2022-2023 Application Thread

[Tutankhamun]

2 hours ago, lalalalalala123 said:

Anyone who received duke's interview, is your field political methodology?

My thought process: first Duke interviewed IR, now political behavior, then institutions, methodology, PE… hope I am right.

[Gabbiew]

9 hours ago, anonymousvulture said:

Hi there.

Georgetown has conducted interviews in the past, even last year. I'm not sure they will necessarily conduct interviews, though (edit: meaning if you were not requested for an interview, it doesn't mean you're out). I'm clueless about Columbia.

I'm on the same boat regarding Notre Dame. Since their deadline is the 26th, I'm assuming there's still a chance that the interviews that were reported here were from different subfields that did not include you and me (I'm comparative, as is a poster above with the same questions). That being said, I think if we're not contacted by next Friday (the 20th) then I'll count myself out, although I think it is prudent to wait until the 26th to actually post things.

Best of luck for you at Duke!

I think it is more reasonable to wait until Jan 26th to draw the final inference. Self-posted results from last year indicates that most visit invitations were sent around Jan 20th, but this is because last year Notre Dame started their spring term one week earlier (Jan 10th) than this year (Jan 17th). So I guess the review process for PhD application also moves accordingly to one week later this year. Anyway, don't give up your hope and best luck!

[Gabbiew]

Has anyone received some updates (like the admission timeline) from the DGS of Michigan/UMich or Northwestern? I applied to both schools and was confirmed upon submission by their graduate school that my application was received. Yet there has been no information sent directly from the department or the DGS. Wondering if I'm the only one. ?

[Aztec]

25 minutes ago, Gabbiew said:

Has anyone received some updates (like the admission timeline) from the DGS of Michigan/UMich or Northwestern? I applied to both schools and was confirmed upon submission by their graduate school that my application was received. Yet there has been no information sent directly from the department or the DGS. Wondering if I'm the only one. ?

No communications. I don't think the departments send anything but invitations for interviews (if the case) and results... This is a lonely process of waiting. Actually, this forum makes this waiting less lonely   

[Gabbiew]

28 minutes ago, Aztec said:

No communications. I don't think the departments send anything but invitations for interviews (if the case) and results... This is a lonely process of waiting. Actually, this forum makes this waiting less lonely   

I see. Thanks for the clarification! Hope more people could be sharing their updates here. 

[lalalalalala123]

2 hours ago, Tutankhamun said:

我的思考过程：首先杜克采访了 IR，现在是政治行为，然后是制度、方法论、PE……希望我是对的。

Thanks for sharing. But I already saw like 8 interviews. Duke said they normally accept 10-12 students. So my guess is not all field will take new students.

[Lalanala]

Hi all, just get accepted by McCourt MPP and Harris MPP, I want to explore my career in consulting firms in the future. Does anyone have any suggestions? I love the McCourt location, but accordingly Harris ranked higher. On the other hand, Harris MPP have a large amount of students. which program is better for my career goal? Please help! Thanks for answering !

 

[PolGrad]

5 hours ago, Gabbiew said:

Has anyone received some updates (like the admission timeline) from the DGS of Michigan/UMich or Northwestern? I applied to both schools and was confirmed upon submission by their graduate school that my application was received. Yet there has been no information sent directly from the department or the DGS. Wondering if I'm the only one. ?

Hi there! I am on the same boat; didn't receive any update from University of Michigan or Northwestern University. 

[tryingmybest123]

6 hours ago, Tutankhamun said:

My thought process: first Duke interviewed IR, now political behavior, then institutions, methodology, PE… hope I am right.

They told me during the interview that it depended on the professor. Basically each prof. admits one or two students, therefore they individually choose whether or not to do an interview.  I understand that they have  until the end of January to send the names. I was interviewed for political behavior too last Tuesday, so it looks like a random process as it is professor based

[Senochka]

5 hours ago, Gabbiew said:

Has anyone received some updates (like the admission timeline) from the DGS of Michigan/UMich or Northwestern? I applied to both schools and was confirmed upon submission by their graduate school that my application was received. Yet there has been no information sent directly from the department or the DGS. Wondering if I'm the only one. ?

