, guys, I come here to get excited about poli sci since I have no one around me in real life at the moment with whom to share the idiosyncracies of our discipline. Or anyone who understands jokes about whether we're being "realists" about our chances. Haha? Bad pun? iwouldpreferanonymity, I'm looking at you!

'Ello, boys and girls! I missed you yesterday while I was gallavanting where there was no internet access...had to catch up just now. Congratulations to everyone getting acceptances from UVA, OSU, UChicago, ND, and UT! I'm excited to claim one of the Austin admits myself. I concur with balthasar that good news makes this forum merry. The challenge is making it merry when we hear bad news...that's when I turn to pictures of cute baby animals and bad Harry Potter jokes.

Hey, well in, anxiousmike! You don't gotta be anxious no mo'! Serious congratulations, that's incredibly legit. And way to persevere; you're a model for all of us.

You can probably safely assume that if they want to get in touch with you, they'll manage by email. Or telegraph. Or cloned carrier pigeon.

Congrats to everybody hearing good things! As to rejections, it's still the beginning of the cycle, so no worries. Seconding CooCooCachoo's "chin up" encouragement. And...as to the Superbowl...I'm with edost. I was sleeping in my far away time zone, though I read some reviews of the commercials this morning. I wasn't really pulling for anyone, considering the Patriots knocked out Tebow (haters gonna hate) and the Giants kicked the 49ers, who are the pride of my father's Bay Area family (much to their detriment these last few years, but how about them Niners this year!).

All lurkers welcome. I was once a lurker, too. No less ridiculous back then...nowadays I'm simply ridiculous where people can see and judge me. Welcome to the party, guys!

Hey, thanks! You can enjoy our shenanigans until then, and hopefully you'll have a large dose of perspective and some levity about the whole process when it comes your turn!

I'm in the same boat with you (waiting for the funding correspondence from Duke). If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that the reason we haven't received anything further yet is probably the same reason why Duke hasn't sent out all of its acceptances/waitlists. The funding letter (and hopefully information about accepted students weekend, etc.) is supposed to come from the department itself, whereas decisions thus far have been officially from the grad school. The department may still be making decisions--I'm almost certain that they are--and I can see them waiting to send the funding notices until they have their lineup of first choices settled. I'm also pretty sure that Duke fully funds all of its PhD students...anyone want to correct me there? As for competitive offers, obviously you should look for a tuition waver, but that should be paired with a stipend that will allow you to live comfortably (everything you need, plus maybe a little wiggle room for things you want--any other opinions on this?) in the area. Calculate cost of living. $20,000 will be a much different sum in Palo Alto, CA than in Durham, NC, and you should evaluate offers accordingly. Consider what you'll spend for transportation to and from school a few times a year if you plan on going home for holidays. And are you being offered any money for summers? Travel? Research? Is this money coming to you in fellowship form or assistantship form? If your money is dependent upon you TAing, realize that it's going to cut into the time you can spend on your work, which could affect your time to degree. However, if it's all fellowship, are there opportunities for you to teach if you want to? Because the job market being brutal like it is, you're going to need teaching experience to be competitive outside of R1 schools. There's also implicit department money when it comes to traveling to conferences, etc. that, while not part of your official funding, will affect whether or not part of your stipend goes toward you doing the things you need to do to get ahead in the market. Would definitely love to hear everyone else's thoughts on this, though. It's an important question.

Seconded. We're a motley crew, but we're durn loyal!

I'm gonna second those Stanford and Berkeley peeps and add UNC based on your suspicions, wintergreen! Also, I'll put my chips (loving this ongoing metaphor already...seems so Vegas classy [oxymoron?]) on UCSD, because with nice weather they have no excuse to not just want to get outside already.

Perfect. Alliteration makes everything more impressive. As creator of February Fanatacism, you get an automatic bye to the next round.

It would be really awesome to have brackets for this process. Whoever is the best psychic wins a nice, fat stipend. It's March Madness a month early.

Secret Squirrel, "cautious" optimism would make sense, what with your inherently "secretive" nature. Thus, I will throw caution to the wind on your behalf and just be plain ole optimistic for you! SS (can I call you SS?) will conquer the admissions process this week, just you wait and see! Thanks for your consideration in feeding my habit!

Kids, I have missed hanging out with you this weekend. So much so that I have been reading the 2011 cycle and other old posts. Are we only friends when waiting for decisions? Don't we have some sort of awesome poli sci solidarity discussions we could have instead of this cold radio silence? That's just my way of saying, hope you guys had a great weekend and are PUMPED for this week of waiting! Whooo! No, but seriously, the weekend silence is deafening. You know...for the ears attached to my eyeballs that read all of your posts...

Aw, dude, that's pretty cool. I'm actually up on the Black Sea, but have a wonderful time in Istanbul and Central Asia! Are you doing research? I am all jealous of your travels.

Middle of nowhere in Turkey? Whereabouts? I'm in the area; that's why I ask. And congrats!

WHOO! Way to go, guys! Super congrats on the acceptances! Haha, now this means you're not allowed to freak out anymore, okay?

That's a very good way of explaining it. Well in. And thanks very much! Where all did you apply, again? Because I want to be your friend. This is not sarcasm.

That's not a bad theory; it's certainly a new variable. I'm sure each school has a bajillion apps to go through, too, since we're still seeing recession application numbers. Though why these things would affect the staggered way in which decisions are coming out, I don't know. Instead of rolling admissions, we're seeing rolling decisions! I would expect that there's just a lot of deliberation going on and they want to let candidates they're sure about know the decisions as they come...?

If grad school decisions are anything like the proverbial snowball, I'll bet alongside you. Is it just me, or do decisions thus far, in general, (perhaps with the exception of you Madison folks) seem to be coming in more sporadically than last year's stats might have predicted? Like trickles, not one big whoosh. There's just still so much uncertainty hovering about.

Thanks, everybody! I'm pulling for everyone else! Who wants to matriculate with peeps who aren't rated by how much caffeine they supposedly contain? Not me, I say! No, but, in all seriousness, we've got a sharp group, and I hope we all have great news to share (from multiple schools!) really soon. I need to go back to sleep now...past my bedtime in this time zone.