Canadianpolsci
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Posts posted by Canadianpolsci
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Toronto is by far the best classics program in Canada and top ten in the world, perhaps top five. You should be sure to check specifically how UBC compares to Toronto.
But for classics, spending 35K on a "top 20ish" school sounds like a bad idea. So I think the choice fairly clear. Be a star in the MA, go up to bat again.
Good luck
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slickj07 said:so i guess no email from wustl today means thanks, but no thanks
also, i don't think the verdict's out on chicago yet. it still seems only one person has posted their acceptance (real or not).
Is it safe to assume if I did not get an email from WUSTL that is a rejection? Or could they be sending out more acceptances next week?
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Here's a new topic:
Has anyone been accepted to a very prestigious school and or program, and would consider going, even though there is not really even one professor who matches up really well as a potential thesis supervisor?
Are there people saying to themselves: "Oh whatever, its freakin X University, it'll be fine!"
Conversely, are there people turning down a very top tier school since there is a better fit with an advisor somewhere else.
I am not in this/these situations as I only applied to schools where there is a good fit. But if I am so lucky to be admitted, I will visit, and perhaps based on personal contact I will find myself in this conundrum.
Thoughts, polsci people?
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damn, at least you have heard from someone. i am 0/6. has anyone contacted harvard or princeton? from the past it looks like acceptances would be late this week or anytime next week?
Princeton is pretty likely to be March 6 or 7 again this year. Harvard I think will take at least until the end of next week, if not closer to Princeton's date.
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Hm... I saw lots of admissions/rejections from Duke, but I have received neither. Whats the deal here? Are they hedging their bets and am I effectively wait listed or are they just sending the rejections out in waves?
I spoke to a friend about this who applied to Duke last year. He said in 2007 they did admissions and rejections in what appeared to be waves. So you might still be admitted in the next 2-3 weeks.
But my own feeling is, probably 3/4 of the admits at least are already contacted. For one thing, the contact email includes information on the visiting weekend April 1st.
So, there is no other way to put it: the long you wait, the lower your chances. Consider that you have an outside shot, maybe, until the beginning of March. If I were you I would contact them March 1st and cease waiting.
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I think this depends on the program. But, Duke is great. What is your subfield? I'm assuming from your moniker that it's not American Politics.
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I was accepted by Duke. I think it's a very strong program and I'm excited to get in. I'm curious though, as a Canadian, what Americans think of Duke compared to the very top tier of schools (both in general, and regards political science specifically and political theory especially [my area]).
How does Duke compare to the north-eastern ives? to Stanford? to U of Michigan? to U of Chicago?
Thanks Americans.
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Anyone know when Columbia will start sending decisions? Based on previous years my guess is next two weeks, up until first week of March. Sound right?
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You have a chance. But maybe go do an MA.
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has anyone heard anything from princeton? anyone know when they are sending out notifications?
I think it's a pretty sure bet, based on previous years and what the website says, the Princeton will email responses around week of March 3-7, or just after.
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One more thing: if you are already rejected, than you have nothing to lose -- no secretary can punish you more.
If you are accepted or waitlisted, and ask, and they see that, they will NOT be annoyed. You are obviously a serious applicant, and psychologically, they will be sympathetic to your asking.
For these reasons, go ahead and send that polite generally phrased email if you must. Again, it probably can't hurt you, and it could end the suspense somewhat.
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I work overseas so it is complicated to arrange flights and airline tickets, etc. to visit. So I have emailed a couple schools asking politely "if it might be possible to give me a rough estimate when I can expect to hear regarding admission decisions." I have a legitimate reason to need to ask as I really do live overseas and booking flight tickets ASAP is a financial issue -- the longer I wait, the more I might have to pay. If you do not have such a truly pressing issue, I'd wait at least until one week after decisions were made at your program last year.
There is no real harm in asking politely, however, when you can expect to hear. Do not ask if you got in or not. That is unfair, as there are strict rules about releasing this info in many cases.
Still, no one will get accepted or rejected based on a polite email that asks only for a timeframe. Sure secretaries get annoyed, but at another level, they understand what is going on. People are nervous.
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Based on 2006 and 2007, Duke polsci has accepted end of second week, and third week, of Febuary (and then a few more end of third week).
That means Duke could be up in next 2 days. Hold your breath if you applied kiddos. And in past it was via email.
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If a Prof. calls you and says all that, he WANTS to make a case for you, and wants to see if you are eager enough for him to take the effort to do so. You already convinced him with the application. He was seeing how pumped up you were. The one factual question about methods was practically an excuse on his part.
Don't worry. If you don't get in I'd be shocked. Perhaps though he can't get you quite full funding.
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Look, there really are superstars, and the top 2 or 3 programs in any field will take 1 or 2 a year. These people in the end may not grow up to be legends in their field, but so far, they have done incredible things.
People with Rhodes Scholarships, with extraordinary math aptitude and contest results, with a joint science publication as a senior undergrad with a Nobel prize winner; published poets applying to study a PhD in literature, Indian students who receive the highest science qualifying exam mark of 150,000, and then the highest mark at the best Indian science school, and then want to go to Cal Tech.
But these people are rare, and they are not on these forums. This is because applications are easy for them. They have no flaws and they have a HUGE GLOWING advantage do to extraordinary name recognition accorded to a prize they won, or unbelievable achievement.
Again, Rhodes scholars are a mixed bunch. But one a year at least will be attending Harvard and/or Yale and/or Princeton to study Economics and/or Government and/or History.
These people take perhaps 10% of the best spots at the top 4 programs in every single area of studies. I have known some in my day. They are not really always a cut above. Sometimes they are, sometimes they were somewhat lucky, sometimes they just worked on their CV and are can-do people, but intellectually bland. But make more mistake, genius lives. Luckily, even at the very very best program in your field (minus perhaps physics and math at the best 3 programs in the world), you don't have to be a genius to get in.
