neonmeatte

PoliSci PhD... I wonder how many students live in Manhattan as opposed to the greater New York area... It's more expensive of course, but what are the transportation costs like in NYC?

Last year, they got back to people in late April and said they would hear in May... When June finally came around I got the acceptance. Be prepared to wait.

Hmmm... Ok, thanks for the info. I haven't heard anything at all yet. And online it just says that I will be contacted by email. But most programs seem to be struggling with funding in the current economic climate - so I think I will be facing this problem anywhere I am accepted.

Anyone? Anyone at all? Come on - I can't be the only one still waiting to hear from them!

In the results, it looks like a large chunk of people were rejected earlier this month (and a small number accepted)... but I still haven't heard anything from them and online it insists that my application is complete and that I will be notified via email. No news is good news I guess... Is anyone else in the same situation? I'm hoping we've made it to the waiting list at least and they just haven't notified us yet! To those accepted: if you're not planning to attend, please let them know as soon as possible!

I applied to eight different PhD programs for comparative politics, but was only accepted to one of my fall-backs in the end... Hoping for better luck next time around, I asked this school to defer my enrollment until Sept '09 (which they agreed to). In the meantime, I hope to improve my GRE scores, do a research internship, and reapply to some of my first choices... I may be more successful next time around and not have to settle for a fallback - but at least I can put my mind at ease knowing that I already have at least that acceptance. Fine, fine, maybe I'm being a douchebag... but it's dog-eat-dog out there. Is anyone else in a similar situation??

I'm dying out here on the waitlist... I can only assume we'll begin to hear back after the 15th. Fingers crossed!

Sorry, my former comment was actually directed at flyingwalrus... I didn't quote.

One of my faculty contacts in the department at Berkeley has been helpful... He mentioned that he doesn't have real power to influence decisions, but would recommend that the committee closely review my file. Who knows if he really said anything, but one day later I received an email from the department asking if I could elaborate on my research interests for them. Sounds hopeful!

I strongly disagree - this varies from department to department. Some schools are very quantitative and others are less so. I would imagine they judge scores based on the focus of their own department... For schools like Berkeley - schools with strong theoretical and quantitative backgrounds - I would imagine they put it on the research interests of the applicant. Granted, your scores must be pretty high in general to get into Berkeley... but if you are planning to study game theory or empirical correlates of war then they probably pay attention to your math, whereas if you are studying something like the social impact of political reform in West Africa then I don't think this is the case at all.

...yeah, one of my former advisers recommended their program as lesser, but still good. But among other reasons, I'm not so keen on ending up in the rainy Northwest. I have my fingers crossed for the others I mentioned. I wish it were already March.

I am currently conducting research in the Gaza Strip while my girlfriend is languishing back in Denmark. So far (almost four months now) things have been going well - not great - but manageable with a lot of time video-chatting on Skype. I think it depends on the circumstances... I recently applied to Ph.D. programs in the U.S. and we are having to think seriously about staying together... If worst comes to worst, I wouldn't be willing to remain in a LDR for longer than 6-8 months. It's unfair for both of the people involved... So I'm hoping we can work something out! :|

It may sound odd, but I use iTunes for my PDFs. The quick search feature enables you to find anything very fast... The only downside is that I had to manually enter authors and article titles. Needless to say, it took quite a long time. But I don't regret it at all and in the long run, it has saved me a LOT of time.

Add myself to this list... I applied to eight schools in the last month. A couple of the app. deadlines passed yesterday (December 1), but CUNY leaves it open until January. No wonder I have read so many angry posts from students hearing from CUNY in the summer!! They're one of my last choices anyway, so I hope it won't matter too much if they leave me waiting...

No sorry... I meant University of Washington. And I only consider CUNY a fall-back because some of friends applied there and it was the one school to which they were all accepted (but in the end none of them chose to go there).

Applied for a Comparative Politics program in the following... Top choices: Berkeley NYU UCLA Second choices: UCSD Rutgers Fall Backs: UF CUNY UW

Wow... that really is desperate. But not too desperate for me to keep in mind! ;-)

I graduated with a BA in Political Science (GPA 3.1) and am finishing up a Masters in International Relations (GPA 3.94). My GRE scores are just under 1300. I have three glowing recommendations and my statement of purpose was as good as possible (I had all three of my recommenders review it for me). While working on my current degree I have published two journal articles, have two more under review and I am currently conducting field research in the Gaza Strip (four months total). I hope my publications and practical experience will indicate to admissions that I am a serious researcher (and eclipse my substandard GRE scores/undergraduate grades). I have applied to the Comparative Politics doctoral programs at the following schools (listed from first choice to last choice): UC Berkeley, UCLA, NYU, Rutgers, UCSD, UF, CUNY, UW The last three schools on my list are back-up plans... I am really hoping for one of the top five. From what I have been reading on this site, it seems quite random at times... So what do you think? Can I count on the fact that most applicants haven't done field research prior to applying?