Quarex Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 I almost did not apply because their application requirements made me so, so very irritated. If I ever need to explain to someone why it takes so long to finish graduate school applications, all I have to say is "Georgetown's application made you copy your entire transcript history, verbatim, onto their own woefully inadequate form, despite also requiring your transcripts. And they were not the only ones. And none of them used the same form." Rather than give up, though, I did finish my application, since I was particularly interested in their dual security studies/political science program. Too bad I also felt virtually assured that I would not be accepted.
sundaymonday Posted February 28, 2008 Posted February 28, 2008 Agreed - that was the most tedious application ever. Haven't heard anything yet either. I applied to both the PhD in Comp and the joint MA/PhD in Arab Studies and Comp, and was informed through an email exchange with one of the administrators in their Near Eastern (?) studies dept that they'd only just reviewed my application for the latter a few days ago.
lenin333 Posted February 28, 2008 Author Posted February 28, 2008 Are you the poster on the Results page? I almost did not apply because their application requirements made me so, so very irritated. If I ever need to explain to someone why it takes so long to finish graduate school applications, all I have to say is "Georgetown's application made you copy your entire transcript history, verbatim, onto their own woefully inadequate form, despite also requiring your transcripts. And they were not the only ones. And none of them used the same form." Rather than give up, though, I did finish my application, since I was particularly interested in their dual security studies/political science program. Too bad I also felt virtually assured that I would not be accepted.
Quarex Posted February 29, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Are you the poster on the Results page? My past has betrayed me. Yes, that was I.
sundaymonday Posted March 1, 2008 Posted March 1, 2008 Accepted to the MA in Arab Studies with no funding. I hate to have to give a flat out rejection, but I can't afford to pay for a Masters. I applied to the joint MA/PhD in Arab Studies and Comparative, and also the regular PhD in Comparative. Do you think this mean I probably didn't get into the PhD program? Guess I'll send an email to the dept... :?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0VJLrs2z8
zephyr Posted March 3, 2008 Posted March 3, 2008 anyone know if all funded offers from g-town have gone out yet? my impression is they emailed a very small set of people who got funding offers, but given that many of them will turn down these offers, they do funding admissions in waves. i could be wrong (and anyone who hasn't heard anything yet won't be offered funding), but since they only fund about 8-10 of the incoming 25 or so, i'd imagine they have to do funding in waves to make sure they don't offer more fellowships than they really can.
zephyr Posted March 3, 2008 Posted March 3, 2008 Regarding waves of offers and funding offers being turned down: even if funding offers to the select 8-10 are turned dow, they will not be turned down until perhaps early april. People may want to visit first. Second, the funded offers are done by subfield, which means you are really waiting on the 2 people in your subfield to accept or decline. All and all, if you are among the very small minority that was accepted, not funded, but at the top of the funding wait list, expect to have to wait until April 15 to here anything new. They are very secretive about all of this. As well, they like to meet students who visit but did not get funding, and decide based on that who should perhaps be next on the list. totally agree that it may take a while, but i also suspect most, if not all, the people who were offered funding at g-town have offers at really top places, such as harvard and stanford. they might still want to visit, but in some cases, they might not. you got an offer from g-town, right? was it a personal email or a mass email? i've heard they've only contacted 10-12 people so far, and i suspect the majority of those will turn down the offers at some point. hence, the funding waves.
sundaymonday Posted March 3, 2008 Posted March 3, 2008 totally agree that it may take a while, but i also suspect most, if not all, the people who were offered funding at g-town have offers at really top places, such as harvard and stanford. they might still want to visit, but in some cases, they might not. you got an offer from g-town, right? was it a personal email or a mass email? i've heard they've only contacted 10-12 people so far, and i suspect the majority of those will turn down the offers at some point. hence, the funding waves. Sorry, not sure if you were asking me, but I'll answer. I received a personal email from an administrator at MAAS. I've since exchanged a few emails with people in admissions at Georgetown because I was confused about the status of my acceptance. I was told that, yes, they offer a very small number of people full funding (2 people per subdiscipline) and that I was not on that list. I didn't realize that I might have been put on a waitlist for funding, so I have no idea what my placement is on that list. Still, I wouldn't want to wait until April 15th to let my other programs know if I'm coming. Bad form! Basically, I applied to both the PhD in Comp Gov and the joint MA/PhD (see my post above). In order to be accepted to the joint, you have to be accepted to both programs separately, and I was accepted into the MA program. They said that I should be hearing back shortly about whether I was accepted to the PhD or not - but regardless - I would not be receiving funding for the PhD should I be admitted.
iheartplato Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 apparently, all funding decisions have been made but not all admissions decisions (not that it's much of a relief to hear that....) they will be sending out some rejections starting tomorrow, but their final meeting is on the 14th--apparently they still have a stack of apps to get through and final decisions on those will be made at that time.
