2020-2021 Application Thread

[Theory007]

Welcome everyone to the 2020-2021 application thread for political science!

Discuss the application process, ask questions, post results when they come out, and anything else related to admissions this year. Good luck to you all!

[Barry B. Benson]

Thank you for starting this thread! I look forward to hearing from other applicants this cycle.

If I may, I will get the ball rolling: is someone else here applying to MIT? I do not know what is going on there, but they are just refusing to answer my emails. Other than that I am moving through applications rather smoothly, although one of my recommenders has gone silent, and the first batch of applications is due soon. I do really trust her, but I am getting a bit nervious.

[ovejal]

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is hanging in there during such uncertain times. I was bummed to hear today that UNC is not accepting applications (especially since I've already submitted mine), but otherwise I am all set and just waiting for two of my recommenders to send their letters in in the next couple days. Good luck everyone!

[Barry B. Benson]

17 hours ago, ovejal said:

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is hanging in there during such uncertain times. I was bummed to hear today that UNC is not accepting applications (especially since I've already submitted mine), but otherwise I am all set and just waiting for two of my recommenders to send their letters in in the next couple days. Good luck everyone!

I'm sorry to hear that, and it is a bit scary that some application processes are still up in the air. I would have thought that by October polisci departments would have had a clearer image as to whether they were going to accept applicants. Let's hope that this is the last announcement of its kind.

[jjiffy]

On 11/24/2020 at 8:52 PM, clesanbar said:

Thank you for starting this thread! I look forward to hearing from other applicants this cycle.

If I may, I will get the ball rolling: is someone else here applying to MIT? I do not know what is going on there, but they are just refusing to answer my emails. Other than that I am moving through applications rather smoothly, although one of my recommenders has gone silent, and the first batch of applications is due soon. I do really trust her, but I am getting a bit nervious.

Are you me? One of my letter writers has gone silent too, so fingers crossed! I'm applying to MIT but I haven't noticed any problems, what's your issue? 

[Barry B. Benson]

On 11/28/2020 at 8:51 PM, jjiffy said:

Are you me? One of my letter writers has gone silent too, so fingers crossed! I'm applying to MIT but I haven't noticed any problems, what's your issue? 

hahaha that's wild. I mean it's just that no one seems to answer any emails, and my scores do not appear as of yet. But the deadline is not due until a couple of weeks from now, so I'm not really worried.

[cbsag123]

Hi everybody! Does anyone know if applications are typically due on midnight the day of (/the night before), or if we have all day on the due date to work on our applications and submit them at 11:59pm like I'm planning on doing?

[Oboeist]

15 minutes ago, cbsag123 said:

Hi everybody! Does anyone know if applications are typically due on midnight the day of (/the night before), or if we have all day on the due date to work on our applications and submit them at 11:59pm like I'm planning on doing?

don't try it honestly, just get it all done ahead of time so you don't have to worry about it. If there's a problem with uploading a file or if you have a question about the application, then you won't have time to reach out to the department to get your problem solved.

[Clintarius]

On 11/30/2020 at 3:58 PM, cbsag123 said:

Hi everybody! Does anyone know if applications are typically due on midnight the day of (/the night before), or if we have all day on the due date to work on our applications and submit them at 11:59pm like I'm planning on doing?

Last year I submitted a couple on the day of the deadline (before midnight in the time zone of the school). I did not have an issue.

On 11/30/2020 at 4:19 PM, Oboeist said:

If there's a problem with uploading a file or if you have a question about the application, then you won't have time to reach out to the department to get your problem solved.

Last year, UNC accepted a new version of my SOP a few days after the deadline because I had found a few typos in the one initially submitted. It obviously should not be a reason to miss the deadline, but if you find yourself with such an issue don't panic.

[cbsag123]

Does anyone here have any personal contacts to admissions departments (at schools where the deadlines have passed by now)? I'm curious if more or less people applied this year because of the pandemic...

Edited December 4, 2020 by cbsag123

[Clintarius]

Hey,

Don't know if it'll be useful to you guys, but last year I made this little app as a pet project to track when I might hear back from each school (for poli sci applicants):
https://martindevaux.com/2020/11/political-science-phd-admission-decisions/
It uses data from Grad Cafe but displays it a little more easily for the purpose of looking up when you may expect a decision.

[smug-face]

43 minutes ago, Clintarius said:

Hey,

Don't know if it'll be useful to you guys, but last year I made this little app as a pet project to track when I might hear back from each school (for poli sci applicants):
https://martindevaux.com/2020/11/political-science-phd-admission-decisions/
It uses data from Grad Cafe but displays it a little more easily for the purpose of looking up when you may expect a decision.

