2021-2022 Application Thread

[hyccup]

12 minutes ago, uncle_socks said:

People are absolutely not graduating in an average of 5 years anywhere, let alone somewhere with what is one of the more qualitative departments out of top schools. Not to mention, the modal school this year, relative previous years, has budget constraints where they can't actually admit a full of class as they usually do. As I've said before, Northwestern does this every year, where they admit people, they hold events, but they still won't release rejections to everyone. I know you guys like to stay optimistic, but this is systematic shitty behavior on Northwestern's part. 

Good to know. Took down my post so I don't give people the wrong idea.

[REGISTERONRAINYDAY]

When comparing offers from different universities, what information should I refer to? Is the graduate placement a constructive indicator?

[polisciboy]

53 minutes ago, REGISTERONRAINYDAY said:

When comparing offers from different universities, what information should I refer to? Is the graduate placement a constructive indicator?

Here's advice I've gotten from people who have already gone through this process:

1. Get a clear sense of your financial package. (Guaranteed funding for 5 years? TA/RA strings attached? Is 6th year funding possible? Health care provided?). Make sure to compare financial package with cost of living.
2. Get a sense of the faculty members, research groups, or labs that you could work with. Ask yourself: Do they form a supportive community for you to do your best work?
3. Ask about graduate placement if they don't already have that information published. If graduate placement is published, I would still investigate more (look at CVs, reach out to recent grads, etc.). Some placement documents I've seen won't differentiate between post-doc, TT, or adjunct jobs which can be very misleading.
4. What is the program/cohort like? What proportion of admitted students finish their PhD? How many years is the typical student taking to complete their PhD?
5. Will you get a lot of individual attention as a grad student, or will you be working more on your own? Pick a program that aligns with how you like to work. I've heard UC schools are usually more of the "fend for yourself" variety, but I could be wrong.
6. If you are planning on a career outside of academia: will faculty be willing to help you with your career goals? Is there a stigma associated with students who pursue non-academic careers? (I probably wouldn't ask this outright, unless you're sure you want to work outside of academia in which case it might be good to bring up early.)
7. Reach out to PhD students currently in the program. Are they happy? Idk if this is true, but someone told me that if they are too happy expectations might be too low. Obviously if they're miserable you have to decide if you want to submit yourself to that for the next 5+ years

Hope this helps!

Edited February 26, 2022 by polisciboy

[ballofstress]

So I have no news from Northwestern. Is that a good sign or are more rejections still coming? Hoping I was maybe waitlisted. 

[REGISTERONRAINYDAY]

1 hour ago, polisciboy said:

Here's advice I've gotten from people who have already gone through this process:

1. Get a clear sense of your financial package. (Guaranteed funding for 5 years? TA/RA strings attached? Is 6th year funding possible? Health care provided?). Make sure to compare financial package with cost of living.
2. Get a sense of the faculty members, research groups, or labs that you could work with. Ask yourself: Do they form a supportive community for you to do your best work?
3. Ask about graduate placement if they don't already have that information published. If graduate placement is published, I would still investigate more (look at CVs, reach out to recent grads, etc.). Some placement documents I've seen won't differentiate between post-doc, TT, or adjunct jobs which can be very misleading.
4. What is the program/cohort like? What proportion of admitted students finish their PhD? How many years is the typical student taking to complete their PhD?
5. Will you get a lot of individual attention as a grad student, or will you be working more on your own? Pick a program that aligns with how you like to work. I've heard UC schools are usually more of the "fend for yourself" variety, but I could be wrong.
6. If you are planning on a career outside of academia: will faculty be willing to help you with your career goals? Is there a stigma associated with students who pursue non-academic careers? (I probably wouldn't ask this outright, unless you're sure you want to work outside of academia in which case it might be good to bring up early.)
7. Reach out to PhD students currently in the program. Are they happy? Idk if this is true, but someone told me that if they are too happy expectations might be too low. Obviously if they're miserable you have to decide if you want to submit yourself to that for the next 5+ years

Hope this helps!

Thanks! I checked the placement documents and find out the placement results can be really informative. The most well-known schools do not always have best placement...

[uncle_socks]

1 hour ago, polisciboy said:

1. If you are planning on a career outside of academia: will faculty be willing to help you with your career goals? Is there a stigma associated with students who pursue non-academic careers? (I probably wouldn't ask this outright, unless you're sure you want to work outside of academia in which case it might be good to bring up early.)

