2018-2019 Application Thread

[PBandMachiajelly]

3 minutes ago, Dwar said:

welp, looks like I won't be getting in anywhere this cycle. Congrats to those who have been admitted! 

Have you heard back from everywhere at this point? :(

[Dwar]

1 minute ago, PBandMachiajelly said:

Have you heard back from everywhere at this point?

ya, either official or unofficial rejections at this point. I did get one unfunded admission, but honestly thats as good as a rejection, im broke af and cant afford to do this without funding. 

[PBandMachiajelly]

Just now, Dwar said:

ya, either official or unofficial rejections at this point. I did get one unfunded admission, but honestly thats as good as a rejection, im broke af and cant afford to do this without funding. 

I wish there was a 'solidarity' response - I don't want to 'like' your post, because that sucks. As people have been saying, though, this forum is 100% self-selected - you're certainly not the only one in your position. The process is such a crap-shoot (hell, I'm still waiting to hear back from anywhere, so I could very well be joining you in a few weeks), and it doesn't reflect upon who you are or what you're going to do. This whole process is so brutal, and I wish you success in whatever direction you choose to go after this. At the very least, you've got closure and are released from the endless cycle of refreshing and worrying! It's not much, but it's something.

[Dwar]

Just now, PBandMachiajelly said:

I wish there was a 'solidarity' response - I don't want to 'like' your post, because that sucks. As people have been saying, though, this forum is 100% self-selected - you're certainly not the only one in your position. The process is such a crap-shoot (hell, I'm still waiting to hear back from anywhere, so I could very well be joining you in a few weeks), and it doesn't reflect upon who you are or what you're going to do. This whole process is so brutal, and I wish you success in whatever direction you choose to go after this. At the very least, you've got closure and are released from the endless cycle of refreshing and worrying! It's not much, but it's something.

Thanks for your kind words! and ya, I am trying to look at it not as a reflection of who I am or what kind of student I am, but honestly that got harder and harder as the rejections began to pile up. Grad school is still my dream so I plan on applying next cycle, I hope for better results. 

And good luck with all of your applications! I wish you and everyone else on here the best of success, this has been a great resource, and one that I truly appreciated during the stressful application season. its also really opened up my naive eyes about the whole application process, and the tips and knowledge i've gained from here will go along way to improving my application for next time. 

[pscwpv]

1 hour ago, sandmoon said:

Don't think they did. Good luck!! I've heard mixed things about the department as a whole though... Would love to get more thoughts on where Yale stands among the CHYMPS schools.

As Yale is the only decision I have left that would be attractive, I'm also waiting on them, but assuming I'll be rejected and definitely end up at Chicago, barring changing my mind once I've visited places.

From talking to a couple of my professors who either went there, taught there or had friends there, Yale's a strange place. The department has bled senior academics like Kalyvas, Mantena (leaving for Columbia apparently), Thachill, and Sambanis. They've also struggled to hold onto some talented younger academics like Adria Lawrence. They just denied tenure to Jason Lyall. As I understand it, there's some bad power politics within the department that likely are a big part of why so many people have left. As such, lots of political scientists who for whatever reason care about rankings would say they've struggled to maintain their stature in recent years. I'd bet most would still say they're a strong top 10 department and better than that depending on what you're studying/who you're studying with, but I know some would say they're not a CHYMPS-caliber department right now, or at the very least, they are the weakest of those six.  If that reallllly means anything I guess is a bigger question. I'm sure someone else on here might disagree with this.

On the whole, their treatment of staff and grad students is historically less than great. The university refuses to recognize the grad student union, while morale among academics is pretty bad. The Yale Daily News just reported that the administration pushed for a report on faculty satisfaction to remain secret because it said 69% of faculty didn't think their department was top 5 and a majority thought the university mistreated staff and was failing to recruit top-level academics. Pretty hard to recruit when the stories coming out of the department are all about dysfunction. 

[peggy.olson]

5 minutes ago, pscwpv said:

As Yale is the only decision I have left that would be attractive, I'm also waiting on them, but assuming I'll be rejected and definitely end up at Chicago, barring changing my mind once I've visited places.

