macintosh Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Does someone want to do me a HUGE favor and call Jennifer Evangelista at UCSD and ask if we can be sure we'll hear this week? I would do it but I called last week and have a pretty distinctive boomingly deep voice so am afraid it'll be recognized from last week. Doubt it but I'm paranoid and don't want to take any risks with that place. It's 858-534-7381. Yes, can somebody call UCSD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonBlue Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Something's strange at Duke, because this describes me as well. And I'm Mearsheimer's Minion! Don't they know who they are messing with!? Personal networks matter, too. For instance, whether Duke's committee members know your recommenders matters a bit. Plus, the "fit" is incredibly important regardless of how excellent you are... Ziz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backstreets Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 does anyone here know how indicative one admissions decision (i.e. duke) might be of other admissions decisions (i.e. columbia, yale, washu, texas)? it doesn't seem to be based on numbers, and i wasn't sure how worried i should be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonBlue Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 On 2/8/2010 at 2:20 PM, backstreets said: does anyone here know how indicative one admissions decision (i.e. duke) might be of other admissions decisions (i.e. columbia, yale, wash u, texas)? it doesn't seem to be based on numbers, and i wasn't sure how worried i should be... No worries. I can testify against your myth. Also, as I said, it really depends on the fit and which faculty members are willing to take your research interests. I wouldn't stress out about it too much. For instance, people get into Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, etc but still get rejected from other top institutions like Chicago, WashU, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 That's definitely true...! (Though I hope, of course, that my Stanford offer is a good sign.. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Princeton receptionist said admit weekend would be March 21-23. Haven't gotten ahold of anyone at Harvard yet. Any news from Harvard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 None here. We should probably be expecting news from them during the last week of February, based on years past and the email I got from Thom Wall. I was actually referring to SuddenlyParanoid's attempt to find out when the Admit Weekend *would* happen.... But yes, I am mentally preparing for being terrified during the last week of Feb... Remind me, what concentration did you apply for again? Ziz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keller65 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Disturbing post about Duke on the results page, maybe the ad coms. better lock their doors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziz Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Disturbing post about Duke on the results page, maybe the ad coms. better lock their doors? Yes, I was going to say that I didn't apply to Duke but if I did and went there, I'd be quite relieved that that person did not get accepted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tan Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 (edited) Yes, I was going to say that I didn't apply to Duke but if I did and went there, I'd be quite relieved that that person did not get accepted! Going 0-6 has to be brutal, however, so let's give the poster a break... though yea obviously very excessive. Also, for all those who got rejected from Duke, it is very possible that the department is accepting a smaller cohort this year... The Philosophy Department, for instance, entirely closed its applications this year (as in they aren't accepting anyone), so perhaps there was a general effort to reduce the number of students... Edited February 8, 2010 by Tan anxiousmike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APGradApplicant Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 So I'm guessing that barring some people who come home and open mail (which is usually bad news anyhow), we've probably crossed another day off the calendar. So to summarize- an exciting Michigan acceptance, and just a lot, a lot, a lot of rejections from Duke. Let's hope tomorrow is a little more positive! On my end, haven't heard anything one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keller65 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 So I'm guessing that barring some people who come home and open mail (which is usually bad news anyhow), we've probably crossed another day off the calendar. So to summarize- an exciting Michigan acceptance, and just a lot, a lot, a lot of rejections from Duke. Let's hope tomorrow is a little more positive! On my end, haven't heard anything one way or the other. Not sure. Just after lunchtime here on the west coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I'm a Comparative Politics applicant, with particular interest in the institutional nuances of semi-authoritarian, post-communist regimes, an area in which Harvard is particularly strong. I'm cautiously, cautiously, cautiously, optimistic. When all is said and done, regardless of what happens, I will sleep well knowing that I have done absolutely everything I can to make this work. What about you? I'm an IR applicant; but most of the issues I am interested in are on the IR-Theory border - just war theory, international law, security norms, global justice... etc. What makes you cautiously optimistic? Have you had some positive signs from the faculty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APGradApplicant Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Yeah, I'm on the west coast. I guess I was just thinking UCSD would more likely send stuff out in the earlier part of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Yes. I emailed 4 professors and heard back from 3 of them. The primary faculty member I would be working with spoke with me on the phone for 35 minutes and said "I truly hope this works out." The other two said things like "you would have no problem finding faculty members who share your interests ... we form discussion groups about these issues all the time ... yours is, of course, a terrific topic ... the issue of multiple political parties in non-democratic regimes is really interesting (I said that that was my honors thesis topic); in our book we look at its impact in Russia, Moldova, Armenia, and Ukraine." 