Welcome to the 2011-2012 Cycle

[CafeAuLait12]

NEW DAY. Bring it.

Best attitude ever! Let's do this!

[Adornopolisci2012]

NEW DAY. Bring it.

Gradcafe can be so therapeutic.

[ohsnap]

I'm going to try to not worry about Northwestern. Serenity now!

[CooCooCachoo]

A Berkeley acceptance just popped up. Congrats to whoever got it.

Someone please pass me the tranquilizers. Grazie.

[Rosalind]

Hi everyone!

I've been following this thread for the past 2 weeks but this is my first post. My husband is the one who got the Berkeley accept. The email came in last night at 9pm California time. He didn't see it until this morning. Funding info to follow by early March and their campus visit days are March 18-19. We are super excited!!!!

[balledematch]

Hi everyone!

I've been following this thread for the past 2 weeks but this is my first post. My husband is the one who got the Berkeley accept. The email came in last night at 9pm California time. He didn't see it until this morning. Funding info to follow by early March and their campus visit days are March 18-19. We are super excited!!!!

Yay, well at least now I can start legitimately hyperventilating about Berkeley

[balledematch]

A Berkeley acceptance just popped up. Congrats to whoever got it.

Someone please pass me the tranquilizers. Grazie.

+1

[Secret Squirrel]

I guess that means all us theorists who applied to Cal are out? I loved you Kinch Hoekstra and you treat me like this?

[PoliSci27]

A Chicago acceptance is up for anyone interested.

When will Texas send out the rest!?!?

[Mnemonics2]

Of course, there's really no telling exactly how helpful those GRE and GPA statistics are, because I don't know how important stats are to UNC's admissions process relative to fit, SOP, rec letters, etc. etc. Two things, though:

1. In at least one of the years I looked at (2007, I think?) the mean GPA for admits was actually somewhat lower than the mean GPA for rejects.

2. I spoke to one of my POIs there earlier in the application process, and the feeling I got from her was that, to the extent that their process is stats-based, GRE is the most important number they look at.

I too am waiting with baited breath for the good folk in Chapel Hill to decide, but I had a question based on those stats....when it says average GPA, is that all undergraduate?

For example, I have an MA GPA that is super high (almost 4) and an undergrad that is low (badly sick for a long time)...which of mine would they take for the average?

[saltlakecity2012]

Ugh. Berkeley, Chicago... here's where I insert lyrics from the Beatle's Love Me Do

And huuuuuuuge ups to the Stanford, Berkeley, Boulder and Chicago acceptances!

Edited February 7, 2012 by tergellian

[blaspheming]

I too am waiting with baited breath for the good folk in Chapel Hill to decide, but I had a question based on those stats....when it says average GPA, is that all undergraduate?

For example, I have an MA GPA that is super high (almost 4) and an undergrad that is low (badly sick for a long time)...which of mine would they take for the average?

I'm in a similar spot. My POI at one of my target schools (where I was accepted) said "you have a 4.0 in your masters program, don't even worry about undergrad, you've shown me that you can do solid work at the graduate level, undergrad won't matter at this point."

I doubt everyone sees it that way, but that was my experience.

[Ironheel!!]

I'm in a similar spot. My POI at one of my target schools (where I was accepted) said "you have a 4.0 in your masters program, don't even worry about undergrad, you've shown me that you can do solid work at the graduate level, undergrad won't matter at this point."

I doubt everyone sees it that way, but that was my experience.

As an applicant with a shit UG GPA and a high MA GPA, I hope you are correct.

[Mnemonics2]

As an applicant with a shit UG GPA and a high MA GPA, I hope you are correct.

Hear hear! Anyone else in this position? More importantly, anyone else in this position that's already got in somewhere?

[PoliSci27]

I'm in a slightly different position. My undergrad and MPP GPAs are high, but my law GPA isn't quite so good. Of course, law school has a wicked curve, but I don't have a clue how grad schools will interpret it.

