Political Science - Fall 2011 Cycle

[catchermiscount]

Does anyone by any chance know what's going on with Rochester? It seems that this time last year, they'd notified people, but I haven't heard anything... Thanks!

We are indeed behind from the past few years. I have my own guesses at explanations, but nothing concrete. My apologies---you wouldn't want to consider us this time of year, anyway. You'd go to weather.com and you'd be like OMG I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN THE TUNDRA SCREW THIS I'M GOING TO RICE.

[slacktivist]

We are indeed behind from the past few years. I have my own guesses at explanations, but nothing concrete. My apologies---you wouldn't want to consider us this time of year, anyway. You'd go to weather.com and you'd be like OMG I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN THE TUNDRA SCREW THIS I'M GOING TO RICE.

Speaking of which, I just posted a Rice acceptance. I'm in utter shock: comparatively weak grades from a state school and coming directly from undergrad. I guess the GRE does mean that much!

[catchermiscount]

Speaking of which, I just posted a Rice acceptance. I'm in utter shock: comparatively weak grades from a state school and coming directly from undergrad. I guess the GRE does mean that much!

Congratulations!

[wtncffts]

Speaking of which, I just posted a Rice acceptance. I'm in utter shock: comparatively weak grades from a state school and coming directly from undergrad. I guess the GRE does mean that much!

Maybe your letters of rec and SOP were brilliant? from people posting their 'stats' on the results page, it's becoming clearer to me that LORs and SOPs may count the most, and that GPA, GRE, etc. don't mean anything if you can't express your research interests in a compelling way, and are a good fit at the school. In any case, congrats!

[Tufnel]

Best live music scene in the country.

The whole "music capital of the world" stuff is tiring. It sounds like plain 'ole annoying "everything is bigger in Texas" Texas.

As a musician and music buff, Austin is great but so are New Orleans, Seattle, Nashville, and San Francisco, among others. LA and NY are great but it isn't really fair to include them given their population.

Don't get me wrong... I think Stevie Ray Vaughan is the closest thing to god that I've ever encountered, that Eric Johnson has amazing guitar tone (and that he's one of the few, if not the only, personally interesting uber-technical guitarists), and that Focus Group is doing some really cool stuff. But different strokes, I say. Liberal music awesomeness erases thoughts of preferential superiority. You like thin crust, I like deep dish.

I get too worked up about music.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Tufnel

[Gradhorn]

I don't know if Austin is the best live music scene in the country, but when I was down there for SXSW several years back it sure was great!

[Tufnel]

I don't know if Austin is the best live music scene in the country, but when I was down there for SXSW several years back it sure was great!

No doubt nor disagreement here.

Is that you in your avatar? Do you play? I can't exactly tell what's going on but the kit in the background suggests that it's a show.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Tufnel

[EliAle]

There's no reason to throw away perfectly good political science skills just because the topic is bread.

*bread analysis*

This is the best post I have ever read in this forum.

[Gradhorn]

No doubt nor disagreement here.

Is that you in your avatar? Do you play? I can't exactly tell what's going on but the kit in the background suggests that it's a show.

Yes, that's me playing bass in the photo. I don't normally have a Pabst 12-pack box on my head, but it makes it a handy pic if I want to be semi-anonymous. That photo was taken at a festival we played a few years ago in North Carolina.

[TheCreuset]

The bread analysis was brilliant.

By the way, are all Comparativists writing off Berkeley yet?

Edited February 9, 2011 by TheCreuset

[Tufnel]

Yes, that's me playing bass in the photo. I don't normally have a Pabst 12-pack box on my head, but it makes it a handy pic if I want to be semi-anonymous. That photo was taken at a festival we played a few years ago in North Carolina.

Haha - that's awesome. I've never played with a box on my head.

I vote for a grad cafe band. We have a guitarist and a bass player. Drums anyone? A banjo would be sweet. And a steel pan. And bagpipes. And an accordion. And backup singers/dancers, Britney Spears style. We'll be awesome.

[explodingstressball]

The bread analysis was brilliant.

