2023-2024 Application Thread

[ThucydidesLatte]

  On 3/11/2024 at 5:54 PM, Polisci882 said:

I emailed Georgetown about the status of applications, and received this response:

 

“At this moment, the admission committee is still reviewing all applications, so decisions have not been made as of yet. There is not a concrete date, but all applicants can expect to receive a status update in 2 weeks near the end of March. Hopefully this helps, let me know if you have any questions.”

 

 This answer is bizarre, because I’ve seen some people on here say they already had their visit days and everything lol. Also, many people have reported receiving decisions from Georgetown, so idk

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Whaaaaaaaat?!

[Daniel3733]

It's frankly ridiculous that Pittsburgh and Rochester have delayed this much in their decisions. It's been complete radio silence for me.

[barthestow]

  On 3/11/2024 at 5:54 PM, Polisci882 said:

I emailed Georgetown about the status of applications, and received this response:

 

“At this moment, the admission committee is still reviewing all applications, so decisions have not been made as of yet. There is not a concrete date, but all applicants can expect to receive a status update in 2 weeks near the end of March. Hopefully this helps, let me know if you have any questions.”

 

 This answer is bizarre, because I’ve seen some people on here say they already had their visit days and everything lol. Also, many people have reported receiving decisions from Georgetown, so idk

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there's a special word for that - "ghosting"! 😇

[m82a]

Has anyone else who has been waitlisted at UCSD heard anything from them or gotten off the waitlist?

[555]

  On 3/11/2024 at 5:54 PM, Polisci882 said:

I emailed Georgetown about the status of applications, and received this response:

 

“At this moment, the admission committee is still reviewing all applications, so decisions have not been made as of yet. There is not a concrete date, but all applicants can expect to receive a status update in 2 weeks near the end of March. Hopefully this helps, let me know if you have any questions.”

 

 This answer is bizarre, because I’ve seen some people on here say they already had their visit days and everything lol. Also, many people have reported receiving decisions from Georgetown, so idk

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OMG….what’s going on with them?!?!? In January, they told me that we would hear about the decisions in “latter half” of February. I even called them and asked about whether it’s necessary for shortlisted candidates to be interviewed while all rejected applicants were not invited. They said “no”. They said that it does not mean that you get rejected if u were not called for interview. So I’m a little bit confused, but I think that it’s highly likely that we will get rejected. 

[555]

By the way, I received an offer from MALD program, Fletcher, yesterday. I applied for a PhD program but they offered MALD to me instead because of some technicality about not having enough “credits” in a one year Master’s degree. Sighhh….

[ThucydidesLatte]

  On 3/12/2024 at 11:45 AM, 555 said:

OMG….what’s going on with them?!?!? In January, they told me that we would hear about the decisions in “latter half” of February. I even called them and asked about whether it’s necessary for shortlisted candidates to be interviewed while all rejected applicants were not invited. They said “no”. They said that it does not mean that you get rejected if u were not called for interview. So I’m a little bit confused, but I think that it’s highly likely that we will get rejected. 

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I just remember that, like a month ago or so, someone said that they only admitted two people for Comparative Politics this season, and in retrospect, it was rather weird considering this new information.

However, on the other hand, Georgetown historically has retained the rejections till late March.

At this point who tf knows. I just want to get admitted and this cycle to be over. 🫠

[Gracchus]

  On 3/11/2024 at 10:20 AM, JPYSD said:

March 22nd is the day until they will have completed sending out everything, by latest. I would guess they sent out about half of the decisions by now (including mine), DPhil in Politics more than DPhil in IR it seems, and internal applications probably before regular applications. No information about funding yet (Nuffield, Clarendon etc. is not out yet).

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According to my knowledge as a student, internal applicants and external applicants are informed together, and the first bunch of offers has been made for both politics and IR. There are excellent candidates left in the pool waiting for final selections from the faculty side. Nuffield has made their invitation to offer holders before all other colleges (and private halls) but it may release extra slots if admitted students reject their place. Clarendon is always one of the last to issue its decisions but there are more funding opportunities in DPIR under active and automatic consideration for each non-Nuffield offer holder.

