2020-2021 Application Thread

[TheLifeofBrian]

Claiming an admit from University of Oregon! 

[polisci_gal]

10 minutes ago, ChairmanX said:

I just found this forum recently and wanted to say congrats to those who have recently been accepted!

I have 1 admittance and 1 rejection and I am anxiously waiting to hear from the other 4 schools I applied to. 

Welcome! Congrats on your acceptance Where was it to?

[ChairmanX]

7 minutes ago, polisci_gal said:

Welcome! Congrats on your acceptance Where was it to?

Rice. I am really happy with it, but I am waiting to see if I get any other offers!

[loiewo]

any other Northwestern admissions?

[theoryyyyy]

Wondering what role does GRE play in this circle? GRE was optional in this circle for the majority of programs, and UCSD doesn't require GRE. The result is that I only receive an offer from UCSD and all rejections from others (some T50 or T60) who require GRE. My score was pretty ugly (with V158 and writing 4.0). I was thinking that GRE actually plays a greater role in this cricle as programs want to make sure they recruit the safe and right students.  

[loiewo]

Just now, theoryyyyy said:

Wondering what role does GRE play in this circle? GRE was optional in this circle for the majority of programs, and UCSD doesn't require GRE. The result is that I only receive an offer from UCSD and all rejections from others (some T50 or T60) who require GRE. My score was pretty ugly (with V158 and writing 4.0). I was thinking that GRE actually plays a greater role in this cricle as programs want to make sure they recruit the safe and right students.  

I think the opposite. I have high GRE scores (over 95th percentile on V/Q) and I've been rejected by 5/7 schools. 2 pending

[jacksonearlsweatshirt]

Just now, loiewo said:

I think the opposite. I have high GRE scores (over 95th percentile on V/Q) and I've been rejected by 5/7 schools. 2 pending

Yeah, I would say it's a bit early to determine if GRE mattered more or less this year. I haven't really noticed a pattern. I'll be curious to see what the grad/undergrad acceptance data are.

[BrownSugar]

8 minutes ago, theoryyyyy said:

I was thinking that GRE actually plays a greater role in this cricle as programs want to make sure they recruit the safe and right students.  

 

5 minutes ago, loiewo said:

I think the opposite. I have high GRE scores (over 95th percentile on V/Q) and I've been rejected by 5/7 schools. 2 pending

I also think the GRE is less important than usual, otherwise they would have made it compulsory or at least recommended. I personally didn’t take the GRE and therefore did not submit scores. 

[ssppiikkeerr]

12 minutes ago, theoryyyyy said:

Wondering what role does GRE play in this circle? GRE was optional in this circle for the majority of programs, and UCSD doesn't require GRE. The result is that I only receive an offer from UCSD and all rejections from others (some T50 or T60) who require GRE. My score was pretty ugly (with V158 and writing 4.0). I was thinking that GRE actually plays a greater role in this cricle as programs want to make sure they recruit the safe and right students.  

All of the schools that I have been accepted to thus far, with the exception of UCLA, have been non-GRE requiring schools. I didn't even send in my scores to most of the schools on my list. I was accepted into UCLA, and received an interview with Vanderbilt, however, with exceptionally low GRE scores - by their standards - (V156/Q155/W 5.0). I just personally think this cycle came down to so many different factors that GRE scores, whether high or low, were just one weak factor in a plethora of other reasons. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by ssppiikkeerr

[Luxlux]

(Can't believe I'm saying this)

Claiming a Northwestern acceptance!!! Political theory. I was sooo skeptical due to the 1% acceptance rate this year. Elated is an understatement 

[gradpumpkin]

Just now, Luxlux said:

(Can't believe I'm saying this)

Claiming a Northwestern acceptance!!! Political theory. I was sooo skeptical due to the 1% acceptance rate this year. Elated is an understatement 

Congrats!! You should be immensely proud! Did it seem like a mass/personalized email and did your portal change? Same congrats and questions for the WUSTL people too haha

[aae322]

3 minutes ago, gradpumpkin said:

Congrats!! You should be immensely proud! Did it seem like a mass/personalized email and did your portal change? Same congrats and questions for the WUSTL people too haha

For WUSTL, portal hasn't changed. It was an email from the DGS without an official letter or funding info etc, and it seems like we're getting it a couple mins apart so they could still be sending them. Good luck either way!