To #6, this is a great question to ask the current grad students! I wouldn't ask this to professors outright unless you know already that they're supportive of non-academic careers, but if you are aware of someone in the department who is supportive of it already, or if some grad students tell you that a particular professor is really supportive of these types of career moves, they can be pretty insightful as well as to what kind of opportunities are out there for graduates of their program. I can't stress enough how awful the academic political science job market is. It is so important to go to a program where you know you'll be happy where you end up even if you don't manage to get an academic job. 

[sbidyanta]

10 hours ago, hanginthereJoan said:

Knowing that Northwestern just had their virtual visit day, I envy that you at least got a rejection email. I'm still waiting  for the official results from Northwestern and USC.

 

Btw may I ask why you put down soft rejection for USC? I thought no results were out yet.

Some people reported getting emails from USC to send their official transcripts. I didn't get anything, hence the soft rejection. I might be wrong though.

[hanginthereJoan]

Just now, sbidyanta said:

Some people reported getting emails from USC to send their official transcripts. I didn't get anything, hence the soft rejection. I might be wrong though.

I think that email was sent because the official transcripts were part of the application material and some people omitted it. They were the only school (for me at least) that required an official transcript before offering admissions.

[swanronson]

11 minutes ago, sbidyanta said:

Some people reported getting emails from USC to send their official transcripts. I didn't get anything, hence the soft rejection. I might be wrong though.

That was just because the USC application said to upload official transcripts and one of mine was unofficial. They said they needed an official transcript to review my application. No reason to assume rejection yet!  Don’t lose hope!

Edited February 27, 2022 by swanronson

[Lighthopes]

20 hours ago, sbidyanta said:

Finally got the official rejection from Northwestern, but to be honest I knew this much before. 

Hi ! I'm sorry about that  Could you let us know what your subfield is?

I haven't gotten a rejection yet but I'm not reading too much into it since rejections do seem to come in waves every year

[sbidyanta]

51 minutes ago, Lighthopes said:

Hi ! I'm sorry about that  Could you let us know what your subfield is?

I haven't gotten a rejection yet but I'm not reading too much into it since rejections do seem to come in waves every year

IR

 

Have you checked the portal? My email was to simply check the portal; the rejection was on the portal. 

[Quriosity]

Just a heads up for anyone else still waiting on American University. I reached out to their grad admissions and they said they had extended first round offers last week, and that if any of these are turned down, they'll send out additional offers in March.  

[Lighthopes]

2 hours ago, sbidyanta said:

IR

 

Have you checked the portal? My email was to simply check the portal; the rejection was on the portal. 

thanks! Yeah I checked my portal and there's still no decision~ 

[Au_DD]

Has anyone applied to the New School this cycle? Their website says they will reach out if there are any missing documents AND once the application is complete for review. I, however, haven't heard anything since I applied. 

[Learnerlearnerlearner]

41 minutes ago, Lighthopes said:

thanks! Yeah I checked my portal and there's still no decision~ 

Are you also IR if you don't mind me asking? 

[kmccorm2]

On 2/25/2022 at 3:50 PM, LM2022 said:

This is my second application circle, although this one is also not that successful (only two acceptances and one is unfunded). But after seeing the profiles of those more successful applicants, I feel that getting into poli sci phd program would be much easier if you are an economist or a data scientist. Unfortunately, I am just a stupid lawyer who has difficulties in doing math.

Fellow lawyer here! Also bad at math. Don't really get it re: admissions, since law school is essentially school for politics... but what do I know!

[smallcrown]

14 minutes ago, kmccorm2 said:

Fellow lawyer here! Also bad at math. Don't really get it re: admissions, since law school is essentially school for politics... but what do I know!

I think you are legally required to be bad at math to get into law school. Here in Germany you are banned from doing any math once you are accepted into law school. IP Laywer here.

[VehlynBlackfyre]

On 2/25/2022 at 2:56 PM, LM2022 said:

Hi VehlynBlackfyre,

 

Just out of curiosity, how did you end up applying to both Political Theory programs and Environmental Sustainability/Urban Planning programs? They look quite distinct, as one sounds more philosophical and the other seems more scientific. Does a certain research interest of yours happen to concern both? Or you have complete different interests in both fields and decided to apply to both?  