[Ir2024]

  On 3/12/2024 at 4:17 PM, ThucydidesLatte said:

I just remember that, like a month ago or so, someone said that they only admitted two people for Comparative Politics this season, and in retrospect, it was rather weird considering this new information.

However, on the other hand, Georgetown historically has retained the rejections till late March.

At this point who tf knows. I just want to get admitted and this cycle to be over. 🫠

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I was waitlisted there for IR over a month ago after interviewing with them. They said they only accepted 2 people. I would assume that is equal across the subfields and all accepted and waitlisted applicants have been notified.

[JPYSD]

  On 3/12/2024 at 4:55 PM, Gracchus said:

According to my knowledge as a student, internal applicants and external applicants are informed together, and the first bunch of offers has been made for both politics and IR. There are excellent candidates left in the pool waiting for final selections from the faculty side. Nuffield has made their invitation to offer holders before all other colleges (and private halls) but it may release extra slots if admitted students reject their place. Clarendon is always one of the last to issue its decisions but there are more funding opportunities in DPIR under active and automatic consideration for each non-Nuffield offer holder.

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Thank you for this! 
Are you saying that you know for a fact that Nuffield already sent out their offers for this year (at least for the already admitted students)?

[Gracchus]

  On 3/12/2024 at 5:41 PM, JPYSD said:

Thank you for this! 
Are you saying that you know for a fact that Nuffield already sent out their offers for this year (at least for the already admitted students)?

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As per my knowledge, it has sent out offers for all viable internal applicants. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this also rings true for external ones, but alas, with only a small N known to me, no significance can be claimed. I believe some Nuffield offer holders would reject their place and enable the college to accommodate other candidates, thus more Nuffield slots could be on the way in either scenario. Moreover, DPIR is a rich department compared to other social science counterparts in Oxford, they have various fully-funded options for DPhil candidates (though not everyone), so stay tuned!

[ThucydidesLatte]

  On 3/12/2024 at 5:03 PM, Ir2024 said:

I was waitlisted there for IR over a month ago after interviewing with them. They said they only accepted 2 people. I would assume that is equal across the subfields and all accepted and waitlisted applicants have been notified.

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I believe you, and I also believe Georgetown. I just find it weird and interesting that we really don't know how anything works, lol. 

[4Realism]

  On 3/12/2024 at 4:55 PM, Gracchus said:

According to my knowledge as a student, internal applicants and external applicants are informed together, and the first bunch of offers has been made for both politics and IR. There are excellent candidates left in the pool waiting for final selections from the faculty side. 

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This is very helpful, thank you.  Does this imply that those who haven't heard yet are essentially sat in a pool waiting for a final decision to be made?  I'd assumed all decisions had been finalised by now but this explains why they're trickling out their acceptances and rejections. 

 

For context, I'm an IR applicant.

Edited March 12, 2024 by 4Realism

[Gracchus]

  On 3/12/2024 at 9:04 PM, 4Realism said:

 

This is very helpful, thank you.  Does this imply that those who haven't heard yet are essentially sat in a pool waiting for a final decision to be made?  I'd assumed all decisions had been finalised by now but this explains why they're trickling out their acceptances and rejections. 

 

For context, I'm an IR applicant.

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That would be my guess -- the first bunch of admitted people may drop out or, I heard, that there would be incoming faculty who have not selected their preferred candidates. The decision for passing the committee's threshold into the pool is definitely finalised, but pooled candidates (I assume you are one) are not all secured by PI immediately. This year, IR faculty seems to have a more limited capacity than usual, thus solid candidates may wait longer (and not guaranteed to be admitted if the PI reaches the "cap"). 

I think extra offers are to be issued as per the current plan.

