2021-2022 Application Thread

[Avocado_town]

Finally got the rejection from Northwestern. Email to check portal.

[trijru]

2 hours ago, Berlin44 said:

Anyone hear from or waiting to hear from MAIR programs at either Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, or American? Have a few acceptances so far but getting antsy about the rest. 

Also waiting on hearing back from MAIR at JHU and SSP and MASIA at Georgetown.. fingers crossed they come sooooon

[Eliza1820]

How hard are schools trying to recruit you?

Right now I have two offers from mid-30s ranked programs and they both have worked fairly hard to get me to come to their school. Both have provided additional fellowships with my stipend, paid visits to campus, and very open lines of communication.

 

It's a nice position to be in, but I'm wondering if they're working this hard to comp for their rankings? I've been waitlisted at some top institutions (my signature has not been updated recently), but the two schools I've been accepted to don't know this.

Thoughts?

[CapTipps]

4 minutes ago, Eliza1820 said:

How hard are schools trying to recruit you?

Right now I have two offers from mid-30s ranked programs and they both have worked fairly hard to get me to come to their school. Both have provided additional fellowships with my stipend, paid visits to campus, and very open lines of communication.

 

It's a nice position to be in, but I'm wondering if they're working this hard to comp for their rankings? I've been waitlisted at some top institutions (my signature has not been updated recently), but the two schools I've been accepted to don't know this.

Thoughts?

Honestly, I think this is the treatment we should all be receiving from graduate programs! I'm worried about the ones I'm not getting much attention. And don't know how your waitlists would affect that, I think it depends on the program. Would you mind sharing where your two offers were from?

[hawnsay]

4 hours ago, hyccup said:

If you have yet to hear from Northwestern, email the Director of Graduate Studies. According to him, they sent me a rejection and have confirmation of it sending, but I never received a letter and my application portal has not updated. I let him know that there may be others who are in a similar situation.

I was about to email them and then I got an email at around 9:00AM PST notifying of an update. This brings my cycle to an end.

[VehlynBlackfyre]

Northwestern finally got back with a rejection. They sent a pretty generic email saying they "respect [my] intellectual ambition and wish[es me] success in attaining [my] goal of advanced study."

So, there's that.

[Avocado_town]

And just received the Harvard rejection as well.

[Avocado_town]

2 hours ago, Eliza1820 said:

How hard are schools trying to recruit you?

Right now I have two offers from mid-30s ranked programs and they both have worked fairly hard to get me to come to their school. Both have provided additional fellowships with my stipend, paid visits to campus, and very open lines of communication.

 

It's a nice position to be in, but I'm wondering if they're working this hard to comp for their rankings? I've been waitlisted at some top institutions (my signature has not been updated recently), but the two schools I've been accepted to don't know this.

Thoughts?

In my case, I'd say that both schools have put their effort to try to convince me to choose them. Particularly, I've had meetings with faculty/POIs, talked to graduate students and recived several emails from both departments. I'd say that one of them has been more eager to be in touch with me (e.g., more grad students from one of the schools have sent me emails). Also, both schools invited me to their virtual visit events (one of which has not yet taken place).

Having that in mind, I'd be worried if I didn't get attention from those schools (maybe not that level of attention, but I'd say that lack of attention on their part would be worrisome). In general terms, I'd say that if you get an offer from a school, that school really wants to have you in their program. 

Edited March 2, 2022 by Avocado_town

[polyglotaspiring]

Has anyone who hasn't heard from NYU yet reached out to them? It's the last school on my list, and I just want the cycle to be over...

[Simorg]

Hi 
Two days ago, I got an email from the director of Graduate studies of UIC, which says "We have recommended to the Graduate College that you be admitted as a degree-seeking student on full graduate standing to the Department of Political Science Ph.D. Program." 
Today checked my application, and the status was changed from "Under review of the department" to "Additional Review Required by the Graduate College."
Is that mean I got waitlisted?

[HappyCheese]

10 minutes ago, Simorg said:

Hi 
Two days ago, I got an email from the director of Graduate studies of UIC, which says "We have recommended to the Graduate College that you be admitted as a degree-seeking student on full graduate standing to the Department of Political Science Ph.D. Program." 
Today checked my application, and the status was changed from "Under review of the department" to "Additional Review Required by the Graduate College."
Is that mean I got waitlisted?

No, you're admitted. Administrative work takes time.

[NewYorkarepa]

I recently found out that I am on CUNY's waitlist. This program is my top choice and my dream school. If someone who got accepted is not planning to attend, please reject the offer as soon as possible.
Thank you.

[pbspoon]

My Penn rejection ends this cycle for me. What a bizarre experience--11 schools, only 1 acceptance, and not even a waitlist at any of the others. I'm a nontraditional candidate but was not expecting this...thank goodness for Duke!

[Eliza1820]

1 minute ago, pbspoon said:

My Penn rejection ends this cycle for me. What a bizarre experience--11 schools, only 1 acceptance, and not even a waitlist at any of the others. I'm a nontraditional candidate but was not expecting this...thank goodness for Duke!

