2024-2025 Application Thread

[jaliren]

2 minutes ago, Anish93 said:

Thank you for letting me know.

FWIW, I'm also waiting on both Georgetown and JHU. I'm not entirely convinced that Georgetown has sent all acceptances as yet, as I only see a couple on the results page (and not for every subfield). I could be wrong, though. 

[smoothoperator77]

10 minutes ago, Anish93 said:

Thank you for letting me know.

No problem! Good things will happen eventually for all of us!

[Various_Locations]

3 hours ago, jaliren said:

FWIW, I'm also waiting on both Georgetown and JHU. I'm not entirely convinced that Georgetown has sent all acceptances as yet, as I only see a couple on the results page (and not for every subfield). I could be wrong, though. 

This Sunday I think marks the 10 week since the application deadline and they did say that we will have our decisions by then in the FAQ for Georgetown. I still did not get anything for IR and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Good luck everyone!

[jaliren]

4 minutes ago, Various_Locations said:

This Sunday I think marks the 10 week since the application deadline and they did say that we will have our decisions by then in the FAQ for Georgetown. I still did not get anything for IR and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Good luck everyone!

Good to know -- definitely holding out hope as Georgetown is one of my top choices!

[PolSciComp]

Is there anyone here who had received admission from George Washington University? If yes; asking for curiosity, is there any information about how many applications they received this year and how many applicants did they admit for Comparative politics?

[polisci001]

Does anyone know if Yale will hold a visit weekend? All I got from them was the portal update, still haven’t received any sort of (vaguely) personalised email.

[mwmwmw121212]

18 minutes ago, polisci001 said:

Does anyone know if Yale will hold a visit weekend? All I got from them was the portal update, still haven’t received any sort of (vaguely) personalised email.

I imagine. also wondering this, because I haven't gotten anything besides a portal update. 

[PolSciComp]

Hi everyone, I hope your application cycle goes well and I hope that you would hear good news from the remaining schools.

I have one question which was asked by my friends in my home country about his potential chances; she wants to apply for mid tier PhD programs in the US; she is currently in a relatively known MA program but her GPA is 3.70 due to her health-related problems during the MA programs; even if she has pretty good GRE Scores and good quantitative methods training with several Methods courses; ICPSR etc.

She asked me whether this GPA would make less advantegous in PhD applications but I couldn't be sure about that. What do you think; especially based on your observations?

Edited yesterday at 06:38 AM by PolSciComp
Correction

[garmit]

Any answer to this should be prefaced by saying that if I knew what grad schools wanted, I would have 1) applied to fewer schools and 2) gotten into more schools. However, I am in the dark about what they want and so that was not my experience. Any advice I or anyone else gives will probably give you the same experience that most of us are having right now: applying to a dozen schools and getting into, like, maybe one or two, if any, of those options.  

However, I feel like I can say a few things. My impression is that there is (to put it in terms of social science) a series of (largely) necessary but not sufficient conditions. In fact, I would posit that there are NO sufficient conditions to get into a program. That is beside the point because I think your friend is not under the impression that there is a magical statistic or resume experience that will get you in.

I think that a good GPA is one of those necessary conditions. Unlike GRE, which can be variable depending on how things go that day, GPA is a good indicator of how you will do in school (not a measure of intelligence!). Consequently, you need to have a good GPA to get into a good graduate school. The bigger question is what the cutoff is. I don't have good answer for that, but depending on what your friend means by mid tier, I think their GPA is good enough. A 3.7 is nothing to be ashamed of. That like, an A- average? I had a friend get into Stonybrook with a 3.5 undergraduate GPA. If your friend would be happy going to Stonybrook, all is well.

I have no idea how being in a non-US program would affect their chances (I am guessing from your post that this is the case), but I would be wary of people saying that it hurts your chances. I have met many people from Europe and Latin America programs who went to US programs, for example. People who blame their rejection on that factor are likely making an atomistic fallacy.

