2020-2021 Application Thread

[BrownSugar]

Just now, TheLifeofBrian said:I find the funding options in the US are much better (or at least I understand them better). 

They definitely are much better in the US. 

[BrownSugar]

17 minutes ago, icemanyeo said:

I was on the cusp of applying to Geneva...Kinda regretting taking it off my list now. Also wanted to apply to CEU but I didn't feel strong enough in my theoretical background to do the straight PhDs in most of Europe.

I completely get that. The thing with Europe is that you also need an actionable PhD proposal at the get go. In the US, it’s obviously flexible since you take courses during the first couple of years, which I now appreciate. 

[afjackie]

2 minutes ago, TheLifeofBrian said:

I applied and got into Edinburgh back in 2008 for a PhD, but ended up choosing Dartmouth for my Masters instead. I often wonder if that was the right choice. I think Edinburgh is an AMAZING school and considered it this round, but I find the funding options in the US are much better (or at least I understand them better). 

I did the same thing but choose a Masters at Georgetown back in 2008 rather than a PhD from UConn! And yeah, the UK programs can be tough for funding. They opened up ESRC funding to international students this year, and there are a couple other niche studentships I've applied for that relate to the conflict/feminist nature of my research proposal, but I know I may very well get into Edinburgh and/or Manchester but not be offered funding. Seemed worth a try, though, since the professors from both of those programs are such amazing fits for my interests. We will see!

[poliscihopeful2021]

So is it safe to assume those Berkeley phone calls were fake? And so were the Princeton rejections on Apply web? Also super surprised that Duke is interviewing people, curious what fields they interviewed?

I'm new here - been following this thread and trying to make sense of what is real and isn't. Sorry if I'm restarting a previous conversation

Pending: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCSD, Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, MIT, Michigan, Duke, Cornell, NYU, Chicago. 

[plus]

10 minutes ago, poliscihopeful2021 said:

So is it safe to assume those Berkeley phone calls were fake? And so were the Princeton rejections on Apply web? Also super surprised that Duke is interviewing people, curious what fields they interviewed?

I'm new here - been following this thread and trying to make sense of what is real and isn't. Sorry if I'm restarting a previous conversation

Pending: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCSD, Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, MIT, Michigan, Duke, Cornell, NYU, Chicago. 

Princeton was fake, Berkeley probably too. Duke seems to be doing interviews in Institutions, don’t know in other subfields.

[til1996]

2 hours ago, StarkDark1 said:

Where all did y'all apply?

Princeton, Yale, Georgetown, Cornell, NYU, and Rochester for Ph.D in Political Science.

I also applied to Master's programs at Harvard and Columbia in case I'm totally shut out in Ph.D admissions. 

Re: the Master's program. If any of you have 100K+ in student loans, I would love to chat via private message about your experience.

Edited January 28, 2021 by til1996
Added on a question

[verschiedene]

21 minutes ago, poliscihopeful2021 said:

Also super surprised that Duke is interviewing people, curious what fields they interviewed?

Was wondering about this as well. Are there anyone in theory subfield claiming a Duke interview? Thanks!

pending: Berkeley Chicago Cornell Harvard Northwestern Princeton Duke JohnsHopkins UCLA UCSC(HistConsciousness) Oxford

[Mad Scientist Malfrost]

Hey everyone, first time poster and just wanted to drop by and say hi as well as bask in the anxiety we are all having currently. A bit of background on my part: I'm currently a Masters student at Cornell studying Industrial Labor Relations; it has been super enjoyable despite the pandemic and in that time I've actually managed to take a few PHD level seminar courses in the Political Science department there so if anyone has questions about the Department at Cornell I have some insight into it. I've applied to a number of IR program and have heard back from none so I'm here to pass the time with you all until we all hopefully get good news.

