2020-2021 Application Thread

[BrownSugar]

Hi guys! Update again. I spoke to the admissions chair at Georgetown. Decisions will come at the end of the month. They’re still in the process of deciding. 

[DrGonzzo]

9 hours ago, BunniesInSpace said:

Okay so 1. biological sciences are a much much worse job market than political science, for any of you biologists reading the forums out there. People love to parrot STEM STEM STEM but it is really bad out there for people who aren't in the TE of STEM. 

But 2. I'm not saying that an academic job is anywhere near guaranteed. But there is a subset of jobs that either require a PhD (like a TT job), or a PhD kinda fast-tracks you in (especially in think tank/polling world), or that you can get with a PhD in political science but not necessarily a plain old BA or MA in political science (I'm thinking tech-adjacent roles like data scientist or UX researcher at a $$ company, where they probably want a PhD OR a BS/MS in CS or stats or something). These tend to pay pretty well. And having a PhD helps you get that subset of jobs. 

I want one of those jobs. I primarily want to be a professor at an R1 school, but I'll be happy with one of those other jobs. All of these jobs will either have higher or equal total lifetime earnings as my old job, or be a lot more chill than my old job but still afford me an upper middle class lifestyle, and no matter what, they're a lot more fun than my old job. Coming from my program, it's nearly guaranteed that I can get one of those jobs. Hence, even if my short term desire is "get me out of grad school, I miss having free weekends" (I mean I usually don't but there are certainly moments where I feel that way) my long-term happiness is contingent on roughing it out and getting one of the kinds of jobs I've described. 

I'm not saying this is the only way people are allowed to think about graduate school. But it's certainly a rational way and I don't understand why you don't think people are allowed to make these kinds of calculations. 

I agree, a PhD, especially when coupled with strong quant training, can open up a lot of doors if you position yourself correctly. At the very worst, you should have no problem getting an analyst job for your state government making 60k+ a year. 

Personally, I am more than happy to adjunct or teach at a community college for as long as it takes in hopes I can get a TT job in the future.

[mmads]

Finally heard from BU -- waitlisted. Glad to hear something ?‍♀️

[ovejal]

Claiming a Penn State rejection as well.

[Polisci-IR]

2 hours ago, goodvibesonly said:

Hi everyone!

I also applied to Johns Hopkins SAIS. Seeing people getting accepted I didn't get anything yet. Are someo of you on the same page as me? Wish you all the luck 

Hi there, 

I also applied to SAIS but didn't hear anything yet. May I ask where did you saw people getting accepted. I do not see any update on the result page!

[cbsag123]

3 hours ago, Indeed said:

I feel like Stanford is gonna release the results today

i hope so, only if they accept me though. if not, they can shut up forever haha

[nivy25]

29 minutes ago, ovejal said:

Claiming a Penn State rejection as well.

Did you or others get a personal email or a mass email? I haven’t heard anything from Penn State yet. Also, has your portal changed?

[raabs]

I was once told you should "never agree to the first PhD funding offer you receive", do we agree? 

 

Edit: I should have been clearer.. I'm saying once I receive all of my offers and I select my top-choice, should I always attempt to negotiate for a better funding package? 

Edited February 12, 2021 by raabs

[ovejal]

18 minutes ago, nivy25 said:

Did you or others get a personal email or a mass email? I haven’t heard anything from Penn State yet. Also, has your portal changed?

Mine was a personal email. My portal had this message on it: "A decision regarding your application has been reached. Please be patient, as your intended program/plan of study is working to notify students. You should receive notification directly from the program/plan of study soon". Hope you get an acceptance!

[Jay22]

1 hour ago, mmads said:

Finally heard from BU -- waitlisted. Glad to hear something ?‍♀️

What is your subfield? 

[mmads]

4 minutes ago, Jay22 said:

What is your subfield? 

AP

[BrownSugar]

24 minutes ago, raabs said:

I was once told you should "never agree to the first PhD funding offer you receive", do we agree? 

It’s not so much a matter of what comes first or not, it’s a matter of waiting until you have all your decisions (or your top preferences) to make a reasoned choice and then go ahead and perhaps ‘negotiate’ a better package. No point in settling for the first one right away when you can wait to see what the rest are like, nor should you reject the first one if you don’t know for sure if others will be ‘better’. 

Edited February 12, 2021 by BrownSugar

[raabs]

1 minute ago, BrownSugar said:

It’s not so much a matter of what comes first or not, it’s a matter of waiting until you have all your decisions (or your top preferences) to make a reasoned choice and then go ahead and perhaps ‘negotiate’ a better package. No point in settling for the first one right away when you can wait to see what the rest are like, nor should you reject the first one if you don’t know for sure if others will be ‘better’. 

Sorry, I maybe should have been clearer. I meant when I eventually choose which offer to accept, should I attempt to negotiate a better funding package? 

[nivy25]

23 minutes ago, ovejal said:

Mine was a personal email. My portal had this message on it: "A decision regarding your application has been reached. Please be patient, as your intended program/plan of study is working to notify students. You should receive notification directly from the program/plan of study soon". Hope you get an acceptance!

My portal just says it’s in review and it doesn’t mention any decision being reached. I hope it’s not bad news! 

[BrownSugar]

1 minute ago, raabs said:

Sorry, I maybe should have been clearer. I meant when I eventually choose which offer to accept, should I attempt to negotiate a better funding package? 

Ah, I guess it’s up to you! If you think that package lacks what others have offered you, I see no real issue with bringing it up. It’s not like they can revoke your offer merely because you want to discuss it in light of others. 

[????????]

