2019-2020 Application Thread

[DrPepperGuy]

9 minutes ago, niceward said:

I'm trying really hard to keep from despairing. I'm still waiting on five schools, but now I feel somewhat disheartened. Oh, well. 

Hang in there. I see why this is a difficult process and so far my results have no pattern to them.  I'm wait listed at WashU but rejected at Brown/Northwestern/Emory.  

I think the bright side is that since there is no pattern there is always hope that some school will find particular merits in your application.  Rooting for you! 

[giraff]

Hey guys,

Got a rejection from UCSD Tuesday and today I receive this overly generic e-mail inviting me to apply for their MPP program. They send this to everybody who is rejected? Just curious, because I didn't put to be considered for Masters in any of my applications.

[e2e4]

9 minutes ago, kemalgider said:

No shade but it might well be because of all those people who applied to +20 schools with +3.9 GPA and +165 GRE Scores. That's why we see some people getting accepted into +10 schools while others with more modest scores not being able to even be waitlisted. It's just a sad system.

just wait til you hear about the job market. but joking aside, gpa/gre likely matter much less than you may think. it's a system with really random dynamics.

[ihatedecisions]

19 minutes ago, kemalgider said:

No shade but it might well be because of all those people who applied to +20 schools with +3.9 GPA and +165 GRE Scores. That's why we see some people getting accepted into +10 schools while others with more modest scores not being able to even be waitlisted. It's just a sad system.

i'd want to relativize this a little, if i may I know people with 170/170 and 4 GPA who got into 1 of 15 schools they applied to. I think whereas scores obviously matter, there are other aspects of application that might outweigh them both in a positive or a negative way. I was rejected from a school that was probably the best fit but accepted into comparable ranking with a little worse fit. My perspective on this is that maybe they just did not need somebody like me this season and that's it. 

[SDMSK]

I have only heard back from 3 out of the 10 schools I applied to (no acceptance yet).

This is driving me crazy, by "this" I mean there seems to still have hope but my nerve can't handle the wait any longer.

Edited February 6, 2020 by SDMSK

[e2e4]

28 minutes ago, niceward said:

I'm trying really hard to keep from despairing. I'm still waiting on five schools, but now I feel somewhat disheartened. Oh, well. 

hey @niceward, i'd keep your chin up til everything comes in. early days still.

[Richelieu]

4 minutes ago, ihatedecisions said:

i'd want to relativize this a little, if i may I know people with 170/170 and 4 GPA who got into 1 of 15 schools they applied to. I think whereas scores obviously matter, there are other aspects of application that might outweigh them both in a positive or a negative way. I was rejected from a school that was probably the best fit but accepted into comparable ranking with a little worse fit. My perspective on this is that maybe they just did not need somebody like me this season and that's it. 

Yet again, you almost never see a candidate admitted to a top 10 school with ≈ 3.5 GPA and ≈155 GRE.

[GabriellaG]

15 minutes ago, e2e4 said:

hey @niceward, i'd keep your chin up til everything comes in. early days still.

Agreed! @niceward it's still early in the application process. Stay positive! 

[ihatedecisions]

28 minutes ago, kemalgider said:

Yet again, you almost never see a candidate admitted to a top 10 school with ≈ 3.5 GPA and ≈155 GRE.

I agree. I did not mean to claim that the scores do not matter at all, rather that they do not guarantee anything either. 

[PoliSciGuy00]

8 hours ago, SeriousDiver said:

loool Columbia or Michigan is NOT real, though Michigan and MIT are likely to come with decisions today or tomorrow

Wow!  I can't believe Columbia acceptances were fakes!  They had me fooled...I was nervously checking my portal last night.  

I agree about MIT.  If history is anything to go by, acceptances should be coming out today, tomorrow, or possibly early next week.  

[Romcomulus]

1 hour ago, kemalgider said:

Yet again, you almost never see a candidate admitted to a top 10 school with ≈ 3.5 GPA and ≈155 GRE.

It depends, every cycle there is an applicant that gets into a few top schools with a sub 3 uGPA--although I think all of those applicants had graduate degrees with 3.8+ gpas. You'll also see applicants with very poor quant scores get into top theory programs, but that's not really shocking. 

[kekster]

Does anyone happen to know if NYU finished sending acceptance letters? I'm aware some have been sent out lately, but there's no update to my application status, and this uncertainty's just killing me ?