zephyr Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 apparently, all funding decisions have been made but not all admissions decisions (not that it's much of a relief to hear that....) they will be sending out some rejections starting tomorrow, but their final meeting is on the 14th--apparently they still have a stack of apps to get through and final decisions on those will be made at that time. well, the real question is, how many funded offers were given out so far. if they only emailed 10-20 people w/ funding offers, everyone still being considered for admissions probably still has a chance of getting funded. they give out very few funded offers, so they are very careful to not give many people offers initially, and a lot of people they do give money to turn them down (they frequently have equal or better offers from better schools) - most programs get 30-45% of their admits to accept, and i suspect georgetown is much lower. if they emailed 30-40 people with funding offers, yeah, then i'm pretty sure they're done. so how many offers have been made up to this point is really key.
Canadianpolsci Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 well, the real question is, how many funded offers were given out so far. if they only emailed 10-20 people w/ funding offers, everyone still being considered for admissions probably still has a chance of getting funded. they give out very few funded offers, so they are very careful to not give many people offers initially, and a lot of people they do give money to turn them down (they frequently have equal or better offers from better schools) - most programs get 30-45% of their admits to accept, and i suspect georgetown is much lower. if they emailed 30-40 people with funding offers, yeah, then i'm pretty sure they're done. so how many offers have been made up to this point is really key. Very few offers of funding have been made. Go and visit and cross your fingers.
sundaymonday Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 well, the real question is, how many funded offers were given out so far. if they only emailed 10-20 people w/ funding offers, everyone still being considered for admissions probably still has a chance of getting funded. they give out very few funded offers, so they are very careful to not give many people offers initially, and a lot of people they do give money to turn them down (they frequently have equal or better offers from better schools) - most programs get 30-45% of their admits to accept, and i suspect georgetown is much lower. if they emailed 30-40 people with funding offers, yeah, then i'm pretty sure they're done. so how many offers have been made up to this point is really key. 2 people per sub-discipline were offered funding, according to the gov dept admin.
zephyr Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 Very few offers of funding have been made. Go and visit and cross your fingers. hmmm....well, besides the difficulty of getting to dc for people outside the area, how does one even go about this? if they haven't decided on your file yet, how exactly do you just go and visit? or do you mean visit immediately AFTER you get admitted (if you get admitted)?
lenin333 Posted March 6, 2008 Author Posted March 6, 2008 Maybe I will get my 3rd rejection in three days tomorrow.
Canadianpolsci Posted March 6, 2008 Posted March 6, 2008 hmmm....well, besides the difficulty of getting to dc for people outside the area, how does one even go about this? if they haven't decided on your file yet, how exactly do you just go and visit? or do you mean visit immediately AFTER you get admitted (if you get admitted)? also, if the above poster is correct, and only 2 offers per subfield were made, there's probably a very good chance more funded spots will open up. georgetown is competing against harvard, stanford, princeton, etc. for most, if not all, their top choices. no doubt they lose quite often, even though they're a very good department. Yes, if you are admitted, go to the visiting day. Email profs you are interested in, explain to them you need funding (once you meet them in person). Cross your fingers.
zephyr Posted March 6, 2008 Posted March 6, 2008 Stats from last year seem to indicate that only a fraction enter with funding. Still, better than 15 years ago, when the program had a 80%+ attrition rate its definitely not pretty. but in terms of those who actually show up, looks like there are 1/3 to 1/2 in each subfield who are funded. i still don't get why they don't fund more people. its supposed to be a top department (at least for some subfields). god knows g-town has money. plus, if there's one thing that school is known for, its politics. if they funded 12-20 people each year like most other top programs, no doubt they'd attract better students.
lenin333 Posted March 6, 2008 Author Posted March 6, 2008 Who was that GT post on the results page? What was your sub-field? I have been told that my sub-field has yet to decide anything.
Penelope Higgins Posted March 6, 2008 Posted March 6, 2008 its definitely not pretty. but in terms of those who actually show up, looks like there are 1/3 to 1/2 in each subfield who are funded. i still don't get why they don't fund more people. its supposed to be a top department (at least for some subfields). god knows g-town has money. plus, if there's one thing that school is known for, its politics. if they funded 12-20 people each year like most other top programs, no doubt they'd attract better students. Actually, having studied and worked at Georgetown, I can tell you that the school - at least the grad school of arts and sciences - has very little money. You can see this by looking at the facilities (the ICC is an awful building, and professors in some departments share offices!) and by looking at the faculty - so many adjuncts...
sundaymonday Posted March 6, 2008 Posted March 6, 2008 I was told the same thing by a professor that I work with. Good reputation, very popular with international students, but very little money.
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