 

pending: Chicago, Emory, Iowa, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Yale

Edited January 28, 2021 by Mad Scientist Malfrost

[pspr]

2 minutes ago, Mad Scientist Malfrost said:

Hey everyone, first time poster and just wanted to drop by and say hi as well as bask in the anxiety we are all having currently. A bit of background on my part: I'm currently a Masters student at Cornell studying Industrial Labor Relations; it has been super enjoyable despite the pandemic and in that time I've actually managed to take a few PHD level seminar courses in the Political Science department there so if anyone has questions about the Department at Cornell I have some insight into it. I've applied to a number of IR program and have heard back from none so I'm here to pass the time with you all until we all hopefully get good news.

 

pending: Chicago, Emory, Iowa, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Yale

Cornell is in fact my top choice! My focus is on democratization/authoritarianism and populism in LatAm and Southeast Asia, and the program looks like a good fit. How do you find the Govt Dept in general?
 

And just in case you have heard something, any idea if the results will be sent out a little bit later than usual bc of the GRE waiver? I also hope the incoming cohort won’t be too small....

[Mad Scientist Malfrost]

8 minutes ago, ppsr said:

Cornell is in fact my top choice! My focus is on democratization/authoritarianism and populism in LatAm and Southeast Asia, and the program looks like a good fit. How do you find the Govt Dept in general?
 

And just in case you have heard something, any idea if the results will be sent out a little bit later than usual bc of the GRE waiver? I also hope the incoming cohort won’t be too small....

I can tell you that Cornell is great with a lot of faculty focusing on democratization/authoritarianism. I took the IR seminar with Professor Weiss last semester and it was great and we covered that topic, especially the erosion of liberal/democratic norms in the US under Trump and what effect that might have. I can't speak for LatAm coverage but I know at least a few of the faculty study Southeast Asia and China quite a bit. The department itself is really amazing and everyone is very supportive; I only didn't apply for the PHD program because I didn't feel what I wanted to research (international alliance systems and dispute resolution/alliance systems of non-state actors) fit with the faculty. You sound like you'll be a great fit though if they accept you!

I sadly don't know much about how the pandemic and optional GRE will effect admissions because to be frank, I didn't ask because I knew I wasn't going to reply. From what I heard though, they don't intend to have a smaller cohort this year. Also, this is a big push at Cornell as a whole to axe standardized testing from both the undergrad and graduate admission process so from what I understood, depending on how things shake out the GRE might remain permanently optional but that was still very much up in the air. Hope that helps a bit!

Edited January 28, 2021 by Mad Scientist Malfrost

[Lurker929]

2 hours ago, StarkDark1 said:

Where all did y'all apply?

Probably aimed a bit too high...

Pending: Stanford, Harvard, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, John’s Hopkins SAIS, and Maryland

Accepted: Wisconsin

Rejected: OSU (assumed, because it’s been awhile since all the admits came out and no word)

[Theory007]

2 minutes ago, Lurker929 said:

Probably aimed a bit too high...

Pending: Stanford, Harvard, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, John’s Hopkins SAIS, and Maryland

Accepted: Wisconsin

Rejected: OSU (assumed, because it’s been awhile since all the admits came out and no word)

Given that you in at Wisconsin it looks like your aim was perfect

[afjackie]

48 minutes ago, til1996 said:

Princeton, Yale, Georgetown, Cornell, NYU, and Rochester for Ph.D in Political Science.

I also applied to Master's programs at Harvard and Columbia in case I'm totally shut out in Ph.D admissions. 

Re: the Master's program. If any of you have 100K+ in student loans, I would love to chat via private message about your experience.

I do after my masters program at Georgetown...I do not recommend, unless you plan to go into the private sector! I've been working on paying mine off on the public service forgiveness program but it is a never ending slog filled with uncertainty.

That said, I would have never had the amazing career opportunities I've had without that masters, so I guess it depends a lot on your career trajectory. Happy to talk more offline! 

[gbheron]

I just received an acceptance from UIUC well after others were notified, so there may be hope still for folks who are in a similar position with other programs! Wishing everyone luck!

[Mad Scientist Malfrost]

8 minutes ago, gbheron said:

I just received an acceptance from UIUC well after others were notified, so there may be hope still for folks who are in a similar position with other programs! Wishing everyone luck!

