shavasana

Hey all! My cycle isn't actually done, but close enough to done for me to at least post this before I forget. I included my SOP from one school, but the school name is removed.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 15
Major(s)/Minor(s): Journalism, Political Science
Undergrad GPA: 3.778/4.000
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 750Q 720V 5.0W
Any Special Courses: Graduate seminars in IR Theory, Media and Communication
Letters of Recommendation: Tenured IR professor, Tenure-track IR/Security asst. professor, Tenured ME History prof (Tel Aviv Uni)
Research Experience: Senior honors thesis
Teaching Experience: none
Subfield/Research Interests: IR Theory, Security Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Media and Public Opinion
 
RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): Stanford ($$), Chicago ($$), Yale ($$)
Waitlists: Duke
Rejections: Columbia, WashU
Pending: Harvard, Georgetown
Going to: No Idea Yet
My commitment to [insert school here] doctoral program is due to both its strength in my research interests as well as its reputation in the academic community. I am most interested in media and international relations with an emphasis on transnational security issues. I hope to continue to delve deeper into how media influences the international structure and security policies of individual states during my time at [insert school here].
My academic concentration in both Journalism and Political Science have thoroughly prepared me to conduct research in Middle Eastern media. My primary major gave me practical and real experience in how media is created and excellent interview skills which will help greatly in future research. And my major in Political Science allowed me to explore many aspects of the discipline through both breadth classes and seminars. As an undergraduate, my interest in international relations was solidified during a graduate seminar on International Relations Theory with Professor X. My seminar papers focused on issues of norms and international security dilemmas from the perspective of less powerful states and what consequences decisions of these states have on the international structure and Great Power decision making.
A seminar with Professor Y deepened my knowledge of public opinion and media literature as well as methodology. Although the seminar was focused on American politics, I was encouraged to explore my interest in non-Western media for my seminar paper. The paper focused on the used of private security companies in current conflicts in the Middle East, and I am currently editing the paper for potential publication in a scholarly journal.
My senior honors thesis, supervised by Professor Z, focused on Middle Eastern public opinion of the American use of private security companies in the Iraq war. I was able to analyze media discourse about similar incidents of violence against civilians committed by American military forces and private security contractors in 2007 using sources in both English and Arabic. I concluded that Middle Eastern media sources create a narrative of abuse against Iraqi civilians by private military contractors. This lies in contrast to coverage of instances of violence against civilians committed by American soldiers, which are treated as isolated incidents. My paper suggests that the extensive use of private contractors, therefore, undermines the American counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq. The paper was nominated for High Honors in my department and the work was supported by an Undergraduate Research Grant from Q University.
My language skills make me a rare candidate for a political science program. In addition to bi-lingual research for my thesis, I have undertaken extensive language preparation in Persian (Farsi). Four years of Modern Standard Arabic and three years of Classical Persian at Q University were supplemented with in-country language experience in both Jordan and Tajikistan. My travels have allowed me to gain not only reading and writing ability in my target languages, but an ability to communicate orally which will be an asset in my current field work. My study of Persian was supported by a Critical Language Scholarship from the Council of Overseas American Research Centers.
During my final quarter of coursework, I plan to strengthen knowledge and skills in preparation for [insert school here]’s doctoral program. I will participate in a graduate seminar with Professor Will Reno on conflict and international development and strengthen my skills in quantitative analysis through a course centered on learned the statistical package R. My course load will also include a class giving an overview of the American magazine industry to prepare me for work experience in the spring.
During spring 2012 I will gain real world knowledge that will serve as the beginning of field work training for my eventual doctoral dissertation. As an editorial intern at Qatar Today, a leading business and political publication in Doha, I will gain first-hand knowledge of the process of media formation in the Middle East. The location and nature of my work will allow me to form professional connections that may assist me in further scholarly work.
My primary research interest is in Middle Eastern media and public opinion regarding transnational security issues. I am also interested in how the interplay of public opinion and media affects state decision making in the region and the international community as a whole. Specifically, I would like to investigate the changing nature of the media environment in the Middle East and what relationship this has to security polities implemented by the United States and regional actors such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. A few scholars have examined the rise of media giants such as Al-Jazeera, but because of the recent genesis of a relatively free press in the region little work has been published about the intersection of media and public opinion in the Middle East. I aim to adapt current methods of media and public opinion analysis used to study Western media to more fully understand the changing face and influence of media in this strategically important region.
In addition to my academic interests, I am deeply involved on campus. During my tenure as managing editor of Northwestern’s campus magazine, it was named the Best Student Magazine in American by the Society of Professional Journalists. My interest in politics and media overlapped when I helped to found weekly publication Politics & Policy which provided undergraduate students an opportunity to provide commentary on political phenomena and engage in in-depth research on topics ranging from defense procurement to Latin American economic policy. I also served as Captain of the women’s rugby team, which strengthened my teaching and coaching skills over four years.
My commitment to both teaching and research have deeply informed my choice of a doctoral program. Both my experience tutoring fellow students in language as well as coaching have affirmed my desire to become a professor. My previous coursework and work experience have uniquely qualified me to continue my studies of Middle Eastern media and the effect it has on state decision making. I look forward to continuing my work and education at [insert school here].

