strangepeace

I also got an acceptance through the website, but have not received any further communication from the graduate school. From my conversations with my POI, my best guess would be that the graduate school will send out emails mid-February and the funding information will come late February/early March. Visitation weekend is mid-March I believe..

Which programs do you think will notify next week? I really wish there was a national "release results" day, the wait is agonizing.

Slow day today...

Also got the official rejection email from Wisconsin; I'm assuming they did a mail merge.. Ah well it happens. Congrats to everyone who got in though!

Re: Wisconsin or from Duke, I haven't heard from either of them. I'm presuming a rejection from Wisconsin at this point, although I'm holding out some hope for Duke.

I believe you can check your status via this site: https://shib-external.oit.duke.edu/idp/Authn/UserPassword (if the link doesn't work, trying googling "Duke Applicant Self Service"). I haven't received any emails from them yet and there's no change on my applicant page so they may be releasing decisions on batches.

Congrats to the Duke admits! Seems like a busy day today for decisions...

Anyone know if Wisconsin does a waitlist?

Got it, thanks! I will keep my fingers crossed for everyone waiting to hear back in that case. congrats to you!

Congrats to all Wisconsin admits! For those who were accepted by email, do you know if your status on my.wisc was also updated?

Congrats to all of the new admits! I'm hoping everyone gets good news for the weekend! Anyone else think that Wisconsin will notify today?

You need to go to MyWisc (https://login.wisc.edu/idp/Authn/UserPassword) and log in with you netid (first letter of your first name and your full last name) and password. You should have gotten an email after submitting your application that allowed you to activate this account. The email got sent to my spam folder the first time, so check there if you can't find it. Good luck!

I can claim the second OSU admit--very thrilled (and more than a little relieved) to have the news, especially since OSU is one of my top-5 schools. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for everyone who is still waiting to hear!

Has anyone claimed the Duke admit? It seems quite early for them to have made decisions already..?

Ah okay, thanks TakeMyCoffeeBlack! Somehow I missed that post. Panic level downgraded from orange to yellow...

Bummer.. well I will keep my fingers crossed in any case.

Longtime lurker here, thought I'd post to see if others had opinions on this: I had a phone call from an OSU POI earlier this week. I thought it went well, but at the end of the call he said that I should expect a decision in March but then also talked at length about how the acceptance and funding processes were different. After looking at the results page I see that the acceptances were released in late Jan and early Feb. Should I assume that he was trying to hint that my application would be denied? Really throws me off, we had (what I thought) was a great conversation. hopefully I'm just over analyzing, but now I keep refreshing the status page :/

Bumping this--would really like others' thoughts.

Hi all, I'm currently a PhD applicant for Fall 2014. My main interest is in the political development of fragile states (in particular, institution building in post-conflict states and how politically weak or transitional governments deal with issues arising from resource scarcity and resource abundance). I've identified professors at several universities who have overlapping interests in this area and am currently working on my SOP. Currently, I am a consultant to two large international organizations. One of these organizations has projects in Somalia, Myanmar, Uganda, Kenya, the Congo, etc. This organization is aware that I am pursuing a doctorate and has expressed interest in finding ways to partner for field work and/or dissertation research (potential for in-country logistical support and financial support). Nothing is formalized, since I have yet to be admitted, but they've asked me to assist them in developing proposals for several large grants that would probably assist in funding this work. My question is this: should I talk about this in my SOP? Is there a more appropriate place to bring this up or should I not mention it at all? I'm afraid that it will come across as too "practitioner" and not academic enough. Thanks, I appreciate any thoughts you may have.

Hi all, Had a few questions for the community; I'm a current Masters student planning on applying to PhD programs in the fall of 2013. Quick bit of background, did my undergrad at a "top-10" institution (political science major) and the Masters is also from a "top-10" school (degree in climate science and public policy). Grades are above average (3.7-3.8 GPA range) and recommendations are solid. I applied for PhD programs in PoliSci in the 2011 cycle but my research question was not well defined and my personal statement was sh**. I'm taking a year off after my Masters degree, but I'm starting the PhD search process extra early to make sure I don't make any stupid mistakes this time around. My research interests are focused on the security implications of climate change (specifically regarding water and food security issues and potential conflict). One of my professors is a leading scholar in the field (but unfortunately has no plans to take on graduate students) and has recommended that I look at UT-Austin, American University, UMD-College Park, Duke, and Columbia for potential PhD programs. My questions: do you know of any other political science or security programs around the USA that are interested in this research intersection (names of researchers would be much appreciated)? Is it worth reaching out to potential POIs at this point to discuss research interests? I've had distinctly mixed perspectives on that front. Please feel free to PM with any questions/advice! Thank you kindly.

I haven't been able to find much more information on the program besides what's on their website... It seems to be very under the radar for the field.

I'll be attending Columbia this fall as well and am a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of finding housing. Many of my friends (all of them native New Yorkers) have suggested that I use a broker, especially since I will be won't be leaving my job until August 10 and will only be able to take off one or two days maximum to look at apartments. For neighborhoods, I'd like to be within an 1 hour's commute by train and be somewhere relatively safe. My max budget is probably $1300-1400. Anyone have any suggestions on places that fit that criteria? I'm currently in DC and most renters here live in units in row houses (i.e. brownstone units) and I would love to do something similar in NY, but all I've really seen is larger apartment buildings. Is renting a unit in a brownstone or even a smaller building, possible? And where would be the best place to be able to do that in the city? Thanks!

Hello, I've been looking into various schools and programs focusing on the environment and climate change and came across the Emmett Program at Stanford University. Does anyone know how competitive the PhD admissions are (i.e. how many students they accept for their cohort)? And what kind of placement they have (academic, federal, NGO, private sector, etc.)? Thank you in advance! (cross posted with the Interdisciplinary Studies forum.)

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice! I am in a very similar situation, as I will be starting a one-year Masters in Environmental Science and Public Policy this fall (2012) while also applying to PhD programs to start in the fall of 2013. My main research interests are in climate change and security; specifically as they relate to resource shortage and political instability. Comments on this thread have been great, but I had a couple of additional questions: -Do you think it would be possible to get 2 recommendations from graduate school professors for PhD applications? Many of the professors I worked with during undergrad have either passed away or retired abroad so I won’t be able to get really strong recommendations for my applications from my undergraduate work. How would I best go about building a relationship with a professor so that they are able to write a strong letter on my behalf? Are undergraduate recommenders preferred over graduate school recommenders? -While I am definitely planning on applying to the PhD program within my Master’s department, I will also be applying to outside programs. How are 1-year master’s programs perceived by PhD admissions committees? Is there a great disadvantage to the one-year program when compared to applicants who’ve done a two year program? -How important is conference attendance before applying to PhDs? I have 0 experience with attending/presenting at research conferences so any guidance on this would be appreciated. This is a worry for me, since I am not able to use any material from my professional life (I’m currently a federal contractor and all of my work materials are confidential) and my undergraduate work isn’t really related to the research/field that I’m interested in. -My program has the option of either writing a thesis or doing an internship in order to fill graduation requirements. The placement for internships looks to be pretty good, with a decent portion of the cohort interning with the UN or with a development firm. However these internships are 1. Unpaid and 2. Don’t end until mid-late August of 2013. Would it be more beneficial to write the thesis or to pursue the internship? Thank you all in advance!

Hello, I've been looking into various schools and programs focusing on the environment and climate change and came across the Emmett Program at Stanford University. Does anyone know how competitive the PhD admissions are (i.e. how many students they accept for their cohort)? And what kind of placement they have (academic, federal, NGO, private sector, etc.)? Thank you in advance.