3 hours ago, goodvibesonly said:

Hi everyone!

I also applied to Johns Hopkins SAIS. Seeing people getting accepted I didn't get anything yet. Are someo of you on the same page as me? Wish you all the luck 

Are these SAIS results or Polisci results?

[funfetti]

8 minutes ago, raabs said:

Sorry, I maybe should have been clearer. I meant when I eventually choose which offer to accept, should I attempt to negotiate a better funding package? 

I'm wondering this too... and I've received highly mixed advice. On one hand, we don't want to leave anything on the table (and we especially don't want to do that if imposter syndrome is telling us to just be thankful for getting in at all). On the other hand, it's my understanding that schools have very rigid packages and will not offer different students different funding as a matter of policy.

[animal_whisperer]

3 minutes ago, _nutella_ said:

I'm wondering this too... and I've received highly mixed advice. On one hand, we don't want to leave anything on the table (and we especially don't want to do that if imposter syndrome is telling us to just be thankful for getting in at all). On the other hand, it's my understanding that schools have very rigid packages and will not offer different students different funding as a matter of policy.

+++on the last part! Some schools have established stipends (through the graduate school) that you can easily see online. I'm not so sure such departments would increase stipends if they are in line with the established amount. 

[The Converse]

Does anyone know or has anyone heard of speaking to schools about being able to work outside of their TA/RA?  The stipend offers I have received seem to be standard rate, but it's a fraction of my current salary.  I would be fine with working as well, but I am not sure how to approach this with the graduate programs.  Any feedback is welcomed.

[Mad Scientist Malfrost]

21 minutes ago, The Converse said:

Does anyone know or has anyone heard of speaking to schools about being able to work outside of their TA/RA?  The stipend offers I have received seem to be standard rate, but it's a fraction of my current salary.  I would be fine with working as well, but I am not sure how to approach this with the graduate programs.  Any feedback is welcomed.

I mean, we're all adults and they can't exactly forbid us from getting jobs. Generally programs can dictate that you can only work up to x amount of extra hours if the job is on campus or related to the university in some capacity but they can't stop you from going and getting a part time job off campus. They will generally say that its impossible to work a part time job and devote enough time to schooling/research though but it's ultimately your decision to make in the end.  

[suovren]

19 minutes ago, The Converse said:

Does anyone know or has anyone heard of speaking to schools about being able to work outside of their TA/RA?  The stipend offers I have received seem to be standard rate, but it's a fraction of my current salary.  I would be fine with working as well, but I am not sure how to approach this with the graduate programs.  Any feedback is welcomed.

In one graduate student handbook it says that students should not seek outside employment and if they do, they must have it approved by the dean of the graduate school. 

[HolyGinger]

46 minutes ago, raabs said:

Sorry, I maybe should have been clearer. I meant when I eventually choose which offer to accept, should I attempt to negotiate a better funding package? 

I talked with several PhD students and most of them said that you should at least try to negotiate. Obviously you can't just go around saying "give me more money" but you can ask in a more polite manner. A PhD student I know said that he mailed couple of universities and asked: "I would love to study here at Y, but I also got an offer from X. Could you match this?" or something along these lines. You can also emphasize that you're dependent on this funding. In short, I'd say go for it, there's no harm in asking -as long as you ask in a direct but polite manner- since these packages (to my knowledge) are more or less same for 4-5 years. 

[HolyGinger]

48 minutes ago, nivy25 said:

My portal just says it’s in review and it doesn’t mention any decision being reached. I hope it’s not bad news! 

I am also quite nervous now that I'm also not getting any news from Penn State, as far as I know, only 1 or 2 people claimed waitlist and 5+ claimed rejection here. I really don't know what to expect from this. Fingers crossed I guess

[cheetah]

Claiming Georgetown (IR sub) acceptance. POI called me this noon, indicating there are two admits in IR this cycle. Total applicants are over 500. Decisions likely to be released next week. Fingers crossed for everyone else then!

[gradinho]

11 hours ago, icemanyeo said:

If you're an international scholar, your best bet to calculate your federal taxes owed is through the IRS website. They have several publications for international scholars and students in the US.

As for your state, I would check the publications of that particular state's tax rate for non-residents (which will most likely be your status in the state for the duration of your program unless you get permanent residency or citizenship).

After subtracting those, you should have a pretty good idea of your net income. Non-residents do not pay FICA/Social Security taxes, so no need to include those (and make sure your university is not taking them out of your pay.)

For tax filing purposes, I recommend TaxAct (service recommended by the IRS) or Sprintax. Do not use Turbotax if you're an international student as they only support resident tax forms -- you will be filing incorrectly if you use them.

As for textbooks and other goods, you don't have to calculate the taxes yourself as you'll get them at checkout. If you want to know ahead of time, I would recommend just estimating the sales tax to be 10% as location can vary between 8.875% sales tax in NYC to no statewide sales tax in places like New Hampshire and Oregon. Some states also do not have personal income taxes if you earn under a certain amount of income (Texas, etc.)

I'm not familiar with rent being taxed, I know rental income is taxed but not rent payments. However, some states (like Indiana) allow you to deduct a certain amount of taxes off of the rent payments you made in a year.

Lastly, once you get your tax ID (SSN/ITIN), I would recommend you register for the IRS website to make sure your federal tax payments are processed correctly.

Disclaimer: I'm not a certified tax advisor/preparer nor is this tax advice. Always consult a professional. (just based off of my knowledge working as a VITA tax volunteer in college).

Thank you so much! ngl it sound like a bit of a headache, no wonder it’s so famously complex.