By the way, are all Comparativists writing off Berkeley yet?

I'm also a comparative person waiting for Berkeley ... I wouldn't write them off yet, it'd be pretty hard to imagine them accepting NO ONE in a major subfield!

[explodingstressball]

The whole "music capital of the world" stuff is tiring. It sounds like plain 'ole annoying "everything is bigger in Texas" Texas.

As a musician and music buff, Austin is great but so are New Orleans, Seattle, Nashville, and San Francisco, among others. LA and NY are great but it isn't really fair to include them given their population.

Don't get me wrong... I think Stevie Ray Vaughan is the closest thing to god that I've ever encountered, that Eric Johnson has amazing guitar tone (and that he's one of the few, if not the only, personally interesting uber-technical guitarists), and that Focus Group is doing some really cool stuff. But different strokes, I say. Liberal music awesomeness erases thoughts of preferential superiority. You like thin crust, I like deep dish.

I get too worked up about music.

I think Austin has a few great music festivals, but how many bands have come from Austin? I can't think of any at all. Compare that to say, Brooklyn or Chicago, and I'm always surprised people rank Austin so highly.

[explodingstressball]

I called UPenn. They said they hope to have decisions in 10 days. Good luck to everyone!

Also, that should be "I called UPenn from my work phone" and then posted about it from my work computer during work time, indicating that thanks to this waiting business I am doing everything except work. Oh well.

I would love to get some good news from UPenn ... that'd be a good day! And by ten days, did you happen to ask if they meant business days or calendar days? Because I am absolutely not marking my calendar with a freak out date.

[slacktivist]

Maybe your letters of rec and SOP were brilliant? from people posting their 'stats' on the results page, it's becoming clearer to me that LORs and SOPs may count the most, and that GPA, GRE, etc. don't mean anything if you can't express your research interests in a compelling way, and are a good fit at the school. In any case, congrats!

I'm probably underselling the subjective aspects of my application. Perhaps with increased competition, there are more people who have competitive numbers, thus making it more difficult for adcoms to use that as a basis for differentiating candidates. Instead, there may be an increased emphasis on research fit and expression of interests.

[Zarathustra]

Anyone else accepted at Michigan?

Clearly exercising all of my political-scientific capacities to address this, and I typically avoid this problem entirely (breadmaker ftw!) but typically dense bread = not kneaded enough (or the flour you're using is too dense...as in, whole wheat instead of all purpose).

It's funny that you mention this, because I was just contemplating whether baking cookies would tear me away from my email (with the additional bonus of providing delicious baked goods)...

[Tufnel]

I'm probably underselling the subjective aspects of my application. Perhaps with increased competition, there are more people who have competitive numbers, thus making it more difficult for adcoms to use that as a basis for differentiating candidates. Instead, there may be an increased emphasis on research fit and expression of interests.

Actually, you may have the trend reversed. From what I understand, research fit and expression of interests have always been the critical component of the application. The rest is sort of a "clear the bar" evaluation in which one hopefully demonstrates intellectual competence through GPA, GRE, etc.

It seems that said bar has risen higher. You're still not getting in on the basis of numbers and never were, you only need better numbers to be considered seriously. Personally, I wish this were like law school applications - he with the greatest numbers wins. It'd be simple, like doing battle in a nerdy, abstract, GRE-centric way. Instead, we have to wrestle through faculty CVs to find a research fit, knowing all too well that the relevant faculty members may leave before applications are reviewed. I just want to take a test and be done with it.

I'm not an adcom, so what do I know...

....I need to get away from this website....

[waitingbusiness]

Is Wisconsin over ? I am not in the US now and have not had any emails, nor the change in application status.

[adaptations]

Between the bread maker discussion and the PBR-box disguised bass player, I'm starting to enjoy the personality of this group. I'm glad to know some folks here have a few things going on besides applications.

I can't fix the Italian bread problem, but I do recommend a a kalamata olive and herb bread. I've done it in the bread maker a few times and love it.