If you apply early, you generally receive some promotional e-mails until the deadline, then it is radio silence till the decisions for most schools. In a previous cycle, a Northwestern representative told me that they typically receive around 600 applications, so I guess the review process might take a little longer than your average school. Don't worry if you don't hear back from them for some time, especially since NW is kinda known for its slow, painful, and late, oh so late decision rollout process. Holds true for most schools in the top 30. 

[Gabbiew]

29 minutes ago, tryingmybest123 said:

They told me during the interview that it depended on the professor. Basically each prof. admits one or two students, therefore they individually choose whether or not to do an interview.  I understand that they have  until the end of January to send the names. I was interviewed for political behavior too last Tuesday, so it looks like a random process as it is professor based

What do you mean by "each prof. admits one or two students"? Is it that every professor on the admission committee recruits one or two, or that every professor in the department can decide the students that they want to advise? I feel the latter is less likely since that would translate into a huge cohort. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Gabbiew

[tryingmybest123]

Just now, Gabbiew said:

What do you mean by "each prof. admits one or two students"? Is it that every professor on the admission committee recruits one or two, or that every professor in the department can decide the students that they want to advise? I feel the latter would be less likely since that would translate into a huge cohort. 

They told me the latter, but I think that, as it happens in every uni, not all professors have the time, funding or willingness to recruit new graduates. Also they might share students. I am just telling you guys what they told me, apparently is the new system of admissions in Duke (no committee at all), I had a one hour long chat and the professor explained it in detail.

[Gabbiew]

8 minutes ago, tryingmybest123 said:

They told me the latter, but I think that, as it happens in every uni, not all professors have the time, funding or willingness to recruit new graduates. Also they might share students. I am just telling you guys what they told me, apparently is the new system of admissions in Duke (no committee at all), I had a one hour long chat and the professor explained it in detail.

Thanks for posting such important information! Guess people should take pre-submission reaching-out to POI more seriously in the coming seasons. Best luck with the Duke application. ?

[PolGrad]

44 minutes ago, Senochka said:

If you apply early, you generally receive some promotional e-mails until the deadline, then it is radio silence till the decisions for most schools. In a previous cycle, a Northwestern representative told me that they typically receive around 600 applications, so I guess the review process might take a little longer than your average school. Don't worry if you don't hear back from them for some time, especially since NW is kinda known for its slow, painful, and late, oh so late decision rollout process. Holds true for most schools in the top 30. 

Around 600 applications? That's really too many applications. I began to lose my hopes for being admitted for Northwestern because I was actually a bit hopeful with Northwestern. Last year and other previous years; they tended to admit students from Turkish universities as well; so they have more or less knowledge about Turkish universities. Anyway, fingers crossed. Waiting for admission results is really stressful ?

[Senochka]

12 minutes ago, PolGrad said:

Around 600 applications? That's really too many applications. I began to lose my hopes for being admitted for Northwestern because I was actually a bit hopeful with Northwestern. Last year and other previous years; they tended to admit students from Turkish universities as well; so they have more or less knowledge about Turkish universities. Anyway, fingers crossed. Waiting for admission results is really stressful ?

Yeah, but they also said that their cohort sizes tend to be bigger compared to other schools, if memory serves, I remember the number was somewhere between 30-60. So that's 5-10% percent acceptance rate, which is on the higher side considering NW's ranking. Their data is somewhat generic so I couldn't make out what was the acceptance rate for previous cohorts for specific programs, but the overall acceptance rate for The Graduate School is 18%, which, again, can be considered to be on the higher side. So, hang in there and hope for the best. 

By the way, I share your anxiety, I wish I were a bear or something and went into a hibernation period only to wake up when this is all done.

[Aztec]

2 hours ago, tryingmybest123 said:

They told me the latter, but I think that, as it happens in every uni, not all professors have the time, funding or willingness to recruit new graduates. Also they might share students. I am just telling you guys what they told me, apparently is the new system of admissions in Duke (no committee at all), I had a one hour long chat and the professor explained it in detail.

This is so valuable. Thank you so much for your insights into the process there!

[anonymousvulture]

Reminder: someone on Reddit pointed out that today is a national holiday in the USA (MLK day). Don't hold your breath.

 

Also, re: Northwestern: here is the PhD admissions tableau: https://tableau.northwestern.edu/t/TGS/views/OnlineData/OnlineData?%3Aembed=y&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowShareOptions=true&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowVizHome=no

 

Looks as if is about 350 applicants

[Tutankhamun]

7 hours ago, lalalalalala123 said:

Thanks for sharing. But I already saw like 8 interviews. Duke said they normally accept 10-12 students. So my guess is not all field will take new students.