I agree, though, that I high graduate GPA will go a long way to overcome a lower undergrad GPA.

[Ironheel!!]

I'm in a slightly different position. My undergrad and MPP GPAs are high, but my law GPA isn't quite so good. Of course, law school has a wicked curve, but I don't have a clue how grad schools will interpret it.

I agree, though, that I high graduate GPA will go a long way to overcome a lower undergrad GPA.

I think the law grades will not kill you. I mean, many law schools have a 2.5-2.75 GPA min. just to remain in the program where MA/Phds its generally 3.5plus. I imagine that a if you graduated from law school this will prove testament to your ability to take on a significant work load.

[wuerzburg]

I see that two people have now been rejected by phone at Vanderbilt. The first person has already claimed it and said they ran out of patience but whats the deal with the second? It would be odd if a department called with rejections??

[Percy]

I had a very average GPA at a slightly above-average big state school, but a high GPA in a Masters program, and I've had good luck so far this cycle. I agree with what others have said that a grad school GPA will certainly be weighed more than undergrad (unless maybe the undergrad is really, really down there, in which case I would imagine you might provide some explanation in your SOP).

I also interpret it that way because I feel like a lot of schools stated that they wanted letters of rec that spoke to applicants ability to do graduate-level work, so if you also have a GPA that speaks to that criteria, than you are in good shape.

[grantman]

My hope is the my high undergraduate and graduate GPA's help compensate for my low GRE's, but only time will tell I suppose.

[balledematch]

Looks like a bunch of Chicago acceptances/waitlists have been posted. Anyone know if they are all theory? Starting to freak out

[PoliSci27]

I see that two people have now been rejected by phone at Vanderbilt. The first person has already claimed it and said they ran out of patience but whats the deal with the second? It would be odd if a department called with rejections??

I'm assuming that the second person broke down and called also. I have yet to hear a word from Vandy. I'm expecting a rejection, but I'm not about to call.

[saltlakecity2012]

I wonder if the "U" on the results survey that indicates international with American degree is actually the union symbol...

And I'd appreciate any data on whether the Chicago people are all theorists, as mentioned above.

[blaspheming]

Hear hear! Anyone else in this position? More importantly, anyone else in this position that's already got in somewhere?

I got in at Davis and Boulder so far.

[RWBG]

I'm in a slightly different position. My undergrad and MPP GPAs are high, but my law GPA isn't quite so good. Of course, law school has a wicked curve, but I don't have a clue how grad schools will interpret it.

I agree, though, that I high graduate GPA will go a long way to overcome a lower undergrad GPA.

Oddly enough, I've had a bit of a different experience; I am enrolled in an MA program in large part in order to get the strong grades that would compensate for my undergrad record. However, I didn't even have any grades in my MA program when I applied this year (which I figured would just be to play the lottery and see what happens), but I've been accepted to 3 out of 4 of the schools I've heard from. This suggests to me that not only is it true that MA GPA can compensate for UG GPA, but you can compensate for having a weaker record with other aspects of your application as well.

Edit: To add to this, I'm not from a top 20 US school and only one of my letter writers in a political scientists. So I don't think it's connections that got me in either.

Congrats to the Chicago and Berkeley admits!

Edited February 7, 2012 by RWBG

[Mnemonics2]

Oddly enough, I've had a bit of a different experience; I am enrolled in an MA program in large part in order to get the strong grades that would compensate for my undergrad record. However, I didn't even have any grades in my MA program when I applied this year (which I figured would just be to play the lottery and see what happens), but I've been accepted to 3 out of 4 of the schools I've heard from. This suggests to me that not only is it true that MA GPA can compensate for UG GPA, but you can compensate for having a weaker record with other aspects of your application as well.

That's awesome, congrats! And yea, I'm hoping that my really strong recs, sop and a peer reviewed article during my MA this year will help me out! Particularly from now on (only heard from one and it was a duke rejection). Thoughts?

And