2 out of my 3 LORs did post-doc fellowships there and the prof I spoke with on the phone said that my undergrad institution has probably the best cohort of faculty members studying my issues of interest. he then proceeded to list my LORs as people I'd probably have worked with. SO - if i don't get in, I don't know what the heck I could have done more. Sounds great! I really hope things work out for you there! I got some (tentative) positive signals too, so let's hope, sit, wish, wait and waste plenty of time on GradCafe... haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mearsheimer's Minion Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Personal networks matter, too. For instance, whether Duke's committee members know your recommenders matters a bit. Plus, the "fit" is incredibly important regardless of how excellent you are... The weird part is that my GPA and GRE scores were the weakest part of my application, or at least I felt that was the case up until two hours ago. Duke and I would have been a good fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordNorth Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I wish I had a result just so I could contribute to discussion! Although I am expecting to hear from Aberystwyth and (perhaps) UT-Austin this week... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Yes. I emailed 4 professors and heard back from 3 of them. The primary faculty member I would be working with spoke with me on the phone for 35 minutes and said "I truly hope this works out." The other two said things like "you would have no problem finding faculty members who share your interests ... we form discussion groups about these issues all the time ... yours is, of course, a terrific topic." 2 out of my 3 LORs did post-doc fellowships there and the prof I spoke with on the phone said that my undergrad institution has probably the best cohort of faculty members studying my issues of interest. he then proceeded to list my LORs as people I'd probably have worked with. SO - if i don't get in, I don't know what the heck I could have done more. My fate is in the hands of the PhD admissions gods, now Sent you a message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backstreets Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 ugh, just got my rejection letter from washu. seriously panicking (and confused). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tan Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) ugh, just got my rejection letter from wash u. seriously panicking (and confused). I'm sorry about your very rough day. This is clearly an insanely competitive year, and you still have many schools to go so don't lose faith! Edited February 9, 2010 by Tan Ziz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blumenrat Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) My first post on here and unfortunately an unhappy one, but I thought might help for others to see how much of a terrible crapshoot the application process can be! Just been rejected by the LSE. I'm an LSE graduate, having got not only a first class degree in July but also receiving university prizes for best results in second year, best overall degree results in the politics dept., and also the politics undergraduate dissertation prize as well as having LORs from the head of the politics dept. and from the Prof who heads the PhD course I applied to and yet I STILL get rejected! Honestly, what more can I do?!! Also rejected by Stanford today (though that was more expected) so now feeling really rubbish! Ah well, always next year I suppose... Good luck to all. Edited February 9, 2010 by blumenrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scpol Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I'm sorry about your very rough day. This is clearly an insanely competitive year, and you still have many schools to go so don't lose faith! It certainly seems that way. I have strong GRE and GPA (and thought also SOP and recs) and was also rejected at WashU today. I can't complain too much since I've got a couple acceptances and have a lot more decisions waiting, but with the rejection at WashU and likely rejection at Northwestern and Emory, I'm a little nervous about the more highly ranked schools on my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scpol Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 scpol! you're another madison buddy! yay! are you seriously considering it? i definitely am, but of course i'm waiting on a few more decisions to come in. are you planning on going to the admit weekend? OSU has it's admit weekend at the same time. My field is public law/judicial, so OSU and Wisconsin are both really strong. I'm definitely considering it, but I too am waiting for a few more decisions. It's kind of all up in the air! But I think we all are feeling that right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_CA Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 It certainly seems that way. I have strong GRE and GPA (and thought also SOP and recs) and was also rejected at WashU today. I can't complain too much since I've got a couple acceptances and have a lot more decisions waiting, but with the rejection at WashU and likely rejection at Northwestern and Emory, I'm a little nervous about the more highly ranked schools on my list. I guess I'm banking on you being in particular subfields, but in all likelihood, you have a very bright side to look at. (I'm guessing you're in AP based on where you applied...) WUStL, Northwestern, and Emory are all great universities, but for most polisci subfields, Madison and Ohio State are rated more highly than those places that aren't going to be lucky enough to count you in their next year's class. There's a good chance I'll be at Madison next year, and I'm pretty stoked about being at a top-10 for American Politics that's doing great research in my areas of specific interest. And I'll still be stoked, even if I go 0-fer for the "big" schools sending out letters in the coming weeks. Anyway, my point is that you got into some great schools that are probably rated more highly than some of the ones that rejected you, so don't read too much into where you're going to get in based on decisions you already know. And for the time being, you can at least know that you've got some good options on the table, which makes a lot of folks around here envious. Hope to see you in Madison in April! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mn06556 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Howdy everyone - I'll likely be attending the Madison visitation weekend as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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