2019-2020 Application Thread

[ChooseHappily]

9 hours ago, Ralvarez said:

I think this is normal because political science as an academic field can be incredibly broad in spots. I applied to 9 poli sci programs and 1 international studies program. I found myself tailoring my focus based on department fit. For most schools I was theory/American. But there are a few that I leaned American/Comparative. Theory is dwindling at a lot of programs, so I made sure to highlight my research in other Sub-fields in addition to my work in theory.

I think versatility is a good thing as long as you don’t seem indecisive. Unless you seemed really unsure in your SOP, I don’t think you’re doing it wrong. 

Thanks for the reassurance! this is exactly what I did, and I don't think I'm at all unsure in my statements. Good to hear. thanks

[Mixedmethodsisa4letterword]

Any advice on how to spend the next 40 days without getting eaten alive by anxiety?

[Theoryboi]

45 minutes ago, Mixedmethodsisa4letterword said:

Any advice on how to spend the next 40 days without getting eaten alive by anxiety?

Embrace the absurdity of life.

[Dwar]

4 hours ago, Mixedmethodsisa4letterword said:

Any advice on how to spend the next 40 days without getting eaten alive by anxiety?

Molly 

[Romcomulus]

8 hours ago, Mixedmethodsisa4letterword said:

Any advice on how to spend the next 40 days without getting eaten alive by anxiety?

I'm getting married on Jan 10th, so that certainly been a distraction. Definitely wouldn't recommend simultaneously planning a wedding and applying to PhD programs to anyone else though, I didn't think that one through. I am now playing catch up after not paying attention to the cost of flowers and linens for 3 months.

[Mixedmethodsisa4letterword]

6 hours ago, Ralvarez said:

I'm getting married on Jan 10th, so that certainly been a distraction. Definitely wouldn't recommend simultaneously planning a wedding and applying to PhD programs to anyone else though, I didn't think that one through. I am now playing catch up after not paying attention to the cost of flowers and linens for 3 months.

Congrats!!!

[munch22]

Current grad student here - I used gradcafe when I was applying and found it to be beneficial (yes this is a new profile to protect my identity and what school I attend). I wanted to put forth some advice that does not get said often on here - no matter what you are asking on here, take people's advice with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, you are getting advice from people on here who could be profs, grad students, or those with even less experience then you have.  You do not know how good someone's advice could be. You don't know if someone else knows what they are talking about or not. Ask questions, take advice, but just like wikipedia make sure gradcafe is not your only source of information. Reach out to current grad students you know, your professors, and crowd source questions you have on things that are beneficial for you in this process. 

In my few years of grad school, if I learned anything it is the fact that every program is so different. For admissions, some want different things than others, some will be ok with a bad grade or a bad GRE score while others will not. Often on here, I see things posted by perspective students that they claim are facts which I know to be true at some programs but are not at others. Just because it happened once at one school does not mean that is why or how it is happening at another school. Use gradcafe but do your due diligence when you have questions or are looking information. Your professors are your best source of information.

 

Good luck with application season, don't stress out too much once you submit apps, and have a great holidays.

[thean]

On 12/20/2019 at 12:33 AM, Ralvarez said:

I'm getting married on Jan 10th, so that certainly been a distraction. Definitely wouldn't recommend simultaneously planning a wedding and applying to PhD programs to anyone else though, I didn't think that one through. I am now playing catch up after not paying attention to the cost of flowers and linens for 3 months.

Congrats !

So get married it is, now I just have to find somebody who's interested in this shithead of me.

[toolkitsocio]

Hello!
I am a sociology graduate but I have for the recent years worked a lot on social movements and populism. I am interested in pursuing a PhD in political science. I was wondering how does on ego about explaining this shift? What do faculties look at? 

[SeriousDiver]

Is it possible to decline offers before they are sent out? For example, Berkeley renders decisions very early on (Late January). If I am accepted, I will not go to UCSD (who tends to render their decision later).  So, in order to potentially help out applicants at UCSD, wouldn't it be a good thing for me to write to their DGS to overlook me, or admit someone else over me? It looks like a very arrogant move, but I think it might save someone who would otherwise have been declined.

Edited December 25, 2019 by SeriousDiver

[uncle_socks]

41 minutes ago, SeriousDiver said:

Is it possible to decline offers before they are sent out? For example, Berkeley renders decisions very early on (Late January). If I am accepted, I will not go to UCSD (who tends to render their decision later).  So, in order to potentially help out applicants at UCSD, wouldn't it be a good thing for me to write to their DGS to overlook me, or admit someone else over me? It looks like a very arrogant move, but I think it might save someone who would otherwise have been declined.

