Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[polisciftw]

Questions about yield are also why most applications ask you where you are applying, so that schools have a sense of their competition. And, as I thought I had after I submitted before, striking the ideal balance between offers of admission and yield is the reason why schools generally don't send out rejection letters until some time after they release their acceptances. Doing this gives them the opportunity to offer admission to students who are on an "unofficial waitlist" if admitted students inform the department they will not be accepting their offer. IIRC, Harvard had a really rough time with getting its ideal yield numbers a couple of years ago and had to rescind some rejections and offer to admit some previously rejected students. But in essence, schools certainly have tiers of admitted students and will admit in waves.

[RWBG]

Sure, it could well be that I am wrong. I'm not currently on an admissions committee. But I do know several people who are, and I am describing the process that I am familiar with at three universities. I doubt admitting people in waves creates any palpable waves in a cohort.

And schools certainly force deadlines to commit to their opening student weekend either by setting an RSVP deadline or offering a maximum travel reimbursement. That makes it more difficult to book trips at the last minute. While schools are certainly open (I'd hope!) to students visiting outside of the visiting students weekend, there is certainly competition. Schools do want you to make an informed decision instead of being disappointed later, but they also want their top picks.

I'm not suggesting that schools contact people on wait lists, but that agreeing to attend an opening student weekend provides useful information to a department about how likely their first round candidates are to select their school. If, for instance, no student admitted in the first wave commits to attending the weekend, then that is critical information that will likely prompt a department to update its second round offers.

Nothing I say should be taken as the gospel (or even accurate) about all programs, which are all heterogeneous and have their own traditions. But the incentives for a department to get as many of its first round picks exist for all departments, and they do take steps to maximize their yield.

 

So, I think there are theoretical reasons for and against the idea of admitting in waves. Whether it is the case that it is commonly used as a tool to deal with yield issues, ensure competitiveness for their top candidates, etc. is an empirical question which I can't answer conclusively. I can say that in none of the schools I was admitted to was this the case, nor is it the case at my current department. Some schools admitted students at different times, but the admits weren't far enough apart that I think there's much likelihood of it having served some strategic purpose. I can also say that from two years of obsessively going over the results section on these forums, and reviewing the results from previous years in an attempt to predict when schools I was interested in would send out acceptances, it was rare that schools admitted students in the fashion you described (i.e. in waves), at least for US political science departments. This data would, however, be skewed to the departments I was interested in, so maybe it was true for schools I didn't look at? Some Canadian departments on the other hand (particularly Canadian master's programs) did exactly what you describe for much the same reasons. Were the three admissions processes you're familiar with US political science Ph.D programs? If so, that's interesting to me, and I'd be curious to hear which schools they were, although I'd understand if you'd prefer not to share that information. Does anyone else have experiences with US political science programs where they observed this wave phenomenon?

Also, as far as admit weekend scheduling, I know that all the schools I was admitted to gave me plenty of leeway before confirming my attendance, and there appeared to be a lot of planning behind the scenes to minimize conflicts between schools. Generally, schools that admitted students later had later admit weekends. I didn't really meet many people for whom the issue of conflicting admit weekends actually came up.

[polisciftw]

The schools I'm familiar with are American schools. That's interesting about the Canadian schools, but I have no idea what could cause that there (as I'm utterly unfamiliar with their university system). When I refer to waves, I don't think I mean to imply strictly distinct waves (i.e. weeks apart). But several schools last time around informed me with a week gap between some first admits and when I received notification.

[PoliSwede]

What about schools that do not have official "visit weekends" and let you choose yourself when you want to visit? Is that rare, or common?

[RWBG]

What about schools that do not have official "visit weekends" and let you choose yourself when you want to visit? Is that rare, or common?

I've never heard of that in the US.

[PoliSwede]

I've never heard of that in the US.

Well, I do know that it does happen (in the US).

Edited January 27, 2013 by Lemeard

[RWBG]

Well, I do know that it does happen (in the US).

 

I'm not doubting you! My never having heard of it may suggest (in answer to your original question) that it's rare, but I really don't know. I think most top 25 programs have organized admit weekends, but that's just based on my personal experiences and those of others I know who applied to Ph.D programs. I imagine visiting outside of the artifice of an organized admit weekend may actually give you a better sense of the department under normal conditions, but most schools I know want to take advantage of economies of scale by putting on one event at one set time. Beyond that, I have little insight to offer.

Edit: Looking at a thread from last year, Illinois looks to be somewhat atypical in this regard. They were the only school mentioned that sets up meetings individually. So it certainly seems rare. In any event, Illinois' a great program with lots of good people, and I'm sure you'll have a good visit irrespective of when you go.

