2026-2027 Application Thread

[heartintheclouds]

When’s the absolute last day anyone should expect to hear back?

[PoliSci2026]

1 minute ago, heartintheclouds said:

When’s the absolute last day anyone should expect to hear back?

I know everyone who was accepted should inform the universities by April 15 whether they will attend. So I guess sometime in March (some even say end of March), but waitlisted applicants may hear the final decision only later (even end of April)

[nondeterministic]

1 hour ago, cowboy199797af said:

I heard from a professor who is on the admissions committee that they only admitted 2 applicants for IR, 2 for comparative, and none for methods.

That is crazy. Did you heard anything regarding theory? I assume probably 1 or 0 spots?

[brumingdales]

38 minutes ago, nondeterministic said:

That is crazy. Did you heard anything regarding theory? I assume probably 1 or 0 spots?

I know at least one theorist who got waitlisted at Chicago recently! and I can confirm theorists are getting spots at other schools:)

[PoliSci2026]

One person posted yesterday an acceptance to Penn, but there was no other update (neither other acceptances, nor waitlists/rejections)

Did anyone hear anything from them?

Do we know how many people they plan to admit this year?

My portal still shows nothing new and I wonder what's going on, it seems weird that only one person posted hearing back from them... I wonder if they sent all acceptances or there is still a chance 

Edited February 14 by PoliSci2026

[Senochka]

3 hours ago, PoliSci2026 said:

One person posted yesterday an acceptance to Penn, but there was no other update (neither other acceptances, nor waitlists/rejections)

Did anyone hear anything from them?

Do we know how many people they plan to admit this year?

My portal still shows nothing new and I wonder what's going on, it seems weird that only one person posted hearing back from them... I wonder if they sent all acceptances or there is still a chance 

Last year, Weisiger told me that only 1/3 of their original admission recommendation list had been approved by the graduate school. However, this year we saw dramatic procedural changes to many schools' processes. For example, some schools that historically did not conduct pre-admission interviews started to do so, some schools that released all decisions on the same day turned to a batch system, and ones that were already using a batch system turned to releasing decisions on a rolling basis. So, can go either way.

[awakecat]

10 hours ago, PoliSci2026 said:

One person posted yesterday an acceptance to Penn, but there was no other update (neither other acceptances, nor waitlists/rejections)

Did anyone hear anything from them?

Do we know how many people they plan to admit this year?

My portal still shows nothing new and I wonder what's going on, it seems weird that only one person posted hearing back from them... I wonder if they sent all acceptances or there is still a chance 

What subfield are you? I applied in Political Communication. It seems that CP and IR are out. 

[PoliSci2026]

5 minutes ago, awakecat said:

What subfield are you? I applied in Political Communication. It seems that CP and IR are out. 

I'm IR

how do you know these subfields were notified? I saw only one person who posted yesterday, maybe there are more to come?

Edited February 14 by PoliSci2026

[IRpolsci21]

On 2/13/2026 at 11:55 AM, Lorne Malvo said:

Me too. Checked the portal, still under review. Good sign?

Not sure but it sure is not helping my nerves. Anyone got any insight?

[Lorne Malvo]

11 hours ago, IRpolsci21 said:

Not sure but it sure is not helping my nerves. Anyone got any insight?

There is a couple possibilities what's happening. Could be the faculty negotiating funding with the grad school and holding the official decision until then. Could be the faculty being not uniform on the decision and giving our files a second review. Either way, it's better than being rejected outright. Shows that you're competitive for the program and not an easy reject. I wouldn't get my hopes high though, still a good chance it could be a rejection 

[randomuser39572]

Are Yale and Harvard decisions coming out next week?

[Senochka]

5 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

There is a couple possibilities what's happening. Could be the faculty negotiating funding with the grad school and holding the official decision until then. Could be the faculty being not uniform on the decision and giving our files a second review. Either way, it's better than being rejected outright. Shows that you're competitive for the program and not an easy reject. I wouldn't get my hopes high though, still a good chance it could be a rejection 

In the same boat w/ UMN, want to remain on the positive side, but my Maryland rejection came a week later than the majority, so...

[marzipan001]

On 2/9/2026 at 12:00 PM, Lorne Malvo said:

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

I interviewed in Jan and got a rejection on Feb 13. I'd say that's a good sign

[marzipan001]

On 2/13/2026 at 1:07 AM, waitingforpoliscidepts said:

Anyone heard from NYU yet? They emailed saying decisions are on a rolling basis this year, but it's been radio silence since then. 

Got the same email, but nothing since

[marzipan001]

Has anyone heard from Emory? I saw that a few people got interviewed but I haven't heard anything (email and portal). Also haven't heard anything from Yale, Cornell, UCSB, and UPitt

[poliscicomm]

1 hour ago, marzipan001 said:

Has anyone heard from Emory? I saw that a few people got interviewed but I haven't heard anything (email and portal). Also haven't heard anything from Yale, Cornell, UCSB, and UPitt

yeah which is a bit weird as they didn't do any interviews last year.. 

 

[OBD]

On 2/13/2026 at 11:38 AM, poliscicomm said:

Is it true that WashU sent out all offers already? i havent heard from them at all.. 

(https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14wqgV9JigMHmPXi4pgU-l8JvZc8AFqT2Q-badkoSTKo/edit?pli=1&gid=1742551378#gid=1742551378)

I sent email, they said : still under review !🥲

[erm]

Has anyone heard of an acceptance from Indiana University Bloomington? I got waitlisted there about three weeks ago and have not heard of any acceptances. This seems rather bizarre and I was wondering if anyone has any insights. Is it possible they waitlisted a bunch of people while they are waiting to sort out funding? Im on three waitlists and am desperate for an acceptance

[IRpolsci21]

On 2/15/2026 at 6:10 AM, Lorne Malvo said:

There is a couple possibilities what's happening. Could be the faculty negotiating funding with the grad school and holding the official decision until then. Could be the faculty being not uniform on the decision and giving our files a second review. Either way, it's better than being rejected outright. Shows that you're competitive for the program and not an easy reject. I wouldn't get my hopes high though, still a good chance it could be a rejection 

 Rejected. I was waitlisted in a previous cycle and this time straight rejection :((

[Lorne Malvo]

9 minutes ago, IRpolsci21 said:

 Rejected. I was waitlisted in a previous cycle and this time straight rejection :((

Yeah, I just got it too. Very unfortunate, was my best fit. I have the same situation with the USC now

[IRpolsci21]

Just now, Lorne Malvo said:

Yeah, I just got it too. Very unfortunate, was my best fit. I have the same situation with the USC now

Are you waitlisted at USC?

[Lorne Malvo]

6 minutes ago, IRpolsci21 said:

Are you waitlisted at USC?

No, but the rejections are out and my file is still under review (same thing that happened with Minnesota) 

[nondeterministic]

On 2/15/2026 at 9:57 AM, randomuser39572 said:

Are Yale and Harvard decisions coming out next week?

I hope so. But based on past years, it is also possible that they will come out the week after.

[OBD]

Anybody knows about Pittsburgh? When they might release decision ?

[awakecat]

Has anyone in AP/Political communication heard back from UCLA or UPenn