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For you religion program applicants, here's a tip:
If you want to ensure you know exactly why you were rejected, that's easy: all you have to do is apply and say you want to study the religious concept of Karma. And if you don't get in: well you'll know why. You're an expert in that area, after all!
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Mr. I teach at Kaplan: we all want get into grad school. That is why we take the GRE seriously. Obviously its a so-so test in all respects. Calm down, no one is being rude (well -- maybe you)
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I believe the phrase is: 'Sucks to be you'
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Oh, analytical writing assessment. This is a stupid test for people who CAN write. Amazingly and obviously, ALL admitted candidates to good schools in humanities and social sciences who are not foreigners will get 5, 5.5, or 6.
For non-science candidates, this part of the test is so incredibly easy to get a 6 on, its absurd. Princeton Review's GRE BOOK cracked this a LONG time ago.
I teach the GRE, and I can tell you there is a formula to score 6 which works every time, so long as you can write basic, strong, freshman university level English.
The secret is: LENGTH. No matter what the topic and argument, you write 5, indented paragraphs, with 1 space in between each paragraph. You have an into, then 3 body paragraphs with into sentences, then a conclusion, summarizing body and repeating intro. All questions are the same, exactly the same. Arguments have the same errors every time. My favorite stupid ass argument is: "Old people like pets. The city of Burlington has decided to buy a pet for every citizen over the age of 70. This will make them happy." I AM ONLY SHORTENING THE ARGUMENT, NOT SIMPLIFYING. Other arguments include: "Ice cream is great. California is hot. Therefore, open your own Ice Cream parlor in California and you will make lots of money."
The only danger with these "argument" essay topics is they are so dumb you will laugh and therefore waste time, and not attack every single last reason they suck.
Then there are the "issue" questions, which are really just traps. Morons always do the same thing. The decide to take a PASSIONATE stance on an "issue"! WOW!
Let me remind you what goes on here: graduate students with bad funding are hired by ETS. There job is to read Issue and Argument essays, and assign a mark. THEY GET 120 SECONDS TO READ EACH ESSAY. Then they assign a mark. Each essay is read by two independent checkers. 5.5 means one tired guy reading the 120th response to the issue "Art is which is useful is the best kind of Art" or whatever, gave you a 6, the other guy gave you a 5. There are no half-marks.
CONCLUSION: AWA MEANS NOTHING unless you scored below 5.
What is the difference between a 5 and a 6 essay? LENGTH. PARAGRAPH INDENTATION. SILLY GRADE SCHOOL 'HAMBURGER PARAGRAPH" STRUCTURE. The test CANNOT differentiate true writing ability of ANY applicant likely to be admitted into a top 15 humanities or social science program.
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Look, you letters will help. That they are from Law profs not pol sci profs is ok: you were in law school, they'll understand. If the letters explain why they are so super duper eager for you to become a political scientist, it's fine.
Regarding your other question -- the Prof you mentioned who moved -- that is a complex problem. I would NOT contact anyone. Don't draw any more attention to it. Either your statement made it seem that this and only this Prof. is why you would "fit" in their program, or it did not. If it did communicate this, you have a problem that cannot be fixed. Don't draw more attention to it. They know you didn't know he would move.
If your statement singled out this prof, but there are others at the school that could naturally also supervise you, I would not worry to much. It's a problem, and it could hurt your chances. On the other hand: he is GONE. Were you just naming him strategically?
These things happen. That is why it is better not to name anyone UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THEY ARE STAYING. True, you can never really know. Welcome to the wide world of risk, aka, life.
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what is an AWA? Tell me and I'll try to answer
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I actually teach the GRE to foreigners whose first language is not English. I only teach the verbal and writing sections, though. Another teacher handles math. But still, I really do know this subject matter.
There is an aspect of the GRE no one has touched on. This is the fact that the verbal and math sections are vastly different in their difficulty level.
Look, I only studied high school math, but I have extremely strong verbal aptitude. I studied for the GRE, and got verbal 700, math 710, writing 6/6 (this was 4 years before I started teaching the GRE. Today I can score 770 since I really have memorized 3300 words from those fat books, just over time by teaching).
But look at my (2003) percentages: verbal 700 is 97%. math 710 is 74%. Why? BECAUSE THE MATH IS EASY. IT WAS NOT SO EASY FOR ME, BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT.
The GRE math is taken my science applicants, who must be at least 25% of all applicants. And it is absurdly easy for them. It is high school math! Meanwhile, the verbal is tough for everyone. I know classics students, who are extremely bright, know Greek, Latin, German and French, and read ALOT of English literature, who got only 710 on the verbal. It is VERY VERY hard to improve a verbal score from 700 to 750.
GRE quantitative can ONLY hurt you in humanities and social sciences apps. If it is below 650 it raises a slight flag. Below 600, it is bad (they can see you aren't great at math). If it is 650 and up, you are safe. Other than that, short of 750+, it is all the same. 650-750 is the same!
Period.
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Iffa a yer grammar not in the way standing...sound is good to me!
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I hope you find these posts of mine informative and/or amusing.
I am aiming very very high this fateful application season. If my horse does not come in, I'll need to find something to do for a year, while I re-apply. And my idea is: develop a personal tutoring service to help people get into Law, MBA and PhD programs. I am completely serious. Some might as well pay you to learn from your own mistakes.
PoliSci 2007-2008 Cycle
in Political Science Forum
Posted
The Harvard Admits are 100% for real. Based on the email I received, there were 35 admitted students. I think the chances that anyone who has not heard yet will be accepted or wait listed is essentially zero.
Sorry. And congrats to others.