Edited February 10, 2021 by aae322

[funfetti]

16 minutes ago, loiewo said:

I think the opposite. I have high GRE scores (over 95th percentile on V/Q) and I've been rejected by 5/7 schools. 2 pending

I agree that it’s too early to say one way or the other - but I’m also speculating that high GRE scores are less “rewarded.” I had high scores and have had success at schools that required them and rejections at schools that did not, with the exceptions of a few that were great fits.

Edited February 10, 2021 by _nutella_

[HolyGinger]

I'd say my GRE scores are decent although far from perfect (V161/Q160/W4.0) but it seems like I will get rejections from all the schools I have applied (except for UAlbany, and I might not get funding so basically that is the same as a rejection for me). So I believe GRE didn't really matter that much, this year at least, from my experience. I think what mattered the most was SoP's and how people managed to convince the faculties that their research interests are a great fit. 

Edit: My low undergrad score and the lack of any TA or RA experience also had an effect on my rejections, however I believe SoP's were still the most crucial item this cycle. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by HolyGinger

[afjackie]

9 minutes ago, Luxlux said:

(Can't believe I'm saying this)

Claiming a Northwestern acceptance!!! Political theory. I was sooo skeptical due to the 1% acceptance rate this year. Elated is an understatement 

Congrats! Can I ask where you got the information that it was only a 1% acceptances rate? They usually have an 11% acceptance rate.

[Luxlux]

11 minutes ago, gradpumpkin said:

Congrats!! You should be immensely proud! Did it seem like a mass/personalized email and did your portal change? Same congrats and questions for the WUSTL people too haha

It was what is looked like a mass email to check the portal, and then there was a formal letter in the portal.

[Luxlux]

12 minutes ago, gradpumpkin said:

Congrats!! You should be immensely proud! Did it seem like a mass/personalized email and did your portal change? Same congrats and questions for the WUSTL people too haha

oh also thank you sooo much! still processing it. Good luck to all you guys!

[Polisci-IR]

16 minutes ago, BrownSugar said:

 

I also think the GRE is less important than usual, otherwise they would have made it compulsory or at least recommended. I personally didn’t take the GRE and therefore did not submit scores. 

I feel relived to know that! Just to make sure, even without a GRE score you got acceptance from UCLA and Chicago? I tend to think UChicago program is heavily quant focus, therefore they prefer candidate with strong quant background.

[Luxlux]

5 minutes ago, afjackie said:

Congrats! Can I ask where you got the information that it was only a 1% acceptances rate? They usually have an 11% acceptance rate.

I think I read it somewhere in this forum, and also through email in the past they told me they usually have a 10% rate but this year it would be around 1%

[Indeed]

5 minutes ago, afjackie said:

Congrats! Can I ask where you got the information that it was only a 1% acceptances rate? They usually have an 11% acceptance rate.

Before the application period I have requested a fee waiver from the department and they responded by saying that they can't and noted they will be admitting only 1-2% instead of usual 10%

[BrownSugar]

1 minute ago, A_21 said:

I feel relived to know that! Just to make sure, even without a GRE score you got acceptance from UCLA and Chicago? I tend to think UChicago program is heavily quant focus, therefore they prefer candidate with strong quant background.

Not UCLA. USC and Chicago  I have some quant background due to my Bachelor and Master degrees. So I’m sure actual experience and training would be viewed more positively than a standardised exam. 

[defcaffeinated]

2 hours ago, cbsag123 said:

does anyone know how many people who apply to uchicago and get rejected get offered a spot at their MAPSS program? and does anyone know when those decisions are usually sent out?

I've seen decisions sent out in mid march on previous threads. I do wonder how many people they refer - seems like quite a lot of people a year post that their applications have been referred.

[Polisci-IR]

Just now, BrownSugar said:

Not UCLA. USC and Chicago  I have some quant background due to my Bachelor and Master degrees. So I’m sure actual experience and training would be viewed more positively than a standardised exam. 

Make sense, thanks!

[btermite]

Is it probably safe to say that not hearing from NYU by now is a reject?

[Habermas]

6 minutes ago, A_21 said:

I feel relived to know that! Just to make sure, even without a GRE score you got acceptance from UCLA and Chicago? I tend to think UChicago program is heavily quant focus, therefore they prefer candidate with strong quant background.

Counterintuitively, Chicago is perhaps one of the most qualitative departments in the country.