2022-2023 Application Thread

[foxcarnival]

Claiming a Rochester acceptance; very excited! CP/formal theory

[coffeeman123]

Also claiming a Rochester admit, email to check the portal. IPE 

[Senochka]

 This is for anyone waiting on UChicago, do you have any idea about when the results might be released and what's their pattern: all at once, rejections or acceptances first, subfield by subfield?

On a different note, I saw a question about Georgetown interviews posted recently, but cannot find it now, I think like Notre Dame, Georgetown interviews shortlisted applicants - I was not interviewed during a previous cycle, and got waitlisted, this was for McCourt though - and those of us who did not get an interview invitation can expect rejections or waitlists moving forward. However, rummaging through previous years' data, I also realized that they sometimes send out one or two more acceptances towards the end of the cycle. I assume it's to fill places left open from admits committing to somewhere else, and those late admits will come from the waitlist pool. Something like that. This assumption is based on previous cycles' data and my experience though, someone else might have expectations differing radically from mine. So, you can take it with a grain of salt.

[bfil]

Claiming Rochester! UT Austin is still above it though.

[ElisaV16]

Applied to Brown, Upenn, Georgetown, Boston University, NYU, and the Graduate Center (CUNY). I haven't heard from any of them so far... l'm losing hope ?

[PolGrad]

7 minutes ago, ElisaV16 said:

Applied to Brown, Upenn, Georgetown, Boston University, NYU, and the Graduate Center (CUNY). I haven't heard from any of them so far... l'm losing hope ?

I also applied to Georgetown, Boston University and good to see another applicant who applied to City University of New York (CUNY) I couldn't find data on CUNY Political Science PhD program and just waiting the results through checking their portal. 

My friend applied to Brown University Phd program and he got rejection email yesterday.

[PolGrad]

19 minutes ago, Senochka said:

 This is for anyone waiting on UChicago, do you have any idea about when the results might be released and what's their pattern: all at once, rejections or acceptances first, subfield by subfield?

On a different note, I saw a question about Georgetown interviews posted recently, but cannot find it now, I think like Notre Dame, Georgetown interviews shortlisted applicants - I was not interviewed during a previous cycle, and got waitlisted, this was for McCourt though - and those of us who did not get an interview invitation can expect rejections or waitlists moving forward. However, rummaging through previous years' data, I also realized that they sometimes send out one or two more acceptances towards the end of the cycle. I assume it's to fill places left open from admits committing to somewhere else, and those late admits will come from the waitlist pool. Something like that. This assumption is based on previous cycles' data and my experience though, someone else might have expectations differing radically from mine. So, you can take it with a grain of salt.

I already began to lose my hopes for admission from Georgetown University, I think it was a wrong decision to apply there ?

[Realbadgal]

Also claiming Rochester.

[PolGrad]

I have just seen that an applicant who applied for Boston University has stated as being waitlisted. Anyone received any email from Boston? 

[juliacar]

Just now, PolGrad said:

I have just seen that an applicant who applied for Boston University has stated as being waitlisted. Anyone received any email from Boston? 

Nope. Wondering the same thing 

[Hazel C]

Just now, PolGrad said:

I have just seen that an applicant who applied for Boston University has stated as being waitlisted. Anyone received any email from Boston? 

I saw it same. but I haven't received any and no status updates.. 

[ElisaV16]

6 minutes ago, PolGrad said:

I also applied to Georgetown, Boston University and good to see another applicant who applied to City University of New York (CUNY) I couldn't find data on CUNY Political Science PhD program and just waiting the results through checking their portal. 

My friend applied to Brown University Phd program and he got rejection email yesterday.

Currently, I am a student in the Human Rights MA program at CUNY, so my only hope is that I get into the PhD in Political Science there. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything or if I get info from an insider. 

Many people are being interviewed by Georgetown. Do you think it's unlikely to get an invite at this point? 

As for Brown, I think we'll have news soon... 

 

[PolGrad]

2 minutes ago, ElisaV16 said:

Currently, I am a student in the Human Rights MA program at CUNY, so my only hope is that I get into the PhD in Political Science there. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything or if I get info from an insider. 

