Elation Posted December 12, 2025 Posted December 12, 2025 Welcome to the 2026-2027 admissions cycle for political science! No one had made a thread yet, so I thought I'd throw one up. Discuss the process, ask questions, post results, etc.! Good luck, everyone! Clintarius, Jim VK and mulyton46 3
brumingdales Posted December 13, 2025 Posted December 13, 2025 best of luck everyone! has anyone heard back already? Elation and mulyton46 2
Elation Posted December 15, 2025 Author Posted December 15, 2025 (edited) On 12/13/2025 at 1:59 PM, brumingdales said: best of luck everyone! has anyone heard back already? I think we're probably still a bit too early to really hear back from schools—there's still a few schools that haven't had their deadlines yet! I suspect that we won't hear anything back until at least January at the earliest. I think February is a bit more typical for US schools. That's not stopping me from continuing to check though lol Edited December 15, 2025 by Elation
Elation Posted January 4 Author Posted January 4 Spreadsheet for this year says that Duke has sent out interview requests. Can anyone confirm? Is that for all subfields or just some? awakecat 1
awakecat Posted January 5 Posted January 5 20 hours ago, Elation said: Spreadsheet for this year says that Duke has sent out interview requests. Can anyone confirm? Is that for all subfields or just some? Do you need to have an interview to be accepted at Duke? I've heard varying things (e.g. "Duke only interviews candidates in specific subfields or candidates that they are on the fence about" vs. "you need an interview to be accepted").
smoothoperator77 Posted January 6 Posted January 6 10 hours ago, bagelbud said: Do you need to have an interview to be accepted at Duke? I've heard varying things (e.g. "Duke only interviews candidates in specific subfields or candidates that they are on the fence about" vs. "you need an interview to be accepted"). In the last few years, there were some Duke admissions who were not interviewed. Elation 1
ComparativeScholar Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Hi everyone, I wish you all successful semester and successful application cycle I saw one post for Vanderbilt University Political Science PhD interview; is there any other student who also received interview request from them?
awakecat Posted January 7 Posted January 7 2 hours ago, ComparativeScholar said: Hi everyone, I wish you all successful semester and successful application cycle I saw one post for Vanderbilt University Political Science PhD interview; is there any other student who also received interview request from them? Where did you see this post?
ComparativeScholar Posted January 7 Posted January 7 7 minutes ago, bagelbud said: Where did you see this post? I saw it today; one applicant posted this with "Interview on January 6th".
brumingdales Posted January 9 Posted January 9 Looks like there are 2 confirmed interviews for Vandy, but it's possible that it's very subfield-specific
awakecat Posted January 9 Posted January 9 There was another confirmed interview for Vandy. Someone on the spreadsheet also claimed a UCLA interview.
ComparativeScholar Posted January 9 Posted January 9 Normally previous years; there were plenty of applicants at Gradcafe; I know as this is my 2nd application cycle. Yet, it is interesting that there are less applicants. Do you also think that many of the programs received less applications?
brumingdales Posted January 10 Posted January 10 Not sure if that's the right inference. I think people are just using gradcafe less. but with recent developments in american schools it could be possible there are fewer applications than normal
smoothoperator77 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 8 hours ago, brumingdales said: Not sure if that's the right inference. I think people are just using gradcafe less. but with recent developments in american schools it could be possible there are fewer applications than normal I tend to think that there are fewer applicants this year and in the years to come. I was in the last application cycle, and the one before, and I think the number really peaked in the last few years. With more programs cutting their cohort size, the funding drama related to the federal government, and the effect of Trumpism, I think the applicant pool is finally reacting to these trends. But yes, I guess it could also be that people use Gradcafe less, or simply this cohort is particularly quieter. I am very interested in this, so if anyone has some better opinions, please share them. ComparativeScholar 1
brumingdales Posted January 10 Posted January 10 4 hours ago, smoothoperator77 said: I tend to think that there are fewer applicants this year and in the years to come. I was in the last application cycle, and the one before, and I think the number really peaked in the last few years. With more programs cutting their cohort size, the funding drama related to the federal government, and the effect of Trumpism, I think the applicant pool is finally reacting to these trends. But yes, I guess it could also be that people use Gradcafe less, or simply this cohort is particularly quieter. I am very interested in this, so if anyone has some better opinions, please share them. True!!
ComparativeScholar Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Hi everyone, I have one brief question: Anyone here who applied to UC Davis Phd program for Comparative Politics? I have less knowledge about the admission Statistics of the program: do you know whether it is a competitive program like Northwestern's PhD, UChicago or Vanderbilt's PhD programs or a bit less competitive? I had heard that California based programs tend to admit less international students, do you know this information is true? fred123 1
Gwendolyn1217 Posted January 11 Posted January 11 Hi everyone, has anyone heard back from uni of Ottawa? i'm in Communication stream. Wish all of us could get an offer!
cowboy199797af Posted January 12 Posted January 12 has anyone heard back from Columbia, NYU, UCLA, or UCSD?
ComparativeScholar Posted January 12 Posted January 12 37 minutes ago, cowboy199797af said: has anyone heard back from Columbia, NYU, UCLA, or UCSD? I think it is early to hear from these schools; even if I didnt apply to them.
IRpolsci21 Posted January 12 Posted January 12 Saw an interview for UW-Madison. Does anyone know for what subfield? Did anyone else receive the email or is it just one confirmed?
Clintarius Posted January 13 Posted January 13 For sanity checks on when to hear back, in case this hasn't been posted yet: https://www.martindevaux.com/2020/11/political-science-phd-admission-decisions/ Elation 1
cowboy199797af Posted January 14 Posted January 14 I received a rejection from UChicago for the IR subfield. Anyone else receive a rejection, waitlist, or acceptance?
ComparativeScholar Posted January 15 Posted January 15 Hi everyone. Anyone here applied to Penn State Political Science PhD program? Does the department hold interviews?
Lorne Malvo Posted January 16 Posted January 16 On 1/9/2026 at 1:47 AM, brumingdales said: Looks like there are 2 confirmed interviews for Vandy, but it's possible that it's very subfield-specific Not a good sign for me haha. Didn't hear anything from Vanderbilt yet, AP subfield. I also notified them about my manuscript being under review, didn't receive an answer either
brumingdales Posted January 21 Posted January 21 I saw on the spread that all offers have been made for wash u st l. is this true? I haven't heard anything yet...
.thumb.jpg.74384715af1fc2e67bfe800177003d45.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now