Hey guys! Let's be supportive. If people can't ask honest questions they have here, where can they? No need to call people "spoiled" or a "brat" for wondering.

Thank you so much! I am the eternal self-deprecator. (I spent the greater part of December and January lamenting that I would have to go through this process again.)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the encouragement! I take it as a great compliment that people with your records are congratulating me.



Just my personal opinion, but Pearlman, Spruyt and Reno are AWESOME. (I'm an NU undergrad.) Also someone you didn't mention at NU is Caverley (I'm biased as he's my advisor) but if you have any interest in feminism as a component as identity, he knows a TON about feminist theory and int'l security. I've had the opportunity to work with each of these profs and they've all been better advisors that I could have ever hoped for (and for an undergrad!).

I hope that helps people when deciding schools. The NU faculty is exceptionally available for students and takes a lot of pride in their training and advising which I think is a large strength of the department.

I'll do my best! (As long as I can eat it without cheese or a bun). ...I'm one of those awful people who can't eat dairy or wheat.

Congrats! Maybe I'll see you at the admitted students weekend!

I just want to second whirlibird about the wonderful positivity on this thread. Also, cute animals: http://i.imgur.com/iLP5B.jpg

How can you be sad about anything when looking at that little guy?

This is my diversity statement for Yale. I was admitted there, so it couldn't be THAT bad, but I certainly don't think that it was that important in relation to the rest of my application.


As both a minority in a dominantly white community and an adopted child, I grew up an anomaly in my community. These differences helped to spur my curiosity in the wider world and my academic and travel pursuits to this day.
My interest in my own culture, different from my parents, pushed me to learn about other languages. My interest came not only in the grammatical and syntactical elements of the language, but how people used language in everyday life. After serious study of Arabic and Persian in college, I pushed myself to be immersed in complete language environments in both Amman, Jordan and Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
As an adult, an increased interest in my own heritage has led me to begin to study Spanish, which I hope will one day help me with field work and to be a more complete scholar of the world.

This is my diversity statement for Yale. I was admitted there, so it couldn't be THAT bad, but I certainly don't think that it was that important in relation to the rest of my application.


As both a minority in a dominantly white community and an adopted child, I grew up an anomaly in my community. These differences helped to spur my curiosity in the wider world and my academic and travel pursuits to this day.
My interest in my own culture, different from my parents, pushed me to learn about other languages. My interest came not only in the grammatical and syntactical elements of the language, but how people used language in everyday life. After serious study of Arabic and Persian in college, I pushed myself to be immersed in complete language environments in both Amman, Jordan and Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
As an adult, an increased interest in my own heritage has led me to begin to study Spanish, which I hope will one day help me with field work and to be a more complete scholar of the world.

Sorry to break the news, but all Stanford acceptances are out. I swear I'm not a troll, just trying to keep people from stressing too much.

While I did apply to a couple (2) non-Top 10 schools, I am not sure I would have attended a lower ranked program. All of my advisors told me NOT to go to a non-Top 10 school because job prospects are abysmal. That's true of top ranked schools as well as lower ranked ones. The probability that you'll be an adjunct after the process is high, but it's slightly lower for the highest ranks of political science programs. It's not necessarily fair, but only applying to the tops schools does have a logic to it.[And that logic isn't just elitism.]

While I did apply to a couple (2) non-Top 10 schools, I am not sure I would have attended a lower ranked program. All of my advisors told me NOT to go to a non-Top 10 school because job prospects are abysmal. That's true of top ranked schools as well as lower ranked ones. The probability that you'll be an adjunct after the process is high, but it's slightly lower for the highest ranks of political science programs. It's not necessarily fair, but only applying to the tops schools does have a logic to it.[And that logic isn't just elitism.]

