PickMe!

I STILL haven't heard from Harvard. Is anyone else in the same boat? I know it must be a rejection at this point but I haven't received anything through email or the post and it's getting awfully close to the April 15th deadline...

That's a good point that should definitely be addressed during the visit. Unfortunately, the website doesn't paint an optimistic picture when it comes to addition summer funds. Personally, I'm not terribly worried about the 12-month stipend because the Princeton offer as a whole is pretty comparable, if not slightly better, than my other offers (Chicago and Columbia).

I'm also curious about this.

This could be the best post I've read on GradCafe. Cheers, indeed!

That's EXACTLY what I thought. Berkeley was never my top choice (I want to get out of CA) but they have a number of people doing what I want to do and I think there were some things I included in my SOP that really spoke to the Berkeley culture and reputation. Obviously it's an incredibly competitive program but I was still a little surprised when I got the rejection letter. I also put Don Green down as a POI at Columbia - I hear tremendous things about him as a mentor, btw - and I definitely think that helped out my chances of admission. What are your interests, jsclar?

Thanks! The thought of having to work while adapting to grad school definitely worries me. I know that the teaching requirement doesn't kick in until the third year and I don't think there are any other expected duties in my first year. This seems like a great offer (i.e. more money, working with faculty right away) but it looks like I'll really have to ask about the details and the experiences of other students when I visit since I don't want to overburden myself right out of the gate.

A few days ago I got an email saying my Princeton admission offer was revised and I freaked out because I thought they had changed their minds and revoked my admission. Turns out they just revised my funding package to include the following: "In addition, the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics is offering you the option of working with a CSDP faculty member on a project of mutual interest for which you would be paid up to $2,000 each year for up to five years at an hourly rate." Did this happen to any other Princeton admits? Obviously there's no mention of what the hourly rate is so I don't know how many hours per week I'd be working, but I imagine it can't be too much in my first year, right?

Alignment with faculty interests is crucial. Another thing that I think is very important when looking at fit is just the department environment. Is it collaborative? Is it back-biting? Is it stressful and full of drama? Is it laid-back and easygoing? Do faculty wear ties or flip-flops to class? These are important considerations for me when deciding if I can commit to a program for 5+ years because I want to be comfortable and feel like I can be myself. Looking at the reputation of the department can also be helpful. I've asked a number of faculty what the discipline's opinion is of different schools and departments and they've all been very honest. I know that Chicago (obviously) has a very strong bent toward thought and theoretical frameworks; it's known as the intellectual, cerebral, "big idea" place. Columbia has a bit of a reputation of being full of drama. From my understanding there's a lot of internal, departmental politics that students have to navigate. They are also pretty have on quant training and formal methods; I expect this will only increase with Don Green's addition to the faculty. No idea on Madison, though.

The drive is very beautiful but if you're from out of town and don't have a car I suggest taking the Amtrak Surfliner. The train runs right along the coast, is very comfortable, and gets you from one city to the other in less than 3 hours. I'm pretty sure both of those schools have campus shuttles (or something similar) that run from campus and the station and vise versa.

Gold.

Reading through all of these older posts about Princeton is really making me wonder if it's the place for me...

Related question about funding: How does the FAFSA tie into all of this? I've been accepted to three schools with full funding but I have not filled out the FAFSA and the deadline to do so is the beginning of March. None of the schools have mentioned it in their correspondence. It could be that grad schools don't require the FAFSA but I vaguely remember hearing that they do want students to submit a profile. Anyone know any more about this?

Princeton is March 26-7, which uncomfortably overlaps with Columbia (3/27-9). I guess they can pull it off when they're so close to each other.

I'll be at Columbia if I can get the time off. Not digging the Tues-Thurs format...

UC Irvine March 1-3 UChicago March 8-9 UCLA March 8-10 Michigan March 15-17 Wisconsin March 22-24 WUSTL - Mar 23-24 Rochester March 25-27 FSU March 29th-31st

Claiming a Columbia admit! Fellowship with $23,750 stipend and $5,000 summer support for five years. Didn't see it coming, especially on a Sunday. SO incredibly stoked! Good luck to everyone waiting to hear back!

Quick question: has anyone received an official offer and not just the department letter from UChicago (i.e. from the Graduate School)? It has been a couple of weeks and I'm getting a little worried that I haven't received anything other than that original email...

I asked my current mentor about this and she told me that most professors don't care about how you look or what you wear so comfortable is the best option. According to her, "some of the professors you'll meet will look like they haven't showered in 10 years so you'll be fine." She did say that this may not be the case at other institutions (i.e. Ivies) but even then it isn't necessary to be too formal. Based on that, I'm going with dark jeans and a button-down shirt. My three basic goals for grad school are 1) do awesome research, 2) publish/present, and 3) not be completely broke, so as far as questions go, I'm interested in talking to current grad students about their experiences. Hopefully they'll be pretty honest and paint a more accurate picture of what to expect if I choose to go there. Other than that, I'm looking to get some more funding info (Is it paid over 9 or 12 months? What does conference funding look like? What are the expectations/duties of a TA? Etc.) and an idea of how faculty interact with students (Do they regularly co-author? How often do they like to meet? Etc.). Then again I haven't been to one of these before soooooo yeah...

Funding is an incredibly important factor in my decision so this is a very helpful post; thank you. Does anyone have any suggestions how to go about negotiating for a more attractive funding package? I don't want departments to think I'm all about the money but every little bit helps, especially if it's guaranteed up front.

I echo the sentiments already posted: go where you will be most comfortable. 5 years is a long time to settle for something and your productivity may be affected as a result. I do want to point out that Berkeley and UCLA are in very different parts of California. LA is very expensive, expansive, and lacks a real network of public transportation. If you don't have access to a car then it's very likely you'll only stay in Westwood and the surrounding areas. It's a very nice place (fairly posh) but you'll be missing out on really experiencing the city. The upside, of course, is the weather. Berkeley, on the other hand, while having a decent transit system (you gan get to SF really easily on the BART), does not have the greatest weather. It can get pretty cold (~30 degrees) and foggy. This might not seem that bad since you're coming from Chicago but I freeze in that kind of climate. Also, the town of Berkeley is this small, bohemian place with lots of coffee shops and murals and whatnot, which is very different from the somewhat upscale atmosphere of Westwood. I guess my advice is to attend the visitation days so you can get a feel of the department, university, and location and then make your decision based on your experiences. You could end up completely unimpressed by both California schools and find that the department at Chicago is exactly what you're looking for. In any case, those are some amazing options; good luck and congrats!!

Nice! I'll see you there!

American. I just booked my flight for the visit. What about you?

Going straight through! Solidarity.