2021-2022 Application Thread

[AnxiousGradStudent01]

43 minutes ago, DanTheGrad said:

For all those who were waitlisted for UMD - What are your subfields and how were you notified? Based on the results page, it seems like the majority of waitlist post were in the CP/IR subfield.

Rooting for all of us!

My subfield is IR and I was emailed, if this isn't someone's first choice and you were accepted plz drop it as soon as you can bc it was my first choice (went to UMD for undergrad) and I'm rejected or expecting rejections from everywhere else.

 

I'm a bit upset bc I assumed I was a perfect fit with the faculty and have worked with several of them before.

Edited February 21, 2022 by F Y

[sfsdfdfsfdfsd]

Are we expecting all remaining schools will get back to us by the end of this week? Since it's the end of Feb?

[PoliCommsGirl]

2 hours ago, uncle_socks said:

super curious where you found Stanford, MIT, Emory, and OSU rates (esp the first two!). It's been a while since I've searched for them but I don't recall finding those on my own. 

 

I also want to point out that schools that removed the GRE are more likely to get more "junk" applications -- I'm not yet convinced that like, it's now twice as hard to get into Michigan or Yale. GRE isn't the end-all-be-all, but to say that it's uncorrelated with what adcoms like to see would be untrue. I'm guessing that a lot of the schools that have gone GRE optional have gotten more low-quality apps from people thinking that without the GRE they stand a chance. 

Still, I'm not sure that we want to correlate GRE optional as allowing more low-quality/junk applicants. I would think removing the GRE can help in terms of removing what can be a significant financial/time-commitment barrier for folks wishing to apply. 

Applying to grad school is a considerable undertaking with or without the gre. There's the field-specific attributes and experiences that add coms are looking for, but there's also just the "deciphering" of how to apply for a grad program as well. Removing the GRE does help remove, at least, one more thing in that applying process that would have prevented an otherwise qualified applicant from applying. 

 

And I say this as someone who has taken the GRE twice (once for MA over five years ago, and now once again for PhD apps). I used GRE for only the schools which requied it, and my one acceptance (thus far) is from a school to which I did not report my score since they said it was optional. 2/3 waitlisted schools did require it. Just leaving that note for future applicants.  Personally, I'm with the trend towards a GRE- optional/No GRE requirement, but I know that's contentious. 

[sswimky]

26 minutes ago, PoliCommsGirl said:

Still, I'm not sure that we want to correlate GRE optional as allowing more low-quality/junk applicants. I would think removing the GRE can help in terms of removing what can be a significant financial/time-commitment barrier for folks wishing to apply. 

Applying to grad school is a considerable undertaking with or without the gre. There's the field-specific attributes and experiences that add coms are looking for, but there's also just the "deciphering" of how to apply for a grad program as well. Removing the GRE does help remove, at least, one more thing in that applying process that would have prevented an otherwise qualified applicant from applying. 

 

And I say this as someone who has taken the GRE twice (once for MA over five years ago, and now once again for PhD apps). I used GRE for only the schools which requied it, and my one acceptance (thus far) is from a school to which I did not report my score since they said it was optional. 2/3 waitlisted schools did require it. Just leaving that note for future applicants.  Personally, I'm with the trend towards a GRE- optional/No GRE requirement, but I know that's contentious. 

I second this; I did my undergrad at Michigan, and I know some professors don't even look at the GRE as a matter of policy, whereas some professors care about it a lot. The former group says it's a poor indicator of success potential (and it's inequitable for a bunch of reasons), and the latter group cares mostly about the quant scores, especially if you don't have a quant background. How much the GRE matters depends on who's on your admissions committee, it's pure, blind luck. If you get a bunch of profs who care about quant scores, and you have a strong GRE but not a ton of research experience, you might get in over someone who's been an RA at some prestigious research institution. Or, if you get a ton of profs on your admissions committee who don't consider the GRE, your strong quant score isn't going to help you at all. It's literally all chance.

I did TERRIBLY on the quant section, like truly so poorly, and the one place I've gotten into so far required I submit GRE scores, and is ranked higher than places I've been rejected from where the GRE was optional and I didn't submit. None of this makes any sense and none of it is standardized, you just have to hope that the people on your admissions see your potential and decide to take a chance on you. I'm not sure if that makes people feel better or worse, but we control so little of what goes on here; the odds will land in your favor at some point! If it doesn't work out this time, we can always apply again

Edited February 21, 2022 by sswimky

[Learnerlearnerlearner]

On 2/18/2022 at 9:57 AM, kmccorm2 said:

I'm waiting on Georgetown. I really wouldn't assume it's a reject from there -- I reached out to a PoI last week, and was referred to the head of admissions for the program. They JUST met for the first time on Friday (only a week ago), and said they are working through the recommendations for admission, etc.. I would guess that takes a good amount of time. 

