2020-2021 Application Thread

[sherlock holmes/M]

23 minutes ago, smug-face said:

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... 

Thank you. very helpful! But mine is about 20 pages and I think its OK in regard of page unless they want more than 20! However about my writing sample, I am really worry. since I haven't seen any other applicant's work I have no idea about mine. I think most of them are sophisticated work with mixed method. 

[Clintarius]

I would not worry about this (mixed methods v. quants v. qual. work). I think what admission committees look for is a signal that you are intellectually curious, ready to engage in depth with the material you study, and rigorous in the way you do. While it might be appreciated if you make strong claims about wanting to use them in your SoP, I think it's certainly not expected for applicants to have a strong command of quantitative methods prior to the start of their PhD.

[Habermas]

On 12/4/2020 at 7:40 PM, 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.

Does anyone want to speculate or provide insight on how COVID might impact when we hear back?

[brickinthewall]

Saying hi and good luck to all.

3 hours ago, Habermas said:

Does anyone want to speculate or provide insight on how COVID might impact when we hear back?

As for COVID, I honestly have no clue. I'd imagine that the effect of COVID on the decision timeline will probably vary depending on which schools are operating in person, to what degree, and how this influences administrative channels, etc.

[PoliPsych123]

Does anyone know the earliest we might expect to start hearing back?

[Clintarius]

On 12/17/2020 at 11:46 AM, Habermas said:

Does anyone want to speculate or provide insight on how COVID might impact when we hear back?

I doubt the virus will impact the timeline, given that other typical deadlines in departments remain the same despite COVID (so faculty members probably except to dedicate the same time of the year as usual to admissions), and that the April 15th deadline to accept offers is more or less institutionalized. So i would guess decisions will come in February/March like in previous years. But I might be wrong obviously!

1 hour ago, PoliPsych123 said:

Does anyone know the earliest we might expect to start hearing back?

I already posted the link above, but I made a little app on this page where you can get an idea for most schools you might be applying to.

[icemanyeo]

On 12/15/2020 at 5:56 PM, 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. 

I applied to 8 and the stress is killing me.

[sherlock holmes/M]

Hi everybody! what happens if my letters of recommendations arrive about a week later than deadline? Are they considering my applications?

[guest789]

2 hours ago, sherlock holmes/M said:

Hi everybody! what happens if my letters of recommendations arrive about a week later than deadline? Are they considering my applications?

One of my LORs (who regularly serves on admissions committees at a CHYMPS school) says it's usually not an issue if letters are late - they won't look at application packets until January and the department administrative staff will still be sorting through the applications and preparing them for faculty review in early January. I also think they will be more lenient due to COVID as well - this has been a hellish semester for professors and a lot of things have fallen by the wayside, particularly if they're not bound by urgent deadlines like grades or R&R submission deadlines.

Edited December 22, 2020 by timeseries

[icemanyeo]

Does anyone have a sense of whether or not admissions decision releases will be affected by COVID this cycle? I noticed from the last two years' worth of results data that a lot of decisions cluster in February, latest mid-March for American schools, but not sure with the pandemic and such hampering that timeline.

[polisci_gal]

On 12/21/2020 at 10:44 PM, icemanyeo said:

I applied to 8 and the stress is killing me.

I applied to 7 and I'm honestly worried that wasn't enough!! I know there are a few more programs with deadlines Jan 15 but most of those I'm just like ughhhhh idk if I want to move there and also not to mention all of these application fees!! 

[uncle_socks]

 

 RIP 

 

eta: she's not officially housed in polisci (but i'm under the impression that she has some involvement in that department), but rather the public policy school, so i'm not sure if she's referring to the polisci or the public policy PhD program 

Edited January 4, 2021 by BunniesInSpace

[brickinthewall]

49 minutes ago, BunniesInSpace said:

eta: she's not officially housed in polisci (but i'm under the impression that she has some involvement in that department), but rather the public policy school, so i'm not sure if she's referring to the polisci or the public policy PhD program 

Yeah, this is definitely re: the public policy program, as UNC poli sci did not accept applicants this year

Still, that increase in number of applications is scary. Has anyone else seen anything to this effect in poli sci? 

