Luckige Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I believe that not only they read it but they also know more or less who we are by our stats. Why? Somebody from somewhere I got in asked my adviser if I was going to place A or B. There was no way he could know about place B. Did anyone else felt paranoid for at least for a moment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFiredUp Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I think at least 2 regular posters are faculty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
procrastinatrice Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I think at least 2 regular posters are faculty. Regular posters! That's exciting;P Care to reveal their names on the board? I always thought that some faculty members probably lurk here. But I didn't think they would post, I guess I am wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlayla Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Regular posters! That's exciting;P Care to reveal their names on the board? I always thought that some faculty members probably lurk here. But I didn't think they would post, I guess I am wrong If profs, let alone adcom members, lurk here I would be seriously surprised. I'm sure they have other shit to worry about besides trying to decipher who rlayla is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UndraftedFreeAgent Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yes, faculty read this. Some programs also have graduate students involved in the admission process who are much more likely to scan forums like this (note that I'm not involved with the admission process, I just know that this happens). Why wouldn't they read this? Posters are revealing their preferences for free. Many posters give so much information about themselves that they can easily be identified, especially once acceptances/rejections start to get posted. For mid-upper tier programs, postings here can give adcoms a better idea about their potential yield and about personality types (good or bad) of applicants. I can't imagine a program admitting, rejecting, or cutting funding based on this forum, but stranger things have happened. What can you do to not hurt yourself? Think before you click "submit". Make sure you've done your due diligence before posting gossip, opinions about who's good/bad in what, and particularly before making any rude or inflammatory remarks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
procrastinatrice Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 If profs, let alone adcom members, lurk here I would be seriously surprised. I'm sure they have other shit to worry about besides trying to decipher who rlayla is! I don't think it is just a case of trying to decipher who's who. I think it is also about trying to see what value is attached to their department by qualified applicants. What are accepted applicants looking for in schools? Which professors are regarded as major enticements? I am not saying a lot of profs would do this, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few did. I think gradcafe offers significant insight into the minds of prospective grad students, who are basically the future of political science departments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckige Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 If profs, let alone adcom members, lurk here I would be seriously surprised. I'm sure they have other shit to worry about besides trying to decipher who rlayla is! I would agree with you if I hadn't heard anything about the PSJR forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Descrates Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I would agree with you if I hadn't heard anything about the PSJR forum. PSJR: Tough crowd over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonnyday Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I believe that not only they read it but they also know more or less who we are by our stats. Why? Somebody from somewhere I got in asked my adviser if I was going to place A or B. There was no way he could know about place B. Did anyone else felt paranoid for at least for a moment? I've thought that for the longest time. There are certain posters with certain questions that sound shady to me. And I can imagine that during a time when they are giving out acceptances, it would be stupid NOT to look on these forums if one has the time to. I could be paranoid, but I am pretty sure there are faculty lurkers here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackassjim Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 it would be stupid NOT to look on these forums if one has the time to. The key: "if one has the time to." I can barely rationalize the time I waste here, and I'm actually part of this process. Plus, I don't imagine there is much valuable information they can glean from this forum that they can't get from a frank discussion with one of their advisees. If my adviser asks me what I was looking for when applying to my current program, I will tell him/her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adaptations Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 After talking to faculty and adcomm members at my school, I doubt that many spend much, if any, time on this forum. For that matter, most don't even know about it. On the other hand, I wish people form Northwestern would read it. Maybe they would understand that a slow admissions processes deters potential students... Then again, maybe they don't want those students anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackassjim Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Then again, maybe they don't want those students anyway. Then again, those who can afford to be deterred are those with options and, presumably, those which appear most desirable to admissions committees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarwildebeest Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I think it's likely that some faculty and admissions types read this, and I also agree that we're not tough to identify. Hence, I try not to come off as overly entitled / a sociopath in my posts. Some people fail, pretty regularly, at both of those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackassjim Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I think it's likely that some faculty and admissions types read this, and I also agree that we're not tough to identify. Hence, I try not to come off as overly entitled / a sociopath in my posts. Some people fail, pretty regularly, at both of those things. Hehe, was that directed at me? I assure you, I am much nicer in real life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Higgins Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'm a faculty member at a school often mentioned on here (I won't say more than that), and I'm not here to find out about people's choices, but to try to give some advice that I never got when I was applying to grad programs. I've got nothing to do with admissions here and I intend to keep it that way... dworkable 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UndraftedFreeAgent Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 ... I'm not here to find out about people's choices, but to try to give some advice that I never got when I was applying to grad programs. Amen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonnyday Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'm a faculty member at a school often mentioned on here (I won't say more than that), and I'm not here to find out about people's choices, but to try to give some advice that I never got when I was applying to grad programs. I've got nothing to do with admissions here and I intend to keep it that way... Thanks for letting us know Penelope! We do appreciate it (I wish there were more faculty/grad students/staff here to give advice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biginternational Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Of course they read the forum, particularly if there's a thread related to their department. Everyone's curious about what is said about them / their professional affiliation. One only has to look at the PSJR board to see that big important political scientists also sometimes fritter away their time with trivial online stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rising_star Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Thanks for letting us know Penelope! We do appreciate it (I wish there were more faculty/grad students/staff here to give advice). Sonnyday, there are quite a lot of grad students around here, mostly lurking. It's hard to give a lot of super-specific advice, especially now that the polisci thread for this year is over 2000 posts... If you want to get feedback from current grads, you probably are already even if you don't realize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dysmetria Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Adcomm information gets out to grad students, and I already know who some of the posters on this board are. Fortunately, they haven't yet said anything insulting about my program (their possible program-to-be) so I think our adcomm probably made at least a few good choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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