Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[eponine997]

Hmm. My guess is that the very top Departments wouldn't feel the need to change a thing, since they generally place well (which is one of the main criteria by which they are judged to be top Departments), and that what this would mean is a diminution of the programs at lower-ranked schools and probably an increase in the already-high concentration of placements coming from top departments.

 

Oh I realize this isn't actually going to happen.  Everyone applies to PhD programs thinking they will work hard and "it won't be me" who has insufficient publications, struggling on the job market, taking 7 years instead of 5, who is not less than LOVED by profs in their program.  We wouldn't apply if we didn't believe we would be successful.  

 

Then after a couple years in the program, they see other smart, hard-working students struggling on the job market or ending up at less than desirable places... their probability calculus changes: suddenly that certain, yet less preferred, return X now (less desirable work perhaps for decent money and a desirable location), becomes a better option over an uncertain, yet preferred, for return Y in the future (tenure track job).  Other job offers, family obligations, etc. probably play into that, but if the latter outcome were more certain (somehow) there might still be less incentive to quit early for any other reason.  I guess bottom line, I'm arguing it has a lot to do with expected value, but its the perceived probability of the outcome changing rather than the value of the outcome.  Does that make sense?  Agree? Disagree? Thoughts?  

*Tired, please don't judge to harshly if I butchered that somehow, I THINK my general point is there...

 

Weighing in on the discussion of decreasing attrition. I would think increasing grad student stipends might actually increase attrition in that doing so would prevent the inherent weeding out of those lacking the passion for their discipline to actually complete a program. In other words, those of us willing to live on a $10-20,000 stipend plus loans for 6+ years to earn the PhD are the same ones passionate (crazy?) enough to suceed in the field.  

 

You are probably on to something here... effectively it could just become a low-paying job where people "work" until they can get a higher paying job (which is probably sooner than 5-7 years).  I'll be honest, my funded MA allowed me to: put myself in a much better financial position than I was before I started, do an internship I wouldn't have been eligible for as a non-student, make some connections, get free training for (non-academic, non-poli-sci) job skills - and that was entirely my plan going into it.  Sadly, I made the mistake of falling in love with academia, so now here I am... (granted, if my terminal MA program weren't terminating soon, I'd be gone ALREADY)  

[eponine997]

Runner12 was accepted to Harvard's PEG program, which is different than the larger Department of Government and puts out acceptances at different times. I absolutely beleive runner's claim and I think PEG was done some time ago.

 

Oh you're right, i DO remember that now.  He responded to something a page or two ago (I got admitted to Harvard, Princeton and Yale... blah blah) and that's what I was thinking of.  = I honestly can't remember if this frees your from hat-eating or not

[student90210]

Do you have any idea how many applications UMD gets every year and how many they accept? 

[PhDhopeful2013]

For what it's worth, whoever recommended contacting Thom Wall was spot on. Quality human being.

[Jeremyrgs]

I think he is giving out some different information. I did get the same response, but with a slightly different tone. Not exactly positive, but with the offer of some hope.

 

Yeah I'm pretty far down the waitlist based on what the DGS said. 

[kaykaykay]

I think calling trolls all the time when an unlikely acceptance pops up is very unproductive. Someone said that there are a lot of trolls this year and that current graduate students are having fun with posting those here.I would be very surprised if graduate students would be having fun by posting random university acceptances(trolls were called for acceptances for all sorts of universities).

The truth is there are a number a reasons that someone would learn earlier that he/she is accepted than the rest of the students. I was told that I was accepted to a program 2 weeks before anyone else knew that they were because some funding issues. They told me this directly.If someone called the university they would have said that they did not start notifying people at the time. But in some cases faculty wants to inform the students they want to work with by calling them etc, some people do a masters in a given university and get notified in person. so there can be a lot of reasons to learn your status earlier than others.

As you can see it above, saying every time when you see a single acceptance that people are trolling can really offend people. Also it can further confuse stressed out people. I think a better approach is to think about these lone acceptances that they are real but they may not say anything about your status.

