Welcome to the 2014-15 Cycle

[SwitchInTime]

All 14 applications are in:

 

UC - Davis

Duke

WUSTL

UCLA

Michigan

Rochester

UC - San Diego

Berkeley

Cornell

MIT

Stanford

Princeton

Yale

Harvard

 

Good luck, all! 

[ani11]

yo guys I have a question on the writing sample.

 

Most departments ask for somewhere between 20-30 pages and I'm planning on submitting my MPhil thesis for the same. Is it OK to submit a portion of the thesis? Naturally the thesis is >50 pages long and given the admissions committee is only going to read 20-25 pages I don't want to waste space on introduction/literature review etc and would rather have them see the methodology and discussion sections. 

 

On the other hand without some context they might fail to understand what's going on in the paper lol.

 

Anyone got any insight on this?

[ani11]

Hi folks, 

 

As the deadlines are fast approaching or some are already at hand, I am applying to PHD IR stream especially with focus on nuclear and WMD (non)proliferation. However given my low GRE scores (V-I57; Q-158; AW- expecting past 3.5) and ambitious program selection (MIT, Stanford, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Chicago, Georgetown) I am daunted by the fact, if it's worth investing time and money to turn in the applications.

 

I have LLM with pretty good GPA i.e. 4.00/4.00 and currently availing commonwealth scholarship to study MSc. International Relations at one of top ten UK Universities. Besides, I have quantitative preparation in Macroeconomics, Calculus up to Multivariable, Linear Algebra and Statistics (all As and Statistics A+). I am curious if someone can give an insight if it's wise to send applications this fall or improve the GRE scores and avail the next session.

 

Any comments would be highly appreciated!

 

sounds good mate, I think you should give it a try!

 

I have nuclear interests as well and my program selection is similar to yours (don't have Chicago and Berkeley though).

 

Good luck with the cycle

[gradphil]

sounds good mate, I think you should give it a try!

 

I have nuclear interests as well and my program selection is similar to yours (don't have Chicago and Berkeley though).

 

Good luck with the cycle

 

Thanks ani11 for exhortation. I understand compared to applicant pool even with same interests and credentials, my profile sounds way too low and unless a miracle happens, I should deem myself out of the race. But for the sake of try, it is a good attempt. . I have read your profile it's excellent and you must be proud of it. Good luck with your ambitions.

P.S. I have noticed you enquired the conversion of UK GPA into U.S. 4.00 scale. Here is a handy yet reliable tool which even universities recommend students use before they apply from outside U.S. It's free from this year but had USD 5 price tag before. http://www.wes.org/students/igpacalc.asp

[AuldReekie]

P.S. I have noticed you enquired the conversion of UK GPA into U.S. 4.00 scale. Here is a handy yet reliable tool which even universities recommend students use before they apply from outside U.S. It's free from this year but had USD 5 price tag before. http://www.wes.org/students/igpacalc.asp

 

Most places don't want you to do this and many explicitly say not to go making up a GPA for yourself.

[gibbom]

3/10 sent off. My gawd I'm quaking in ma' boots.

[victorydance]

I am done for the cycle. Good luck to everyone else. 

[IRTheoryNerd]

Sections work as long as they can stand alone to some degree. I used 3/4 of my theory chapter and 1/3 of my empirics chapter of my thesis, which was not even done at that point, as my writing sample.

 

 

yo guys I have a question on the writing sample.

 

Most departments ask for somewhere between 20-30 pages and I'm planning on submitting my MPhil thesis for the same. Is it OK to submit a portion of the thesis? Naturally the thesis is >50 pages long and given the admissions committee is only going to read 20-25 pages I don't want to waste space on introduction/literature review etc and would rather have them see the methodology and discussion sections. 

 

On the other hand without some context they might fail to understand what's going on in the paper lol.

 

Anyone got any insight on this?

[AuldReekie]

3/10 sent off. My gawd I'm quaking in ma' boots.

5/15 here. Also wondering if I want to apply for UK PhD scholarships after this. US PhDs think their market is bad, but the UK looks even worse... 

[gibbom]

5/15 here. Also wondering if I want to apply for UK PhD scholarships after this. US PhDs think their market is bad, but the UK looks even worse... 

 

Yeah, I've been encouraged to and think I probably will. Might have to get working on that research proposal! Agreed - it's an absolutely horrible market over here, and getting funding is a total crapshoot. 

[AuldReekie]

Yeah, I've been encouraged to and think I probably will. Might have to get working on that research proposal! Agreed - it's an absolutely horrible market over here, and getting funding is a total crapshoot. 

 

I wouldn't attend anywhere in the UK over where I'm applying in the US, so perhaps that answers my question for me..

 

Funding is truly horrendous. Edinburgh has an average of one ESRC Politics & IR PhD scholarship per year..

[BFB]

Dear applicants for the 2014-15 cycle,

 

I apologize for interrupting the discussion, but I have a public service announcement for those of you who are applying to Ohio State.  (I hope this means you....)

 

We have had early reports that the letter-of-recommendation system built in to the University's new application website is extremely difficult to navigate. It might even be described as catastrophically difficult. We have received email asking whether letters are even being accepted.

 

Yes, letters are being accepted.

 

To prevent much weeping and gnashing of teeth in mid-December, please ask your recommenders to send their letters directly to my graduate coordinator, Courtney Sanders (sanders dot five three one at osu dot edu). It will be easier for her and far, far easier for them.

