Welcome to the 2016-17 cycle!

[dagnabbit]

Things seem to be seriously slowing down in here, so I figured I would encourage all of you one final time: please post your profile in the results thread! We're off to a great start, but I know that there are so many more of you with interesting backgrounds and good advice to share. C'mon -

 

[krapp]

49 minutes ago, dagnabbit said:

Things seem to be seriously slowing down in here, so I figured I would encourage all of you one final time: please post your profile in the results thread! We're off to a great start, but I know that there are so many more of you with interesting backgrounds and good advice to share. C'mon -

 

Definitely!

After these last few programmes get around to making a decision...

[as2472]

On 7 March 2017 at 11:45 AM, as2472 said:

@Comparativist also still waiting, but sharing @jazzmintea 's assumed rejection view

Update: this ended up being only a partially true assumption. Rejected from the PhD, but accepted to MAPSS with funding! 

[ralphwiththeconch]

1 minute ago, as2472 said:

Update: this ended up being only a partially true assumption. Rejected from the PhD, but accepted to MAPSS with funding! 

Same. Got an offer for fully-funded MAPSS, but I don't quite understand what this program is.

[Stillhereism]

I just got an email from Harvard saying my decision had been posted (assumed rejection) but it is not showing on the site. Anyone know where it might be?

[RevTheory1126]

11 hours ago, dagnabbit said:

Things seem to be seriously slowing down in here, so I figured I would encourage all of you one final time: please post your profile in the results thread! We're off to a great start, but I know that there are so many more of you with interesting backgrounds and good advice to share. C'mon -

 

I have one more official decision to receive, then I will be filling this out. Looking forward to it

 

Oh on side note, rejected from UChicago PhD, accepted to MAPPS with 1/3 tuition offer... lol, so basically just rejected.

[Tumiaeve]

I got accepted into Columbia's Political Science MA program. It's not as sweet as getting accepted into their PhD program, but I'm always grateful for options (even if I chose a different avenue).

[HermioneWannabe]

With my official rejection from Harvard and my acceptance into Chicago MAPPS with half tuition funding, my cycle is 100% officially done!!

[jazzmintea]

And I've yet to hear from Chicago, not even from MAPSS. :\

[guest56436]

Chicago is pretty obnoxious to be honest.

[cydxb]

Official rejection from Chicago - probably the nicest letter saying "we don't want you"! I have quite a few to compare it with

[cb2017]

Has anyone either been officially rejected from Georgetown or heard anything about when these are going to be released? I'm assuming rejection, but I want to hear back before making my final decision.  

[krapp]

44 minutes ago, cb2017 said:

Has anyone either been officially rejected from Georgetown or heard anything about when these are going to be released? I'm assuming rejection, but I want to hear back before making my final decision.  

I emailed them today and was told that decisions are still being made this whole month. So...yay? :/

[JB757]

Still haven't heard from UVA, should I assume rejection? Anyone spoken with their graduate office about their timeline? 

[och0615]

3 hours ago, cb2017 said:

Has anyone either been officially rejected from Georgetown or heard anything about when these are going to be released? I'm assuming rejection, but I want to hear back before making my final decision.  

 

3 hours ago, krapp said:

I emailed them today and was told that decisions are still being made this whole month. So...yay? :/

Got a hold of admissions today and can confirm - decisions will be released by first week of April. 

[dagnabbit]

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings

New USN rankings just came out, if anybody's interested. Not a lot of movement within the T10, but lots of change-ups elsewhere: Penn with an enormous jump from #28 to #19, WUSTL falling from #13 to tied for #19, Davis from #23 to #17, Texas from #21 to tied with WUSTL/Penn/Cornell for #19. Notre Dame dropped significantly, Vanderbilt rose quite a bit. Any thoughts on this? Will these new rankings affect your decision?