It won't save someone who would've otherwise been declined, most likely. Schools know that people get multiple acceptances and regularly admit more people than that can enroll because they know many of their admits will ultimately go to different schools, and they admit with that in mind. 

Put it this way: a school like UCSD (which has a tough yield game because it's ranked beneath CHYMPS but many people who get into a CHYMPS will apply and get accepted at UCSD) doesn't care if it admits 39 vs 40 (made up numbers) because they expect 20-30 to go elsewhere anyways. And if they really do care that much, they'll use the waitlist. 

Feel free to decline offers of admission early, but there's a very real chance that what you're doing isn't going to help a fellow applicant because schools expect people to decline offers anyways. 

[SeriousDiver]

tick tock tick tock. ~25 days till Berkeley sends out admission offers. 

[horololo]

How is the interview going on? Is there anyone having interviews now?

[uchenyy]

45 minutes ago, horololo said:

How is the interview going on? Is there anyone having interviews now?

Have interview requests been sent out?

[horololo]

12 minutes ago, uchenyy said:

Have interview requests been sent out?

I was wondering the same thing! It looks like other departments are having interviews nowadays. When does it usually happen in this field?

[uchenyy]

4 minutes ago, horololo said:

I was wondering the same thing! It looks like other departments are having interviews nowadays. When does it usually happen in this field?

In recent years, Wisconsin has sent out interview requests anywhere between December 31 and mid-January. I think Ohio State and Emory conduct interviews, too, but I could be wrong.

[Dwar]

53 minutes ago, uchenyy said:

I think Ohio State and Emory conduct interviews, too, but I could be wrong.

Emory does, OSU does, but only sorta. For OSU some faculty can request an interview while others will waive it, so if you applied to OSU and did not receive an interview request it literally doesn't mean anything. 

I think in general interviews for Political Science are much less frequent then in other fields mainly because funding comes from the department and not individual faculty members. But some programs do send out interview requests. I would suggest you look up the specific program you are interested in under the results tab, if they have sent out interview requests in the past it'll show up there. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Dwar

[uncle_socks]

Emory doesn't do interviews anymore, at least not for everyone. 

[uchenyy]

Since when have GRE scores been optional in the Political Science Department at Ohio State? This is the first top-ranked program, to the best of my knowledge, that no longer requires the GRE. 

[S-Kyo]

21 hours ago, uchenyy said:

Since when have GRE scores been optional in the Political Science Department at Ohio State? This is the first top-ranked program, to the best of my knowledge, that no longer requires the GRE. 

I personally do not have good GRE scores. (But I am sure that I am good at math, or writing in English).

I respect those who have high GRE scores. It is a skill that I do not have. I also do not know the answer to how my GRE score would help me in my academic career. Yes, it is a skill, but I am not sure if it is a useful one to invest time, energy, and money. 

While GRE may show a level of knowledge of words/complicated reading structures/math. Ironically, Pols professors try to write papers as simple as possible, especially in quantitative studies. While in quant, scholars prioritize math, it is no longer important to know interest rate problems or round area calculation, etc. Statistic programs provide what we need. If one is not satisfied with the results of the software as statisticians, they can use manual regression/Anova/Manova, etc. formulas/equations. GRE math does not teach how to do the manual calculation. All the methods and techniques are a different skill that a grad student develops over time. Where is the role of knowing GRE math? - Nothing.  

I support what Ohio tries to do. I think GRE should be dropped as a requirement for Pols Ph.D. programs. 
#GreExit 

[Dwar]

22 hours ago, uchenyy said:

Since when have GRE scores been optional in the Political Science Department at Ohio State? This is the first top-ranked program, to the best of my knowledge, that no longer requires the GRE. 

Woah, thats major. I believe this is the the second major program to do this, the other being the University of Hawaii. I think it's a great thing to happen, and I hope other schools start to do something similar. LOW KEY wish this happened a few years ago. The GRE has plagued my admissions chances. This is the second round that I'll be applying and hoping that the GRE's don't hold me back again. 

[Theory007]

3 hours ago, S-Kyo said:

I personally do not have good GRE scores. (But I am sure that I am good at math, or writing in English).

I respect those who have high GRE scores. It is a skill that I do not have. I also do not know the answer to how my GRE score would help me in my academic career. Yes, it is a skill, but I am not sure if it is a useful one to invest time, energy, and money. 