As someone who doesn't have a horse in this race, I really don't believe that people use the phrase "safety school" out of insecurity. Rather, out of a sense of security. While I didn't use that phrase (I don't think) on these boards, I definitely used that phrase when discussing my application chances last year. There were a multitude of reasons:
1. It is a term that is widely understood (even by those not applying for PhD programs), and so one way simply be accustomed to using it.
2. There are some applicants that are very well qualified, and may have applied to lesser-ranked schools knowing with a high degree of certainty that they would be admitted.
3. If someone is insulted by the thought of someone calling the school they like/will attend a "safety", they should grow a thicker skin. People will say much more difficult to hear things about your ideas and you when you're actually in school. But no one made a specifically disparaging comment (as far as I've seen) about any individuals attending such programs.

Sure, it's not a preferred term, but name calling isn't exactly the correct response to the situation.

As someone who doesn't have a horse in this race, I really don't believe that people use the phrase "safety school" out of insecurity. Rather, out of a sense of security. While I didn't use that phrase (I don't think) on these boards, I definitely used that phrase when discussing my application chances last year. There were a multitude of reasons:
1. It is a term that is widely understood (even by those not applying for PhD programs), and so one way simply be accustomed to using it.
2. There are some applicants that are very well qualified, and may have applied to lesser-ranked schools knowing with a high degree of certainty that they would be admitted.
3. If someone is insulted by the thought of someone calling the school they like/will attend a "safety", they should grow a thicker skin. People will say much more difficult to hear things about your ideas and you when you're actually in school. But no one made a specifically disparaging comment (as far as I've seen) about any individuals attending such programs.

Sure, it's not a preferred term, but name calling isn't exactly the correct response to the situation.

Just some helpful tips from the Duck of Minerva: http://duckofminerva.blogspot.com/p/academia-and-graduate-school.html

Just some helpful tips from the Duck of Minerva: http://duckofminerva.blogspot.com/p/academia-and-graduate-school.html

I hate to be a jerk... however... with internet anonymity at my back I am going to put the following out there in the universe. Take it or leave it.

Do not apply to any university in any country for any reason other than that you want to go to that university. By that I mean - no one should apply to universities in Canada just because they don't think they will get in to a top 25 programme in the states.

You'll get better advice in the professional schools forum. My sense is that admissions to SAIS, Georgetown SFS, etc is very hard straight from undergrad and that work experience makes a big difference in the competitiveness of an application.

About Princeton, I have obviously never been there. And what's important to know is the difference between the requirements of the department and the culture. I know that Princeton doesn't REQUIRE its students to take the quant sequence, but there's a pretty heavy cultural expectation that you will. So, depends on the way you want to go about things, I suppose.

And for the record, I'm going to one of the most intense quant programs in the country and I haven't taken calculus since high school. I took some stats in college, but that's it. They don't require you to know a ton of stats/math, but getting a very good GRE Q score will really help you!

Good luck!

Any top department trains people in quantitative methods. It is highly demanded by the profession, etc and thus it is hard to avoid a 'quant' department. FInd your niche. Take the two classes so that you are fluent in the discipline. Everyone does it.

Look guys, we're famous!

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2012/04/grad_school_admissions_grad_cafe_exposes_gen_y_s_job_search_angst_.single.html

Look guys, we're famous!

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2012/04/grad_school_admissions_grad_cafe_exposes_gen_y_s_job_search_angst_.single.html

The Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies (CCDS)

The Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies (of the ICD Academy for Cultural Diplomacy) is the world’s leading center for the study of cultural diplomacy, offering educational opportunities ranging from week-long seminars for undergraduate students and interested professionals, to Master's and Doctoral programs for graduates pursuing careers in academia, diplomacy, government, and/or the private sector, dedicated either wholly or in part to the field of cultural diplomacy.

We are currently accepting applications for enrollment to the summer semester and would be grateful if you could share this announcement by forwarding the information below to anyone you think may be interested in applying.

