Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[RWBG]

just curious about which school udated the website before sending the letter?  (so i can direct my obsessive checking appropriately if i applied there!!)

 

Wisconsin-Madison.

[aulait]

Received an email from Indiana U today asking me to fill out a supplemental application for the Canadian university I have 9 transfer credits from (oh, paperwork).

 

BUT, it included this line: "Also, Our DGS, Bill Scheuerman, has identified you as a possible candidate for a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), and he would like you to apply for one." As in, the professor of international political theory that I want to work with? Does this mean they're considering my application? Or just that they noticed a non-standard language on my transcripts? The panic that came with no contact is nothing compared to the panic that comes with vague contact.

[PoliSwede]

Received an email from Indiana U today asking me to fill out a supplemental application for the Canadian university I have 9 transfer credits from (oh, paperwork).

 

BUT, it included this line: "Also, Our DGS, Bill Scheuerman, has identified you as a possible candidate for a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), and he would like you to apply for one." As in, the professor of international political theory that I want to work with? Does this mean they're considering my application? Or just that they noticed a non-standard language on my transcripts? The panic that came with no contact is nothing compared to the panic that comes with vague contact.

While we can't be sure, that must be a good sign for your application. Surely it can't be bad at least.

[Longtime Lurker]

I don't know if this has been discussed yet in this thread (I've not read through all 20 pages), but is it common that programs decide on applicants by subfield? For example, they'd first do Americanists, then CP, IR, etc. Anyone who knows?

 

 

The majority of anecdotal remarks that I've seen suggest that programs initially evaluate all of their applicants concurrently in order to collect a group that has advanced to the "final round," so to speak.  Thereafter, some admissions committees likely select their preferred applicants in each field as you describe (i.e., if they want 50 students, they might choose their top ten Americanists, then their top ten theorists, etc.).  Alternatively, other departments that seek 50 admits might simply grant admission to their top 30 students regardless of sub-field, and then use the remaining 20 slots to ensure that their admit pool is sufficiently well-balanced across the various sub-fields.  Obviously those are generalizations, and the process presumably changes based on department politics and desires, the committee, the applicant pool, etc., so we can only guess at how common various methods are.

 

As far as notifications are concerned, some schools seem to notify accepted students in waves, while others announce the vast majority of decisions simultaneously.  From what I remember of the 2011-2012 thread, Michigan, for example, notified almost all of their admitted students on the same day in early February, while Yale contacted students individually over several weeks.  As such, if the department selects in stages it's possible that all of the accepted theorists at a given school could hear back before any of the IR folks.  On the other hand, some schools make initial admissions notifications via POIs, in which case a similar situation could arise in which students from one sub-field are notified prior to the others simply because one professor has an opportunity to make contact before his/her colleagues, even if all of the admissions decisions were made at the same meeting.

 

Either way, when the first wave of admissions from a school is posted on the results page, those of us that haven't heard the good news often cross our fingers and hope that the department simply hasn't yet notified people in our sub-field. 

[PoliSwede]

Thank you Longtime Lurker. Great/helpful reply.

[PhDhopeful2013]

Wisconsin-Madison.

 

thanks.  didn't apply there... guess I'll have to find another way to rationalize obsessive status checking!

[setgree]

On an unrelated note, I just called Michicgan's office to check if everything in my app was in, and the nice woman who picked up the phone said that the commitee reviewing applications had wrapped up last week. I thought it would be gauche to ask if that meant decisions would be coming soon, but I assume it does mean that. Good luck y'all!

 

Also to the person going to Thailand- have fun! I taught in southern thailand last year, it was wild. Khao Lak is paradise, i'd highly recommend making a stop there!

[PoliSwede]

On an unrelated note, I just called Michicgan's office to check if everything in my app was in, and the nice woman who picked up the phone said that the commitee reviewing applications had wrapped up last week.

Thank you so much. If you need me, I'll be curled up in a ball in the corner over there.

[balledematch]

Congrats to everyone who has received good news so far! I applied to OSU as well, so I was very interested in hearing about the acceptance already posted. All this action is just making me more and more anxious....second cycle and all....

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Congrats to everyone who has received good news so far! I applied to OSU as well, so I was very interested in hearing about the acceptance already posted. All this action is just making me more and more anxious....second cycle and all....

You got it....dont worry about it

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Thank you so much. If you need me, I'll be curled up in a ball in the corner over there.

You wont be academically homeless next year so you have less to worry about than others lol

[PhDhopeful2013]

You wont be academically homeless next year so you have less to worry about than others lol

 yes! i would love to have an acceptance in hand right about now... it would reduce my stomach-churning anxiety down to a level more akin to intense curiosity.... but sincere congrats to everyone already accepted somewhere so far!!  soon the results board will start heating up for all of us! gonna be fun....

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

 yes! i would love to have an acceptance in hand right about now... it would reduce my stomach-churning anxiety down to a level more akin to intense curiosity.... but sincere congrats to everyone already accepted somewhere so far!!  soon the results board will start heating up for all of us! gonna be fun....