Many people are being interviewed by Georgetown. Do you think it's unlikely to get an invite at this point? 

As for Brown, I think we'll have news soon... 

 

I saw one applicant who shared about his interview with Georgetown committee and it was last Friday. At this stage, I am not sure whether they would send interview invitation. However, as far as I know from last year; some of the admitted applicants  were not being interviewed by Georgetown committee. Fingers crossed.

I would be glad if you can let me know about CUNY because although I emailed them before, I couldn't even receive any email return. Even after finishing my online application to CUNY, I received one sample email.

[Senochka]

14 minutes ago, PolGrad said:

I already began to lose my hopes for admission from Georgetown University, I think it was a wrong decision to apply there ?

I have some idea about the student profile each school on my list wants, to some I applied because I fit the profile and to others because I hoped they make concessions. My reach and high reach schools are in the latter category. However, with Georgetown, although I have previous experience with the school, I am at a loss. I really don't know what they want and I also regret applying there. I'm not sure what would I replace it with though, Cornell maybe. I'm not a fan of West Coast schools however high-ranked they may be, and I've heard UM and UVA are not so friendly towards int'l students.

[caa_17]

Claiming a Maryland acceptance (CP). Got an email from DGS today. 

[randomsinging]

12 minutes ago, PolGrad said:

I saw one applicant who shared about his interview with Georgetown committee and it was last Friday. At this stage, I am not sure whether they would send interview invitation. However, as far as I know from last year; some of the admitted applicants  were not being interviewed by Georgetown committee. Fingers crossed.

I would be glad if you can let me know about CUNY because although I emailed them before, I couldn't even receive any email return. Even after finishing my online application to CUNY, I received one sample email.

I was also interviewed by all POIs that I mentioned in my SOP for Georgetown. The reason that I got the interview was that, according to one of my POIs, none of them were on the admission committee. So, they were asked to weigh in when I made it to their short list. I guess if your POIs happened to be on committee or they felt like your materials were adequate for them to make a decision, you wouldn't be interviewed...

[juliacar]

3 minutes ago, randomsinging said:

I was also interviewed by all POIs that I mentioned in my SOP for Georgetown. The reason that I got the interview was that, according to one of my POIs, none of them were on the admission committee. So, they were asked to weigh in when I made it to their short list. I guess if your POIs happened to be on committee or they felt like your materials were adequate for them to make a decision, you wouldn't be interviewed...

That actually makes me feel better about not getting an interview ?

[randomsinging]

Just now, juliacar said:

That actually makes me feel better about not getting an interview ?

Yep don't feel discouraged. Maybe they feel like you can simply pass the admission bar with confidence. I was once interviewed by another school, who told me that they were concerned about my writing skills as an international applicant. I reassured them by telling them that I retook GRE and my writing score should be 5.0. And then they let me go and gave me the offer. It really depends.

[PolGrad]

4 minutes ago, randomsinging said:

Yep don't feel discouraged. Maybe they feel like you can simply pass the admission bar with confidence. I was once interviewed by another school, who told me that they were concerned about my writing skills as an international applicant. I reassured them by telling them that I retook GRE and my writing score should be 5.0. And then they let me go and gave me the offer. It really depends.

Did you get your Master degree from a US University or from non-US University? It is interesting for me to see that professors in the admission committee were concerned about your writing skills because previous years, some applicants couldn't submit their GRE Scores due to the pandemic. What might be the reason why Professors were concerned about the Writing skills of an applicant? ?

[randomsinging]

7 minutes ago, PolGrad said:

Did you get your Master degree from a US University or from non-US University? It is interesting for me to see that professors in the admission committee were concerned about your writing skills because previous years, some applicants couldn't submit their GRE Scores due to the pandemic. What might be the reason why Professors were concerned about the Writing skills of an applicant? ?

Great question! I have a master degree from a US institution. The committee told me that they were impressed by my writing sample, but somehow my GRE writing score was 4.0 (54% percentile? I can't remember). So, they decided to ask me to explain. I simply told them that the GRE score was wrong because the grad school didn't match my score correctly.