[plus]

Professor Ian Turner (Yale) said the very same thing:
 

 

1 hour ago, BunniesInSpace said:

 

 RIP 

 

eta: she's not officially housed in polisci (but i'm under the impression that she has some involvement in that department), but rather the public policy school, so i'm not sure if she's referring to the polisci or the public policy PhD program 

 

[uncle_socks]

 

 

MIT too

[guest789]

1 hour ago, BunniesInSpace said:

 

 

MIT too

Wow, I really wish I had reached out to various professors now.

Edited January 5, 2021 by timeseries

[Barry B. Benson]

Yikes.

A potential silver lining though, mentioned by someone in that thread: even if the amount of applicants doubles, that does not mean that the amount of competitive applicants has doubled. Due to the whole pandemic and the GRE being optional in a lot of places it is likely that a lot of people applied that otherwise would not have stood any chance of being admitted.

One has to keep dreaming though!

[smug-face]

2 hours ago, Barry B. Benson said:

Yikes.

A potential silver lining though, mentioned by someone in that thread: even if the amount of applicants doubles, that does not mean that the amount of competitive applicants has doubled. Due to the whole pandemic and the GRE being optional in a lot of places it is likely that a lot of people applied that otherwise would not have stood any chance of being admitted.

One has to keep dreaming though!

I agree with this. It will definitely make getting an offer harder, but it's unlikely to make it twice as hard. My main worry is that this will significantly delay decisions...

[icemanyeo]

On 1/4/2021 at 7:45 PM, plus said:

Professor Ian Turner (Yale) said the very same thing:
 

 

 

I will be in the corner stressing out about this for the next three months.

All jokes aside, I agree with others in this thread that the amount of competitive applications may not have doubled, even with drastic increases in applications this year. My best advice is to have two to three backup plans just in case, especially given the uncertainty of the pandemic. 

[icemanyeo]

On 1/4/2021 at 11:56 AM, polisci_gal said:

I applied to 7 and I'm honestly worried that wasn't enough!! I know there are a few more programs with deadlines Jan 15 but most of those I'm just like ughhhhh idk if I want to move there and also not to mention all of these application fees!! 

I am honestly not stressing too much about it. With all being said and done, applications are already in, and I personally felt weird asking my recommenders to send in letters to 10-12 schools (where I might not fit well) when I only had the same three (my undergrad dept. was reallyyy small).

[Barry B. Benson]

yeap, no point in stressing out too much (at least for now). Things will be what they will be!

I originally told my family that I would hear back at best late february-to-early march (so as to not have them asking everyday if I had heard something late january-through-mid february), but now I'm thinking I should have told them late-march hahahah. Oh well, we'll have to see whether the review process is actually longer this year.

[wga1]

The thing is that admissions notifications have been pretty consistent over the years. Perhaps a graduate program would be loathe to disrupt what might be a particularly timed event. What is interesting though is despite the ostensible increase in applications, post activity here is comparatively more infrequent than last year (which itself wasn't really active). What does this mean?

[funfetti]

 

5 minutes ago, waitinggame1234 said:

What is interesting though is despite the ostensible increase in applications, post activity here is comparatively more infrequent than last year (which itself wasn't really active). What does this mean?

I wondered the same thing... the decline of activity on gradcafe seems to hold in other fields, too. 

 

On another note, I also wonder if an election year compounded the covid effect. If so, that could be good, as candidates who apply because they are simply interested in current political events may not be able to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the political science research process.

[brickinthewall]

1 hour ago, _nutella_ said:

I wondered the same thing... the decline of activity on gradcafe seems to hold in other fields, too. 

I've noticed this as well, and don't know what to make of it. Honestly, I tend to wonder if it is mostly just noise regarding how active the forum is during any given year? Of course, that's entirely a conjecture with no real data behind it. 

However cheesy it may be to say, though, it makes me feel less alone in the waiting game now that this page is getting a little more active!

[icemanyeo]

8 hours ago, Barry B. Benson said:

yeap, no point in stressing out too much (at least for now). Things will be what they will be!

I originally told my family that I would hear back at best late february-to-early march (so as to not have them asking everyday if I had heard something late january-through-mid february), but now I'm thinking I should have told them late-march hahahah. Oh well, we'll have to see whether the review process is actually longer this year.

I remember from the Berkeley webinar that they'd said they would release admissions around the same time this year. Not sure about other schools, but correct me if I'm wrong!