[PoliSwede]

I think a better approach is to think about these lone acceptances that they are real but they may not say anything about your status.

While I am sure that there are trolls who post on the board, although I have no idea how many, this is sound advice.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Lemeard

[doctoralgrad23]

Cycle is over for me. 6 application, 2 positive and 4 negative replies. Not bad. I got an acceptance from one of my top chocies. However, I need to solve problems about scholarship.

 

Good Luck everyone. If ı could start the program, I would do my best here to help other applicants for next cycle.

[Mnemonics2]

Only five days until the new USNWR rankings are unveiled. Is anyone else interested in seeing what has changed? Will it actually affect anyone's decision (change or consolidate)?

[ehdrums]

For anyone still curious, I just received notification from UChicago about rejection from PhD/acceptance to MAPSS. 

[S0812]

Me as well. Rejected and given a half tuition scholarship to MAPSS.

[chaetzli]

Me as well. Rejected and given a half tuition scholarship to MAPSS.

After receiving acceptances from Harvard and Yale you're probably not too disappointed

[S0812]

I certainly don't have anything to complain about . It is nice to have heard from everyone now though.

[Jeremyrgs]

I also heard back from Chicago today. Offered acceptance to MAPSS with full tuition - I didn't even know that was a possibility.

That makes the offer somewhat tempting... live for a year in an awesome city and then hopefully break into the top 20 with my phd apps next cycle.

But I doubt I'll choose taking out loans over cash-in-hand. Also, Penn is a great fit for me... I'm just a little worried about placement.

Any thoughts?

[Guest hopefulfool]

I also heard back from Chicago today. Offered acceptance to MAPSS with full tuition - I didn't even know that was a possibility.

That makes the offer somewhat tempting... live for a year in an awesome city and then hopefully break into the top 20 with my phd apps next cycle.

But I doubt I'll choose taking out loans over cash-in-hand. Also, Penn is a great fit for me... I'm just a little worried about placement.

Any thoughts?

What is your subfield? 

[student90210]

What's wrong with the results board? So many trolls and people that post the same results multiple times! 

[Jeremyrgs]

What is your subfield? 

 

Comparative

[ehdrums]

I also heard back from Chicago today. Offered acceptance to MAPSS with full tuition - I didn't even know that was a possibility.

That makes the offer somewhat tempting... live for a year in an awesome city and then hopefully break into the top 20 with my phd apps next cycle.

But I doubt I'll choose taking out loans over cash-in-hand. Also, Penn is a great fit for me... I'm just a little worried about placement.

Any thoughts?

I was offered half-tuition at MAPSS rather than full, so it's not really an option for me, but full would have made it slightly more enticing in my case as well. I think it'd be a bit of a gamble to take out loans for a year over funded offers, simply based on the possibility that you might get a few offers from better schools next time around. It would be another thing if an MAPSS degree was a guarantor of securing better offers, but my impression, based on other threads about it, is that it is not. 

Also, didn't you mention earlier that you really liked BU's department? Penn has placed a few Ph.Ds in their PS department in (TT? not sure) positions over the last couple of years.

[oddball2]

I haven't posted results on the board at all - but as someone who has heard from two departments well before results were posted, I find the results 99% credible.

[Tacocat]

I also heard back from Chicago today. Offered acceptance to MAPSS with full tuition - I didn't even know that was a possibility.

That makes the offer somewhat tempting... live for a year in an awesome city and then hopefully break into the top 20 with my phd apps next cycle.

But I doubt I'll choose taking out loans over cash-in-hand. Also, Penn is a great fit for me... I'm just a little worried about placement.

Any thoughts?

 

I'm in a really similar position, but am still waiting from funding from Penn. If funding doesn't happen, this is an obvious choice for me, Chicago. However, if I do get funding at Penn, it will be a bit trickier. Is it worth taking a year (probably without loans as I could live at home) and trying to get into top programs next year or should I take a guaranteed PhD position if I have one? My subfield is theory, which means that Penn is in the top 20 according to UNSWR. However, it might be even more important for me to be in a top program, because the theory job market is pretty dismal. I know this is all conjecture at this point because it depends on funding at Penn, but does anyone have any thoughts or advice? Thanks!