Thank you so much for this. I saw before that at least 5 people claimed acceptances and a few more claimed waitlists at Georgetown. Do you think they will send out more? Its the only university I am waiting to hear from that I am not sure about and it's making me very anxious. Have you heard anything else from them? 

Edited February 21, 2022 by Learnerlearnerlearner
Clarification

[Hazel C]

So at this point, should I expect rejections from GT, UMD, Johns hopkins, UC boulder if I haven’t received anything? Only Cornell is pending for me then. Let me know if this is incorrect. 
Only received 1 no funding offer, feel very failed.. sigh. 

[linabean]

1 hour ago, Hazel C said:

So at this point, should I expect rejections from GT, UMD, Johns hopkins, UC boulder if I haven’t received anything? Only Cornell is pending for me then. Let me know if this is incorrect. 
Only received 1 no funding offer, feel very failed.. sigh. 

Boulder is still sending out responses. I just got waitlisted there this afternoon.

[XiPeepee]

Has anyone received any info on the Emory visit day? The only thing I have gotten is just date but no RSVP or any other info.

[Tiago Chan]

I got waitlisted from both CU Boulder and UMD today.  I assume the possibility of being moved off waitlist and admitted by UMD is much lower than the CU Boulder.  My subfield is CP and I work on environmental politics.

[Tiago Chan]

Hi @DanTheGrad,

 I noticed that you had an interview with UCSB. I also had an interview with UCSB. I work on environmental politics. I choose the CP subfield, but a professor of American politics also environmental politics interviewed me.

I forgot to ask their admission timeline. Do you know when will they release the result? Will it happen at the end of this week?

Thanks!

[IAMK]

Why does UMD give so many waitlists? Isn't it because many people usually decline the offer of UMD?

[LM2022]

5 hours ago, Hazel C said:

So at this point, should I expect rejections from GT, UMD, Johns hopkins, UC boulder if I haven’t received anything? Only Cornell is pending for me then. Let me know if this is incorrect. 
Only received 1 no funding offer, feel very failed.. sigh. 

At this point, if you haven't recieved anything from them and wonder if you should assume rejections, the best way to figure out is always call them/write them directly.

[Gradverse]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:05 PM, LM2022 said:

Actually I posted that. It was just a very quick and brief chat from a member (not named in my SOP) on the committee. He asked me questions like "why PhD", "why Brown", "can you talk a little bit more about the method you mentioned in your SOP". I think I kinda blew that interview as I thought it was mainly about my research interests.

 

I think the main reason I was contacted is because my SOP is super research interest-focused and doesn't mention anything about my motivation or personal anecdote, so they want to know me more personally. Anyway, I am very grateful that I was contacted...but I don't think this is really a big deal. I think it is still very likely for me to get a rejection from them...as I have already got one (one that ranked way below Brown) and probably more will follow...

 

Wow, great experience. Could you share with us briefly about your background, like your undergraduate school information and masters, GPA/GRE and publications?

[Gradverse]

6 hours ago, LM2022 said:

At this point, if you haven't recieved anything from them and wonder if you should assume rejections, the best way to figure out is always call them/write them directly.

Thank you for your kindly and helpful suggestion. Are you a quantitative researcher? How did you structure your SOP? Should it better be written like a research paper or a more general introduction of your motivation, research interests and brief plan of study?

[LM2022]

19 minutes ago, Gradverse said:

Thank you for your kindly and helpful suggestion. Are you a quantitative researcher? How did you structure your SOP? Should it better be written like a research paper or a more general introduction of your motivation, research interests and brief plan of study?

 

22 minutes ago, Gradverse said:

Wow, great experience. Could you share with us briefly about your background, like your undergraduate school information and masters, GPA/GRE and publications?

Thanks for your interest, but I am not very sure if my way of doing things is an example to follow, because as you can notice in my signature, I was rejected by Brown, despite they gave me an interview earlier.

Background: International student with a bachelor degree (law), two master degrees (international law, international relations), and a graduate certificate in International Relations. The master in law and the certificate are granted by two US schools. I am now a full-time research assistant in a law school doing international law stuff. My GPA is all right. GRE is 164(V)168(Q)5.0(AW). My WS is very qualitative, even somehow aligns with critical theory. I have one publication but it was still under the journal's consideration when I submitted my application form.