I feel the same, but getting into Duke is fantastic! I think it's really hard to apply to grad school after working for several years. I applied to nine schools, up and down the rankings based on fit more than reputation, and got a weird mix of responses. If you're only going to get into one school, at least it's a really good one

[Simorg]

10 hours ago, HappyCheese said:

No, you're admitted. Administrative work takes time.

How long should I wait for the official email?

[pbspoon]

5 minutes ago, Eliza1820 said:

I feel the same, but getting into Duke is fantastic! I think it's really hard to apply to grad school after working for several years. I applied to nine schools, up and down the rankings based on fit more than reputation, and got a weird mix of responses. If you're only going to get into one school, at least it's a really good one

Thanks! I'm more than a decade out from undergrad and am surprised how much that seemed to affect things. And agreed--very happy that for whatever reason a higher ranked school decided I was a good fit!

[LatinAmericanFootball]

36 minutes ago, Simorg said:

How long should I wait for the official email?

It really varies. If you're feeling anxious about it you could ask the DGS or whoever originally emailed you (e.g. "When can I expect the official letter from the Graduate School to arrive?" or something like that). But it really could take anything from a couple days to two weeks or so.

[kmccorm2]

 

33 minutes ago, pbspoon said:

Thanks! I'm more than a decade out from undergrad and am surprised how much that seemed to affect things. And agreed--very happy that for whatever reason a higher ranked school decided I was a good fit!

I've also found this to be true, the older we are, I guess the less likely it is we'll get into schools which is very frustrating. One of the programs that I got into is T50, and I'm wondering if it's even worth it to pursue, since eventually I would like to be a professor at an undergraduate institution (vs. for example, going into policy/politics). But I can't imagine doing this again for the 4th time!

[MooseTracks]

Hi sorry I havent beeen following this thread that closely, but if I got an acceptance into a PhD program but am now feeling sort of burned out after my Masters, do you think it would be possible to defer admission or ask for a gap year? I feel very excited to begin a PhD but my program for Masters was a lot more draining than I had expected and I feel like I need a substantial break before putting myself out there again! Any advice on how to proceed?

[serpentstone]

58 minutes ago, pbspoon said:

Thanks! I'm more than a decade out from undergrad and am surprised how much that seemed to affect things. And agreed--very happy that for whatever reason a higher ranked school decided I was a good fit!

I'm also about a decade past undergrad and I couldn't believe how difficult it's been to gather all of the needed information just to apply for grad studies. Congrats on your acceptance!!

[LM2022]

 

1 hour ago, pbspoon said:

My Penn rejection ends this cycle for me. What a bizarre experience--11 schools, only 1 acceptance, and not even a waitlist at any of the others. I'm a nontraditional candidate but was not expecting this...thank goodness for Duke!

 

1 hour ago, Eliza1820 said:

I feel the same, but getting into Duke is fantastic! I think it's really hard to apply to grad school after working for several years. I applied to nine schools, up and down the rankings based on fit more than reputation, and got a weird mix of responses. If you're only going to get into one school, at least it's a really good one

I agree, Duke is super fantastic.

 

Can I trade my JHU offer with yours, pbspoon? You mentioned JHU is ranked slightly higher in your field. Let's trade our offers so we can both be happy!  (just kidding)

Edited March 3, 2022 by LM2022

[LM2022]

33 minutes ago, MooseTracks said:

Hi sorry I havent beeen following this thread that closely, but if I got an acceptance into a PhD program but am now feeling sort of burned out after my Masters, do you think it would be possible to defer admission or ask for a gap year? I feel very excited to begin a PhD but my program for Masters was a lot more draining than I had expected and I feel like I need a substantial break before putting myself out there again! Any advice on how to proceed?

I think the problem is that you really need a good reason/execuse if you wanna defer your PhD matriculation. I doubt that one can defer PhD enrollment only because one is dried up in the previous studies. So maybe you can come up with a plan on how to spend this gap year, and make the plan look fulfilling, meaningful, and urgent (so you really need to defer), but also actually laid-back. Then you can take the plan to the DGS and...wish you good luck!

[uncle_socks]

1 hour ago, MooseTracks said:

Hi sorry I havent beeen following this thread that closely, but if I got an acceptance into a PhD program but am now feeling sort of burned out after my Masters, do you think it would be possible to defer admission or ask for a gap year? I feel very excited to begin a PhD but my program for Masters was a lot more draining than I had expected and I feel like I need a substantial break before putting myself out there again! Any advice on how to proceed?

yeah it's very departmental-dependent. Some have no real problem with you deferring if you have a half-legitimate excuse (even though they say something like deferrals are rare on their website), but others refuse to guarantee funding if you defer, and others won't let you defer at all and would make you fully reapply the next year. 

[Avocado_town]

I received a UPenn rejection as well. I only have NYU left to finish my cycle.

[Berlin44]

23 hours ago, trijru said:

Also waiting on hearing back from MAIR at JHU and SSP and MASIA at Georgetown.. fingers crossed they come sooooon

Best of luck to you! I know Hopkins says March 9 at the latest but really wish they would hurry up