Hotspur

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/06/the_importance_of_studying_the.html Good article in the Havard Business Review on politicians' attempt to cut funding from social science.

I've just declined an unfunded comparative offer from Georgetown (and based on the conversation, it sounds like there will be no more money given out to anyone else if they are in a similar situation at Gtown). Going to Maryland instead. Congrats and good luck to all!

Hey there, As somone who is currently doing a one-year MA at King's College London, I would have to say that there is a certain amount to which your fears are correct, but you can still utilise it to the best of your advantage. As for your transcript, you will at best be able to show what classes you are taking; you will almost definitely not have grades for the early deadlines--unlikely that you will even for the later ones. If you are looking for a recommendation, do your utmost to get noticed in seminars, in an academically significant way. It is common for many English universities to have student-led seminars or at least presentations; volunteer for the earliest one you can. Speak to the professor in office hours right after and say you would like a recommendation and ask him or her if there is anything else you can provide them with so that they can write you a good recommendation; one of my professors here wanted to see some of my papers. This might be less likely for a research-based MA, as I am not sure that you have classes in the same way as a taught-MA. Otherwise, you will just need to utilise it as a show of ambition on your SOP. Be ready to explain why the classes you are taking/research you are doing will help you to be a better candidate; whether it is filling in gaps in your knowledge, better understanding of methodologies, etc. This bit was easier for me as I was not a political sceince undergrad, so it helped me a lot, but you want to make it clear how it is enhancing your ability to be successful in grad school. Lastly, there are a bunch of internships you can get in London, with foreign policy think tanks (like Chatham House) or with Members of Parliament. Depending on your interests, apply for these; it is definitely possible to hold down a part-time internship and do a one-year master's, although you will be very busy! Even just stating that you've applied for them shows ambition, as well as opening up other job possibilities for the future, depending on what direction you decide to take. Hope that helps and best of luck in London for all of you next year! Also feel free to message me if you want me to try to answer more specific questions.

Anyone want to volunteer some feedback from the schools they have been visiting, as I assume many have already taken place? I'm specifically interested to hear about Georgetown and Maryland--both waitlist for me--which I can't make it to due to travelling distance, although I am sure others will want to hear about their schools of interest. Thanks!

Anyone else still in Maryland limbo? Do you want to PM me with your subfield so I can try to work out whether they've notified by subfield or if it seems like an unofficial waitlist situation? (I'm comparative) I also liked that they updated my online status to "decision made" but without saying what it was--when I called they told me that it was a computer glitch and no decision had been made yet!

Good luck trying to concentrate on anything for the next couple of days! Hope it works out for you!

Thanks for letting us know. I'm one of those Maryland limbo people, although maybe that's not too surprising considering its Feb 1 closing date. I guess the most confusing part for me is that there already seems to have been a Maryland cull around the turn of the month, but that could have just been for specific subfields or on some cut-off factors, before narrowing to final decisions. Ahh, the mysteries of admissions...

I'm waitlisted for funding at Georgetown, but I got the impression they had made all the offers when I spoke with the admissions, because they were now waiting for responses--although it might be possible they were slower getting those out than the waitlists. I would think it is probably alright to call them by now. All communication was by email for me, rather than an update to the online application (still hasn't been updated, actually!)

I would argue, but my fiancée handmade all the invitations, so...yeah.

Ah, the beginning of another week. Anyone else feel that the nervous excitement/dread of the early cycle has been replaced by a feeling which is completely different to that of before, yet still full of nervous excitement/dread?

Sorry, that sucks! Plus, McMuffins, while delicious, can be quite expensive. I'd stick to hashbrowns if I were you.

Congratulations/commiserations to both of you! Don't forget to breathe!

Thanks! I reckon it's the only thing more harrowing than the application process. Unless you do something completely insane like doing them both at the same time (like me!)