So... I don't know. Maybe they just need more signals. Maybe a good writing sample is not enough to some committee members. Maybe they are concerned that this good sample is a result of help from someone else. Who knows?

Edited February 2, 2023 by randomsinging

[ctb33]

On 1/30/2023 at 1:45 PM, Senochka said:

Although I like The grad Cafe's tongue-in-cheek member rankings based on caffeine level, not having had a full night's sleep since the beginning of the decision cycle makes me think that a ranking based on sleep deprivation levels would be more fitting, something like beauty sleeper < nevernapper < eight mate < sixthejinx < zombie. Have a long night ahead and just mumbling, something should come from UIUC today, that's according to them, not me. 

Did you hear anything more confirming Illinois was sent out? I haven't seen anything about them since then and wasn't sure if acceptances were delayed or went to people not on this forum

[politicallygrad]

Hello guys, what is a good stipend for a Ph.D.? I got an offer with a solid stipend. yet the city looks very expensive in terms of rent. It looks like 2/5 of my income will be directed to the rent. Is Illinois an expensive state? I don't drive and not planning to own a car and I have a relatively modest lifestyle. Are there any websites with contemporary data for calculating the cost of living in a certain state? Or do you guys have a rough estimate of the average monthly cost of a grad student? Thanks!

[Crossed_fingers]

2 minutes ago, politicallygrad said:

Hello guys, what is a good stipend for a Ph.D.? I got an offer with a solid stipend. yet the city looks very expensive in terms of rent. It looks like 2/5 of my income will be directed to the rent. Is Illinois an expensive state? I don't drive and not planning to own a car and I have a relatively modest lifestyle. Are there any websites with contemporary data for calculating the cost of living in a certain state? Or do you guys have a rough estimate of the average monthly cost of a grad student? Thanks!

Stipends dont adjust to cost of living as much as salaries in the professional world. 2/5 of your stipend going to rent isn’t ideal but its hardly unheard of for grad students in expensive cities. 

[Senochka]

16 minutes ago, ctb33 said:

Did you hear anything more confirming Illinois was sent out? I haven't seen anything about them since then and wasn't sure if acceptances were delayed or went to people not on this forum

I talked to the DGS yesterday regarding the late arrival. of my scores, he said they did not consider GRE this year anyways, and he will have more information regarding the admission process in "the coming weeks". It might mean that only one or two offers are sent and the majority of applications are still under review or it might mean that they have sent out acceptances and will send rejections later. I think the former is more likely, seeing only one offer from UIUC on this forum would be weird considering previous data, this is, of course, given that other people besides you and me also applied there. Still, I believe they have not sent all acceptances yet.

[anonymousvulture]

18 minutes ago, politicallygrad said:

Hello guys, what is a good stipend for a Ph.D.? I got an offer with a solid stipend. yet the city looks very expensive in terms of rent. It looks like 2/5 of my income will be directed to the rent. Is Illinois an expensive state? I don't drive and not planning to own a car and I have a relatively modest lifestyle. Are there any websites with contemporary data for calculating the cost of living in a certain state? Or do you guys have a rough estimate of the average monthly cost of a grad student? Thanks!

Try the MIT living wage calculator: https://livingwage.mit.edu/

 

I don't think it is a very accurate tool for grad students because our lives tend to he a little cheaper depending on the location. For instance, if you're in a city with good public transit, you're not spending a gazzilion dollars on gasoline and stuff, unless you really want a car. But as a rule of thumb, I *think* that whenever your stipend covers this living wage expenses it is a pretty good stipend. But I'd love to hear more about that; I'm not american, these are just my impressions

 

editing to say: for instance, Chicago's UPass allows you to use public transportation for a full quarter for around USD 130, I think. It works for all universities in the area, I think. Urbana-Champaign is said to be a city with pretty decent public transportation options for a city of its size. D.C. you can ride the subway/bus for a semestre for USD 100. etc

Edited February 2, 2023 by anonymousvulture