From talking to a couple of my professors who either went there, taught there or had friends there, Yale's a strange place. The department has bled senior academics like Kalyvas, Mantena (leaving for Columbia apparently), Thachill, and Sambanis. They've also struggled to hold onto some talented younger academics like Adria Lawrence. They just denied tenure to Jason Lyall. As I understand it, there's some bad power politics within the department that likely are a big part of why so many people have left. As such, lots of political scientists who for whatever reason care about rankings would say they've struggled to maintain their stature in recent years. I'd bet most would still say they're a strong top 10 department and better than that depending on what you're studying/who you're studying with, but I know some would say they're not a CHYMPS-caliber department right now, or at the very least, they are the weakest of those six.  If that reallllly means anything I guess is a bigger question. I'm sure someone else on here might disagree with this.

On the whole, their treatment of staff and grad students is historically less than great. The university refuses to recognize the grad student union, while morale among academics is pretty bad. The Yale Daily News just reported that the administration pushed for a report on faculty satisfaction to remain secret because it said 69% of faculty didn't think their department was top 5 and a majority thought the university mistreated staff and was failing to recruit top-level academics. Pretty hard to recruit when the stories coming out of the department are all about dysfunction. 

Completely agree.... It's absolutely insane to me that Yale used to be one of the best places to study conflict and yet the IR/conflict department has completely disappeared in like, the last year. Their conflict/security studies center closed this summer, and like you said, all their major conflict profs have left. After I heard Lyall is also leaving, I'm very very very doubtful that I have any chance at admission (or that it would even make sense for me to be admitted) as I applied as a conflict-focused IR scholar. Sad!

And it's also kind of crazy to me thinking about all the grad students admitted 2-3 years ago when the conflict profs were there and now they're all gone and have almost no one to work with in their on dept

[pscwpv]

22 minutes ago, peggy.olson said:

Completely agree.... It's absolutely insane to me that Yale used to be one of the best places to study conflict and yet the IR/conflict department has completely disappeared in like, the last year. Their conflict/security studies center closed this summer, and like you said, all their major conflict profs have left. After I heard Lyall is also leaving, I'm very very very doubtful that I have any chance at admission (or that it would even make sense for me to be admitted) as I applied as a conflict-focused IR scholar. Sad!

And it's also kind of crazy to me thinking about all the grad students admitted 2-3 years ago when the conflict profs were there and now they're all gone and have almost no one to work with in their on dept

Ya Kaylvas leaving was big, but Wood is still there, and while the OCV closed because he wasn't there to run it, they've started up a consequences of political violence workshop that has essentially the same framework just without the fellowships. I also think Kalyvas is still on the grad students' committees that he was on before so hasn't abandoned anyone. But it is pretty crazy to think if you got in yale five years ago to do civil wars you probably assumed you'd won the lottery, but by the time you graduate, Sambanis, Lawrence, Kalyvas, and Lyall all left. That said, their younger hires' research is really interesting and it'll be interesting to see whether they try to replace Lyall with someone else. Yale still has crazy amounts of money and cache. Chicago has similarly acrimonious internal politics but has managed to turn around their department with an overall endowment that's about 1/4 of Yale's. I doubt they'll ever be *the* place to study civil conflict again but I won't be shocked when they're a very strong department in a few years.

Edited February 15, 2019 by pscwpv

[Theory007]

On 2/13/2019 at 9:26 PM, Theory007 said:

Just wanted to add my interpretation of a few still unresolved programs.

The bulk of admission decisions from Brown came out in 2017 and 2018 on February 13th-15th and waitlists appear to be notified later. So there is at least a chance that Brown applicants will hear by the end of this week. UC Davis admits are probably all out by now (again judging from previous years' patterns), but there is a chance that waitlists still need to be notified. While it is not certain, it looks like rejections have not been sent out yet from UNC. The only available rejection in 2018 was sent out on February 15th and if they stick to this pattern, people will be rejected by Friday of this week. UNC appears to waitlist quite a few applicants and these are typically notified the week (or two or three) after rejections are sent out - so sometime next week the earliest. Crossing fingers that at least some of these predictions are true.

FYI: So far none of this has come true

[rainydaze]

Just got the following email from USC. Did anyone else get it? Or is this a "you're getting rejected and please don't bother us while we release acceptances" email? Am I losing it? Yes. 

