2021-2022 Application Thread

[ballofstress]

On 2/5/2022 at 5:12 AM, phdhell said:

Hey guys! Just wondering, for those who got all rejects last cycle or are just trying again this cycle and finding more success, I was wondering what you did to make your application better over the course of a year? I’m currently finishing a two year masters in the UK and I’m not sure what more I can do outside of school/what even some of these programs are looking for! 

Hi this is my second cycle! Last cycle I applied to I think 12 schools and I got 3 fully funded PhD offers (Georgia, FSU, and ASU) and 1 fully funded 1-year MA offer. I wasn't completely sure I wanted to commit to years of graduate school, and the offers I received were from good schools but ultimately too far away. So, I went with the accelerated MA at my undergrad institution. This would allowed me to get a taste of grad school and hopefully improve my application. I was able to drastically improve my writing sample, learn Stata, get teaching experience, get graduate-level research experience, and get three really good letters of rec (from the professor I TAed for, the professor I did research for, and the professor that heads our MA program). I've been told my application looks even better from last year from my current institution. However, take this with a grain of salt because I've only heard back from one program so far (and I'm assuming a rejection from Northwestern). 

[modesteffect]

Anyone can clarify what no response means if the school has already sent out several admits and rejects in various sub-fields?

Edited February 7, 2022 by modesteffect

[ballofstress]

Hope everyone gets some good news this week! Good luck to everyone as we go into Monday

[Theory007]

7 hours ago, modesteffect said:

Anyone can clarify what no response means if the school has already sent out several admits and rejects in various sub-fields?

Wait a bit to see if you hear from them. If you do not, it is most likely a waitlist. If the offers went out a while ago I'd contact the department and ask.

[scared_phd]

2 hours ago, ballofstress said:

Hope everyone gets some good news this week! Good luck to everyone as we go into Monday

Yesss good luck everyone!! Major decision week coming up. Primarily I expect UMich, Princeton and NYU and to some extent, MIT and UNC. Also, potentially Stanford, WUSTL, UCLA, Georgetown, and Cornell. Pheeww ?

[EstherBritoAbrio]

Hey everyone! Quick question, for those that have done interviews, is it possible to ask how they usually go? Do they primarily ask about your research, or is there more?

[cber9604]

@EstherBritoAbrio I am guessing you got an interview invite for Georgetown as well ?? If that is the case, congrats !! I have no idea how it will go... I am quite nervous about it, to be honest. Did not know GU did interviews, excited to see what's this all about.

[scared_phd]

34 minutes ago, cber9604 said:

@EstherBritoAbrio I am guessing you got an interview invite for Georgetown as well ?? If that is the case, congrats !! I have no idea how it will go... I am quite nervous about it, to be honest. Did not know GU did interviews, excited to see what's this all about.

I had an interview at Georgetown a couple of weeks ago. I don't even know if I should call it an interview; it was soo chill. It was more a chance for me to ask questions and get advice rather than an evaluation of my files. I had a chat with the field chair of my subfield and one other faculty who were so forward and honest in answering all my questions. The call lasted about an hour and we barely spent 10 minutes with me answering their questions. It was all about my questions, my options and them giving me advice on how to make the best decision on where to go. My advice is don't worry about it and prepare as many questions as you can because the answers they gave me were very helpful. 

[EstherBritoAbrio]

45 minutes ago, cber9604 said:

@EstherBritoAbrio I am guessing you got an interview invite for Georgetown as well ?? If that is the case, congrats !! I have no idea how it will go... I am quite nervous about it, to be honest. Did not know GU did interviews, excited to see what's this all about.

Hi! I did - congrats to you as well! I understand how you feel. I didnt think they interviewed, and dont know what to expect. Also, its super short and I suck at public speaking ?. Sending you best of luck!!

[EstherBritoAbrio]

Just now, scared_phd said:

I had an interview at Georgetown a couple of weeks ago. I don't even know if I should call it an interview; it was soo chill. It was more a chance for me to ask questions and get advice rather than an evaluation of my files. I had a chat with the field chair of my subfield and one other faculty who were so forward and honest in answering all my questions. The call lasted about an hour and we barely spent 10 minutes with me answering their questions. It was all about my questions, my options and them giving me advice on how to make the best decision on where to go. My advice is don't worry about it and prepare as many questions as you can because the answers they gave me were very helpful. 

Thank you so much! Thats a relief! Also, congratulations!

[cber9604]

1 minute ago, scared_phd said:

I had an interview at Georgetown a couple of weeks ago. I don't even know if I should call it an interview; it was soo chill. It was more a chance for me to ask questions and get advice rather than an evaluation of my files. I had a chat with the field chair of my subfield and one other faculty who were so forward and honest in answering all my questions. The call lasted about an hour and we barely spent 10 minutes with me answering their questions. It was all about my questions, my options and them giving me advice on how to make the best decision on where to go. My advice is don't worry about it and prepare as many questions as you can because the answers they gave me were very helpful. 

Good to know, I also felt that was more of the vibe. Do you think it is a good sign in terms of acceptance or non-related? Last year I did not get an interview with GU so I was optimistic, once I got the news, that I had already made more progress than the year before. 

Thanks for the insights !

[moomagoo]

5 minutes ago, cber9604 said:

Good to know, I also felt that was more of the vibe. Do you think it is a good sign in terms of acceptance or non-related? Last year I did not get an interview with GU so I was optimistic, once I got the news, that I had already made more progress than the year before. 

Thanks for the insights !

