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PoliSci 2008-2009 Cycle


CAPoliSciPhD

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It seems this professor attacked me due to wider departmental politics that I did not know about. He does not know enough about me or my file beyond seeing a truncated resume we were planning on using for internship applications to judge my merit as a grad student or a scholar. However, he and my advisor are in a bit of fight about the future of the department and part of this has to do with whether it should emphasize academic or policy-policy focused study of government. My advisor escalated this fight and I was a casuality because I appeared to side with my advisor's perspective. All in all...childish and frustrating. Certainly not the way I was hoping to conclude my time here. I apologize for the under-confident question I asked earlier. I was and continued to be excited about my prospects and my programs. This whole event just hurt a considerable deal and I didn't really understand why a relative stranger, who nonetheless held a position of authority, felt the need to belittle my work and accomplishments.

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I am overseas but probably about 10.30am Eastern - it was a personal email if that helps, so they might not be done.

Thanks for letting us know! And Congrats!

Anyone else been admitted? So far it only shows two...wondering if there are others.

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Nothing from Columbia today...all quiet...one would think they would have continued the onslaught (rejections) today. This is very suspenseful.

hmm...anyone contact them? i still don't see why they would wait to notify waitlists, but i'm willing to buy into the "we're waitlisted if we haven't heard yet" line for now.

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....I have some good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that you did not receive one of our initial financial aid offers. The good news is that you are an alternate for a substantial financial aid package. Although past practice indicates that this is not a guarantee that you will ultimately receive a financial aid offer, a number of our alternates each year end up receiving the package for which they are an alternate.

Funding detail followed.

I received this from Marquette's MA program. Would anyone explain what this means? Does this indicate I'm waitlisted for funding?

I know this is not the right place for discussing this, how much does surviving cost in Milwaukee? If I do get the half-assistantship, they will be giving remission of 12 out of 18 yearly tuition credits. Also, $6600 for 10 months. Is that enough for survival?

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I received this from Marquette's MA program. Would anyone explain what this means? Does this indicate I'm waitlisted for funding?

Also, $6600 for 10 months. Is that enough for survival?

It sure sounds like a waitlist to me.

6600 for 10 months (7920$ for 12) is VERY low, wherever you plan to live. Keep in mind that the national poverty threshold for a single individual below the age of 65 is about 10500$ a year (US census bureau). You might be able to pull it off, but you'll be eating loads of peanut butter, and you'll probably live in a dump or in a commune with 15 hippies.

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It sure sounds like a waitlist to me.

6600 for 10 months (7920$ for 12) is VERY low, wherever you plan to live. Keep in mind that the national poverty threshold for a single individual below the age of 65 is about 10500$ a year (US census bureau). You might be able to pull it off, but you'll be eating loads of peanut butter, and you'll probably live in a dump or in a commune with 15 hippies.

Ah well. Waitlisted for funding. God is good.

They say a shared apartment costs $250/month near the campus. That leaves me $300/month for living or about $10/day. Toughie. I guess I can duke it out for 2 years with a bit of my own money or a 10 hour/week on-campus job given the carrot that I might get into a goodly ranked PhD program after 2 years. I hear Marquette is good at placing their students in very decent PhD programs.

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Doesn't mean you're waitlisted for funding. Remember that a lot of MA programs do not even fund their students. They cover a large part of your tuition fee? Consider yourself lucky.

Does the 6600$/10 months include any work on your part or is it pure fellowship? Even if it does, you can always get an extra RAship or two.

I'm doing my MA without any funding, had to work both as a TA, as an RA and as a glorified secretary for a research institute, and will get out with a 4.00. It's totally feasible.

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Doesn't mean you're waitlisted for funding. Remember that a lot of MA programs do not even fund their students. They cover a large part of your tuition fee? Consider yourself lucky.

Does the 6600$/10 months include any work on your part or is it pure fellowship? Even if it does, you can always get an extra RAship or two.

I'm doing my MA without any funding, had to work both as a TA, as an RA and as a glorified secretary for a research institute, and will get out with a 4.00. It's totally feasible.

It's a half-RA, so yes, I would be working 10 hours/week. But that's what I want, so it's cool. The $6600 is a stipend, besides that, they are giving a tuition remission of 12 of the 18 credits in a year and coverage of half the health insurance costs.

Would you please explain what you meant by that they are not "waitlisting" me for funding. I'm mighty confused by the term "alternate for funding".

The e-mail also said this.

I will be in touch with you immediately if your status changes from alternate to recipient of this financial aid package. In that case, you will also receive a formal written offer from the Graduate School........If we are able to extend the offer to you before April 1, the deadline for responding to the offer will be April 15. If we cannot extend the offer to you before April 1, you will have two weeks upon receiving the offer to accept it or decline it.
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Folks, Columbia is staying mum. Best to sit tight and hope for good news.

did you contact them? if so, i take it they didn't tell you anything? if that's the case, i dunno...that says "rejection wave forthcoming" to me as soon as they get around to it - if we were indeed waitlisted, why wouldn't they say something?

