2021-2022 Application Thread

[modesteffect]

5 minutes ago, XTeaever said:

Hey man, do you still have the application checklist showing in your UCSD portal? 

yeah everything remains the same as 30 days ago

Edited February 2, 2022 by modesteffect

[polisci1]

12 hours ago, soupgirl said:

Have yet to hear from any of my schools but in anticipation of the worst case scenario... what is the best course of action if you don't get into any programs and want to reapply next cycle?

Should one enroll in a Master's + if so, are there any specific programs / institutions that are particularly good in terms of increasing your chances of admission into a top PhD program the following year?

Or is it better to try and get an RA role (particularly if your research experience is on the lower end)? 

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice  

I would highly recommend looking into Chicago’s one-year MA programs (CIR for IR and comparative, MAPSS for American). They often offer scholarships, and have excellent PhD placement. A lot of people who did MAPSS or CIR and then re-applied for PhDs are now at top 10 or top 20 programs. They’re probably two of the only masters programs in the US that are tailored to people on the PhD-track, and are close to PhD level coursework and research.

RAing for professors is also definitely a good idea, and could help you get better letters. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by polisci1

[kestrel18]

Hello, guys! 
Those admitted to Michigan State University, huge congrats!  Feel free to message me questions about the program. :)
Current MSU Ph.D. student

[pbspoon]

Is anyone who has heard from Duke a theorist? I'm holding out the tiniest sliver of hope that they haven't sent theory acceptances yet...

[JCX]

Got rejected by Virginia and Brown this morning.

I don't even feel sad or disappointed anymore. So far I have collected 7 rejections and 0 acceptance.

Now I realize that I apparently overestimated myself and employed a pretty clumsy strategy for the application. Maybe my time just hasn't come yet. Guess I will have to think about what I should do to give myself a better chance for the next cycle.

Many congratulations to those who already claimed acceptance and hope more fellow political science applicants can hear good news soon!~

[jjiffy]

11 minutes ago, JCX said:

Got rejected by Virginia and Brown this morning.

I don't even feel sad or disappointed anymore. So far I have collected 7 rejections and 0 acceptance.

Now I realize that I apparently overestimated myself and employed a pretty clumsy strategy for the application. Maybe my time just hasn't come yet. Guess I will have to think about what I should do to give myself a better chance for the next cycle.

Many congratulations to those who already claimed acceptance and hope more fellow political science applicants can hear good news soon!~

App season aint over till the last decision comes in! If its any consolation though, I received straight rejects last year and was demoralized. I now have 3 acceptances this year. One year can make all the difference so dont give up hope. Just do whatever you can to improve as an applicant and give it your best shot next year in case it doesn't work out this cycle.

[EstherBritoAbrio]

Well, it looks like Duke has sent out its acceptances. Congrats to everyone who made it! Im assuming rejection, but does anyone have an idea when they usually notify? 

[JCX]

@jjiffy

Thank you for your advice. I think you really set a good example. Guess I will just work and work till I get it right!~?

[sbidyanta]

Good morning everyone! (well morning for most of you, it's evening for me) To everyone who have gotten offers, congratulations!! I didn't want to individually congratulate you, since it would clog up the thread. But it's absolutely massive, and you should be very proud of yourselves! And for those who are yet to get one, please don't feel bad. It's far, far too early in the cycle to lose hope. Besides your worth isn't decided by any adcom. 

 

Hope you all have an excellent day, and remember to take care of yourselves. 

[CapTipps]

Claiming one of the UCSD's rejections. Second year applying there, and this automated e-mail at 5am is a pain in our guts! It's awful. I know the program is VERY competitive, and they receive tons of applications, but I wish they could be less cold/whatever about rejections. Even the letter is the same. It makes you feel that nothing has changed in a year!

That's to say, I have been doing great in all the other schools I have applied this year, which gave me some hope that maybe UCSD could work this time. Now I see that it seems they really don't want me ? However, many other great programs do! So to everyone disappointed with rejections: yes, there's a lot you can do to improve your file in a year! Make sure to do everything you can. But at the same time, consider other programs, try to participate in conferences, Open Houses. Sometimes we fall in love with a program we didn't even know/consider in the first place...

So lots more to come! And for everyone disappointed today, or that woke up to this standard UCSD rejection: I feel you!!!

[polisciboy]

Since it's looking possible that I might not get an acceptance this cycle, is anyone familiar with the MA program at Rochester? It looks nice, and more data/stats focused than the UChicago CIR/MAPSS (that someone on this forum mentioned). 

[sswimky]

What schools do we think will release next?

