2021-2022 Application Thread

[Avocado_town]

On 2/1/2022 at 11:58 AM, 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  

[This will be kind of a long answer based on what I have been told by a professor and a phd student]

A couple of months ago I was talking to a former student from my undergrad university. He is currenly a phd student in an European university, and I told him that I was applying to phd programs in the US. He whished me the best of luck in my applications, but also told me that in case my applications were unsuccessful, it may be a good idea to apply to masters programs in Europe with the idea of applying to a phd program later on, probbably in Europe too.

Maybe that is not the best idea for everyone, but it may be worth considering. A little bit of context may help: I'm from Latin America and my undergrad institution has one of the top departments of Political Science in Latin America. It offers all three academic degrees in polítical science (although the master's degree is not academically oriented). The thing is that for us (me, the PhD student I was talking to, and anyone who wants to pursue an academic career), the best option is to get a PhD at an European or US University, and that may not be the case for many of you.

Of course, there are many other considerations in making that decision. For exmaple, one of the reasons I decided to apply to US institutions was that you don't need a masters degree to apply since you will probably get one as part of the PhD program. Other relevant reason was funding. Many US universities offer you funding along with the admission offer, but that may be more complicated for European universities, as you may need to get a external scolarship for your master's degree and I think merit-based financial aid offered by the university is more limited (I'm not sure if it is the same for european PhD programs, although I think it is). And of course, many of those who live in US may have not considered studying in another continent, since you have many of the best universities of the world in your country.

Other thing that may be relevant to consider here is that there are different paths to the same goal. Maybe you don't get offers this cycle, but that does not mean there is something wrong with you. When my undergrad thesis advisor (and recomender) explained to me all the things that committees consider when making a decision, I felt that there is a great degree of arbitrariness. My proferssor himself received no offers when he applied and was waitlisted in two universities--he ended up attending to one of those. He also told me that one of the students that was offered an admision in the first round subsequently dropped out of the program. My professor concluded that it made no difference for his career being waitlisted first and then accepted, in contrast to being directly admitted at the same university of maybe another (although he seems to regret having applied to too few programs). 

I hope this post helps anyone who is out there with lots of questions on her mind (I'm kind of an overthinker, so I know how it feels)

 

[probably.chris]

11 hours ago, jjiffy said:

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.

If you don't mind my asking, what kinds of things did you do in that year? My understanding is that most of what I can do to improve myself as an applicant happens in undergrad, and I can't afford a masters program at the moment.

[hawnsay]

I have seen one other person with UNL listed in their signature.  Did anybody else apply to UNL?  I was rejected by UConn so that's kinda surprising but hey, I do have a fully funded offer from Mizzou so this doesn't sting as bad.  Eagerly waiting on many others (UGA, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, Maryland, Washington (Seattle), Nebraska-Lincoln) so I can at least have the opportunity to make a decision.

[sbidyanta]

6 minutes ago, hawnsay said:

I have seen one other person with UNL listed in their signature.  Did anybody else apply to UNL?  I was rejected by UConn so that's kinda surprising but hey, I do have a fully funded offer from Mizzou so this doesn't sting as bad.  Eagerly waiting on many others (UGA, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, Maryland, Washington (Seattle), Nebraska-Lincoln) so I can at least have the opportunity to make a decision.

I applied to UNL. Yet to hear anything from them though, which is expected since they had a late-ish deadline. 

[probably.chris]

Such a particular kind of anger to get a "5 Reasons To Consider Ohio State" email two days after getting rejected from them.

[weast]

Hi everyone, I'm not applying to PhDs in Political Science, but as I'm currently affiliated with CIR at Chicago, I wanted to echo what @jjiffy and @pbspoon said about CIR and MACSS if you're interested in getting more data/stats training. The latitude for methodology under these programs is very broad, and if you want more training in data analytics/stats/formal modeling you can definitely get it here. Unlike most master's programs, you're able to take classes with PhD students, which was vital for developing my own research. 