LM2022,

I am an undergrad double-majoring in Political Theory and Conservation & Environmental Science. Naturally, this allows me to apply to a greater variety of graduate schools, including Urban Studies/ Urban Design.

Unfortunately, I prefer Political Theory and haven't seemed to convince other schools that this is my strength. Who knows, maybe I'm delusional?

[hanginthereJoan]

4 hours ago, Learnerlearnerlearner said:

Are you also IR if you don't mind me asking? 

Im also an IR but I didnt get an email nor a portal update.

[hawnsay]

6 hours ago, Lighthopes said:

thanks! Yeah I checked my portal and there's still no decision~ 

 

5 hours ago, Learnerlearnerlearner said:

Are you also IR if you don't mind me asking? 

 

50 minutes ago, hanginthereJoan said:

Im also an IR but I didnt get an email nor a portal update.

Same here. IR. No email and no portal update. Based on results posted from past years, they do take a while to send out all rejections and there are no official waitlist claims posted. In any case, I'm hoping that we are all still in the running for a spot.

[Lighthopes]

5 hours ago, Learnerlearnerlearner said:

Are you also IR if you don't mind me asking? 

No, I'm CP !

[Longhairedvato]

9 hours ago, Au_DD said:

Has anyone applied to the New School this cycle? Their website says they will reach out if there are any missing documents AND once the application is complete for review. I, however, haven't heard anything since I applied. 

I did. Same as you absolutely no communication from the department aside from generic emails from admissions or financial aid about open programs and submitting the fafsa. 

[LM2022]

13 hours ago, kmccorm2 said:

Fellow lawyer here! Also bad at math. Don't really get it re: admissions, since law school is essentially school for politics... but what do I know!

Well...I am a foreign-trained lawyer so I am not very sure if I am qualified to also speak for my US counterparts, but I guess the problem is that we are trained very differently from social scientists. Although there are a variety of approaches to legal scholarship (law & economics, legal-socio analysis, etc.), they all ultimately boil down to helping doctrinal legal analysis and serving the application of legal rules. By contrast, social science is all about describing phenomena, identifying causes, drawing universal models from social facts. So basically we are trained to be advocates, lobbyists, and worldly problem-solvers; but they are trained to be scientists developing new knowledge. Well, although in their decades of legal service some lawyers can eventually develop a good sense of how things work and where the problem is (like Hans Morgenthau, a lawyer who became a political scientist), that does not make lawyers automatically social scientists. We are still essentially different species.

[smallcrown]

10 minutes ago, LM2022 said:

Well...I am a foreign-trained lawyer so I am not very sure if I am qualified to also speak for my US counterparts, but I guess the problem is that we are trained very differently from social scientists. Although there are a variety of approaches to legal scholarship (law & economics, legal-socio analysis, etc.), they all ultimately boil down to helping doctrinal legal analysis and serving the application of legal rules. By contrast, social science is all about describing phenomena, identifying causes, drawing universal models from social facts. So basically we are trained to be advocates, lobbyists, and worldly problem-solvers; but they are trained to be scientists developing new knowledge. Well, although in their decades of legal service some lawyers can eventually develop a good sense of how things work and where the problem is (like Hans Morgenthau, a lawyer who became a political scientist), that does not make lawyers automatically social scientists. We are still essentially different species.

Well - that seems to differ quite a bit between countries and even universities. In Germany, where I got my legal education, the first half of law school is really a political science program where - yes, you acquire the ability to comprehend the law, but mostly you learn the philosophical, historical and economical foundations and the foundations of law making policy. What you study here isn't 'Law' and you're not going to 'Law School' - the program is called 'Legal Sciences'. 

[kmccorm2]

4 hours ago, smallcrown said:

Well - that seems to differ quite a bit between countries and even universities. In Germany, where I got my legal education, the first half of law school is really a political science program where - yes, you acquire the ability to comprehend the law, but mostly you learn the philosophical, historical and economical foundations and the foundations of law making policy. What you study here isn't 'Law' and you're not going to 'Law School' - the program is called 'Legal Sciences'. 

Agree with this here in the states -- additionally, most of my professors had political science PhDs, so I actually do think it correlates well!