Long time lurker here, and congrats on the interview! Was curious to know what subfield you applied for at Georgetown? 

[cber9604]

Just now, moomagoo said:

Long time lurker here, and congrats on the interview! Was curious to know what subfield you applied for at Georgetown? 

Hey ! I applied to IR ! I would not consider myself a pure IR scholar, I mainly do IPE. But for GU, it logically falls under the IR subfield  

[moomagoo]

1 minute ago, cber9604 said:

Hey ! I applied to IR ! I would not consider myself a pure IR scholar, I mainly do IPE. But for GU, it logically falls under the IR subfield  

Ah, gotcha! I also applied IR, but no interview yet. Hoping for the best haha

[sswimky]

Quiet today so far!!! Are we in for another news-less day...?

[cber9604]

2 minutes ago, moomagoo said:

Ah, gotcha! I also applied IR, but no interview yet. Hoping for the best haha

I would not worry about it too much, I clearly got an invite way later than some other candidates. They might to do it by waves or whatever. 

[scared_phd]

26 minutes ago, cber9604 said:

Good to know, I also felt that was more of the vibe. Do you think it is a good sign in terms of acceptance or non-related? Last year I did not get an interview with GU so I was optimistic, once I got the news, that I had already made more progress than the year before. 

Thanks for the insights !

I think an interview is always a good sign. Especially for programs that are not high ranked, it might be more of a good news because their intention might be actively recruiting you. 

[cber9604]

2 minutes ago, scared_phd said:

I think an interview is always a good sign. Especially for programs that are not high ranked, it might be more of a good news because their intention might be actively recruiting you. 

Yes, I agree. I am not aware really of the rankings, I have only applied to a few schools. Is GU a top 30 school ?

[scared_phd]

11 minutes ago, cber9604 said:

Yes, I agree. I am not aware really of the rankings, I have only applied to a few schools. Is GU a top 30 school ?

Yes, I would say GU is definitely top 30 and even top 20 for some subfields. The rankings do play a part in admission decisions and recruitment efforts by departments. If GU realizes you have a chance in other top 20 programs or better yet, top 10 programs, they will try to recruit you actively. It is also important to mention that faculty are very much aware of the rankings and that students will choose a higher ranked program if they get an offer (provided that it is good fit).  

[sswimky]

23 minutes ago, scared_phd said:

Yes, I would say GU is definitely top 30 and even top 20 for some subfields. The rankings do play a part in admission decisions and recruitment efforts by departments. If GU realizes you have a chance in other top 20 programs or better yet, top 10 programs, they will try to recruit you actively. It is also important to mention that faculty are very much aware of the rankings and that students will choose a higher ranked program if they get an offer (provided that it is good fit).  

Do you think the old adage from college applications applies here? That if schools think you have a good shot at better ranked programs than them, they'll just reject you upfront, so as not to waste an offer? I used to hear people say this all the time about college and some professional schools (namely, law school), but would be interested to see if that's relevant here too.

[scared_phd]

4 minutes ago, sswimky said:

Do you think the old adage from college applications applies here? That if schools think you have a good shot at better ranked programs than them, they'll just reject you upfront, so as not to waste an offer? I used to hear people say this all the time about college and some professional schools (namely, law school), but would be interested to see if that's relevant here too.

I actually do. If you are not a perfect fit for their program and your application is stellar, they might decide to reject you because their offer might not mean much to you at the end of the day. Or they could simply think you are a much more capable applicant and can easily get offers at much higher ranked places. I think @jjiffyis a good example. @jjiffyLet us know your thoughts man!

[modesteffect]

13 minutes ago, sswimky said:

Do you think the old adage from college applications applies here? That if schools think you have a good shot at better ranked programs than them, they'll just reject you upfront, so as not to waste an offer? I used to hear people say this all the time about college and some professional schools (namely, law school), but would be interested to see if that's relevant here too.

Yes it's called overqualified. But oftentimes it's hard to tell for both schools and applicants. I saw several were wavering between say GWU and Michigan. depends on fit, supervisors, location, etc.

[throwaway2022]

Anybody have any insight into Michigan or WashU? I expected both to be Friday based on their website. 

[CapTipps]

20 minutes ago, sswimky said:

Do you think the old adage from college applications applies here? That if schools think you have a good shot at better ranked programs than them, they'll just reject you upfront, so as not to waste an offer? I used to hear people say this all the time about college and some professional schools (namely, law school), but would be interested to see if that's relevant here too.

My experience on this cycle has been confirming that. I was waitlisted in lower-ranked programs where I was almost sure I would get in, and ended up getting into top-20 programs I wasn't expecting. During an interview in a lower-ranked program, they asked about how recruitment season was going and advised me to accept one of the offers I got from a top-20 program. I hadn't heard back from them yet, but I'm pretty sure they will not send me an offer knowing I already have options. But I don't feel "flattered" about it, and I actually find it odd, despite understanding their reasoning...

[scared_phd]

1 minute ago, CapTipps said:

My experience on this cycle has been confirming that. I was waitlisted in lower-ranked programs where I was almost sure I would get in, and ended up getting into top-20 programs I wasn't expecting. During an interview in a lower-ranked program, they asked about how recruitment season was going and advised me to accept one of the offers I got from a top-20 program. I hadn't heard back from them yet, but I'm pretty sure they will not send me an offer knowing I already have options. But I don't feel "flattered" about it, and I actually find it odd, despite understanding their reasoning...

Lolll. Guess I will cross GU off my list. I told them all the better offers I have.