[dworkable]

I also just received a full tuition offer of acceptance from Chicago MAPPS. Very nice letter.

[Jeremyrgs]

I was offered half-tuition at MAPSS rather than full, so it's not really an option for me, but full would have made it slightly more enticing in my case as well. I think it'd be a bit of a gamble to take out loans for a year over funded offers, simply based on the possibility that you might get a few offers from better schools next time around. It would be another thing if an MAPSS degree was a guarantor of securing better offers, but my impression, based on other threads about it, is that it is not. 

Also, didn't you mention earlier that you really liked BU's department? Penn has placed a few Ph.Ds in their PS department in (TT? not sure) positions over the last couple of years.

 

Thanks for the helpful post ehdrums. I hadn't done any looking into MAPSS because I was never really considering it before this morning, but it certainly isn't guaranteed to up my game. That being said, it seems like it would be a relatively low-pressure environment in which to take (for the most part) whatever courses I want for free and really be prepared to excel in a full-fledged PhD program without delaying more than one year.

 

And you're right, I am a big fan of alot of the BU faculty and Penn has had two TT placements there in recent years. In fact, Penn has had several really enviable placements (IMO) in recent years, however, all of these seem to be in IR/Security rather than comparative.

[pingsmile]

To people who've been waitlisted at UVA, they are hosting a visitation weekend on the 23rd. I guess most candidates would at least do the visitation before making a decision. PM me if you need more info.

[ehdrums]

Thanks for the helpful post ehdrums. I hadn't done any looking into MAPSS because I was never really considering it before this morning, but it certainly isn't guaranteed to up my game. That being said, it seems like it would be a relatively low-pressure environment in which to take (for the most part) whatever courses I want for free and really be prepared to excel in a full-fledged PhD program without delaying more than one year.

 

And you're right, I am a big fan of alot of the BU faculty and Penn has had two TT placements there in recent years. In fact, Penn has had several really enviable placements (IMO) in recent years, however, all of these seem to be in IR/Security rather than comparative.

I mean, it's also definitely possible that MAPSS could lead to an offer better (in terms of rank) than Penn. They give a list of funded PS Ph.D. offers their Class of 2012 received: 

"Of the 18 candidates we supported in 2012, 16 (89%) have offers from: Chicago (4), Brown, North Carolina, Harvard, NYU, Yale, Texas, Georgetown, UC-Berkeley, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Toronto, Michigan, UC-Los Angeles, Washington-Seattle, Notre-Dame, Wisconsin, Minnesota, McGill, Indiana, Temple, Florida, SUNY-Binghamton, UC-Santa Cruz, UC-Santa Barbara, Southern California, York, Michigan State."

http://mapss.uchicago.edu/the_ma/why_mapss/our_outcomes/phd_placements

Something like half of those programs are equally or lower ranked than Penn, and the rest higher. So yeah, I guess it might be a gamble but less so given that you have full funding! 

Edited March 7, 2013 by ehdrums

[GopherGrad]

 

I think calling trolls all the time when an unlikely acceptance pops up is very unproductive.

 

To the extent that this is meant for me, I actually agree with it. What I keep suggesting is that we completely ignore them. Who knows if they are trolls, have some inside track or special circumstance that would 1) garner them an earlier than usual acceptance and 2) prevent a regular poster from simply claiming and explaining it on this thread? Who cares?

 

My point is and always has been that some number of these reports have appeared in fits and starts for every major program over the last three cycles, and in every case they were followed by a more traditional burst of admissions, some of which are claimed by known personalities in a thread like this one. It may be that Harvard is different this year for some reason, but I wouldn't worry about the sky falling until after the obligatory page of congratulations fades away.

 

To the extent that anyone who just got into Harvard was wounded that GopherGrad, of The Internet didn't trust your anonymous posts, I apologize. It was not my intent to rain on a parade to which I almost certainly won't be invited.