I would also add that CIR has a PhD bootcamp for current students and alumni, which I found to be very helpful. 

Finally, I wanted to share that someone I know was accepted to UChicago (I believe in CP) yesterday. I hope this helps clarify some confusion people have. 

I wish you all the best of luck with this application season! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of you! 

[zoooxu]

5am offer - best news I have woke up to. congrats to everyone. You will love ucsd. 

[smallcrown]

1 hour ago, Avocado_town said:

[This will be kind of a long answer based on what I have been told by a professor and a phd student]

A couple of months ago I was talking to a former student from my undergrad university. He is currenly a phd student in an European university, and I told him that I was applying to phd programs in the US. He whished me the best of luck in my applications, but also told me that in case my applications were unsuccessful, it may be a good idea to apply to masters programs in Europe with the idea of applying to a phd program later on, probbably in Europe too.

Maybe that is not the best idea for everyone, but it may be worth considering. A little bit of context may help: I'm from Latin America and my undergrad institution has one of the top departments of Political Science in Latin America. It offers all three academic degrees in polítical science (although the master's degree is not academically oriented). The thing is that for us (me, the PhD student I was talking to, and anyone who wants to pursue an academic career), the best option is to get a PhD at an European or US University, and that may not be the case for many of you.

Of course, there are many other considerations in making that decision. For exmaple, one of the reasons I decided to apply to US institutions was that you don't need a masters degree to apply since you will probably get one as part of the PhD program. Other relevant reason was funding. Many US universities offer you funding along with the admission offer, but that may be more complicated for European universities, as you may need to get a external scolarship for your master's degree and I think merit-based financial aid offered by the university is more limited (I'm not sure if it is the same for european PhD programs, although I think it is). And of course, many of those who live in US may have not considered studying in another continent, since you have many of the best universities of the world in your country.

Other thing that may be relevant to consider here is that there are different paths to the same goal. Maybe you don't get offers this cycle, but that does not mean there is something wrong with you. When my undergrad thesis advisor (and recomender) explained to me all the things that committees consider when making a decision, I felt that there is a great degree of arbitrariness. My proferssor himself received no offers when he applied and was waitlisted in two universities--he ended up attending to one of those. He also told me that one of the students that was offered an admision in the first round subsequently dropped out of the program. My professor concluded that it made no difference for his career being waitlisted first and then accepted, in contrast to being directly admitted at the same university of maybe another (although he seems to regret having applied to too few programs). 

I hope this post helps anyone who is out there with lots of questions on her mind (I'm kind of an overthinker, so I know how it feels)

 

For German universities, you basically have no chance getting a PhD advisor if you haven't already had contact with the professor in an academic capacity. If you want to get a PhD here, it's usually right out of school, after you're done with your masters. It's really difficult to get back in if you have done any commercial work after your masters and basically impossible if you come with a masters from anywhere else but this professor you want to write your thesis under. 

That's one of the reasons why you see many germans at US universities - they just don't have another chance to get their PhD if they didn't decide to get it right after their masters. 

That being said - University is pretty much free here and there is no financial reason not to just get your masters or a second masters degree in germany and go into your phd right away. It's usually unstructured too so you might be able to get a PhD in 2-3 years after your masters if you don't do anything else. 

[Not_A_Crook]

1 hour ago, probably.chris said:

Such a particular kind of anger to get a "5 Reasons To Consider Ohio State" email two days after getting rejected from them.

Yeah I got the same email. I understand it is a chain email but they should consider fucking off.

[scared_phd]

20 minutes ago, Not_A_Crook said:

Yeah I got the same email. I understand it is a chain email but they should consider fucking off.

That's hilarious lol, sorry guys. Interestingly, I am admitted to OSU but haven't received the emails...quite the mix up I imagine. 

[qweraaa]

12 minutes ago, scared_phd said:

That's hilarious lol, sorry guys. Interestingly, I am admitted to OSU but haven't received the emails...quite the mix up I imagine. 