Saying that one is good at methods probably won't be good enough. I know the op is just summarizing, but telling rather than showing is a weakness I don't think is unique to me. I hope that taking methods courses is not the only thing they have to show for it, but that they also have a writing sample or a published paper showing that they can use those methods.

Random crash out from me. I hate it when people get rejected and say "3 papers in top journal" what do you mean by that?? You have 3 papers in APSR, CPS, AJPS, Comparative Politics, and Democratization??? Or does a top journal mean anything in Q1 or Q2? It's not related to the post, but I crash out (for not real reason) every time I see someone post about publishing in an ambiguously "top" journal. Okay, I'm done.

Your friend seems qualified enough. If they don't get it, it's not that they were not good enough. Not getting in anywhere is not an indication that you are not smart.

 

I hope your friend is feeling healthier!

Edited yesterday at 10:17 AM by garmit
I meant to reply to the post above this one, but I got distracted with my crash out lmao

[JPYSD]

3 hours ago, PolSciComp said:

Hi everyone, I hope your application cycle goes well and I hope that you would hear good news from the remaining schools.

I have one question which was asked by my friends in my home country about his potential chances; she wants to apply for mid tier PhD programs in the US; she is currently in a relatively known MA program but her GPA is 3.70 due to her health-related problems during the MA programs; even if she has pretty good GRE Scores and good quantitative methods training with several Methods courses; ICPSR etc.

She asked me whether this GPA would make less advantegous in PhD applications but I couldn't be sure about that. What do you think; especially based on your observations?

I also had to make some experiences with "bad" grades and in my opinion, it all depends on the context. I often observe that master grades are not taken too seriously, because they are often heavily inflated, so if your friend's undergrad is better, then that is certainly a good sign. If your friend is from a grading system, where inflation is not as common as it is in the US, it is important to explain that in your application, ideally via the recommendation letter writers. Same applies, if the grades are not that good because of unique circumstances.

In any way, "bad" grades might be a hurdle for the toptop programs, but in my experience 3.7 (even for American standards) is not that dramatic for most. Be open and transparent about it. The rest of application has to be on point, however. 

[jaliren]

No more decisions yet for me this week, which has been a bit surprising. Hopefully that changes today--good luck to everyone! 

[smoothoperator77]

5 hours ago, garmit said:

Any answer to this should be prefaced by saying that if I knew what grad schools wanted, I would have 1) applied to fewer schools and 2) gotten into more schools. However, I am in the dark about what they want and so that was not my experience. Any advice I or anyone else gives will probably give you the same experience that most of us are having right now: applying to a dozen schools and getting into, like, maybe one or two, if any, of those options.  

However, I feel like I can say a few things. My impression is that there is (to put it in terms of social science) a series of (largely) necessary but not sufficient conditions. In fact, I would posit that there are NO sufficient conditions to get into a program. That is beside the point because I think your friend is not under the impression that there is a magical statistic or resume experience that will get you in.

I think that a good GPA is one of those necessary conditions. Unlike GRE, which can be variable depending on how things go that day, GPA is a good indicator of how you will do in school (not a measure of intelligence!). Consequently, you need to have a good GPA to get into a good graduate school. The bigger question is what the cutoff is. I don't have good answer for that, but depending on what your friend means by mid tier, I think their GPA is good enough. A 3.7 is nothing to be ashamed of. That like, an A- average? I had a friend get into Stonybrook with a 3.5 undergraduate GPA. If your friend would be happy going to Stonybrook, all is well.

I have no idea how being in a non-US program would affect their chances (I am guessing from your post that this is the case), but I would be wary of people saying that it hurts your chances. I have met many people from Europe and Latin America programs who went to US programs, for example. People who blame their rejection on that factor are likely making an atomistic fallacy.

Saying that one is good at methods probably won't be good enough. I know the op is just summarizing, but telling rather than showing is a weakness I don't think is unique to me. I hope that taking methods courses is not the only thing they have to show for it, but that they also have a writing sample or a published paper showing that they can use those methods.