Edited March 12, 2024 by Gracchus

[4Realism]

  On 3/12/2024 at 10:16 PM, Gracchus said:

That would be my guess -- the first bunch of admitted people may drop out or, I heard, that there would be incoming faculty who have not selected their preferred candidates. The decision for passing the committee's threshold into the pool is definitely finalised, but pooled candidates (I assume you are one) are not all secured by PI immediately. This year, IR faculty seems to have a more limited capacity than usual, thus solid candidates may wait longer (and not guaranteed to be admitted if the PI reaches the "cap"). 

I think extra offers are to be issued as per the current plan.

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This is, again, very helpful. Thank you. 

Somewhat amusingly, I received an offer between sending my post and your reply (10pm UK time). I guess I got fished out of the pool. 

[cowboy199797af]

Hi all,

I am in desperate need of advice on which offer to accept. I am an Irish Pol Sci / IR student who is aiming to enter academia and advance to completing a PhD in the USA. I have recieved the following offers for Grad School:

1. Georgetown - MA Government (Democracy & Governance)
2. Tufts Fletcher - MA Law and Diplomacy
3. UChicago CIR - MA International Relations
4. UChicago CMES - MA Middle East Studies
5. Johns Hopkins SAIS - MA International Relations

I have listed the offers in order of preference. I think Georgetown has an excellent prestige and the MA program has a PhD program directly correlating to it. DC is an awesome location. Importantly, I am most drawn to the flexible curriculum and the faculty's expertise on my future research interests. However, it is the only school that didn't offer me any merit aid. Tuft's is my second choice becaue of the prestige and the faculty; the only downside is that Boston isn't as cool as DC, and it lacks the faculty who has strong expertise in my interest area. With the two Chicago offers, the IR offer will be a second IR degree for me which won't contribute any more substance to my profile. The ME Studies program is very language focused and highly niche. As for SAIS, I have been told that it has the weakest prestige relative to the other three programs I've recieved offers from + it is another IR degree.

I'd love to hear everyones insights on my line of thinking. Does anyone disagree? Or have had any experience with any program? Also, if anyone has any advice on how I can negotiate merit aid from Georgeotown, I'd be greatful to hear.

[london_boy]

  On 3/13/2024 at 12:19 AM, cowboy199797af said:

Hi all,

I am in desperate need of advice on which offer to accept. I am an Irish Pol Sci / IR student who is aiming to enter academia and advance to completing a PhD in the USA. I have recieved the following offers for Grad School:

1. Georgetown - MA Government (Democracy & Governance)
2. Tufts Fletcher - MA Law and Diplomacy
3. UChicago CIR - MA International Relations
4. UChicago CMES - MA Middle East Studies
5. Johns Hopkins SAIS - MA International Relations

I have listed the offers in order of preference. I think Georgetown has an excellent prestige and the MA program has a PhD program directly correlating to it. DC is an awesome location. Importantly, I am most drawn to the flexible curriculum and the faculty's expertise on my future research interests. However, it is the only school that didn't offer me any merit aid. Tuft's is my second choice becaue of the prestige and the faculty; the only downside is that Boston isn't as cool as DC, and it lacks the faculty who has strong expertise in my interest area. With the two Chicago offers, the IR offer will be a second IR degree for me which won't contribute any more substance to my profile. The ME Studies program is very language focused and highly niche. As for SAIS, I have been told that it has the weakest prestige relative to the other three programs I've recieved offers from + it is another IR degree.

I'd love to hear everyones insights on my line of thinking. Does anyone disagree? Or have had any experience with any program? Also, if anyone has any advice on how I can negotiate merit aid from Georgeotown, I'd be greatful to hear.

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Hey, first of all, congrats on all these acceptances! I think the question can't be answered without looking at the cost of each program. I honestly think the UChicago CIR program has the best placement into top Ph.D. programs (I have seen a lot of people in the top 10 PhDs who have done this program before, whereas none whom I remember did the Georgetown MAs). The Tufts one is very professional work (diplomacy/think tank etc...) orientated and doesn't place as well into top PhDs. SAIS does well if you want to do a PhD in the IR subfield. But still, how much aid did you get, and how much will each program cost you?