Same here... I only received an offer letter a few days after an email from the graduate school.

[jjiffy]

3 hours ago, probably.chris said:

If you don't mind my asking, what kinds of things did you do in that year? My understanding is that most of what I can do to improve myself as an applicant happens in undergrad, and I can't afford a masters program at the moment.

In the year between applications, I completed my undergrad thesis, fixed up my SOP a ton, learned R, LaTeX, basics of quant analysis, started an MA, and worked as an RA for a well known prof. 

[CapTipps]

44 minutes ago, qweraaa said:

Same here... I only received an offer letter a few days after an email from the graduate school.

Same here, but I didn't receive an offer letter... You mean detailing the funding package? I'm worried now...

[catiecatie]

2 minutes ago, CapTipps said:

Same here, but I didn't receive an offer letter... You mean detailing the funding package? I'm worried now...

It's not the funding package, but an email from the department with an attached offer letter.

[CapTipps]

5 minutes ago, catiecatie said:

It's not the funding package, but an email from the department with an attached offer letter.

Oh, right! Thanks. That one I received. But the lack of information about funding is getting me nervous, though...

[ballofstress]

Anyone have any ideas on why the timeline seems so different this year? I applied last year and received most of my decisions by now. This year I've only hear back from 1/6 of the schools I applied to. I'm guessing COVID has had an impact on this unusual timeline. 

[LatinAmericanFootball]

5 minutes ago, ballofstress said:

Anyone have any ideas on why the timeline seems so different this year? I applied last year and received most of my decisions by now. This year I've only hear back from 1/6 of the schools I applied to. I'm guessing COVID has had an impact on this unusual timeline. 

Did you apply to the same set of schools? These things seem to vary more between schools than  over the years within schools. IIRC last year UCSD results came out Jan 27th, which was a Wednesday, and they came out today this year. So weekdays might matter too.

Edited February 2, 2022 by LatinAmericanFootball
Misunderstood something lol

[honeymoow]

25 minutes ago, ballofstress said:

Anyone have any ideas on why the timeline seems so different this year? I applied last year and received most of my decisions by now. This year I've only hear back from 1/6 of the schools I applied to. I'm guessing COVID has had an impact on this unusual timeline. 

Have not heard back from any myself—the wait weights so heavily!

[bmo103]

37 minutes ago, honeymoow said:

Have not heard back from any myself—the wait weights so heavily!

The more time passes without any contact from any of the schools I applied to, the more I manage to convince myself that I won't get in anywhere.

 

Lately I've been convinced that one of my letter writers intentionally sabotaged my application via a bad letter. It's miserable. 

[Mike Jones]

I work at a major Ivy.  I can tell you that many universities are not returning to their offices until this/next week (omicron delay).  I’m not implying that universities have not been chugging along virtually…but if you’re getting stressed about results being released later than last year…don’t be.  Most processes are delayed.  The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can relax and let the results come to you.

[smallcrown]

2 minutes ago, Mike Jones said:

I work at a major Ivy.  I can tell you that many universities are not returning to their offices until this/next week (omicron delay).  I’m not implying that universities have not been chugging along virtually…but if you’re getting stressed about results being released later than last year…don’t be.  Most processes are delayed.  The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can relax and let the results come to you.

Thanks a lot for the insight. You've gotta be real though - nobody in this thread is gonna relax anytime soon. ?

[Learnerlearnerlearner]

Just rejected from uchicago 

[jjiffy]

Yep, rejected from Chicago here too. I'm beginning to think the way I ordered my signature is prophetic...

[Learnerlearnerlearner]

Were you referred to their master's program? I was referred to CIR and i am thinking i should email to withdraw from that 

[bmo103]

Rejected from Chicago. Didn’t even get a masters program referral. What an absolute garbage way to start the cycle. 
 

I think I shot too high with the schools I applied to. It’s a hard pill to have to swallow

Edited February 3, 2022 by bmo103