This is fantastic, thanks! It appears that most schools send out admissions before rejections -- rather anxiety inducing!

[Interpretivist]

Does anyone know, for GRE scores, whether they'll be necessarily matched to our profile by the schools we've sent them to prior to submitting our application? I'd sent mine to the places I'm applying to a couple weeks back – most of the schools have updated my application on the portal to note that they've been received and confirmed, except for Northwestern and Cornell (both of which are using Apply Web). Not sure if this is something I should look into, if anyone might know – thanks!

 

[ovejal]

2 hours ago, Interpretivist said:

Does anyone know, for GRE scores, whether they'll be necessarily matched to our profile by the schools we've sent them to prior to submitting our application? I'd sent mine to the places I'm applying to a couple weeks back – most of the schools have updated my application on the portal to note that they've been received and confirmed, except for Northwestern and Cornell (both of which are using Apply Web). Not sure if this is something I should look into, if anyone might know – thanks!

 

My experience on this was mixed. A couple schools matched them before I submitted, but most matched them after I submitted. If you are concerned, you could email the school's admissions folks. I had a couple schools that did not verify that my scores had been linked to my application for a week or so after submission, but once I emailed them they were matched by the next day. I will note that I applied to both NW and Cornell and did not have this problem with those particular schools. 

[funfetti]

I am confused by the status check websites for a lot of the programs I've applied to already. Some of them, like that of Stanford, just confirm that LORs have been received. Is that normal?

Others list the status as "submitted." At any point, is that supposed to say "in review" instead? 

I am most likely projecting my application anxiety onto this one issue, but any clarification about what status check websites should show/say would be reassuring. 

[ssppiikkeerr]

Hello all!

Just checking in! Looking forward to results and hearing back from everyone else regarding admission decisions. Good luck! 

Edited December 8, 2020 by ssppiikkeerr
Added greeting.

[Clintarius]

Good luck everyone with the final push for tomorrow's deadlines!

[Barry B. Benson]

Ditto!

 

btw I love how most applications are due early to mid december, and then WashU is just hanging out at Jan 15

[nivy25]

23 hours ago, Barry B. Benson said:

Ditto!

 

btw I love how most applications are due early to mid december, and then WashU is just hanging out at Jan 15

I feel that! I’m going to slowly submit Vanderbilt and Penn State because they’re all the way over in Jan 

[nivy25]

I hope everybody else’s applications went okay! I applied to 11 universities and I’m still so so so so anxious. 
I’m afraid I won’t get in like literally anywhere, literally one of my greatest fears. 

[Clintarius]

2 hours ago, nivy25 said:

I hope everybody else’s applications went okay! I applied to 11 universities and I’m still so so so so anxious. 
I’m afraid I won’t get in like literally anywhere, literally one of my greatest fears. 

Fingers crossed! And congrats for finding the strength to apply this year despite the pandemic!

[sherlock holmes/M]

Hi guys! I have a question that is very important to me. Please help me! very urgent! I am an international applicant and my writing sample is about Russian foreign policy. Are papers on policy analysis appropriate for the writing sample, or should I change that?

[smug-face]

4 minutes ago, sherlock holmes/M said:

Hi guys! I have a question that is very important to me. Please help me! very urgent! I am an international applicant and my writing sample is about Russian foreign policy. Are papers on policy analysis appropriate for the writing sample, or should I change that?

Depends on the program, but as long as it's political science related, you should be fine (some programs do not even require a political science sample). Check the requirements of the places you're applying to! But my understanding is that the topic of the writing sample is less important than its overall quality

[sherlock holmes/M]

28 minutes ago, smug-face said:

Depends on the program, but as long as it's political science related, you should be fine (some programs do not even require a political science sample). Check the requirements of the places you're applying to! But my understanding is that the topic of the writing sample is less important than its overall quality

Thank you very much. Honestly, another concern I have is about the method I have used. The method that I chose is a qualitative one and in my idea it is very simple because it is written in descriptive method and I have not used a quantitative method at all. Should I be worried about this? And since the universities I want to apply to do not have a limit on the number of pages or words for the writing sample, how many words do you think my article should be?

[smug-face]

Mine is between 25 and 35 pages (depending on the margins I use). Most schools have some requirements - if not on the department website, the GSAS should specify the page limit. As to your method, honestly there is little point in sweating it too much now, it's not like you have time to write a different sample. Are you applying to do very quant-heavy work? If so a quant sample might have provided a stronger signal of your preparation, but I don't think it will be a determining factor, as long as it is well written and thoughtful. But I'm also applying this year, so take everything I'm saying with a grain of salt...