teamind

::dies inside:: Ahh, jealous! Congrats!!!

FINALLY my admission decision status was updated for Northwestern. I hate that they don't send out an email; if it wasn't for grad cafe I wouldn't have even known to check it (well, as often...) nor would I have expected the rejection. Thank god for grad cafe! Also, to the person who wrote "I don't understand how I was rejected. I have a 4.0 GPA, did pretty well in my GREs and had excellent letters of recommendation. I got into other schools with funding. Northeastern isn't ranked high, so I assumed I'd get in": Have you learned nothing from this forum??? I don't even know where to begin.

Sorry to hear.. Snuggle up with a hot toddy and feel good movies? Fingers crossed you hear good news soon!

Am I the only one that has yet to hear a peep from Northwestern and UW? I'm assuming they are both rejections, but it seems weird they are taking a few days to notify everyone.

string theory

Claiming a Colorado rejection and UC Irvine wait list.. Erghh I wish I wasn't working so I could properly obsess over my email and the results board rather than refreshing frustrating tabs on my iPhone.....

hot tub

I got a call a few days ago from someone in the department letting me know I'm on their waitlist. But on my online application the status is still "Awaiting Program Decision". It seems, like many other online applications apparently, they might be slow with updating the website. Hope you hear something soon!

Ahh, thanks for this info! I've only seen one acceptance but maybe it's because I'm not searching correctly..? Here's hoping that you're right and we'll hear early next week. Those few posts really put it on my radar. Same with that conspicuous Northwestern admit... Edit: grammar

Woah, congrats Berkeley! Anyone know what's up with UVA? I see one acceptance and one rejection. Did anyone claim those?? Sorry if I missed it.

Congrats to all the recent admits!!! and condolences to the rejections. Questions (they are probably dumb ones, but my head is all fuzzy from the adrenaline and anxiety and excitement and terror and... ) : I got a call from a DGS who said I'm "number one" on their waitlist. Should I take that seriously? or do they say that to everyone? Then, I got a follow up email that said I should let them know if/when I get offers of admission elsewhere (which I have, South Carolina so far, weeee) I'm not up to speed with the etiquette or protocol here. It sounds like a way to weed out the people who seem like they might not accept the offer. But I also feel odd just not responding to the email. Again, sorry for not know what the F I'm doing! good luck yall!

Hey everyone, 1. I am currently taking a once-a-week class at an independent educational center. It's not a college or university, just a group of Marxists (many of them PhDs) that teach classes and put on lectures. The class is in my field of study, taught by a PhD n' all, and is otherwise a pretty legit class. How and where do I list this on my CV? I feel like it would be awkward to list a stand-alone class under the "education" section where my B.A. is listed, and I'm not even entirely sure how to format it. 2. I've been to several non-academic conferences in my city. Weekend long, many lectures, workshops, discussions, and related to topics I want to study [for example, I want to study environmental politics, and one conference was about food (legislation, food justice, nonprofits, community organizing, etc]. Should I list conferences like this? I feel like it would be a loss if I didn't. How do I format or describe them? under what header? I'm not sure I should say something like "Conferences Attended" because although they ARE called conferences, I feel like that would suggest "real" academic conferences. Any ideas on how I should frame this? Thanks for any advice! I hope yalls applications are coming along smoothly!

I am also wondering the same thing! Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks for the advice! I'm not sure how its done in my department, but something like this sounds about right. I think I'm going to, for the most part, forgo contacting any more professors.

As far as I know, you are supposed to mention the names of professors you want to work with. Not necessarily, "I've been communicating with Dr. So and So" (although there perhaps is a time and place for that), but more along the lines of "I'm interested in working with Dr. So and So" Check out some of the other threads on this topic; there are many.

Yes I know I am behind; hence this post.

