Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[integritywallpanel]

Who would you work with at Columbia?

[grantman]

thanks! yeah... I'm currently working on a research paper (which will hopefully be publishable, but probably not before I finish my applications) and a few other fellowship essays, so I won't be devoting much time to working on SOPs/etc until the beginning of November. But after that I will be doing nothing else. I'm thinking a lot about it though, does that count??

My interests: MENA/Mediterranean, political economy, politics of democratization/authoritarianism, the politics of inequality and economic development (in both resource poor and resource rich countries), youth political movements, civil society and social movements, qualitative and quantitative methodology (current project is exclusively qualitative), Islamist movements (religion and politics). Yup, I know its quite broad but I hope that's OK for this stage in my professional development??

current list of potential schools (def needs to be narrowed down! are sort of in order of preference, again, would appreciate any input!):

Columbia

Chicago

Berkeley

UT Austin

Georgetown

Yale

Princeton

Harvard

Emory

Cornell

NYU

Brandeis

Brown

UPenn

Duke

Northwestern

American

GW

Oh, and I refuse to go anywhere where they won't fund me! But from what I've read online on a lot of these programs, they are rather purposefully vague about funding everyone...

Well first I think you need to really focus your research interests. I feel some individuals on the admissions committee may feel that you do not have an actionable research plan when you list all of your interests. I would concentrate on subject matters that are more close to your heart and have a real passion because towards the end of your graduate career your dissertation will be your entire life over the course of 2 to 3 years if not more.

In terms of school choices if you are not going to go anywhere you are not receiving aid then I would probably get rid of Georgetown and GW. Based on what I have seen I think both those institutions rarely give out any aid. The other school I would probably advise you to get rid of is American, I know there placement record is not exactly the best. I do notice however your lack of interest in state schools with your list. I would suggest maybe looking to some state programs other than just UT and UCB. You may want to look at schools like UCLA, UCSD, UNC, University of Michigan, and University of Wisconsin. I know Michigan has a great political economy program, the others may as well. To help you refine your list I would look up articles and books that meet with your research interests and see where these individuals work, you might be surprised by the results.

Sorry to load on this crap on you I just want to help in anyway I can.

Edited September 12, 2012 by grantman

[BornAndRaised]

Hi guys!

I just wanted some advice on the schools I'm gonna apply to.

I'm interested in qualitative methods but I wouldn't mind doing some math and switching to a mixed methods approach as well. My interests lie in international organizations, nuclear policy and South Asia.

These are the schools:

1. Yale

2. Berkeley

3. Cornell

4. Chicago

5. Johns Hopkins

6. Northwestern

7. Indiana, Bloomington

8. UW Seattle

9. WashU

10. Georgetown

11. Syracuse

12. UT Austin

13. Notre Dame

Thanks!

[AuldReekie]

How are we all doing? Must admit I've not taken the GRE yet, but have found it a struggle getting used to the quant side.

Offhand I recognize a few of those schools for those areas. If you've combed through faculty pages & course offerings you'll know better than most of us

[brady]

How are we all doing? Must admit I've not taken the GRE yet, but have found it a struggle getting used to the quant side.

Offhand I recognise a few of those schools for those areas. If you've combed through faculty pages & course offerings you'll know better than most of us

A few words of advice for the quantative portion of the GRE (granted, I took the old version before it changed, so take this with a grain of salt):I read through my practice book in about a day ( I used the Princeton Review) and wrote down all the math shortcuts in a separate notebook just to reinforce them in my brain, then did LOTS and LOTS of practice tests! Getting to know how the test works is the important part, and finishing on time. If you were decent at high school math it should come back to you-- the math isn't really that advanced, just the kind of stuff we easily forget.

I only studied for 10 days before (8 hours a day)-- I do not, however, recommend procrastination, or memorizing 1000 GRE words, which turned out to be a waste of time...

[PDCU]

I need some suggestions on what I should do about my GRE scores. My current Verbal is 160/83% (610-620 old), Quantitative is 159/77% (720-740 old), and Writing is 5.0/92%, and I plan on re-taking the GRE in November. Higher score would obviously be better, but how would my score fare at non-top-10 schools as it stands considering other factors are solid? I'm in an MA program right now so I don't think I'll be able to study too much in the next few weeks.