[StrengthandHonor]

11 hours ago, dagnabbit said:

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings

New USN rankings just came out, if anybody's interested. Not a lot of movement within the T10, but lots of change-ups elsewhere: Penn with an enormous jump from #28 to #19, WUSTL falling from #13 to tied for #19, Davis from #23 to #17, Texas from #21 to tied with WUSTL/Penn/Cornell for #19. Notre Dame dropped significantly, Vanderbilt rose quite a bit. Any thoughts on this? Will these new rankings affect your decision?

I'm pretty sure that Notre Dame was ranked 36th or something overall last year. They just are very strong in a small number of areas (such as theory). 

A more general question, though: should we be looking at the subfield rankings, or the overall program ranking? 

[StrengthandHonor]

13 hours ago, JB757 said:

Still haven't heard from UVA, should I assume rejection? Anyone spoken with their graduate office about their timeline? 

Those without answers are on the waitlist. In past cycles, UVA has made waitlist offers up until April 15th. 

[VMcJ]

7 minutes ago, StrengthandHonor said:

A more general question, though: should we be looking at the subfield rankings, or the overall program ranking? 

I think it only makes a real difference if you're comparing Top10s. E.g. Stanford is better than Yale overall but inferior in PT.

And speaking of Notre Dame, I'd like to wrap things up with them and Maryland, but apparently I'll need to write to get that.

[Bibica]

I agree with @VMcJ. Although I would also say that within the Top 5 or 7 (basically, CHYMPS + Berkeley, etc.) your personal fit with the faculty matters much more than the subfield rankings. This is especially true for comparative politics, I think, where some programs are really strong in some regions but not in others (Stanford, for example, has only one Latin Americanist that I know of. Columbia, much further down the rankings, has 2 or 3.)

[Monody]

54 minutes ago, Bibica said:

I agree with @VMcJ. Although I would also say that within the Top 5 or 7 (basically, CHYMPS + Berkeley, etc.) your personal fit with the faculty matters much more than the subfield rankings. This is especially true for comparative politics, I think, where some programs are really strong in some regions but not in others (Stanford, for example, has only one Latin Americanist that I know of. Columbia, much further down the rankings, has 2 or 3.)

Let's not kid ourselves. Everyone knows that the C in CHYMPS stays for Columbia, just as much as the P stands for PSU.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Monody

[guest56436]

These rankings shouldn't really determine anything besides the classic 'top 5, top 10, top 20' groupings that are virtually the same as before.

I am finding them a bit weird to be honest. It seems many of the 'jumpers' have had pretty poor placement records in the last few years. Places like Duke, UC Davis, UT Austin, UNC have gone up when it doesn't really seem like they have done much to deserve the bump...

Of course, these rankings suffer from low response rates, a select few individuals doing the surveys, and a lack of information from those filling out the surveys. Reputation is sticky and it seems that departments making a number of hires - especially of senior faculty - are able to move up in the rankings. It's probable that survey respondents are able to see changes in faculty at a finer rate than changes or trends in placement.

I still remain skeptical about how good many of these state schools are in comparison to smaller programs. For the life of me, cannot figure out why UNC is higher ranked than NYU or Chicago for example. 

Edited March 14, 2017 by Comparativist

[nooxhc]

Did anyone here apply to Stony Brook?

Edited March 14, 2017 by nooxhc

[StrengthandHonor]

Another rankings question:

Let's assume, for a moment, that you are considering two programs. Similar funding, etc. 

School A is ranked in the 10-15 range, but the subfield you are interested is comparatively weak. 
School B is ranked in the mid-30's, but the subfield you are interested in is comparatively strong. 

The professors, etc. at each school consider the other school as roughly equal to them. They compete strongly for applicants in that subfield. 

Which is better? Should you just go where you have the best fit?

[Bibica]

@StrengthandHonor all things equal I would go to the higher ranked institution. By all things though I do include funding, location, etc. You need to be happy to be productive, so if Program B is in a great city near people you know/love then that may tip the scales. Otherwise, A.