SUPERLATIVES!!

[whirlibird]

'SUP, PEEPS!

Okay, so, I've been sitting on this idea, but I thought now might be a nice time. I dunno, just went with my gut or something.

I propose...superlatives! What are our favorite Poli Sci GradCafe-ers most likely to do? Where will they go in the future? What do they do now? What sorts of fashion trends are they mostly likely to start? What mythological beast would they keep as a pet?

These can be serious...they can be humorous...they shouldn't be malicious...they should be FUN!

For example:

grantman is most likely to moonlight as a motivational speaker

Users can get more than one superlative; we have different aspects to our [perceived] personalities! I hope that everyone gets a few!

Let's have fun while we can, since we're desperate to sign our lives away to the vortex of misery known as academia!

[Adornopolisci2012]

I nominate Ironheel for most likely to spend his graduate career at a sporting event.

[balderdash]

RWBG for most likely to develop a predictive model for the likelihood of winning superlatives.

[Ironheel!!]

RWBG for most likely to develop a predictive model for the likelihood of winning superlatives.

Hehehe!

[Ironheel!!]

I'll throw two:

Adorno: Most likely to be taking classes outside the political science department (Critical theoy!).

April: Most likely to develop the future "universal" application for political science Phd programs.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Ironheel!!

[Max Power]

[CafeAuLait12]

I've got one:

Whirlibird: Most likely to make us smile and laugh while we are stressed out waiting for decisions.

[amblingnymph]

Adornopolisci2012: Most likely to run a snarky, popular blog on politics.

[RWBG]

RWBG for most likely to develop a predictive model for the likelihood of winning superlatives.

It's hard to get at the data (gradcafe does not publish more detailed posting statistics that include the time intervals of posting) but I suspect that most superlatives will be awarded to people who've been active since the present cycle began; let's say about since November. In which case, the model would probably look like:

pi =(xwi / Σwi) + Ɛi

Where pi is the probability any person i ∈ S (where S is the set of all posters who have posted in the past five months on the political science forum) has of winning a superlative, wi is the number of posts (in polisci) by any i∈S over the past 5 months, x is the total number of superlatives awarded, and Ɛ is the error term of the model. Thus, your probability of winning a superlative is your percentage share of total posts times the number of superlatives, with an error term allowing for some variation based on unmeasurable intangibles.

Edit: I'll try to think of ways to improve the model. We have data on reputation points, so maybe adjusting pi using some weighting of the number of standard deviations above or below the reputation mean that person is might serve as a proxy variable for "forum impact".

Edited March 8, 2012 by RWBG

[saltlakecity2012]

I nominate balderdash for most likely to cultivate a very sage-like beard

[grantman]

'SUP, PEEPS!

Okay, so, I've been sitting on this idea, but I thought now might be a nice time. I dunno, just went with my gut or something.

I propose...superlatives! What are our favorite Poli Sci GradCafe-ers most likely to do? Where will they go in the future? What do they do now? What sorts of fashion trends are they mostly likely to start? What mythological beast would they keep as a pet?

These can be serious...they can be humorous...they shouldn't be malicious...they should be FUN!

For example:

grantman is most likely to moonlight as a motivational speaker

Users can get more than one superlative; we have different aspects to our [perceived] personalities! I hope that everyone gets a few!

Let's have fun while we can, since we're desperate to sign our lives away to the vortex of misery known as academia!

While I appreciate the sentiment, I think I would be a terrible motivational speaker especially given the fact I still have terrible stage fright.

[whirlibird]

I've got one:

Whirlibird: Most likely to make us smile and laugh while we are stressed out waiting for decisions.

Aw, shucks...

Nice ones so far, guys!

[balderdash]

I nominate balderdash for most likely to cultivate a very sage-like beard

Dunno about sage-like, but I am indeed hirsute. (Not every day one gets to utilize that adjective.)