This is a good point. I had these numbers in my mind as well. I think I’m trying to find some way to still have hope to get Duke. And as I didn’t see anybody from methods and institutions, I thought, oh well, maybe… If anybody receive an interview in these fields, please let us know (adjustment of expectations).

3 hours ago, tryingmybest123 said:

They told me the latter, but I think that, as it happens in every uni, not all professors have the time, funding or willingness to recruit new graduates. Also they might share students. I am just telling you guys what they told me, apparently is the new system of admissions in Duke (no committee at all), I had a one hour long chat and the professor explained it in detail.

Yes, the process can vary a lot across universities. Thank you so much for sharing this information.

[Tutankhamun]

4 hours ago, Senochka said:

If you apply early, you generally receive some promotional e-mails until the deadline, then it is radio silence till the decisions for most schools. In a previous cycle, a Northwestern representative told me that they typically receive around 600 applications, so I guess the review process might take a little longer than your average school. Don't worry if you don't hear back from them for some time, especially since NW is kinda known for its slow, painful, and late, oh so late decision rollout process. Holds true for most schools in the top 30. 

I guess this was during pandemic years… Because 600 would be more than what Top-5s receive…

Anyway, 350 high-qualified applicants. Let’s have faith!

[xsenia]

8 hours ago, lalalalalala123 said:

Thanks for sharing. But I already saw like 8 interviews. Duke said they normally accept 10-12 students. So my guess is not all field will take new students.

i think this is the number of matriculated students but not the acceptances. They aim for around a cohort size of 10-12, and send admission to more students each year (changes but around 20-30 for the last two years). they also openly share their admission stats:

https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/all-departments-phd-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics/

edit: wanted to add also that they seem to accept some also without interviews, according to the results of previous years here.

Edited January 16, 2023 by xsenia

[Senochka]

13 minutes ago, Tutankhamun said:

I guess this was during pandemic years… Because 600 would be more than what Top-5s receive…

Anyway, 350 high-qualified applicants. Let’s have faith!

Yes, this was during the 2021 cycle, I was spooked and ended up not applying. I think your suggestion is right on point. Perhaps many people turned to academia for they had fewer employment opportunities, more time, or simply because they had an epiphany during the pandemic and realized that they couldn't possibly live without a PhD. In any case, it is good to know that the pool will be smaller, thanks.  

[Marinap]

Hi! I am applying to the Harris MPP program @ Uchicago, I just saw that the minimum score for each section of the IELTS is 7.0 and overall 7.0. I got 6.5 in one section but 7.5 overall. Does it affect my application? I don't have time to take the test again.

[Tutankhamun]

11 minutes ago, Marinap said:

Hi! I am applying to the Harris MPP program @ Uchicago, I just saw that the minimum score for each section of the IELTS is 7.0 and overall 7.0. I got 6.5 in one section but 7.5 overall. Does it affect my application? I don't have time to take the test again.

I know it varies across departments, but some may not be strict in terms of language requirements, if they believe you can perform well. You have two options: (1) Send them an email (they may just tell you that the committee will evaluate); (2) or you can just wait for the results. You did your best and now that applications are done, it’s up to them.

[lalalalalala123]

3 hours ago, xsenia said:

我认为这是被录取的学生人数，而不是录取人数。他们的目标是大约 10-12 人的队列规模，并每年向更多学生发送录取通知书（变化，但过去两年约为 20-30 人）。他们还公开分享他们的录取数据：

https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/all-departments-phd-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics/

编辑：还想补充一点，根据前几年的结果，他们似乎也接受了一些没有采访的人。

Thanks for sharing. Does it mean they sent 20-30 offers but only 10 students accepted? Or I understood wrong.

[Tutankhamun]

1 hour ago, lalalalalala123 said:

Thanks for sharing. Does it mean they sent 20-30 offers but only 10 students accepted? Or I understood wrong.

20 to 30 applicants are offered admissions and… then the table turns… universities try to entice those accepted to enroll. These lucky applicants may ended up choosing other schools and at the end of the day around 10 will enroll.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Tutankhamun