 

We now return to our regular scheduled broadcast. Thanks for your attention.

[AuldReekie]

Dear applicants for the 2014-15 cycle,

 

I apologize for interrupting the discussion, but I have a public service announcement for those of you who are applying to Ohio State.  (I hope this means you....)

 

We have had early reports that the letter-of-recommendation system built in to the University's new application website is extremely difficult to navigate. It might even be described as catastrophically difficult. We have received email asking whether letters are even being accepted.

 

Yes, letters are being accepted.

 

To prevent much weeping and gnashing of teeth in mid-December, please ask your recommenders to send their letters directly to my graduate coordinator, Courtney Sanders (sanders dot five three one at osu dot edu). It will be easier for her and far, far easier for them.

 

We now return to our regular scheduled broadcast. Thanks for your attention.

 

Thanks! Seems ok from my end and 2/3 have managed so far. Although the website is a bit of a muddle and a tad confusing in comparison to the ApplyWeb version that many others places (and OSU) use. 

[BFB]

Thanks! Seems ok from my end and 2/3 have managed so far. Although the website is a bit of a muddle and a tad confusing in comparison to the ApplyWeb version that many others places (and OSU) use. 

 

Good. Thank you.

 

Ms. Sanders has just asked me to issue an erratum: please ask your recommenders to send their letters directly to her if and only if they are having trouble submitting those letters via the website. It's much less of a hassle on this end if it comes through the website, but if the website just isn't working, please have your recommenders drop her a line.

 

Thank you.

[gsp24]

Good. Thank you.

 

Ms. Sanders has just asked me to issue an erratum: please ask your recommenders to send their letters directly to her if and only if they are having trouble submitting those letters via the website. It's much less of a hassle on this end if it comes through the website, but if the website just isn't working, please have your recommenders drop her a line.

 

Thank you.

 

If anyone is following this and worried about the process, the main difference from other schools is that you have to resubmit your letter writers' info after submitting the application. A day after submitting, I received a couple automated emails with instructions on making a student profile and providing contact information for letter writers. Once I provided their contact information all my letter writers easily submitted the letters. 

 

For anyone who hasn't submitted yet, as long as you don't turn in your application at the absolute last second you should be fine. Just make sure to give your writers some time, since this process is a bit different. Best of luck to all, almost there! 

[testingtesting]

Ugh. Waited until the last minute to submit my application to Columbia and missed the deadline by 3 minutes because I forgot about time zone difference. It is submitted but the submission shows it was submitted on the 4th and their deadline is the 3rd.  Are they going to look at my application?

Side note: hands-down award for most confusing application goes to Texas.

[AuldReekie]

Ugh. Waited until the last minute to submit my application to Columbia and missed the deadline by 3 minutes because I forgot about time zone difference. It is submitted but the submission shows it was submitted on the 4th and their deadline is the 3rd.  Are they going to look at my application?

Side note: hands-down award for most confusing application goes to Texas.

 

That's a shame. with 600+ applicants who knows what they'll do! Send a quick email or call?

 

Austin or A&M? I've not found ApplyTexas to be too bad.. but then again I've not finished it yet.

[esotericish]

I too put my application into UT Austin and found it pretty straightforward. It's a bit cumbersome to have to go through two separate portals, but the document upload side of things was pretty simple.

[AuldReekie]

I take back what I said about applyTexas... 

[AmericanQuant]

Ugh. Waited until the last minute to submit my application to Columbia and missed the deadline by 3 minutes because I forgot about time zone difference. It is submitted but the submission shows it was submitted on the 4th and their deadline is the 3rd.  Are they going to look at my application?

Side note: hands-down award for most confusing application goes to Texas.

 

You should email the graduate administrator and explain what happened.  It'll probably be fine.  If they say they won't review it, you should make sure you get your application fee back.

[AuldReekie]

This board is dead this year. I wonder what 2015 admissions will look like.

 

I'm sure lots of people will appear in January and when decisions start being made.

 

Sent off a paper application today..

[meteora]

Hi. 

 

If I need to answer to this question, "What do you expect to do with a Ph.D. in political science? Describe the course of graduate study that would best enable you to achieve your goal? Please limit your response to one page," how should I respond? I mean I also need to submit my statement of purpose. Should I cut and paste the career part of my SOP to that section? Only several schools have this kind of question. 

[rwillh11]

Hi. 

 

If I need to answer to this question, "What do you expect to do with a Ph.D. in political science? Describe the course of graduate study that would best enable you to achieve your goal? Please limit your response to one page," how should I respond? I mean I also need to submit my statement of purpose. Should I cut and paste the career part of my SOP to that section? Only several schools have this kind of question. 

UCSD? Leaving it a bit late on that question, isn't that due today? I made sure not to rehash the SOP, and instead went into more depth about the course of study I would like to follow, based on what was available at the school. I don't really know how much you can go into for career, beyond "I want to do X with this degree"

[meteora]

UCSD? Leaving it a bit late on that question, isn't that due today? I made sure not to rehash the SOP, and instead went into more depth about the course of study I would like to follow, based on what was available at the school. I don't really know how much you can go into for career, beyond "I want to do X with this degree"

Right. I also think we really don't have many things to say about career. I already included everything about the course of study in my SOP. I should cut and paste that part for the question. 

 

Your answer was quite helpful Thanks. 

[esotericish]

how many schools is everybody applying to?