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Posted

CONGRATS!

 

Thank you, TMCB!

 

Also, as an aside for everyone worried about negative outcomes.... this was my third cycle of admissions. There is always hope, especially if you work (very) hard and have a few lucky breaks.

Posted

Congratulations indeed to all the Duke admits! :) 

Posted

With a heavy sigh of relief, I claim one of the Duke admits. Thanks to the many posters who have shared words of encouragement, and I hope that the roller coaster ride I've experienced today can provide some encouragement to others: a first rejection doesn't equate to a lost cycle!

Posted

With a heavy sigh of relief, I claim one of the Duke admits. Thanks to the many posters who have shared words of encouragement, and I hope that the roller coaster ride I've experienced today can provide some encouragement to others: a first rejection doesn't equate to a lost cycle!

 

Congratulations to you, xuejia!

Posted

With a heavy sigh of relief, I claim one of the Duke admits. Thanks to the many posters who have shared words of encouragement, and I hope that the roller coaster ride I've experienced today can provide some encouragement to others: a first rejection doesn't equate to a lost cycle!

 

Ha! I love this! Many congratulations. :)

Posted (edited)

First, you are already accepted at a great program. Secondly, there's definitely still a chance. I wouldn't count myself out until you've seen a rejection. It's possible they haven't gotten to you yet, it's possible you're on some sort of internal waitlist etc.

 

What's your subfield?

 

Sorry if I seemed like whining. I am very grateful and happy about my acceptance. However, while being accepted somewhere is relieving, it does not reduce the anxiety at all. At the end, we all put a lot of time and effort into this process. So we all want to get the best result we can, to go to the best possible school for our interests. Anyway, I digress. Thanks a lot for the kind reply but I think I'll just assume that I'm out at Wisconsin.

 

My subfield is IR btw.  

 

Thus far, this morning = fml

 

Hang in there xuejia, one rejection does not mean anything. In fact, while we tend to think that getting a rejection reduces our probability of getting into other places (isn't it partly why rejections sting that much?), it may very well not be the case. It may just be a fit issue (which, I understand, is extremely common), it may be that a professor you wan't to work with is not active in the department / is leaving / not taking on students etc. etc. There are many reasons why one can get rejected from a school that has nothing to do with the objective competitiveness of his/her file. So, hang in there, we are pulling for you.

 

Also - congrats to Duke admits, especially the anxious_one!! Second timer power!! Unfortunately I am out of positive points again, dang! 

 

EDIT: CONGRATS xuejia!! Duke was faster than me :)

Edited by TheGnome
Posted

Hm I just got into MSU. That was unexpected

 

Ah, so it was you. ;) Congratulations! I love that some of you who are feeling down for whatever reason are getting great news.

Posted

Ah, so it was you. ;) Congratulations! I love that some of you who are feeling down for whatever reason are getting great news.

Sort of makes me want to wake up feeling really down :D just in case.

Posted

With a heavy sigh of relief, I claim one of the Duke admits. Thanks to the many posters who have shared words of encouragement, and I hope that the roller coaster ride I've experienced today can provide some encouragement to others: a first rejection doesn't equate to a lost cycle!

A hearty congrats.  Very surprised you did not get into Wisconsin. Does Wisconsin even have China specialists? Delighted you got into Duke!

Posted

Hm I just got into MSU. That was unexpected

 

Congrats!!! A question (and learning opportunity for a lot of us) if you don't mind... What was the biggest change in your applications this year? Did you retake the GRE... approach your SoP differently... add some new publications...? 

Posted (edited)

Congrats to xuejia, The Gnome, and other admits! 

 

xuejia, it's awesome that you didn't have to wait long for the good news to follow bad :)

 

Meanwhile, I have a language related question. Do you guys ever use something like "I am very honored by the opportunity," when you respond to a college acceptance (specifically, to your POI's email). On the one hand, I want to express my gratitude; yet, on the other, I feel it sounds so formal.

How do you respond to an acceptance?

Edited by jeudepaume
Posted

Lots of good vibes out there today. Awesome seeing so many folks supporting one another on this site. Congrats to all of the admits in the past 36 hours!

Posted

Congrats to xuejia, The Gnome, and other admits! 

 

xuejia, it's awesome that you didn't have to wait long for the good news to follow bad :)

 

Meanwhile, I have a language related question. Do you guys ever use something like "I am very honored by the opportunity," when you respond to a college acceptance (specifically, to your POI's email). On the one hand, I want to express my gratitude; yet, on the other, I feel it so formal.

How do you respond to an acceptance?

 

Just drop 'very honored by' and replace with 'excited about'.

 

Also, looking for advise on how to accept an acceptance, in these difficult times, is cruel to other members on the forum. IMO.  :mellow:

Posted

Thanks everyone for the congrats. After seeing the MSU results on the board, I was ready to assume an MSU rejection as well. 

 

What was the biggest change in your applications this year? Did you retake the GRE... approach your SoP differently... add some new publications...? 

 

I can say that every piece of my application is different (apart from the undergrad transcript). My research interests are also different. PM me if you want details - I'd be happy to discuss them.

Posted

Just drop 'very honored by' and replace with 'excited about'.

 

Also, looking for advise on how to accept an acceptance, in these difficult times, is cruel to other members on the forum. IMO.  :mellow:

Thank you for the advice, and sorry for the disturbance.

I meant no evil naturally, just manifested my ever-presenting language anxiety. Plus, I honestly tried to google this question before posting, but wasn't able to find anything on the matter.

Posted

A hearty congrats.  Very surprised you did not get into Wisconsin. Does Wisconsin even have China specialists? Delighted you got into Duke!

Thanks aecp, and to all of you well-wishers. Melanie Manion is the department's resident Sinologist; it's actually Duke that is more lacking in that department, ever since Tianjian Shi passed away a few years back. They hired Edmund Malesky, a cutting-edge scholar of Vietnam.

 

Congrats!!! A question (and learning opportunity for a lot of us) if you don't mind... What was the biggest change in your applications this year? Did you retake the GRE... approach your SoP differently... add some new publications...? 

I'm a few years out of school with no stat/quant and few polisci classes on my transcripts. Last year I went 0-10, so starting in April last year, I completely overhauled my application:

 

I took a statistics MOOC, read a few books on data analysis, studied regression analysis at an IPSA summer methods program, and then took even more MOOCs (game theory, social network analysis, a class on R, etc.).

 

The IPSA class also produced a letter of recommendation that could address the methods worries.

 

A translation I had made last year wound up on a graduate-level polisci syllabus this year, by sheer luck.

 

Finally, I jumped into the broader polisci literature instead of only reading books on China, and that prompted a major shift in my research interests which was in turn reflected in my SoP.

 

The last nine months required a huge investment of time, effort, and money, but paid dividends (Duke rejected me last year). I encourage anyone who is passionate about graduate school to bust balls (pardon my language) if this cycle (which is far from over) doesn't pan out.

Posted

Thank you for the advice, and sorry for the disturbance.

I meant no evil naturally, just manifested my ever-presenting language anxiety. Plus, I honestly tried to google this question before posting, but wasn't able to find anything on the matter.

Ha. 

 

Congrats, by the way! 

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