Fall 2010 Admission Results

[APGradApplicant]

On 1/20/2010 at 1:04 AM, Aunuwyn said:

+1 for Scott as well. Buy your own health insurance you freeloaders.

OMG! Thank you Aunuwyn! I'm so glad to see that not all of my fellow poli sci grad students are going to be socialists.

[APGradApplicant]

I don't want this board to get nasty between people at any personal level. Obviously there are just differences of opinion. Thank God we live in a country where that is possible. So in all sincerity, Ferrero, best of luck to you in your grad school search and don't take my disagreement with you as a personal attack.

[Sanssouci]

The Scott victory was more a commentary on the utter... nothingness of the Coakley campaign. The Dems tried to replace a real fighter and campaigner with a rather unpleasant drone, and they paid they price. MA already has a decent healthcare programme (signed by... Mitt Romney!), they could afford to sacrifice the rest of the country. One positive the Dems might get out of this, it's the kick up the arse they really needed before the midterms.

--

Further to the rumours going around about UIUC a couple of days ago, I've been talking to a couple of people there, apparently they're meeting to discuss the situation, and that may include not fully funding or not admitting anyone. BUT, it's much more likely they'll be fully funding, just a MUCH smaller cohort than previously.

[NUMDS]

When is Rochester supposed to make decisions?

[natofone]

OMG! Thank you Aunuwyn! I'm so glad to see that not all of my fellow poli sci grad students are going to be socialists.

Cry me a river.

[tskinner]

Come on guys, let's keep the politics off the politics board.

[Ferrero]

I'm shocked, shocked to find politics discussed in the political science forum!

[APGradApplicant]

Haha, right. I imagine politics is a subject that rarely if ever will be something we explore as future grad students

Like I said before, it's good to see that there's a variety of viewpoints and perspectives here. That's what keeps the discipline from becoming boring.

[Ferrero]

Both might be the affairs of the people, but one is fodder for pointless arguments and the other an academic discipline.

Not sure the political science discipline is immune to pointless arguments. Just ask an economist.

[plisar]

Why an economist? Isn't propagating a mathematical model that can't ever truly explain reality because economic transactions ultimately depend on irrational people a pointless argument? Truth is, any discipline can be used to make pointless arguments; it's our job to try to conduct research that explains important phenomena to the benefit of actual people.

My point was that politics the self-serving game involves debates that are rarely productive.

To be fair, you are misconstruing what is meant by 'rational' in rational choice theory.

[APGradApplicant]

Apparently my reputation on this site is now -11 or "poor". Lol, I guess that's what I get for starting this back and forth. However, I think the more likely explaination is that some people here seem to not care for my political views. And it's supposed to be the right wing that's "intolerant"?

[natofone]

Apparently my reputation on this site is now -11 or "poor". Lol, I guess that's what I get for starting this back and forth. However, I think the more likely explaination is that some people here seem to not care for my political views. And it's supposed to be the right wing that's "intolerant"?

Nobody cares about your political views. The "persecuted conservative in academia" routine is just really boring and cliched.

[Ferrero]

On the UIUC admissions front: latest word is that the chances of an incoming cohort for the fall have fallen to less than 25%.

[APGradApplicant]

Ferrero, nice work on your intel. Keep it coming. You seemed to be spot on with UCD, although they came in even a little earlier than you said. Makes me wonder whether anyone will have news from MSU and/or Rochester by the end of the week. We shall see....

[Sanssouci]

On 1/20/2010 at 4:06 PM, cpaige said:

Wow, that's awful. I hope they refund application fees at least.

I feel so human when I have hope despite all the evidence stacked against an offer

I hope they refund application fees (if this does happen) too!

[readeatsleep]

no school is as well off as it was before the crash, including the ivies - the sports conference of ivy league does not secure a school from financial strife. the harvard endowment, for example, lost 27% - over 10 billion dollars - between the summers of 2008 and 2009.

however, it is the UC schools, i believe, that are in the most difficult circumstances. im not expecting those programs to be able to offer much funding this year. im interested in seeing how the uc Davis funding situation works out. am i right that they have only guaranteed instate tuition and $5k for the first year? i doubt berkeley, ucla, or ucsd will be able to offer much more support. though, i could be wrong, and i hope i am.

fingers crossed... i haven't received anything from any schools yet.