CCDS offers the following opportunities:


· PHD Program in Cultural Diplomacy & the Global Economy (Berlin, June 18th, 2012)
· MA in International Relations & Cultural Diplomacy (Berlin, June 18th, 2012)
· MBA in Cultural Diplomacy & the Global Economy (Berlin, June 18th, 2012)
· MA in Cultural Diplomacy and Euro-Mediterranean Studies (Berlin, June 18th, 2012) E-Learning Courses in Cultural Diplomacy (June 4th – 30th, 2012)



*****


ICD Upcoming International Conferences
The 2012 International Symposia on Cultural Diplomacy
(Berlin, Geneva, Washington D.C., June 1st - June 28th, 2012)

In the year 2011, the international community witnessed historical events that changed the political landscape of the globe, ranging from the Arab Spring, to the “Occupy Wall Street Movement” and other protest movements around the globe. These transitions and protests were all facilitated and supported by the use of modern technology and the social media. These events represent, each in their own specific context, the people’s will for a change, whether it is political, economic or social and their unified demand for more equality and justice.

The events were each highlighted by the possibility for the people to better organize themselves and express their will through the social media, allowing them to gather millions of supporters around them within a very short period of time. When one compares these transitions to similar historical events, one can see that such changes have traditionally taken many years, rather than days, however once they do occur, they are sustainable and broad changes that are not then reversed.

The ICD therefore decided to focus the 2012 International Symposia on Cultural Diplomacy on this common goal of the public for more equality in the political, economic and social spheres. The Symposium will be divided into four main themes and will be hosted in three major international cities, which were chosen due to their relevancy to the theme of the conference. The Symposia will analyze the current global situation as well as future trends, strategies and the potential to counter political, social and economic inequality in the world.

Speakers for the Symposia include:


· President Alfred Moisiu – Former President of Albania
· President Alfredo Palacio - Former President of Ecuador
· David Smith - Africa Correspondent, The Guardian
· President Emil Constantinescu - Former President of Romania
· The Hon. Frederik Willem de Klerk, the 7th President of South Africa
· The Hon. Jorge Castaneda - Former Foreign Affairs Secretary of Mexico
· Prof. Joseph Nye - Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University (tbc)
· Mia Farrow - Actress and Humanitarian Activist
· Secretary Michael Chertoff - Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security
· Amb. Rufus Yerxa, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
· The Hon. Said Musa – Former Prime minister of Belize
· The Hon. Theo-Ben Gurirab - Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia, Former President of the UN General Assembly, Former Prime minister of Namibia

We are accepting applications for the following events:
The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy 2012 – “Social & Cultural Inequality: Innovative Strategies to Promote Access to Human Rights and Equalize Globalization” (Berlin, June 1st - 4th, 2012)

The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in Africa 2012 - "Cultural Diplomacy & Sustainable Development in Africa" (Berlin, June 10th - 12th, 2012)



The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in Geneva 2012 – " Cultural Diplomacy & Sustainable Development" (Geneva, June 13-15th, 2012)


[*]The 2012 International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy & International Economics – "Political & Economic Inequalities: Bridging the Gap between Civil Society and the Public & Private Sectors" (Berlin, June 20th - 22nd, 2012)




[*]The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in the USA 2012– "Cultural Diplomacy, National Security and Global Risks: The Use of CD to Bridge the Gap between Civil Society and the Public & Private Sectors in an Age of Digital Diplomacy" (Washington D.C, June 26th - 28th, 2012)

Look guys, we're famous!

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2012/04/grad_school_admissions_grad_cafe_exposes_gen_y_s_job_search_angst_.single.html

I think you should call your school's counselling office and set up an appointment ASAP. You need to talk to a professional to work out your anxiety and suicidal ideation. If you don't talk to someone who can help soon, it's only going to get worse. I'm sorry to paint it that bleak, but I'm very serious that you need to get some counselling. Call tomorrow morning.

After I began to get single negative downvotes on random old posts ( etc). I dropped around ~10 positive votes in 1 day without posting any new information. Many of the downvotes have been on highly-rated old posts in very inactive threads. I, of course, don't mind people expressing their opinions--but I don't feel like that is the case here. Right after the linked thread ended, the negative user began voting down all of my new comments obsessively. I spoke to a mod, but they said that they were unable to do anything about it. I stopped caring, but I can't ignore it after logging in today and seeing that the user has gone so far back. I've tried hard to be a positive member of this forum, but it is impossible when a user is systematically stalking my posts. It's taking an emotional toll on me. It might be silly to want to rack up positive votes on an internet forum, but I don't care. If this kind of behavior were going on in real life, I'd be getting a restraining order.


To the rest of the awesome posters on here: thanks for everything. Best of luck in graduate school! Don't say anything to make that user upset, or they might do the same thing to you.