"Dear Prospective Applicant, 

Thank you for your interest in our program. We are currently finalizing admissions decisions, and we will release admissions decisions early next week. If you do not receive a decision by next week please e-mail us at poir@usc.edu. Thank you for your patience. 

Sincerely, 

POIR"

[IR1221]

Does anyone know if Columbia acceptances come in all at once or trickle in? (haven't heard anything just wondering if I should lose hope if I see others getting in)

[calvinssy]

1 hour ago, rainydaze said:

Just got the following email from USC. Did anyone else get it? Or is this a "you're getting rejected and please don't bother us while we release acceptances" email? Am I losing it? Yes. 

"Dear Prospective Applicant, 

Thank you for your interest in our program. We are currently finalizing admissions decisions, and we will release admissions decisions early next week. If you do not receive a decision by next week please e-mail us at poir@usc.edu. Thank you for your patience. 

Sincerely, 

POIR"

I got this email as well, but I won't think it is a rejection since no acceptance has been released yet. I guess we will know the answer on Monday or Tuesday

Edited February 15, 2019 by calvinssy

[grotius' worst nightmare]

15 hours ago, nietzsche's moustache said:

Looks like Chicago right now. 

you must be working on the international in pol theory?

[grotius' worst nightmare]

4 hours ago, peggy.olson said:

Completely agree.... It's absolutely insane to me that Yale used to be one of the best places to study conflict and yet the IR/conflict department has completely disappeared in like, the last year. Their conflict/security studies center closed this summer, and like you said, all their major conflict profs have left. After I heard Lyall is also leaving, I'm very very very doubtful that I have any chance at admission (or that it would even make sense for me to be admitted) as I applied as a conflict-focused IR scholar. Sad!

And it's also kind of crazy to me thinking about all the grad students admitted 2-3 years ago when the conflict profs were there and now they're all gone and have almost no one to work with in their on dept

true. 

[IcedCovfefe]

4 hours ago, pscwpv said:

Ya Kaylvas leaving was big, but Wood is still there, and while the OCV closed because he wasn't there to run it, they've started up a consequences of political violence workshop that has essentially the same framework just without the fellowships. I also think Kalyvas is still on the grad students' committees that he was on before so hasn't abandoned anyone. But it is pretty crazy to think if you got in yale five years ago to do civil wars you probably assumed you'd won the lottery, but by the time you graduate, Sambanis, Lawrence, Kalyvas, and Lyall all left. That said, their younger hires' research is really interesting and it'll be interesting to see whether they try to replace Lyall with someone else. Yale still has crazy amounts of money and cache. Chicago has similarly acrimonious internal politics but has managed to turn around their department with an overall endowment that's about 1/4 of Yale's. I doubt they'll ever be *the* place to study civil conflict again but I won't be shocked when they're a very strong department in a few years.

Just curious: where do you all think is the best place for civil conflict now?  Top three?

Edited February 15, 2019 by IcedCovfefe

[TheCypria]

14 minutes ago, IcedCovfefe said:

Just curious: where do you all think is the best place for civil conflict now?  Top three?

Top 3? I think Stanford stands out with Fearon/Laitin/Weinstein. MIT also has strong faculty with Petersen/Christia/Bateson. Berkeley, UCSD, and Chicago have some good scholars too, and Columbia should probably in the conversation as well.

Edited February 15, 2019 by TheCypria

[StormingTheCastle]

And so it seems that another week passes with no news from Northwestern or Pittsburgh. ?

[peggy.olson]

40 minutes ago, TheCypria said:

Top 3? I think Stanford stands out with Fearon/Laitin/Weinstein. MIT also has strong faculty with Petersen/Christia/Bateson. Berkeley, UCSD, and Chicago have some good scholars too, and Columbia should probably in the conversation as well.

Hmm, who at Chicago? 

[pscwpv]

1 hour ago, IcedCovfefe said:

Just curious: where do you all think is the best place for civil conflict now?  Top three?

 

54 minutes ago, TheCypria said:

Top 3? I think Stanford stands out with Fearon/Laitin/Weinstein. MIT also has strong faculty with Petersen/Christia/Bateson. Berkeley, UCSD, and Chicago have some good scholars too, and Columbia should probably in the conversation as well.