[blaspheming]

I need some suggestions on what I should do about my GRE scores. My current Verbal is 160/83% (610-620 old), Quantitative is 159/77% (720-740 old), and Writing is 5.0/92%, and I plan on re-taking the GRE in November. Higher score would obviously be better, but how would my score fare at non-top-10 schools as it stands considering other factors are solid? I'm in an MA program right now so I don't think I'll be able to study too much in the next few weeks.

For what it's worth, I got into a quantitative top-20 department with 162V (90th), 156Q (74th), AW 4.5. So, I think you are in good shape with your score, and if you can improve it, that's even better. GRE got me in the door, but I think my statement of purpose is what got me the acceptances.

[polisciftw]

Hey everyone,

I know we're all coming down to the wire for the first round of applications to go out, but I wanted to put out there that I'd be happy to answer people's questions about departments/applying/etc. I'm a second year PhD student going back on the application market because my advisor is going to a new university. Applying is definitely an "inside baseball" game and I wish I knew some of the rules the first time around.

In any case, best of luck!

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Checking in.

Going to give this a shot

[PDCU]

I just submitted all my applications! Good luck to everyone!

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

I just submitted all my applications! Good luck to everyone!

What are your interests?

[polisciftw]

Submitted all of mine, too! Good luck everyone!

[polisciftw]

So, UCLA and Berkeley closed today. Any other apps closing soon?

[polisciftw]

Oh! Submitted to Berkeley early. Oh well!

[PDCU]

What are your interests?

I'm interested how great power relations affect state socialization in East Asia

[polisciftw]

Anyone else obsessively checking to see whether their supporting materials have been received?

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Been doing the same thing. I do it once a week. I am just waiting on the Darn ETS to grade my GRE. Also I sent it to the wrong department numbers....i really hope i dont have to pay 25 per school including the ones i already added

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Is it a good thing if a school wants your complete application for financial aid purposes...in December, 1 month before the deadline? Got an email saying for me to get all my info in as soon as possible from the director of the program..

hope this is good

[Penelope Higgins]

Hard to know what this means, but I doubt it is bad news. It could be a very very organized program director, but that's not too likely. Another possibility is a director who wants to nominate your application for university-level funding; this is usually done by glancing over files as they come in and picking out those that seem especially strong on raw credentials like GRE scores.

[Mnemonics2]

For what it's worth, I got into a quantitative top-20 department with 162V (90th), 156Q (74th), AW 4.5. So, I think you are in good shape with your score, and if you can improve it, that's even better. GRE got me in the door, but I think my statement of purpose is what got me the acceptances.

Hey blaspheming...

What made your statement of purpose so good? As in, what is it that you think made it stand out enough to be the primary reason you got in?

Thanks!

[polisciftw]

Gah. Why do the online systems of so many schools still show my GRE as outstanding?

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Gah. Why do the online systems of so many schools still show my GRE as outstanding?

I called all my schools today and got my ducks in a row...they said email either the department unofficial copies or the graduate admissions office...That may move things along

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Everything was sent in and now the wait begins.

[doctoralgrad23]

I am currently working on my working sample and trying to develop my SOP. I want to focus IR theory.

My GRE scores are low. 160 Q 150 V. I have government scholarship from my country(full tution and living expenses)

GPAs 3.50 and 3.60

My list:

Virginia

GWU

Pittsburgh

SUNY Binghamton

Maryland

Florida State

Univ. Florida

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

I am currently working on my working sample and trying to develop my SOP. I want to focus IR theory.

My GRE scores are low. 160 Q 150 V. I have government scholarship from my country(full tution and living expenses)

GPAs 3.50 and 3.60

My list:

Virginia

GWU

Pittsburgh

SUNY Binghamton

Maryland

Florida State

Univ. Florida

Virginia is good for IR. You sure you dont want to apply for American or Georgetown? It seems like your targeting DC and Florida. Since you have a scholarship I would possibly try for those two also.