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Welcome to the 2013-2014 Cycle


Cesare

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Man is this thread moving fast. I hope this is not an indication of the competitiveness of this year's admission process compared to previous years :)

 

UCSD and Rochester seem to think so. Wonder why that would be the case though?

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Man is this thread moving fast. I hope this is not an indication of the competitiveness of this year's admission process compared to previous years :)

 

Speaking for myself, I'm in a position where I can ignore all my other responsibilities and obsess over the results page. Last year, I was finishing my thesis, finishing all my courses, and running too many clubs. I don't know that I'm any more competitive, just able to waste more time. Maybe that's indicative of this year altogether, or maybe this year is generally more competitive (for the field I hope so, for my chances... please God no).

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Ok, first: My Plan B would be to go work in China for 2 years. I'd be interested in doing Chamber of commerce type of things, working for a company, doing business consulting and/or working for a think tank/ foundation, not necessarily in that order.. At the same time, I would try to get some of my papers published, raise my Mandarin level to completely fluent, possibly take some more Econ classes etc. to make myself more competitive, I think.

I def. need a contingency plan to not go completely crazy...

 

I just started a spreadsheet with historical decision times (GC) of the schools I applied to in a moment of utter desparation. I was quite surprised how late some of those were.

 

Professor said it is very competitive this year in UCSD and "be prepared if not getting admission". 

The committee is yet to have a meeting, and supposedly decisions would made in Early Feb. 

 

Which professor? Historically, UCSD sent out decisions around the 9th of February... Last year, though, they sent out rejections first!

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Honestly, I just want SOME news this week regarding my applications' status. Good or bad!

You don't mean that. 

 

I mean, isn't the reason we are all checking obsessively is because we know good news travels faster than bad news? when was last year's first rejection sent out? For sanity's sake, it is probably better to think of that as the start of the season! 

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Ok, first: My Plan B would be to go work in China for 2 years. I'd be interested in doing Chamber of commerce type of things, working for a company, doing business consulting and/or working for a think tank/ foundation, not necessarily in that order.. At the same time, I would try to get some of my papers published, raise my Mandarin level to completely fluent, possibly take some more Econ classes etc. to make myself more competitive, I think.

I def. need a contingency plan to not go completely crazy...

 

I just started a spreadsheet with historical decision times (GC) of the schools I applied to in a moment of utter desparation. I was quite surprised how late some of those were.

 

 

Which professor? Historically, UCSD sent out decisions around the 9th of February... Last year, though, they sent out rejections first!

Rejections first? Woah! 

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Ok, first: My Plan B would be to go work in China for 2 years. I'd be interested in doing Chamber of commerce type of things, working for a company, doing business consulting and/or working for a think tank/ foundation, not necessarily in that order.. At the same time, I would try to get some of my papers published, raise my Mandarin level to completely fluent, possibly take some more Econ classes etc. to make myself more competitive, I think.

I def. need a contingency plan to not go completely crazy...

 

I just started a spreadsheet with historical decision times (GC) of the schools I applied to in a moment of utter desparation. I was quite surprised how late some of those were.

 

 

Which professor? Historically, UCSD sent out decisions around the 9th of February... Last year, though, they sent out rejections first!

Professor Strom. Based on my intel he is on committee.

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I just started a spreadsheet with historical decision times (GC) of the schools I applied to in a moment of utter desparation. I was quite surprised how late some of those were.

 

 

Hello IRToni!

 

Can you share the spreadsheet with us. Please.  Thanks

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Ok, first: My Plan B would be to go work in China for 2 years. I'd be interested in doing Chamber of commerce type of things, working for a company, doing business consulting and/or working for a think tank/ foundation, not necessarily in that order.. At the same time, I would try to get some of my papers published, raise my Mandarin level to completely fluent, possibly take some more Econ classes etc. to make myself more competitive, I think.

 

I totally read that and thought immediately of Harry Potter/Chamber of Secrets first lol. 

Are you German, IRToni? 

There definitely seems to be an increase in [human] movement between Germany and China in recent years...

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Professor said it is very competitive this year in UCSD and "be prepared if not getting admission". 

The committee is yet to have a meeting, and supposedly decisions would made in Early Feb. 

They say that every year. :) The fact that admissions is "very competitive" is mentioned on every website. 

It would be nice to hear "The applicants are weak this year. Get ready for acceptance." 

Edited by luckyducky
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They say that every year. :) The fact that admissions is "very competitive" is mentioned on every website. 

It would be nice to hear "The applicants are weak this year. Get ready for acceptance." 

 

Hit the nail on the head! 

We do get different versions of 

 

1. greatest number of applicants 

2. most competitive year

3. strongest application pool 

4. Xtremely competitive 

 

The point is. If you are good and they like you, you will get picked, regardless of whether there are 100, 500 or 1000 applicants (and vice versa) 

I wouldnt be too concerned about the nature of competition as phrased by the schools...

After all, it is one of their marketing strategies. 

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Hello all,

I casually read the last two months worth of postings this evening instead of doing, you know, meaningful work. But i feel so much better knowing I'm not alone in fretting right about now. I applied to twelve (read: too many) masters programs and have heard from none. But alas. Any other con law people out there?

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Hello all,

I casually read the last two months worth of postings this evening instead of doing, you know, meaningful work. But i feel so much better knowing I'm not alone in fretting right about now. I applied to twelve (read: too many) masters programs and have heard from none. But alas. Any other con law people out there?

Don't worry; most of us (probably 95+%) have not recieved word yet from the adcoms of the programs we have applied. You're not alone!

 

Still, knowing this doesn't stop me from refreshing the results pages and checking my email incessantly. (You are not alone in this respect either.)

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Don't worry; most of us (probably 95+%) have not recieved word yet from the adcoms of the programs we have applied. You're not alone!

 

Still, knowing this doesn't stop me from refreshing the results pages and checking my email incessantly. (You are not alone in this respect either.)

 

It's weighing on me, that's for sure. I'm on a twice-a-day regimen of checking my apps, which is exhausting since there are so many. 

 

Anyway, best of luck to everyone! It'll work out for us somehow...

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So I don't want to be pessimistic but what kind of back-up plans do you guys have if PhD applications don't come through? 

I have a fantastic job offer at a think tank where I interned last summer. I will get to do a lot of fieldwork, grassroots mobilizing, and policy work. They are big on collaboration with US universities on research projects, so I will get to network a bit as well. You would think this should make me less anxious and happier about my future, but it seems to have done the opposite? Grad school application process is a strange, confidence-crushing beast.

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