While GRE may show a level of knowledge of words/complicated reading structures/math. Ironically, Pols professors try to write papers as simple as possible, especially in quantitative studies. While in quant, scholars prioritize math, it is no longer important to know interest rate problems or round area calculation, etc. Statistic programs provide what we need. If one is not satisfied with the results of the software as statisticians, they can use manual regression/Anova/Manova, etc. formulas/equations. GRE math does not teach how to do the manual calculation. All the methods and techniques are a different skill that a grad student develops over time. Where is the role of knowing GRE math? - Nothing.  

I support what Ohio tries to do. I think GRE should be dropped as a requirement for Pols Ph.D. programs. 
#GreExit 

In my view, the only thing to say about this is that very much data supports the idea that higher GRE scores correlate with higher academic ability and success in graduate school. The GRE score is a proxy for ability. And the test is meant to "level the playing field" because it is hard to compare GPAs across high and low ranked American institutions as well as foreign institutions. That way a high GRE score gives persons who did not go to top 10 schools for undergrad an opportunity to prove that they are top notch and deserve a spot in a top program. Not having the GRE required can only work against persons without a stellar undergrad degree from a stellar institution, and in favor those with a stellar undergrad degree from a stellar institution (since they have nothing further to prove).

And I assume that the admissions committee at OSU must view applicant who submit high GRE scores more favorably, and know that those who do not submit a GRE score likely did not perform well upon the test. This is especially true because virtually all phd applicants do the GRE test since it is required for all other programs (minus Hawaii?). So my guess is that it is, all else equal, a red flag if a GRE score does not accompany the application.

Finally, it is probably not unreasonable to suspect that OSU will receive far more applications as a result of the new policy, which ups the competition. So I think it would be prudent to still do the GRE, struggle with it like most people do, and submit it with your application. I say this to encourage you; the GRE sucks but you can do it!! With sufficient study it is possible for anyone who is genuinely qualified to enter a phd program to get in the 90th + percentile on all sections.

[Theory007]

2 hours ago, Dwar said:

Woah, thats major. I believe this is the the second major program to do this, the other being the University of Hawaii. I think it's a great thing to happen, and I hope other schools start to do something similar. LOW KEY wish this happened a few years ago. The GRE has plagued my admissions chances. This is the second round that I'll be applying and hoping that the GRE's don't hold me back again. 

Good luck! I did see your posts last year and hoping it will work out for you this year.

[munch22]

4 hours ago, S-Kyo said:

I personally do not have good GRE scores. (But I am sure that I am good at math, or writing in English).

I respect those who have high GRE scores. It is a skill that I do not have. I also do not know the answer to how my GRE score would help me in my academic career. Yes, it is a skill, but I am not sure if it is a useful one to invest time, energy, and money. 

While GRE may show a level of knowledge of words/complicated reading structures/math. Ironically, Pols professors try to write papers as simple as possible, especially in quantitative studies. While in quant, scholars prioritize math, it is no longer important to know interest rate problems or round area calculation, etc. Statistic programs provide what we need. If one is not satisfied with the results of the software as statisticians, they can use manual regression/Anova/Manova, etc. formulas/equations. GRE math does not teach how to do the manual calculation. All the methods and techniques are a different skill that a grad student develops over time. Where is the role of knowing GRE math? - Nothing.  

I support what Ohio tries to do. I think GRE should be dropped as a requirement for Pols Ph.D. programs. 
#GreExit 

You always have to remember admissions committees are dealing with limited information when they read your file. There are only so many things they can judge you as an applicant on. At the end of the day, the GRE is the only thing every candidate can be compared across. You should know that for most professors, they do not view the GRE as the end all be all on your application. Right or wrong, for most it is a proxy for your ability to put the effort in to do something you are required to do so. Again, right or wrong (not necessarily my opinion) many view low scores as someone who was not willing to put in the time or effort achieve high scores. As Theory007 mentioned, the GRE gives applicants from not as prestigious institutions the opportunity to demonstrate they are capable and belong in top grad programs. 

It will sound harsh, but until something else comes around/drastic changes occur, the GRE for the most part is not going anywhere. So for future applicants and those thinking of reapplying, take the time and study, get your scores to at least 160+ for top 20s at a minimum. There are tons of free resources online and ways to practice. Not doing so just signals to some (again, not necessarily my opinion) that you aren't willing to put the work in to get into grad school, and that that will carry over if you were to be a part of their program.

[quebec]

Is everyone here applying for PhD programs?

I'm applying for MA programs in Canada and in Europe.