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Posted
Thanks guys. I e-mailed the grad admissions assistant and she told me.

Absolutely FANTASTIC twright! I'm glad to hear that you have good news so early on this glorious Monday morning!

Plisar

Posted
Thanks guys. I e-mailed the grad admissions assistant and she told me.

Alright, well I'm about to you follow your lead and inquire. Wish me luck.

Posted

Alright, well I'm about to you follow your lead and inquire. Wish me luck.

Same here, I guess that will be less painful than sitting around and waiting for any results.

Posted

Same here, I guess that will be less painful than sitting around and waiting for any results.

My thoughts exactly. Good luck to the both of us.

Posted

The grad secretary is going to rue the day she told twright about his or her's admission! :)

Posted

My thoughts exactly. Good luck to the both of us.

Spot on my friend! I sent out my e-mail a minute or two ago. Will let you guys know once I hear back.

Posted
The grad secretary is going to rue the day she told twright about his or her's admission! :)

Yep, that's pretty much the first thing I thought. Hopefully she realizes how much of a favor she's doing us by relieving our anxiety. :)

Posted

aaahhhh.... I don't think I got admitted to UVA. The grad secretary replied back but merely told me that an letter will be sent out by this week. My misery piles on!

Posted

When contacting schools, are you contacting the graduate admissions folks or the actual polisci departments?

Congrats on UVA. I have a friend in the PhD program nd he loves it.

Posted

Regarding the conversation a few pages back on whether "real world" experience matters, I will try to be clearer this time. It is a double edged sword. For some people it really helps. If your SOP signals you are committed to academia and know what you are getting into, having the experience will help you, you will likely be picked over someone coming straight from undergrad. BUT if your SOP does not signal that very clearly, it can hurt you, as they will think you really just want a career change and don't know what academia is really about. Especially this year, when schools are getting more of these type of applicaitons, it will be harder to sort the ones with real commitment from the ones without. It falls on you to show that, the committees only get a file and can't read minds.

In general, whether coming straight from undergrad or not, it is important to show in your SOP that you are committed to academia and that you know what polisci is about. There are some very good applications that read more like promising history or sociology PhDs. Many people don't even know what the polisci subfields are or who they want to work with. If you don't show you belong in polisci, it doesn't matter if you have amazing experience or if you were the star undergrad, you won't get in.

Posted
When contacting schools, are you contacting the graduate admissions folks or the actual polisci departments?

Congrats on UVA. I have a friend in the PhD program nd he loves it.

The polisci departments. I'm guessing they have the inner scoop. Although, as I understand it, these decisions are made after deliberations with the grad school.

Posted

The polisci departments. I'm guessing they have the inner scoop. Although, as I understand it, these decisions are made after deliberations with the grad school.

Nope, that is not true. The grad school only steps in if the students are below certain universal standards, typically:

3.0 GPA or Less

1100 Combined GRE or Less

Anything else, and the grad school is simply a rubber stamp.

Posted

Nope, that is not true. The grad school only steps in if the students are below certain universal standards, typically:

3.0 GPA or Less

1100 Combined GRE or Less

Anything else, and the grad school is simply a rubber stamp.

erm, I have no idea. I'm just guessing. :?

So the grad school has no say how much money a department gets each year for funding students?

Posted

erm, I have no idea. I'm just guessing. :?

So the grad school has no say how much money a department gets each year for funding students?

Indeed, they do have say in that, but usually it is decided before they are admitting students, and not after they've begun making decisions. The size of the cohort is typically predetermined -- the department then admits the number of students necessary to achieve, but not overshoot, that predetermined size.

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