bright on time

I have read elsewhere about the etiquette for asking for more money, but I am interested to hear what our professors in residence have to say. I am in the position of having two schools that have raised their initial funding offers, and would like to communicate this update to my third school in a way that encourages them to do the same. How specific should I be with figures, and should I worry about coming across as only concerned about the funding (I'm obviously not)?

HUGE congrats to the Yale folks! I'm still a wee bit jealous but it's great to see people getting such exciting news on here.

Just wanted to pop back in and say thanks for everyone answering here- I've been following a lot of these steps as I talk to people (and asking a ridiculous amount of questions) and this thread has been enormously helpful. Keep 'em coming and I'll also try to weigh in as it gets closer to April with some wisdom!

Though I haven't emailed them regarding admissions, getting in touch with them by email has been pretty impossible through the whole process... I asked about writing samples early on and received the response, "yes" as in, no punctuation, no capitalization and also not an answer that made sense for my non-yes-or-no question. I laughed. But back on topic- my plan is to wait until the end of February and call if I have received no news, since I believe they are notorious for trickling out decisions.

That's my plan until someone claims them. I'll get better sleep that way.

I'd certainly second all of this as a 2nd-round applicant. Particularly the point about the 15-20 professors- while I personally didn't speak to anywhere near that many, I did increase the number of people I spoke with and significantly increased the number of questions (or rather, the quality of questions) I asked. Most professors in my undergraduate department, which was very good, encouraged me to only apply in the top 15. This was a mistake for me- both because it had me attempting to hit well above my weight in many cases and because some of these choices simply weren't the best fit for my interests. For some others, it probably was excellent advice. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should ask for SEVERAL opinions you'll respect, consider them carefully, and chart your path down the long and winding road of applications according to what you know will ultimately make you happiest/ benefit you the most. Additionally, talk to people who will go to bat for you, which I've learned is immensely important. Another piece of practical advice- fix your SOP. No matter what it is now, it can be better. You can be more specific, you can phrase your research interests in a more precise way for each school, etc. I thought my SOP was solid gold last year- now I look at it and cringe in comparison. Maybe just think of it as the first 'paper' you're working on for your graduate life- it's never 100% done! Adapting and bettering my SOP was I think the main change in my application- in addition to fancying up my CV and ultimately applying to a (mostly) different set of programs. The main thing that pushed me to apply again was NOT working in a related field for a year. When I received my multitude of rejections last winter/spring, I spent the following 3 months or so convinced academia wasn't for me. At some point in the summer, although I was passionate about the work I was doing with a nonprofit, I knew that my 'happy place' was still researching international relations. That alone convinced me to try again and do so smarter the 2nd time.

YES! Congrats!

Just got my email, I'm IR subfield. I have my fingers crossed for you guys!!

YALE EMAIL?! (yes, I am shouting at my screen). Also, huge congrats to the Stanford admits- I hope you have epic celebrations planned!

One from both scenarios. I could be wrong, but I think it depends somewhat on how the departments delegate responsibility for contacting admits.

Ditto, except for 203. Actually, my mother just called me and I almost irrationally yelled at her because she wasn't Kalyvas or Sambanis.

I know that we're still relatively early in this cycle and there are still a lot of admits awaiting us all (that's the only option, I'm sure), but April 15th is already looming. So, my question is... what factors are you weighing as you're considering? Or rather, what are shaping up as the most important pros and cons- fit? Money? Opportunities for collaboration? Quality of local nightlife? Basically- how do you plan to decide? I tend to be more of a 'gut reaction' decision maker, but when it comes down to it, for a decision of this level of importance I want to make sure I've asked all the necessary questions of programs, grad students, etc. I even see a(nother) spreadsheet in my very near future.

With the MIT phone calls coming in, it's getting progressively harder to say they haven't contacted me due to the blizzard. Congrats to the newest admit(s)!

The Maryland admit was posted under "Department of Government and Politics" so the way I've been doing it- to organize the results by 'Program' and then scroll to the P's for Political Science- I missed it completely until looking at the forum.

Just realized that not all departments/entries are under 'Political Science' in the results listings (Maryland, I'm looking at you). Holla for more things to obsess over!

Thanks so much to each of you for the responses- they're very helpful. Wemayet, thanks for the additional info about study abroad programs. I should have clarified that what I was trying to avoid was traveling for the sake of traveling. Although I firmly believe that does have its own benefits, I'd only be willing to do the type of programs you discussed- ones that really do give you a leg up in your career path or research. Penelope and GopherGrad, I'm honestly not 100% sure about whether I'd be pursuing more of a fieldwork or sustained research situation (as Penelope noted, a lot of what I know about fieldwork comes from comparativists- I'm honestly not sure what will be expected of me). Most likely the latter, although I'd be happy with a year or so. Heck, if I can do both I'm definitely down for it. Penelope, thanks much for your input on funding and possible places, as well.

whoa whoa whoa. I was out and about all day today (and am still in the stone age without a smartphone) and there are a full 10 pages here since last I checked. Good work, guys. Congratulations all around to new admittances! To the UVA admit- can I ask your subfield? Or if you have any other information to discourage me from refreshing my application and email at every chance? Also, apologies if I missed this earlier in the thread.

So... is anyone who applied yet to hear from U Wisconsin-Madison? I have no email but also nothing by way of snail-mail and am not sure how to take that. Although, I didn't know about the $11k stipend so I'm a little less on edge about it. And I second all the calls for goodwill on the results posting. But it would definitely be easier if schools would hurry up and "go all Oprah" (I'm trying to help make that happen).

I'll be there as well! Also, congrats to everyone getting good news today!

One right here! Also, did anyone else first get directed to the website to read the rejection letter and then get the SAME letter by email later? I feel like they were really keen to get the point across.

Long ago in the process of starting applications, all of my professors/advisors cautioned me not to pursue PhD programs abroad- I was particularly interested in the UK- if I wanted an academic job in the States later on. Although that seemed a little ridiculous to me, I took them at their word. However, I would still LOVE to be able to spend some time in graduate school abroad and am curious as to whether or not any of you have experience with this/ know if that's in any way possible- my subfield is IR. I'm asking about a predoctoral or visiting researcher sort of thing rather than a 'study abroad program' of any sort, as I paid for that in undergrad and have no intention to do so again simply because it's nice to travel. If this isn't just a crazy dream, I'd be interested to hear about any part of your experiences. I'd also want to know whether or not I should ask programs during recruitment weekends if they encourage or support students in doing this- I'd like to be able to inquire about the level of support (in looking for grants, contacting researchers abroad, etc) I could expect but don't want my POIs to look at me like I've sprouted another head if this is unheard of. Thanks!

Yep. But for those that don't have one, I'd say it's probably a good sign...?

Congrats NYU and Duke folks (plus others from earlier in the day)!

Mine did too- but did you click on the 'messages' section? That's where the letter was for me.