steedyue Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 This is correct! Drop in American was mostly due to the loss of Cox and McCubbins (professor's citations are a big driver of rankings). But on the other hand, we have some young, promising professors coming in. Victor Shih, Jesse Driscoll and Molly Roberts. It is fair to claim UCSD would keep its current overall ranking for another decade. CGMJ 1
IRToni Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 Does anyone have any insight into what's happening with UCSD? I got the sense that they made all their admissions decisions at once-- was that incorrect? There's lots of red and green on the results page, but I haven't heard a thing. I have no real idea, honestly. My guess would be that you're on some sort of internal waitlist? astreaux 1
IRToni Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 Anyone willing to claim the IR/PS joint program? If so, would you mind answering a couple of questions, also via PM?
Thompson Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 Does anyone have any insight into what's happening with UCSD? I got the sense that they made all their admissions decisions at once-- was that incorrect? There's lots of red and green on the results page, but I haven't heard a thing. I am in the same boat. I am assuming I am in the maybe column, and being patient. Targy and astreaux 2
wisescience Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 I am in the same boat. I am assuming I am in the maybe column, and being patient. Ditto. We'll find out soon enough =)
GopherGrad Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I'll also volunteer to talk to the UCSD admits. Of course, you're all probably going to be drinking at my house in a month, so maybe it's not that urgent. anxious2151, jazzrap, CGMJ and 1 other 4
jazzrap Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I'll also volunteer to talk to the UCSD admits. Of course, you're all probably going to be drinking at my house in a month, so maybe it's not that urgent. Ah GopherGrad, here you come!
anxious2151 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 But on the other hand, we have some young, promising professors coming in. Victor Shih, Jesse Driscoll and Molly Roberts. It is fair to claim UCSD would keep its current overall ranking for another decade. i have this mild obsession with jesse driscoll, in the least creepy way possible.
jazzrap Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Three cheers for whoever got Caltech. Three cheers for you given your strong methods list. And congrats on Berkeley. And congrats to new admits to Carolina and Caltech
midwest513 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Back to your original question, they are similar in terms of American behavior quality. Visit them both and go to the place that gives you a better vibe. Again not sure if I agree on this one. Pretty different focuses I think. Fowler is productive in focusing on genetics and social network analysis...otherwise UCSD is pretty focused on urban/local politics...with the exception of Seth Hill (who is young). Wisconsin on the other hand has a more standard department with focuses on Congress, voting, political communication, etc..in their American folks. I think if I had a strong prior about what I wanted to research in American politics, the departments are both strong but clearly have different strengths if that makes sense.
midwest513 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 This is correct! Drop in American was mostly due to the loss of Cox and McCubbins (professor's citations are a big driver of rankings). Yep. And Keith Poole as well.
BFB Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) This isn't bad, but I suspect there's a fair bit of noise to this measure. It's computed in sort of a weird way, where department chairs and directors of graduate studies "nominate" some number of programs (maximum ten) that they think should be recognized, and those that get the most votes end up higher on the ranking. Makes me wonder how close the vote counts were on some of these, and whether it's possible that a small difference of votes could lead to more dramatic differences in ranking. There's quite a bit, actually. I don't think US News publishes any measures of uncertainty, but the NRC, which also ranks graduate programs in political science, does. This illustration of an outdated set of rankings (data gathered 2006-07) from The Monkey Cage gives you some sense of how uncertain such estimates are. Upshot: In rankings with this much noise, an increase or decrease of a few positions is pretty meaningless. (And by implication, the fact that one school is a few positions above or below another is pretty meaningless, for the most part.) GWU is in red because, well, it's from The Monkey Cage. My strategy is to look at the overall ranking instead and then consider faculty fit. I don't believe in sub-field ranking. MIT in the last four years has accomplished a significant upgrade in their training, but its methods ranking did not move in 2013. The CP ranking seems to make a little more sense for UCSD, as they lost Matthew Shuggart and Gary Cox. However, I do not do standard democratic politics (e.g. legislature, democratic voting, public opinion, bureaucracy, etc.), except when it comes to the recent literature on informal institutions and institutional change. Therefore, their departure did not affect me. It's hard to disentangle the effects of reputation, quality, and training on placement. My sense, for what it's worth, is that most of the schools that most of you are applying to have letterheads that will get your file read. Beyond that, it's mostly a question of how well you've been trained, which in turn depends a whole lot on fit. Edited February 10, 2014 by BFB AHL, BigTenPoliSci, Chamberlain25 and 3 others 6
jazzrap Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 There's quite a bit, actually. I don't think US News publishes any measures of uncertainty, but the NRC, which also ranks graduate programs in political science, does. This illustration of an outdated set of rankings (data gathered 2006-07) from The Monkey Cage gives you some sense of how uncertain such estimates are. Upshot: In rankings with this much noise, an increase or decrease of a few positions is pretty meaningless. (And by implication, the fact that one school is a few positions above or below another is pretty meaningless, for the most part.) GWU is in red because, well, it's from The Monkey Cage. It's hard to disentangle the effects of reputation, quality, and training on placement. My sense, for what it's worth, is that most of the schools that most of you are applying to have letterheads that will get your file read. Beyond that, it's mostly a question of how well you've been trained, which in turn depends a whole lot on fit. Thanks a lot for the input, professor!
IR IR IR PhD Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Congratulations to the UMass admit! Was your email from a POI?
IRToni Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Congrats to the UMass Admits. Should we expect Michigan today or tomorrow?
rchlm_618 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) This might be the week, guys (she says every week until she gets a satisfactory number of acceptances). EDIT: on second reading, this may be construed as insensitive. I'm just exhausted from this whole process and I want it to be over so grad school can be a reality. Edited February 10, 2014 by rchlm_618
IRToni Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 This might be the week, guys (she says every week until she gets a satisfactory number of acceptances). What's a satisfactory number of acceptances?
cjalpha Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) What's a satisfactory number of acceptances? All of them. EDIT: To clarify, that is the satisfactory number of acceptances before not eagerly awaiting the results of the next week. Not the number of satisfactory acceptance period. Edited February 10, 2014 by cjalpha rchlm_618, lonestarflag, boazczoine and 1 other 4
boazczoine Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 All of them. ONE of them! IR IR IR PhD and wisescience 2
rchlm_618 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 What's a satisfactory number of acceptances? Mostly, I'm just waiting on the one acceptance that I really want. Hahaha. Which, in my defense, may actually come this week. Historically, it could happen.
rchlm_618 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 All of them. EDIT: To clarify, that is the satisfactory number of acceptances before not eagerly awaiting the results of the next week. Not the number of satisfactory acceptance period. My mind will not rest easy until this entire process is over. I don't expect a perfect cycle by any means, but knowing for sure is far easier than waiting, at least for me.
cupofnimbus Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Yes! I just want it all to be over! Heartily fourthed! (Or fifthed?) I don't care if this is an emotionally difficult week, I will binge on raspberry hershey kisses and bourbon and watch romcoms to soothe the disappointment, but at least it'll be over! rchlm_618 and lonestarflag 2
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