The structure of my SOP: 1st paragraph: begining with a series of interested research questions. a summary of my research interests; 2nd paragraph: talk about my interest in great power politics, substantiated by a conference paper; 3rd paragraph: a research idea about international law; 4th paragraph: emphasize that although I have laid out several distinct specific interests, they are revolve around one theme, and I am open-minded so my research interests may change; 5th paragraph: a statement of fit; 6th and 7th paragraph: qualifications and experiences; 8th paragraph: methodological training that I recieved.

 

I could be wrong, but I think it is not always necessary to mention your motivation/personal anecdote in the SOP, unless you consider them as your unique strength (which is very rare in the eyes of adcom, though).

[hanginthereJoan]

UNC finally sent the rejection notification. I knew I was rejected but it feels better that I finally got some sort of notice from the school.

[sswimky]

I'm still waiting on 6 schools, not counting Duke, UCLA, and NYU since I'm assuming rejection from them. This is my first cycle, but I feel like it's insanely late to be waiting on that many places still; are results coming out super late this year, or is this largely standard?

Edited February 22, 2022 by sswimky

[Quriosity]

2 minutes ago, sswimky said:

I'm still waiting on 6 schools, not counting Duke, UCLA, and NYU since I'm assuming rejection from them. This is my first cycle, but I feel like it's insanely late to be waiting on that many places still; are results coming out super late this year, or is this largely standard?

I'm still waiting on 5. I think that it is normal to still be waiting on schools until the end of Feb. If you're still waiting on all of those by Mar. 1st, then I'd start to email programs.

[DanTheGrad]

9 hours ago, Tipeng Chen said:

Hi @DanTheGrad,

 I noticed that you had an interview with UCSB. I also had an interview with UCSB. I work on environmental politics. I choose the CP subfield, but a professor of American politics also environmental politics interviewed me.

I forgot to ask their admission timeline. Do you know when will they release the result? Will it happen at the end of this week?

Thanks!

Hi there - From what my interviewer told me, it would still be "several weeks until decisions go out." I'm not sure if they finished all interviews last week but if they did, I think we will hear back later this week or sometime in early March. 

[bmo103]

1 hour ago, hanginthereJoan said:

UNC finally sent the rejection notification. I knew I was rejected but it feels better that I finally got some sort of notice from the school.

Did you get an email or was it just a portal update?

[SchnozEP]

10 hours ago, IAMK said:

Why does UMD give so many waitlists? Isn't it because many people usually decline the offer of UMD?

I guess they have a very limited budget which means that they cannot send out too many offers at once

[hanginthereJoan]

1 hour ago, bmo103 said:

Did you get an email or was it just a portal update?

I got an email that the portal was updated!

[DanTheGrad]

16 hours ago, Hazel C said:

So at this point, should I expect rejections from GT, UMD, Johns hopkins, UC boulder if I haven’t received anything? Only Cornell is pending for me then. Let me know if this is incorrect. 
Only received 1 no funding offer, feel very failed.. sigh. 

From my last email with the UMD Graduate program coordinator: 

___

"Greetings [DanTheGrad], 

Thank you for your email and interest in our Ph.D. program. Our committee expects to have decisions by mid-February, however, that timeline is subject to change. Our goal is to admit the applicants we believe will be successful in the program. We strive for an entering class of 9- 10 students. The number we admit varies from year to year based on a variety of factors. Note that the number of applications and the acceptance rates also vary by subfield. We offer most incoming Ph.D. students a competitive five-year funding package that includes tuition remission and benefits. The most outstanding applications are also eligible for University-wide fellowships and/or summer fellowships. Students can also apply for funds to support their research through the individual subfields.

You can learn more about our admissions process and other FAQs here: https://gvpt.umd.edu/landingtopic/graduate-admissions

Best, 

Elaine"

___

Since it is still technically Mid-February and the timeline is "subject to change," there is still time to receive good news. Plus, it looks like the only subfields that have received acceptance or waitlist notifications are IR and CP. So, if your subfield is AP like me, there is still hope. 

Trust me when I say, I know this is an incredibly stressful time in the application process, and the delay in program responses doesn't help at all. Personally, a lot is riding on this UMD decision, and I am extremely anxious, but I am not counting myself out until I get an explicit rejection.

With that said, you can always email your programs to ask about application timelines if that will help ease any anxiety. If you do email UMD, can you please update the rest of us? I emailed them a few weeks ago (see email above), but I want to know if they have any further updates.

Have a great week, and I'm rooting for you!

[hyccup]

Any news from Northwestern? I'm assuming a rejection but it seems like they are already weeks behind when they started rejecting folks last year.

[honeymoow]

Claiming a Harvard acceptance via phone!

Edited February 22, 2022 by honeymoow