Tbh, I really dunno. My research interests are in this area so I thought a lot about the good programs when I was applying, but I'm definitely no authority on it. That said, I agree Stanford is probably the strongest overall, particularly if you wanna do the kind of large-N cross-national work they're known for. Plus, it's Stanford...so you'll get a job. The problem is Yale was kind of the counter-weight to that political economic approach with their grads doing lots of work on the micro-foundations of civil wars, but there isn't somewhere that looks as strong in that area. MIT is strong with Petersen and Christia, but I think (could be wrong) Bateson is leaving, and the other two really don't work on civil wars anymore. Like Stanford, UCSD is very political economic of course given that two of their big scholars were advised by Fearon and Laitin. Michigan has a big mix with Nordas, Davenport, Zhukov, and some people on tangential stuff like Slater or Shiraito. 

Chicago probably has the largest, most diverse conflict cluster and might end up the strongest place: Staniland, Lessing, Wedeen, Albertus, and Pape all work on some area of civil conflict, at least tangentially. Blattman and Dube do the development-economic approach, but it does look like the huge new Pearson Institute is having some....troubles.

Edited February 15, 2019 by pscwpv

[sandmoon]

5 hours ago, Dwar said:

Thanks for your kind words! and ya, I am trying to look at it not as a reflection of who I am or what kind of student I am, but honestly that got harder and harder as the rejections began to pile up. Grad school is still my dream so I plan on applying next cycle, I hope for better results. 

And good luck with all of your applications! I wish you and everyone else on here the best of success, this has been a great resource, and one that I truly appreciated during the stressful application season. its also really opened up my naive eyes about the whole application process, and the tips and knowledge i've gained from here will go along way to improving my application for next time. 

I found reading academic papers helpful. They help me formulate research ideas and remind me of why I wanted to do this in the first place. Took a lot of stress off my shoulders in the past few weeks. Best of luck!

[Theoryboi]

3 hours ago, rainydaze said:

Just got the following email from USC. Did anyone else get it? Or is this a "you're getting rejected and please don't bother us while we release acceptances" email? Am I losing it? Yes. 

"Dear Prospective Applicant, 

Thank you for your interest in our program. We are currently finalizing admissions decisions, and we will release admissions decisions early next week. If you do not receive a decision by next week please e-mail us at poir@usc.edu. Thank you for your patience. 

Sincerely, 

POIR"

 

2 hours ago, calvinssy said:

I got this email as well, but I won't think it is a rejection since no acceptance has been released yet. I guess we will know the answer on Monday or Tuesday

Hey gang, I got this as well and also didn't interpret this as a rejection. It seems they are just running late and are simply acknowledging so (which I think is admirable of them to do). Best of luck to you both. I'm theory subfield, so not sure if we are competing or not.

[wara]

6 minutes ago, Theoryboi said:

Hey gang, I got this as well and also didn't interpret this as a rejection. It seems they are just running late and are simply acknowledging so (which I think is admirable of them to do). Best of luck to you both. I'm theory subfield, so not sure if we are competing or not. 

Does USC offer Theory?

[calvinssy]

10 minutes ago, Theoryboi said:

 

Hey gang, I got this as well and also didn't interpret this as a rejection. It seems they are just running late and are simply acknowledging so (which I think is admirable of them to do). Best of luck to you both. I'm theory subfield, so not sure if we are competing or not.

lol at least not for me. I am in the American Politics subfield. Good Luck!!!

[Theoryboi]

11 minutes ago, wara said:

Does USC offer Theory?

Sorry, you're right. I do Theory/IR so I applied for IR at SC. I applied so long ago I forgot!

[wara]

7 minutes ago, Theoryboi said:

Sorry, you're right. I do Theory/IR so I applied for IR at SC. I applied so long ago I forgot!

Haha, that's cool, the application process can be so grueling some times. ? I just know that USC let's you do a customized field, at least for comps (e.g. Human Rights), so I thought maybe you snuck through some inter-sub-disciplinary theory app which would have been amazing.

Anyway....seeing as it's a weekend and all....honestly I'd love to hear if you or anyone has any random thoughts on theory, either via this thread or through PM. Definitely feels under-discussed on this board.

Edited February 16, 2019 by wara

[e2e4]

2 hours ago, peggy.olson said:

Hmm, who at Chicago? 

Paul Staniland and Ben Lessing are excellent