[sorashinobi]

I took the "carpet bombing approach" and applied to 13 programs: UCLA, UCSD, Michigan, NYU, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Penn State, Rochester, Chicago, and University of Washington.

I've heard back from Stanford, Michigan, and Penn State and am still waiting on the others. Anyone know if there are schools that don't notify first by email? I am in London for the year so it can take FOREVER for mail to get here from the states.

I just want to get put out of my misery and know already!

[Croasyjr]

Between the bread maker discussion and the PBR-box disguised bass player, I'm starting to enjoy the personality of this group. I'm glad to know some folks here have a few things going on besides applications.

I can't fix the Italian bread problem, but I do recommend a a kalamata olive and herb bread. I've done it in the bread maker a few times and love it.

I'm starting to feel the same way. I play the bass as well... and I bake bread, and cook somewhat obsessively. I'm starting to feel like I've found my tribe -- as scary as that is...

[GopherGrad]

I can't fix the Italian bread problem, but I do recommend a a kalamata olive and herb bread. I've done it in the bread maker a few times and love it.

Is it a focaccia base?

It's strange, I'm finding that a lot of bread recipes that sound more complicated are actually easier (challah, focaccia) and Italian rustic loaves are devilishly difficult.

cook somewhat obsessively.

What's your current obsession?

I've been interested in the locavore movement; I spent part of the summer learning to forage for mushrooms. I recently bought the Noma cookbook, which is mind boggling. It's got me roaming the neighborhood and raiding topiary for ingredients. Right not I've got a gallon pot of homemade turkey stock in the over, soaking a birch log to make a 'forest court boullion'.

[firefly28]

The whole "music capital of the world" stuff is tiring. It sounds like plain 'ole annoying "everything is bigger in Texas" Texas.

As a musician and music buff, Austin is great but so are New Orleans, Seattle, Nashville, and San Francisco, among others. LA and NY are great but it isn't really fair to include them given their population.

Don't get me wrong... I think Stevie Ray Vaughan is the closest thing to god that I've ever encountered, that Eric Johnson has amazing guitar tone (and that he's one of the few, if not the only, personally interesting uber-technical guitarists), and that Focus Group is doing some really cool stuff. But different strokes, I say. Liberal music awesomeness erases thoughts of preferential superiority. You like thin crust, I like deep dish.

I get too worked up about music.

I'm more of a diverse foods person than a live music person--I'd rather sit down and eat lamb shwarma or a good pho alone or with a date than see a live music act (in spite of the fact that I've played guitar for 10 years). One of the things that attracted me to Austin is that they seem to be pretty good in terms of restaurants. Of course, it's not like I'll have the money to be eating out very often, so it's probably better for me to end up in a location which demands that I make most of my own food (as I'd sooner fast than go to a fast food restaurant).

Vandy, Rice, and Texas were the schools to which I contemplated, but ultimately decided against, applying. I thought I'd be competitive but I already had 5 apps in and I didn't want to spend the $$ on schools with a lower chance of acceptance.

As it is I do like both of the schools that have accepted me so far (and the two I'm still waiting on), so I'm content.

[adaptations]

Is it a focaccia base?

Actually it isn't, but sometimes it turns into a focaccia style bread when I let is rise too long and then it collapses, or if it doesn't rise enough. Either way it tastes great, especially with a little EVOO and fresh parmesan.

[balderdash]

Ditto, I'm liking this group of applicants. Hopefully I'm holding my own.

Breadmaking is a luxury which I look forward to when I can enjoy my own kitchen - living in student housing and sharing a common area with 7 other guys means most of my stuff goes missing. As for music, well, I'm more into films and cinematography. Last year I went through Akria Kurosawa classics, then some Ingmar Bergman over the summer, and I'm just now getting time to pick it back up. It's actually a great way of taking my mind off of waiting for apps - art is indeed therapy.

But back onto the results stuff - anyone have a clue when Yale and/or Princeton will be notifying? I've pretty much accepted that Harvard will reject me for fit reasons, so I'm hoping one of the two will throw me a bone. Also, Columbia should be sometime this week, no?