Well, I'm comparative but have no idea whether they rank by subfield or not. The admissions officer was very nice but not very forthcoming on the the waiting list, saying roughly that when they know, we'll know. My general feeling would be that there is always a decent chance of getting off the waiting list, because they wouldn't have bothered if there wasn't. However, the results survey shows a lot of people waitlisted for funding at G-town, so not sure if they waitlist a much larger number than other schools (or if they have just done an official waitlist where a lot of other schools just do it unofficially.) But fingers crossed for both of us!!

Yeah, you certainly won't lose anything by asking. Though if I were you I might choose to wait for a little while, as some people offered funding for the course may turn it down, so they may be in a better position to offer you more funding by then. But that involves waiting, which we all have been doing far too much of by this point in the cycle.

Please someone let me know if they are planning on going to Georgetown. Between the distance from the UK and it being within a week of my upcoming wedding, I don't think I am going to be able to make it. Thanks!

Hello. I can't tell you anything about the value of the PhD, but I can tell you a bit more about UK master's degrees. I'm doing a masters at King's College London now, mostly because I have been out of the academic game for a while and because undergraduate wasn't in political science so I felt I needed the experience. However, you should be aware of a couple of things for UK master's. First of all, the term starts late--usually the start of October--which means you won't have much time to establish strong relationships with professors or likely produce anything to add to your application, with the exception of just the LSE name (although that name does carry a lot of weight!) While the European universities have later deadlines, many often do (unannounced) rolling applications, so you will need to balance anything you want to add to your application from LSE with trying to get your application in early. The other thing you should be aware of is the expense, not just the Msc but also the living costs. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in; US students loans won't even remotely get you started towards the year's costs, so you will need to make sure you have the finances for it. I'm not sure what the deadline is for responding to LSE, but it might be worth hunting around research/intelligence positions until you have to commit to see if you could get experience to add to your application while actually earning money, even if it's not well paid. A tough decision--good luck!

Well, I'm another one that straddles the comparative/IR line, analysing the extent to which religious cleavages explain realist failures, with a specific focus on the Middle East. Could end up under the guise of one of the religion, peace and world affairs profs (such as Shah) or Middle East staff (like Brumberg or Shain). Am trying to get in touch with them regarding length of waitlist, RA possibilities, etc., but the time difference makes it more of a challenge. On another note, I emailed Maryland about notifications, as I would want to do both visits on the same trip (if I am lucky enough to get into UMD). They said that "decisions are being sent out this week and next" so if you are also waiting, don't hold your breath.

Me! (Although waitlisted for funding.) Absolutely thrilled as I had pretty much written off this year! I couldn't even bring myself to the message boards following my UPenn/Yale/Berkeley bloodbath last week--didn't want to spread my negativitiy around. Did you say something previously about very few people getting funding at GTown?

I did a similar thing for my applications and only got responses from a few of the polisci admissions departments. If you don't get a response, pick a specific person from the department's staff list to email, who seems like they are in the best position to help (like the graduate registrar, for example). Give them a very friendly, apologetic email with the update, saying you weren't sure if they were the appropriate person, if the update had gotten through, knowing it's a busy time, etc., and ask if they can add it to your application. I always feel that if you give a friendly request to a specific person, they are usually willing to help if they can, or will find the person who will. Every one of these people got back to me quickly saying they had added it to my file and some even volunteered information about when decisions were being made (although I didn't ask in the email). Good luck!

Being born and raised in Cleveland, I was unaware until a very late stage in my life that sports teams were supposed to win games. Tottenham seemed to fit the bill until the past few years when they actually became competitive!

I think you and I have similar interests, as I am interested in how religion can impact post-conflict peace-building--and would love Berkeley for the same reason! I do, however, think it's a bad idea to go naked from the waist up until you decide on a school. It's winter, for heaven's sake...

Congrats to all the UW admits. Starting to look like it's going to be next year instead for me.

It looks like U of Washington is also playing the Chinese water torture, giving acceptances drop-by-drop, day-by-day. It'd be nice to hear something from them!

Thanks for the update, that's helping to keep me from utter despair--especially as I got de-valentined by Ohio State today. Think that makes sense anyhow, as the application date was so late for UMD.