As someone who finished applications in December...I second this. I burned bridges and i am out of Letter of Recommendation requests...so I am on pins and needles

[Quigley]

On an unrelated note, I just called Michigan's office to check if everything in my app was in, and the nice woman who picked up the phone said that the commitee reviewing applications had wrapped up last week.

 

Thanks for sharing this!   None of my schools have shown up on the results board yet, but it's strange to realize that in many cases it has already been determined if we are in or out and we are just waiting to get the news at this point.

 

Wisconsin-Madison.

 

Good to know.  Do you remember how long it took for the e-mail to come after you saw the notice on Wisconsin's site last year?  They notified on the 24th last year (today).

Edited January 24, 2013 by Quigley

[Quigley]

 yes! i would love to have an acceptance in hand right about now... it would reduce my stomach-churning anxiety down to a level more akin to intense curiosity.... but sincere congrats to everyone already accepted somewhere so far!!  soon the results board will start heating up for all of us! gonna be fun....

 

Absolutely!  I promised my friends and family that I'd stop acting like a crazy person when/if I have a single acceptance and would be ecstatic to attend any of the programs I've applied to.  I hope we all get good news soon.

[PoliSwede]

You wont be academically homeless next year so you have less to worry about than others lol

That is true.

 

I really hope that all of you who haven't received any word yet get at least one acceptance in the near future (to a school that you would enjoy attending).

[Mnemonics2]

That was what I was wondering! I mean they had a December 1 deadline..I was wondering when we would hear. Good luck. I am going for CP/IR

 

Thanks, good luck to you too. I am also CP/IR. But I have...interesting connections with that program. So we'll see what happens!

[balledematch]

Thanks for the nice words, everyone...I'm with those of you who have promised friends and family (mostly my dad, really) that I would stop acting like a neurotic nutter the second I get into just one place. Hopefully it happens for all of us within the next 10 days or so! I'd give nearly anything to just hear some good news asap. Makes it difficult to concentrate on my master's lol oh well

[Quigley]

For anyone waiting to hear from Wisconsin, I noticed the following on their status check site for the first time today, which means that after logging in several times already today, I can chill out until tomorrow morning.

 

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. The information provided is not a contract or offer to contract. The program may have made a recommendation or decision that has not yet been reported to the Graduate School. Due to varying program deadlines, processing of your materials/checklist items will also vary. Please allow 14 days for your program to check off receipt of materials. We update the status check at 7:00 a.m. each work day.

[cthulhu]

For anyone waiting to hear from Wisconsin, I noticed the following on their status check site for the first time today, which means that after logging in several times already today, I can chill out until tomorrow morning.

 

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. The information provided is not a contract or offer to contract. The program may have made a recommendation or decision that has not yet been reported to the Graduate School. Due to varying program deadlines, processing of your materials/checklist items will also vary. Please allow 14 days for your program to check off receipt of materials. We update the status check at 7:00 a.m. each work day.

 

Thanks for the post!! I can't log into the site since I somehow forgot the password. Unfortunately, you can only unblock your account by calling them - which I won't I hope we will get notifications by e-mail, though.

 

Fingers crossed that we all end up in great places!

[RiffRam]

For anyone waiting to hear from Wisconsin, I noticed the following on their status check site for the first time today, which means that after logging in several times already today, I can chill out until tomorrow morning.

 

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. The information provided is not a contract or offer to contract. The program may have made a recommendation or decision that has not yet been reported to the Graduate School. Due to varying program deadlines, processing of your materials/checklist items will also vary. Please allow 14 days for your program to check off receipt of materials. We update the status check at 7:00 a.m. each work day.

Thanks for that! Unfortunately, I'm sure this will not deter me from checking at least once an hour.

[KingCrab]

Received an email from Indiana U today asking me to fill out a supplemental application for the Canadian university I have 9 transfer credits from (oh, paperwork).

 

BUT, it included this line: "Also, Our DGS, Bill Scheuerman, has identified you as a possible candidate for a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), and he would like you to apply for one." As in, the professor of international political theory that I want to work with? Does this mean they're considering my application? Or just that they noticed a non-standard language on my transcripts? The panic that came with no contact is nothing compared to the panic that comes with vague contact.

 

So in my humble opinion this is a great sign.  I received a FLAS for my MA studies and it is 50% funded by the Dept of Education and 50% funded by your University/Program. If a program is considering putting up 50% of the cost of your tuition/stipend/healthcare that seems like an indicator they are likely going to offer admission. If they weren't seriously considering your application I doubt they'd waste your time. 

 

FYI when I received a FLAS for one year it covered my full tuition, $15,000 stipend, and healthcare.  At my school it required you take formal (or even somewhat informal!) language training and additionally one related area course per semester.  However, 'area course' is very loosely defined.  I sold a theory class as an area course by stating my paper topic involved East Asia.  The application process was simple and not overly time consuming.  

[Longtime Lurker]

I was admitted to FSU today (via phone) and know one other person who has also been notified.  We're both in IR.  I'm not sure whether all decisions have been made, but it sounded like more notifications would be distributed in the next week or so.

[Quigley]

Congratulations! 

[your humble servant]

My fellow political science friends. I would like to claim an Ohio State acceptance! Nice to hear back from a school and really nice to know they find my worthy to join them! 

Edited January 25, 2013 by your humble servant