Welcome to the 2011-2012 Cycle

[CairoKid]

Oh, no! I just did a bit of random research, and may have concluded that my POI at Washington is no longer there - or is at least not super available, as he now may be teaching elsewhere. I emailed him to be certain, but Washington was the place I had the best shot at (it was the best fit and my adviser went there). If he is gone, I have a much lower chance of getting accepted. =/

Edit: Ohmygoddd. And he already emailed me back. Literally 10 minutes after I sent the email. And it was the nicest email ever; however it was very disappointing as he is in fact no longer going to be teaching full-time at UW. =( But he did offer to share ideas and stay in contact!!

Unfortunately, this probably means a rejection from UW; but I am ecstatic that my POI turned out to be such a nice guy and potentially a future contact. Bittersweet.

Edited March 2, 2012 by CairoKid

[Anonymouse Bosch]

Anybody else waiting on Toronto to answer? It looks like historically we should be hearing back by next Friday!

[Jwnich1]

Hey guys,

Rough evening last night:

1.) Official rejection from Chicago - sympathy CIR w/ funding

2.) On the "very short" waitlist at Syracuse

3.) rejected from Maryland

I assumed the above, so this isn't a shock - I've been considering my cycle over for a week or so now, but to see it all in black and white at the same time is, nontheless, sort of sad. Given the reaction of Maryland, Syracuse and Umass - I think this makes the case for fit being important. (these were schools that I didn't do as good a job showing that my interests fit, and I was prepared to work with their faculty towards completion of those goals).

How's everyone else doing?

[Doorkeeper]

Anyone know when Harvard is going to get its rejections out? I want to squash any hope left in me and get this ghastly cycle over with.

[Muna]

^{From KSG Admission Blog 03/02/2012}

^{Admission Decision Breakdown}

^{In advance of the release of admission decisions later this month I thought I would take a few entries to elaborate on the categories of admissions decisions. The categories are simple and anyone could likely guess them, however I feel commenting on each one in advance and answering some questions applicants might likely have will be helpful.}

^{There are three categories of admission decisions:}

• ^{Not Admitted}
  
• ^Waitlisted
  
• ^Admitted
  

^{I will start by saying that we do not release decisions by category. In other words, we do not just send out decisions to those not admitted and then at another time send decisions to those that are admitted. Our goal is to send all decisions, per program, at one time. The “per program” note is important because we are not able to send out decisions for all programs at the same time. As I stated in an earlier entry, I will provide insight here on the blog as to the release dates for the different programs.}

^{As an example, our goal is to release all MPP decisions on a single date. That date is yet to be determined, however on that date decisions for all three categories will be sent all at once. The same applies to all of our programs.}

^{As a reminder, we send our decisions out via email and the email will come from this address: appstatus@hks.harvard.edu. We will send admitted applicants a paper copy of their admission letter, however we do not send out paper copies of letters to those not admitted or to those placed on the waitlist.}

^{Stay tuned as next week I will post an entry on each of the three categories with more information.}

[Doorkeeper]

Hmm...interesting system KSG uses, what about GSAS for Government?

[Muna]

No info on that sorry ..

[Doorkeeper]

No worries. Thanks for the info!

[Max Power]

i have just been informed by harvard that i've been named the v.o. key fellow for the upcoming year. unfortunately it comes with no money. cool title though

[Ironheel!!]

i have just been informed by harvard that i've been named the v.o. key fellow for the upcoming year. unfortunately it comes with no money. cool title though

Does it come with a complementary bottle of Remy Martin?

[Max Power]

Does it come with a complementary bottle of Remy Martin?

god i hope so

[Doorkeeper]

Someone in results said they called Harvard and rejections are in the mail. Oh what fun! But the person also mentioned that Harvard dips into their rejection pile to fill their numbers, if necessary. So therefore everybody that's in at Harvard needs to turn Harvard down.

I'm looking at you jsclar. I'll give you a bottle of Remy for it!

Edited March 2, 2012 by Doorkeeper

[amblingnymph]

Finally got my rejection email from Columbia! About time...

[Bdeniso]

Finally got my Columbia rejection letter. Down to GT, GW, and the Kennedy School for acceptances and Emory and ND to come off the wait list. Quite envious of those of you who have finished your cycle. I most certainly will be in limbo until april.

[PoliSciPirate]

Claiming the Washington State admit. Offer of a TA position, official letter is in the mail with all of the details, but the admissions committee wanted "to give me the courtesy of a phone call."

[amblingnymph]

Claiming the Washington State admit. Offer of a TA position, official letter is in the mail with all of the details, but the admissions committee wanted "to give me the courtesy of a phone call."

Awesome! Congrats!

[Ironheel!!]

Claiming the Washington State admit. Offer of a TA position, official letter is in the mail with all of the details, but the admissions committee wanted "to give me the courtesy of a phone call."

Good work Pirate!

[Apill]

I too got my rejection from Columbia today. I am only waiting for Harvard, Georgetown, and Brown now.

Earlier I had said that I was considering withdrawing from GWU but this is no longer the case. In fact, I would welcome receiving funding from GWU from those who have withdrawn from it. I am now 50/50 between NU and GWU.

[Apill]

Would more experienced people on these boards recommend going and getting a Masters before reapplying in my case? My choice for PhD is between the unfunded GWU one and the funded NU one. While I like the NU campus, the faculty, and the people are really nice (Evanston is nice too), the faculty interests don't fit mine at all. I'm not sure if I want to commit to 5 years of being in a program that necessarily won't have the array of resources I wanted.

[Max Power]

Would more experienced people on these boards recommend going and getting a Masters before reapplying in my case? My choice for PhD is between the unfunded GWU one and the funded NU one. While I like the NU campus, the faculty, and the people are really nice (Evanston is nice too), the faculty interests don't fit mine at all. I'm not sure if I want to commit to 5 years of being in a program that necessarily won't have the array of resources I wanted.

When in doubt, I'm inclined to say that a funded offer from a top 25 program is much better than spending a year on a masters. actual costs, opportunity costs and whatnot. its the same thing i said to someone else who was debating a masters or cornell (i forget exactly who). most people find that their interests change at least somewhat while they are in grad school. you may find yourself shifting towards some of what northwestern does. worst case scenario, if you go there, is that you are really unhappy and transfer (but at least you'll have been funded for the year).

that said, if you go the masters route or otherwise wind up re-applying, i'd recommend doing some thinking about where you are applying before you re-apply. If you can't honestly say "if this was my only option, i'd happily go there" about each school you are applying to, then why bother? if you don't really think northwestern was a fit and think you might prefer a masters and re-applying, why apply in the first case?

[iwouldpreferanonymity]

Claiming the Washington State admit. Offer of a TA position, official letter is in the mail with all of the details, but the admissions committee wanted "to give me the courtesy of a phone call."

Congrats! As a Washington native, I can tell that the area around Pullman is quite beautiful.

[balderdash]

Just wanted to tell everyone who is on UCLA's funding waitlist: I just turned down their (funded) offer. Hopefully someone on here gets it.

[Eudaimonia]

Claiming a Brandeis admit. Really nice letter from POI.

[whirlibird]

Got me one of those Chicago rejections with a fully-funded MAPPS admit. Will turn them down ASAP, and I hope someone else can use that tuition for what does seem like a very cool program.

[Ironheel!!]

ugh. Another Brandeis on the board, not feeling good...Congrats to those admited. Care to share subs?