[niceward]

Thank you to everyone for the kind words. I'm also a bit sick, so my mood is low. Positive thoughts from here on out.  

[RebPB]

Hey everyone, I haven’t posted on the other page, but I’m claiming a Northwestern admit (a little late to this forum).

I was wondering about NYU, I saw about 5 people were admitted but they usually admit a cohort of about 30-35 people, and I saw no IR subfields. Do you think they are still contacting admits? Thanks and good luck to everyone! 
 

Also, shouldn’t U Chicago and MIT be sending out emails soon?? 

Edited February 6, 2020 by RebPB

[uchenyy]

11 minutes ago, RebPB said:

Also, shouldn’t U Chicago and MIT be sending out emails soon?? 

Michigan and UNC, too. 

[Lizzzzzz]

4 hours ago, giraff said:

Hey guys,

Got a rejection from UCSD Tuesday and today I receive this overly generic e-mail inviting me to apply for their MPP program. They send this to everybody who is rejected? Just curious, because I didn't put to be considered for Masters in any of my applications.

The same. Do you consider it?

[S-Kyo]

Can we say that Boston College CP subfield are not out given the acceptance and rejection posted are for theory?

[kaze_ng]

Has anyone heard anything from UC Riverside? I saw a few posts popped up a couple of days ago and then nothing.

[bigmood]

9 hours ago, kemalgider said:

Yet again, you almost never see a candidate admitted to a top 10 school with ≈ 3.5 GPA and ≈155 GRE.

I got admitted to a top 5 school with a <3.4 GPA, but I had good research experience, pretty solid LoRs, and a good fit with faculty in the department. I think things like GPA and GRE are less important than people think they are sometimes. 

[e2e4]

2 hours ago, bigmood said:

I got admitted to a top 5 school with a <3.4 GPA, but I had good research experience, pretty solid LoRs, and a good fit with faculty in the department. I think things like GPA and GRE are less important than people think they are sometimes. 

@bigmood is right imo

Texas, for example, writes "Our application process is much like those of our peer institutions. We are looking for applicants who show promise of a scholarly career in teaching and independent, original research – which is quite a different thing than being a very good undergraduate student."

12 hours ago, kemalgider said:

Yet again, you almost never see a candidate admitted to a top 10 school with ≈ 3.5 GPA and ≈155 GRE.

^ I'm not so sure about that, but since there is a lack of transparency on stats & low / unreliable individual reporting, so who knows.

similarly, GRE plays a variable role. just drawing on texas, whose sentiment can be found in faq across other institutions as well, "A high score does not guarantee admission just as a lower-than-average score does not doom an application. GRE scores do matter, however. Some years, depending on the composition of the committee and the applicant pool, GRE scores matter more, other years less, but our admissions committee is looking both for evidence that your interests fit with the interests of the department, and for indicators of promise as a graduate student."

to this end, something the GRE can do is boost students from schools that do not commonly pump grad students into the pipeline or non traditional scholars. these students may not have famous letter writers or harvard inflated gpas, but a higher score may make them seen. the problem is still one of access, though. it's expensive to take & costly to report. this for sure needs to be reformed. may be interesting to see if schools start to treat it like uchicago did with the sat, and make it optional.

[billk]

12 hours ago, niceward said:

Thank you to everyone for the kind words. I'm also a bit sick, so my mood is low. Positive thoughts from here on out.  

Something that matters as much as, and possible even more than, grades/GRE scores is the fit. That's something I didn't really understand until yesterday, when I had my first interview. He talked about parts of my application that I didn't even think myself would be a good fit! Afterwards, I realized he was right. Sometimes, it's just really hard to tell what people mean by "fit," and what they're looking for beyond just the numbers. And, sometimes, you don't know until after you apply.

Keep your head up, though I am sure any department would be lucky to have you!

[Romcomulus]

We should be getting more decisions throughout the course of the day. Best of luck to everyone!! 

[e2e4]

UMass just dropped

[Dwar]

14 minutes ago, e2e4 said:

UMass just dropped

Did anything change in your portal? or was it just an email?

My portal still says '"Application under review"

[e2e4]

Just now, Dwar said:

Did anything change in your portal? or was it just an email?

My portal still says '"Application under review"

letter attached via email