Secondly, may I ask why not any UK masters? I think LSE (Government/Methodology) and Oxford (DPIR/OII) place very well in top US PhD programs. Plus, they are cheaper and the cost of living is cheaper. It would also be easier for you to attend, and possibly get better scholarships due to the Irish-UK relations (I may be wrong on this). 

[Ir2024]

  On 3/13/2024 at 12:19 AM, cowboy199797af said:

Hi all,

I am in desperate need of advice on which offer to accept. I am an Irish Pol Sci / IR student who is aiming to enter academia and advance to completing a PhD in the USA. I have recieved the following offers for Grad School:

1. Georgetown - MA Government (Democracy & Governance)
2. Tufts Fletcher - MA Law and Diplomacy
3. UChicago CIR - MA International Relations
4. UChicago CMES - MA Middle East Studies
5. Johns Hopkins SAIS - MA International Relations

I have listed the offers in order of preference. I think Georgetown has an excellent prestige and the MA program has a PhD program directly correlating to it. DC is an awesome location. Importantly, I am most drawn to the flexible curriculum and the faculty's expertise on my future research interests. However, it is the only school that didn't offer me any merit aid. Tuft's is my second choice becaue of the prestige and the faculty; the only downside is that Boston isn't as cool as DC, and it lacks the faculty who has strong expertise in my interest area. With the two Chicago offers, the IR offer will be a second IR degree for me which won't contribute any more substance to my profile. The ME Studies program is very language focused and highly niche. As for SAIS, I have been told that it has the weakest prestige relative to the other three programs I've recieved offers from + it is another IR degree.

I'd love to hear everyones insights on my line of thinking. Does anyone disagree? Or have had any experience with any program? Also, if anyone has any advice on how I can negotiate merit aid from Georgeotown, I'd be greatful to hear.

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If you’re set on a PhD after your MA, CIR is essentially a pre-PhD program and sets you up very well for acceptance into a well ranked PhD program following the program. I wouldn’t look at the MA in IR as a drawback because of your previous degree in the field, the rigor of the program shows PhD programs that you have what it takes to succeed in a PhD program. If you have any questions about CIR, I’m free to answer questions.

[Ir2024]

Claiming the Cincinnati acceptance, I’ll likely decline and accept the better offer I have elsewhere. That closes my application season, excluding the remaining waitlist I am on that I likely will remove myself from. 3A/1W/5R. Wishing everyone the best moving forward and never ending future success in academia. 

[poliii1]

  On 3/9/2024 at 11:59 PM, Maverickz said:

Still waiting for their decision too

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It's odd that there have been so few applicants for Riverside, just a couple of people so far. I only saw one on results page.

[Gracchus]

  On 3/12/2024 at 10:25 PM, 4Realism said:

 

This is, again, very helpful. Thank you. 

Somewhat amusingly, I received an offer between sending my post and your reply (10pm UK time). I guess I got fished out of the pool. 

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Big Congrats! Given that many funding decisions have yet to be made, it could be some hesitant or new profs selected you instead of you being any second choice to replace candidates who rejected the offer -- don't consider that a "fish out"😁

[Shiroe12]

  On 3/13/2024 at 1:19 AM, Ir2024 said:

Claiming the Cincinnati acceptance, I’ll likely decline and accept the better offer I have elsewhere. That closes my application season, excluding the remaining waitlist I am on that I likely will remove myself from. 3A/1W/5R. Wishing everyone the best moving forward and never ending future success in academia. 

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Did they email you, or did you see an update on the portal? 

[Ir2024]

  On 3/13/2024 at 1:40 PM, Shiroe12 said:

Did they email you, or did you see an update on the portal? 

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I got an email from docusign with my offer letter. Haven’t heard anything from the department and no changes in portal.

[london_boy]

Also just got an offer at Oxford, no mention of the college though.

[ThucydidesLatte]

  On 3/13/2024 at 5:42 PM, london_boy said:

Also just got an offer at Oxford, no mention of the college though.

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Congratulations!