[ladedodaday]

I agree that the UC schools appear to be in the worst shape. I'm glad that I ended up applying mostly to private schools, as they should be marginally better off than state schools. To the admitted UC-Davis people: did they say anything about your chances of getting funding after that first quarter? It's quite a risk taking an offer from a school that couldn't even guarantee funding for one year...

On this same note, Plisar, if you're out there, do you know what UCSD's situation is this year? Are they taking/funding grad students?

Edited January 21, 2010 by great joy

[tskinner]

I agree that the UC schools appear to be in the worst shape. I'm glad that I ended up applying mostly to private schools, as they should be marginally better off than state schools. To the admitted UC-Davis people: did they say anything about your chances of getting funding after that first quarter? It's quite a risk taking an offer from a school that couldn't even guarantee funding for one year...

This is what I got:

"For the remainder of your first year and for the following four years, the Department anticipates covering in-state fees and a stipend through a combination of Teaching Assistant assignments, Research Assistant assignments, and Readerships. Appointment to any of these positions includes graduate student health insurance. Our strong expectation is that the department will fund your graduate work for five academic years. This support is contingent on the availability of funds and your satisfactory academic progress in the program, as determined through course grades, faculty evaluations, teaching evaluations, and adherence to departmental and university graduate student policies."

(I'm an in-stater)

[APGradApplicant]

This is what I got:

"For the remainder of your first year and for the following four years, the Department anticipates covering in-state fees and a stipend through a combination of Teaching Assistant assignments, Research Assistant assignments, and Readerships. Appointment to any of these positions includes graduate student health insurance. Our strong expectation is that the department will fund your graduate work for five academic years. This support is contingent on the availability of funds and your satisfactory academic progress in the program, as determined through course grades, faculty evaluations, teaching evaluations, and adherence to departmental and university graduate student policies."

(I'm an in-stater)

That was the text I got as well. I'm hopeful that they do mean that.

[natofone]

That sounds good!

[plisar]

The offer from UC-Davis, at least from my understanding, is not a guarantee but a hope. You should be VERY careful with that. If anyone talks about guaranteed funding when you talk with professors or go to the visits, be sure to tell that person that it is not what your offer letter says! They can very easily fail to fund you at anytime during the first four or five years. Remember, anticipations are NOT a guarantee. If you have your heart set on going to UC-Davis after you receive offers from other schools, be sure to negotiate a guarantee in writing, or you should seriously considering declining them, no questions asked.

As for the public versus private debate, this is simply not true. I would argue that the University of Michigan is probably in the best financial shape of most of the top schools, simply because they anticipated this recession earlier than other peer institutions, and rely less heavily on their endowment or state funds for funding most of their everyday activities. As such, they are actually in a situation where they have a budget surplus for this year, have not had to furlough faculty or staff, have not had to lay off any employees, and most departments have been given green lights to hire (including the department of political science).

The UC system is an interesting case. At UCSD, grad students were promised a 7% COLA increase. They have also told departments that they will be getting an increase in funding for their block grants, which is where most departments form their 'fellowships'. That being said, I'd imagine that the recruitment class here will likely be slightly smalelr than it was last year, but probably not as small as one would anticipate given the problems with the UC System. That being said, UCSD is probably in better shape than Berkeley or UCLA are. Again, this is because our school is less heavily reliant on state funds then UCLA or Berkeley (which gets about 35% of their funding from the state). I would anticipate that the hiring freeze will be lifted at the UC level by the end of May and that you may see some hiring, but I cannot say this for sure.

I hope this helps with some anxiety. Expect decently sized cohorts at most institutions. It's unfortunate to see such problems at UIUC because they have a great program. But certainly expect them to be the EXCEPTION and not the rule.

[ladedodaday]

Thanks for the informative post!

[polisciphd]

You guys can relax about the UIUC situation, will admit the same size class as last year, with the typical funding packages.

[Ferrero]

You guys can relax about the UIUC situation, will admit the same size class as last year, with the typical funding packages.

My read of the situation is a little different.

[Ferrero]

Historically, the last week of January has been a time when students get some action.