Congrats on the acceptance! Are you that most recent result on the results page? Out of curiosity, when did other UICI acceptances go out?

[macska]

3 hours ago, StarkDark1 said:

Where all did y'all apply?

Political Science (IR): CEU, Manchester, U Delaware, Aberystwyth

Sociology: Minnesota, Notre Dame, Warwick

colors: accepted, interviewed, pending, rejected

[gbheron]

35 minutes ago, Mad Scientist Malfrost said:

Congrats on the acceptance! Are you that most recent result on the results page? Out of curiosity, when did other UICI acceptances go out?

Yeah that was me! I think I saw them around January 17-18, so that would be more than a week later 

[Mad Scientist Malfrost]

1 minute ago, gbheron said:

Yeah that was me! I think I saw them around January 17-18, so that would be more than a week later 

I cannot imagine the stress of being in limbo for a week like that! I'm happy you got accepted though! I'm still looking at those Emory results with a large amount of anxiety but I saw that no one here claimed them yet so they might be fake?

Edited January 28, 2021 by Mad Scientist Malfrost

[gbheron]

29 minutes ago, Mad Scientist Malfrost said:

I cannot imagine the stress of being in limbo for a week like that! I'm happy you got accepted though! I'm still looking at those Emory results with a large amount of anxiety but I saw that no one here claimed them yet so they might be fake?

Thanks! Waiting is for sure the hardest part, but it really seems like you have to take everything on gradcafe with a grain of salt. Even if they're real, it doesn't mean you're automatically rejected anyway

[icemanyeo]

4 hours ago, afjackie said:

I did the same thing but choose a Masters at Georgetown back in 2008 rather than a PhD from UConn! And yeah, the UK programs can be tough for funding. They opened up ESRC funding to international students this year, and there are a couple other niche studentships I've applied for that relate to the conflict/feminist nature of my research proposal, but I know I may very well get into Edinburgh and/or Manchester but not be offered funding. Seemed worth a try, though, since the professors from both of those programs are such amazing fits for my interests. We will see!

I know applications are over, but the University of Bradford is another great school for Conflict Studies/Peace Studies. I really enjoyed the conference presentations by some of their researchers and professors at ND.

[tryingherbest]

Why do I feel like none of us are going to get acceptances tomorrow? Or hear anything at all. IDK why, but I feel like thursday is just a weird day to send things out. Anyone else? 

[icemanyeo]

6 minutes ago, tryingherbest said:

Why do I feel like none of us are going to get acceptances tomorrow? Or hear anything at all. IDK why, but I feel like thursday is just a weird day to send things out. Anyone else? 

Try not to expect anything so you can be pleasantly surprised. That's my advice for the next few days and weeks.

[icemanyeo]

By the way, did anyone apply to Princeton's Pre-Doctoral Fellowship for Politics?

[GradSchoolGrad]

5 hours ago, afjackie said:

Despite having an MPP from Georgetown, good GRE scores, and 8 years experience at the State Department and the White House, when I applied the first time for the 2017 cycle I only applied to Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, and USCD - no safety schools, I didn't reach out to professors because I was living in Khartoum, Sudan, and was super busy, and not surprisingly I didn't get in anywhere. So this time around I was super focused on fit before ranking, talking to profs at every program, included a couple safety schools, and fingers crossed will do better this time! As you can tell from my programs I'm clearly an IR/Conflict Studies person  Good luck to everyone out there!

Accepted Interview(ed) Pending Rejected

Northwestern, Graduate Institute Geneva, Notre Dame (Kroc/Peace Studies and PoliSci), Manchester, Edinburgh, U Denver (Josef Korbel/International Studies), UC Irvine.

MPP from Georgetown means nothing for PhDs unless you get all near 4.0 GPA. Our professors reminded us all the time. 

[Uberfloweret]

6 hours ago, StarkDark1 said:

Where all did y'all apply?

Three programs, niche interests

Pending:

Princeton (political philosophy; philosophy as a potential home department), Berkeley (PoliSci; political theory), Yale (PoliSci; political theory). 
Aut Caesar, aut nihil ?