2026-2027 Application Thread

[ComparativeScholar]

7 hours ago, PoliSci2026 said:

In the rejection letter from UMD (which seems like a template email) they wrote to me: "The Graduate School relies on graduate programs to evaluate applications and make admission recommendations. Should you have any questions about this decision, please contact the Doctor of Philosophy program in Government and Politics to which you applied."

 

Do you think it means they may be willing to provide a feedback on the application, if I ask them? So I can learn what went wrong? Or is there another reason they wrote it and it's not an invitation to ask for feedback?

I do not think they would be able to give you feedback; I think they just add this for the sake of formality.

[Lorne Malvo]

Saw someone report an acceptance from University of Minnesota. Anyone else? Haven't heard back from them, not a good sign 

[ComparativeScholar]

11 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

Saw someone report an acceptance from University of Minnesota. Anyone else? Haven't heard back from them, not a good sign 

University of Minnesota sends its waitlist results on the same day with rejections; maybe you might have been waitlisted.

[Lorne Malvo]

33 minutes ago, ComparativeScholar said:

University of Minnesota sends its waitlist results on the same day with rejections; maybe you might have been waitlisted.

Hopefully. The fit is really good (pol psych) 

[Polisci302222]

Does anyone know what happened to Wisconsin-Madison? They seemed to have sent the acceptance letter last month. In past years, the rejection was right after the acceptance. But this year, it seems that they have not yet issued the rejection.

If I don't receive anything, what does this mean? 

[Senochka]

In some years, rejections follow right after while in others they are stuck at an administrative bottleneck, sadly, I don't think this year's pattern is a sign of a "hold pile" or anything. Someone who said that they were from the department posted a while ago and told all acceptance/waitlist results have been communicated.

[Polisci302222]

22 hours ago, Senochka said:

In some years, rejections follow right after while in others they are stuck at an administrative bottleneck, sadly, I don't think this year's pattern is a sign of a "hold pile" or anything. Someone who said that they were from the department posted a while ago and told all acceptance/waitlist results have been communicated.

Yeah. I saw that post. I mean, if they have made decisions, they should send them to us. I don't understand why they hold them for three weeks. 

[Senochka]

Oh man, last year, we waited for Penn to release rejections for over a month. I asked them why they weren't showing the decency to inform all students at once since an electronic signature pasted by an administrative assistant is all it takes, and got a very sincere response about the painful back and forth between the faculty and the grad school. Although I have synpathy for their struggles, a giant institution in 2026 should be able to streamline this. 

[ComparativeScholar]

Hi everyone. I have been waitlisted at UC Davis Political Science Program anf trying to assess my chances for receiving offer. Anyone who also received offer from UC Davis or waitlist response? Do you know to how many applicants UC Davis tends to send offers? 

I had heard that their cohort size was 9 students last year.

[Lorne Malvo]

Someone reported rejection from Vanderbilt, anyone else? I didn't get anything and the status of the application is still submitted. Good sign? 

[cowboy199797af]

what is this spreadsheet so many people here are referring to?

[cowboy199797af]

I received a rejection from MIT for IR. anyone got an offer or waitlist from them?

[brumingdales]

Has anyone heard back from princeton? 

[IRpolsci21]

Was anyone else waitlisted at USC? Does anyone have any insights on how long their waitlist generally is, and has anyone been accepted from the waitlist in the past? Any insights would really help me calm my nerves. USC is my top choice, and if anyone was accepted but isn’t attending and could let the program know, that would be great. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[awakecat]

20 hours ago, brumingdales said:

Has anyone heard back from princeton? 

I also haven't heard back from princeton yet. Has anyone heard back from UCLA? There has been rejects and one accept posted but my portal doesn't have an update yet. 

[cowboy199797af]

4 hours ago, awakecat said:

I also haven't heard back from princeton yet. Has anyone heard back from UCLA? There has been rejects and one accept posted but my portal doesn't have an update yet. 

I heard back from UCLA with a rejection

[ComparativeScholar]

Hi everyone. Asking for curiosity, I couldn't see any admission or rejection results from University of Washington, Seattle. Did the department announce something that they will not admit any cohort for Fall 2026 or something? 

[Jim VK]

Good conversation here. For anyone asking about application status, please remember to submit your results when you hear back: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/new/

That's what updates The GradCafe, so you can see the admission results as they come in.

[heartintheclouds]

Has anyone gotten an interview from JHU or Georgetown? I wanted to see ask what subfields were being interviewed

[cowboy199797af]

I have heard back from Princeton, UCLA, UC Berkeley, MIT, and UChicago now

[TooF]

Has anyone heard back from UCSD? Someone posted they got accepted on Feb 4th. 

[cowboy199797af]

1 minute ago, TooF said:

Has anyone heard back from UCSD? Someone posted they got accepted on Feb 4th. 

I have not heard back from UCSD

[Senochka]

I love the fact that schools to which I applied are taking their sweet, sweet time this cycle. The cycle is over for many, and I didn'T hear back more than half of my schools (neither did anyone else, so not counting silent rejections.) Anyways, anyone want to go to a husky screaming party with me?

[PoliSci2026]

Just now, Senochka said:

I love the fact that schools to which I applied are taking their sweet, sweet time this cycle. The cycle is over for many, and I didn'T hear back more than half of my schools (neither did anyone else, so not counting silent rejections.) Anyways, anyone want to go to a husky screaming party with me?

Haha I'm with you. I did get one acceptance which I'm really happy about, but most programs I applied to said nothing so far (2 rejections, 1 acceptance, 2 silent rejections, and 8 pending)

[Senochka]

9 minutes ago, PoliSci2026 said:

Haha I'm with you. I did get one acceptance which I'm really happy about, but most programs I applied to said nothing so far (2 rejections, 1 acceptance, 2 silent rejections, and 8 pending)

Yay, I'm in good company! Also, Congrats!!! I have 4 rejections, including two soft rejections, and nothing else so far. I mean, I applied to some niche-interdisciplinary programs and got rejections from them too, but they were meant as an experiment mostly, and unlike my polisci apps, I didn't pay anything to apply to them, so it's tit for a tat to the schools.  I see that we are a particularly grudge-holding bunch this year, some angry result reports feel like looking at a mirror and others make me laugh. There is a potential UNABOMBER energy in our ranks, like the rage is REAL. Dear FBI, this is a joke, thank you. Also, can you tap the phones of the DGS at Emory and Boulder pretty please? They are way, way behind their usual schedules this year...

Edited February 12 by Senochka