Random crash out from me. I hate it when people get rejected and say "3 papers in top journal" what do you mean by that?? You have 3 papers in APSR, CPS, AJPS, Comparative Politics, and Democratization??? Or does a top journal mean anything in Q1 or Q2? It's not related to the post, but I crash out (for not real reason) every time I see someone post about publishing in an ambiguously "top" journal. Okay, I'm done.

Your friend seems qualified enough. If they don't get it, it's not that they were not good enough. Not getting in anywhere is not an indication that you are not smart.

 

I hope your friend is feeling healthier!

Totally agree with the last point. Whenever I see that, I am like, come on, "top journal" publications, and they are still applying for a PhD? Either they are like really enjoying being a PhD student for 5-7 years for the sake of being a PhD student, which, by the way, is exactly for training people to get published in top journals, or they just have misunderstandings about what "top journal" means. Very unhelpful information for others. 

[garmit]

On 2/18/2025 at 4:39 PM, garmit said:

This shit boring can we get some post on here or something? Like, what are some things we do when we are waiting for admissions but too anxious to be productive? I read the Mistborn Era 1 series. 

 

43 minutes ago, jaliren said:

No more decisions yet for me this week, which has been a bit surprising. Hopefully that changes today--good luck to everyone! 

Cornell came out the last time we talked about books and coping mechanisms. I see a pattern (N=1, r = 1).

[jaliren]

4 minutes ago, garmit said:

 

Cornell came out the last time we talked about books and coping mechanisms. I see a pattern (N=1, r = 1).

Quite right.

Well, I just downloaded Civ 7 on Steam, so that may be my new go-to distraction. 

[smoothoperator77]

2 minutes ago, jaliren said:

Quite right.

Well, I just downloaded Civ 7 on Steam, so that may be my new go-to distraction. 

Would be helpful to get some feedback on that🤣if it's worth it to play that one

[jaliren]

12 minutes ago, smoothoperator77 said:

Would be helpful to get some feedback on that🤣if it's worth it to play that one

I've only ever played Civ 5, into which I sunk many many many hours. Skipped Civ 6 but am excited to try something new. 

[smoothoperator77]

Just now, jaliren said:

I've only ever played Civ 5, into which I sunk many many many hours. Skipped Civ 6 but am excited to try something new. 

Yeah, I was a Civ 4 player and was really obsessed with it, but didn't try the later versions. 

[polt29]

Hey, has anyone who applied to Yale still not received any update? I haven't gotten any email or updates to my portal and I know everyone was posting results a couple days ago (acceptances, rejections, and waitlists) so I am just wondering what this could mean... does anyone have any ideas? Should I reach out? (theory subfield btw) Thanks 

Edited yesterday at 07:59 PM by polt29

[smoothoperator77]

10 minutes ago, polt29 said:

Hey, has anyone who applied to Yale still not received any update? I haven't gotten any email or updates to my portal and I know everyone was posting results a couple days ago (acceptances, rejections, and waitlists) so I am just wondering what this could mean... does anyone have any ideas? Should I reach out? (theory subfield btw) Thanks 

I think it is more likely that a waitlist decision is coming, and in this case, you could for sure reach out. Wish you the best!

[jaliren]

Oof...well I guess that about ends it for this week...the radio silence has been brutal 

[polisci001]

What’s the deal with Harvard? Someone is actually claiming a rejection a few days ago but there are no acceptances (except a dodgy one)? 

[jaliren]

5 minutes ago, polisci001 said:

What’s the deal with Harvard? Someone is actually claiming a rejection a few days ago but there are no acceptances (except a dodgy one)? 

I'm not putting much stock in those posted results. Given how many applicants Harvard has, I think if they'd released decisions, we would see a whole lot more. 

[garmit]

Rip Piper Ericksson man... Someone's got enemies on grad cafe

[jaliren]

12 minutes ago, garmit said:

Rip Piper Ericksson man... Someone's got enemies on grad cafe

Yeah, tough -- gotta wonder what story is there

[PolSciComp]

For those who didn't receive any offer yet or received from the schools that they don't want to prefer, do you plan to reapply next year; what are your possible options? 

I hope you would hear good news in next weeks so that no one would feel the need to reapply.