Thanks! definitely some good nuggets of advice here

I already have a list of schools (many more than 4), and will have to change each SOP each a bit for each program. I already have most of the main template written, I'm actually finding the editing / polishing stage the hardest which I kinda why I'm freaking out. It's as if I hit a mental block. As for the LORs, I've already asked for them and have 3 profs ready and willing to write them. They are being very patient (unless they have all forgotten...) but I'm definitely worried I'm not giving them enough time. My first deadline is mid December.

My question is two fold; one about being late with applications in general and the other about POIs. 1) I haven't finished my SOP, haven't begun my CV, thus have yet to give my recommenders any info, and have only contacted about 4 out of 10 POI's. I'm finding it so incredibly hard to organize all of the different application requirements and it seems like everyone is much farther along and at least has a solid handle on things. I was sick for a few weeks and had to move twice, but other than that: What am I doing wrong? Did I just not budget my time properly? I feel like filling out all the online applications will only take a solid day's work, but in terms of my SOP, it seems as if I'm going at a snails-pace. Every day that passes I seem to get more disorganized and more behind on where I'm supposed to be in the process. 2) I have read many different opinions on this site about contacting POI's in Political Science, some say it's a must and some say it's whatever. One POI replied back with a "its seems like we have similar interests, I encourage you to apply", one replied with a "I encourage you to apply to a different program, political science is really hard to get into...". One invited me to speak on the phone with her after thanksgiving, and (this part of the story is the crux of my concern) one suggested that we meet (we live in the same city). So I went to her office, she informed me she wasn't taking on any new students to advise, after which point I sat there and stumbled trying to think of questions about the program (I assumed the meeting would be about potentially working with her, so I was very unprepared otherwise). After that experience, I feel discouraged about contacting other POI's since I obviously am not sure what to ask about programs in general (I thought I did, but every question I asked to this certain professor was greeted with a one-sentence answer and somewhat of a blank stare). I'm not entirely sure what I'm asking here, I guess I'm just confused and discouraged with this whole contacting POI-business, especially since I am so behind on my applications and I am just panicking about adding another mess to the pile. Thanks for reading; any thoughts are so appreciated!

You can find an example of a CV (along with other helpful resources) someone used for grad school here: https://sites.google.com/site/gradappadvice/downloads

http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/application-timeline.aspx I used this as a rough guideline when I was confused about scheduling everything. I'm kind of behind on what it suggests, but it's still helpful in keeping in mind what I have to get done.

Thanks for the input. I would've skipped the schmooze part if it was all just for the LOR, but it wasn't. We have friendly relationships so I genuinely wanted to catch up, and formally ask for a rec in the future. it wasn't intended to be a dance around the maypole at all, although I see how it could come across as that.. which, initially, was my concern. Seems as though you are right and I should've just asked along with the other emails ! Ahh okay, this makes me feel less crazy. This was my original thought as well; that since it is summer, they are busy, passed through my emails, and forgot to respond. It just worried me that they BOTH did it, and confused me as to how to react. I'm definitely going to email them again, or if I can make the trip up soon enough, visit them in person. Thanks so much all!

Sorry; I was thinking of the usual December deadlines for most PhD programs As for your chances on getting in anywhere, here are some posts to start you off:

Thanks for the advice. Is it not too soon to ask for a rec though?

hey all, I started the topic "Schmoozing with Recommenders before asking them?" () asking how to go about catching up with my intended LOR writers- then when it's time to ask, not coming across as if I was just schmoozing with them for a strong LOR. I went ahead and sent the schmoozy emails, dropping the casual reference that I am applying to graduate school so that when I ask them it won't be out of the blue. That was June 23. Today is July 16. I haven't heard back from either of them yet. We are on good terms, I've sent them update-emails before, and they are probably the only two professors within my field that will write me strong recommendations (I have a definite 3rd). What do I do? I feel really awkward and kind of stupid reaching out again, especially since I didn't flat out ask them for a recommendation. I'm almost wishing now that I did, so that a follow-up email asking about it would be more understandable. Do I send them another "whats up?" email? Do I ask them for recommendations? Do I make the 2 hour drive upstate to my undergrad institution and pop in their office?