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Congratulations. Your season is almost done. You'll be ABD by the time UNC notifies...

Lol. And I think I might have the damned degree by the time NW does so!

Actually, my signature is a bit misleading. Even though I've heard from nearly everywhere and should be settling into decision-making mode, I'm still obsessing quite a bit over UNC as it's the only program that wouldn't necessitate moving in order to attend. The pessimist (and realist) in me is expecting to ultimately be rejected, but I'm still holding out some hope for good news.

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Lol. And I think I might have the damned degree by the time NW does so!

Actually, my signature is a bit misleading. Even though I've heard from nearly everywhere and should be settling into decision-making mode, I'm still obsessing quite a bit over UNC as it's the only program that wouldn't necessitate moving in order to attend. The pessimist (and realist) in me is expecting to ultimately be rejected, but I'm still holding out some hope for good news.

You've got a pretty good record so far into the admissions game; I wouldn't be pessimistic about UNC if I were you.

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Mormegil, your prospective stipend support from Marquette would be "at the poverty level" if you were actually in a PhD program for five years and had no other source of income. The fact that you're being seriously considered not only for tuition remission but also a significant stipend for an MA program is outstanding! Most Masters do not fund there students or if they do, certainly do not offer both tuition and a stipend. Just take on a small loan to supplement your income and live a little. Be happy you will be living in Milwaukee and not NYC or San Fran, or your bill would be much higher. And good luck with PhD programs next year! May you land a great school with full funding! :P

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Dear Amanda -

What I can tell you is that the first round of offers have been sent to applicants. Technically these applicants have until April 15 to tell us their decision, but we're hoping for answers before that. Depending on how many people accept the offers, there may be a second round of offers going out as soon as this week.

Some decisions have started to be entered into the online application system, but due to the high number of applicants this will take a few weeks to complete. There is a 48-hour lag between data entry and when decisions are viewable.

I hope this answers your questions at least partially. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Carolyn

-----

Carolyn Riehl-Mitchell

Graduate Program Assistant

Department of Political Science

Northwestern University

Scott Hall, 601 University Place

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Dear Amanda -

What I can tell you is that the first round of offers have been sent to applicants. Technically these applicants have until April 15 to tell us their decision, but we're hoping for answers before that. Depending on how many people accept the offers, there may be a second round of offers going out as soon as this week.

Some decisions have started to be entered into the online application system, but due to the high number of applicants this will take a few weeks to complete. There is a 48-hour lag between data entry and when decisions are viewable.

I hope this answers your questions at least partially. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Carolyn

-----

Carolyn Riehl-Mitchell

Graduate Program Assistant

Department of Political Science

Northwestern University

Scott Hall, 601 University Place

they've already rejected people, right? if so, that's definitely a waitlist email, so sort of congrats. you're still in the game. i don't get why some schools don't tell you you're on a waitlist early - most do, some opt for waiting to hear back from their higher-ranked candidates. i get why they don't admit you initially - considering the economy, schools may need to exercise great caution to ensure they don't over-admit. but why not at least tell you initially that you're on a waitlist? if they're worried about people on that list bombarding them with emails/calls, just make it clear that there will be no further info until they give it to you.

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Dear Amanda -

What I can tell you is that the first round of offers have been sent to applicants. Technically these applicants have until April 15 to tell us their decision, but we're hoping for answers before that. Depending on how many people accept the offers, there may be a second round of offers going out as soon as this week.

Some decisions have started to be entered into the online application system, but due to the high number of applicants this will take a few weeks to complete. There is a 48-hour lag between data entry and when decisions are viewable.

I hope this answers your questions at least partially. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Carolyn

-----

Carolyn Riehl-Mitchell

Graduate Program Assistant

Department of Political Science

Northwestern University

Scott Hall, 601 University Place

That is very similar to an email I received a few weeks ago except with a mention of APRIL 15. I guess they DO NOT have an official waitlist.

At least she is very nice about it.

Let us just hope for the best.

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Mormegil, your prospective stipend support from Marquette would be "at the poverty level" if you were actually in a PhD program for five years and had no other source of income. The fact that you're being seriously considered not only for tuition remission but also a significant stipend for an MA program is outstanding! Most Masters do not fund there students or if they do, certainly do not offer both tuition and a stipend. Just take on a small loan to supplement your income and live a little. Be happy you will be living in Milwaukee and not NYC or San Fran, or your bill would be much higher. And good luck with PhD programs next year! May you land a great school with full funding! :P

Thank you. :)

I contacted the DGS at Marquette. I am indeed wait listed for funding and by his words it seems I'm pretty high in the list. The DGS did mention that if I finally get the financial aid I'm waitlisted or "alternate" for, he could 'arm-twist" the grad school in giving me a full tuition waiver. Even if that isn't the case I don't mind working on-campus or take out a mild-sized loan.

So waiting seems to be in order. And yes, if I do get the aid at Marquette, a very decent MA program if i say so, I am planning to enroll there (provided i get ditched by the phd programs i'm waiting for, i.e. JHU, NWU and Brown which probably is the case).

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