Edited January 27, 2013 by RWBG

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Cheers to everyone in the room.

Here's hoping to status changes, unofficial acceptances, POI Inquiries, Random phone calls from programs and official updates!

[alittlebitofluck]

Cheers to everyone in the room.

Here's hoping to status changes, unofficial acceptances, POI Inquiries, Random phone calls from programs and official updates!

 

Seconded. I am think that tomorrow, and the following few days, will be a happening time for most of us.

[balledematch]

Cheers to everyone in the room.

Here's hoping to status changes, unofficial acceptances, POI Inquiries, Random phone calls from programs and official updates!

 

 

Seconded. I am think that tomorrow, and the following few days, will be a happening time for most of us.

I'm feeling it too. I think good things are right on the doorstep...or that could be the 80s music just pumping me up

[xcrunner]

Seconded. I am think that tomorrow, and the following few days, will be a happening time for most of us.

 

I hope you are right, best wishes to everyone!

[Quigley]

I'm feeling it too. I think good things are right on the doorstep...or that could be the 80s music just pumping me up

 

Another weekend down.  I'm hoping everyone has something to celebrate by Friday.  Good luck this week!

[PhDhopeful2013]

Ditto to all the good vibes here!! Let's hope for a good week ahead for all of us!

[alittlebitofluck]

I'm feeling it too. I think good things are right on the doorstep...or that could be the 80s music just pumping me up

 

We might have discovered a common factor to our optimism - I was listening to uplifting early 90s hits. Perhaps music has made us both delusional.

 

That said, I would rather think that we are simply looking at our futures with the right amount of skepticism and optimism.

[Tupamaros]

Wisconsin admit up, congrats! Could be a busy week

[chaetzli]

Congrats to the WM admit! Sent by postal service... how old-fashioned

[Tupamaros]

Fellow Columbia applicants, are your GREs still unmatched with your app?

[PoliSwede]

Congratulations to the UW-M admit!

 

But what is this "postal service" thing? Is it a new competitor to Google?

[zzzzzz]

G

Fellow Columbia applicants, are your GREs still unmatched with your app?

Yup. When I called the dude a few weeks ago, he said that they might never be matched on the website because they're using a new system and having trouble with it.

[Quigley]

Congratulations to whoever got mail from Madison!  Was your online status updated as well or does it still say pending?

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Congrats to the person who got the Madison admit!

After frantically emailing programs on friday, I have learned that one of mine are under review and the committee will meet next week. Any chance that an admission offer can come out sooner than the 2 weeks originally hypothesized?

[lucid1984]

Congratulations to the UW-M admit!

 

But what is this "postal service" thing? Is it a new competitor to Google?

 

Yep, They still do not work on merging test scores with my app. I emailed polisci department and made confirmation.

[Tupamaros]

G

Yup. When I called the dude a few weeks ago, he said that they might never be matched on the website because they're using a new system and having trouble with it.

Thanks for that, it did seem an inordinate amount of time.

[midwest513]

So, I think there are theoretical reasons for and against the idea of admitting in waves. Whether it is the case that it is commonly used as a tool to deal with yield issues, ensure competitiveness for their top candidates, etc. is an empirical question which I can't answer conclusively. I can say that in none of the schools I was admitted to was this the case, nor is it the case at my current department. Some schools admitted students at different times, but the admits weren't far enough apart that I think there's much likelihood of it having served some strategic purpose. I can also say that from two years of obsessively going over the results section on these forums, and reviewing the results from previous years in an attempt to predict when schools I was interested in would send out acceptances, it was rare that schools admitted students in the fashion you described (i.e. in waves), at least for US political science departments. This data would, however, be skewed to the departments I was interested in, so maybe it was true for schools I didn't look at? Some Canadian departments on the other hand (particularly Canadian master's programs) did exactly what you describe for much the same reasons. Were the three admissions processes you're familiar with US political science Ph.D programs? If so, that's interesting to me, and I'd be curious to hear which schools they were, although I'd understand if you'd prefer not to share that information. Does anyone else have experiences with US political science programs where they observed this wave phenomenon?

Also, as far as admit weekend scheduling, I know that all the schools I was admitted to gave me plenty of leeway before confirming my attendance, and there appeared to be a lot of planning behind the scenes to minimize conflicts between schools. Generally, schools that admitted students later had later admit weekends. I didn't really meet many people for whom the issue of conflicting admit weekends actually came up.

 

Isn't there a simple explanation that gradcafe usernames might not reveal (AKA last names)?

[valter]

Hi everyone,

I"m the Madison admit.

Quigley, my online status still reads "pending".

 

Good luck to us all!