[jjiffy]

1 hour ago, polisciboy said:

Since it's looking possible that I might not get an acceptance this cycle, is anyone familiar with the MA program at Rochester? It looks nice, and more data/stats focused than the UChicago CIR/MAPSS (that someone on this forum mentioned). 

I’m not familiar with Rochester but I can speak to CIR. The CIR curriculum is pretty flexible and you can include quant courses. I would say stats/data oriented people are a minority in the program but you can make it work. For instance, you can take the entire quant methods sequence for PhDs as a CIR student, or data analysis classes at Harris Public Policy, or the game theory sequence in poli sci, etc. 

[PolishPhD]

5 minutes ago, sswimky said:

What schools do we think will release next?

I am hoping that UC Irvine will release the results soon. Usually they release in January, and afaik their latest release on record was 2 February 2021, so....

[mdalt21]

7 minutes ago, sswimky said:

What schools do we think will release next?

I'm thinking Princeton and Michigan (Ann Arbor) in the next few days, at least in terms of the schools I applied to... 

[catiecatie]

13 minutes ago, sswimky said:

What schools do we think will release next?

Also NYU I think 

[jjiffy]

Hopefully we hear back from Berkeley officially too. 

[sfsdfdfsfdfsd]

UChicago as well

[sbidyanta]

Hoping for either Northwestern and USC. They both had deadlines in December, so we should be hearing from them soon. They are both my reach schools, so I'm not as hopeful with them, but I'd love to have a decision soon. 

[Avocado_town]

15 minutes ago, sswimky said:

What schools do we think will release next?

Northwestern seems to be behind previous cycles, so I expect we will hear from them soon--although they say they don't release all their offers at the same time. Michigan (Ann Arbor) and NYU will probably make offers soon.

I'm not sure what to expect from Princeton as there seems to be some fake results posted in the results page for previous cycles. However, I think they may start making offers this or next week. 

Maybe we will also hear from Colorado Boulder and UC Berkeley within 1 or 2 weeks.

So, that's what I expect for next 1 or 2 weeks but I wouldn't rely so much on my predictions hahaha.

[PolishPhD]

7 minutes ago, Avocado_town said:

Northwestern seems to be behind previous cycles, so I expect we will hear from them soon--although they say they don't release all their offers at the same time. Michigan (Ann Arbor) and NYU will probably make offers soon.

I'm not sure what to expect from Princeton as there seems to be some fake results posted in the results page for previous cycles. However, I think they may start making offers this or next week. 

Maybe we will also hear from Colorado Boulder and UC Berkeley within 1 or 2 weeks.

So, that's what I expect for next 1 or 2 weeks but I wouldn't rely so much on my predictions hahaha.

I think usually Northwestern releases their results in January, but it seems that last year the bulk of them came on the 10th of February. So we might still have a bit of a wait ahead of us. 

[pbspoon]

47 minutes ago, jjiffy said:

I’m not familiar with Rochester but I can speak to CIR. The CIR curriculum is pretty flexible and you can include quant courses. I would say stats/data oriented people are a minority in the program but you can make it work. For instance, you can take the entire quant methods sequence for PhDs as a CIR student, or data analysis classes at Harris Public Policy, or the game theory sequence in poli sci, etc. 

Chicago also has a Masters in Computational Social Science that's data and stats focused: https://macss.uchicago.edu/. 2 years though.

[LatinAmericanFootball]

1 hour ago, sswimky said:

What schools do we think will release next?

Seconding some of the other posters, my bet (among the programs in my list) is NYU still this week and Berkeley and Princeton early next week. But then again next week is probably gonna be the biggest week of the season. Fingers crossed for all of us!

[smallcrown]

6 minutes ago, LatinAmericanFootball said:

Seconding some of the other posters, my bet (among the programs in my list) is NYU still this week and Berkeley and Princeton early next week. But then again next week is probably gonna be the biggest week of the season. Fingers crossed for all of us!

Let's hope for the best. 

[Theory007]

Congrats everyone on your admissions! For those of you still waiting to hear good news, hang in there - they will come I'm sure. Even if they don't, know that many people go through more than one application cycle and make it successfully in later attempts. So a rejection today should not dissuade you from grad school. I think it must be hard to imagine doing another cycle at this time but once it is all over, maybe you will.

The one thing I have learned from participating in this forum is that admissions and rejections really are a crapshoot and no one gets in without a good portion of luck. There are notable exceptions such as @jjiffy and @catiecatie who must be really outstanding (congrats to you both), but most people are at least somewhat lucky to get into one good program.

So don't be dissuaded - if not this year, then the next! But I am still rooting for all of you - it's only February 2nd and there is just so much time and so many decisions to come.