Fall 2010 Admission Results

[Yes]

No, I've applied for the DPhil this time. I did a masters in political theory at LSE. A few years ago I was accepted to the MSc Political Theory Research but had to decline because I didn't have the funding together at the time. I was assigned to Daniel McDermott. I'm assuming that if I'm accepted again this year I will probably be assigned him again. WHat's he like?

Makes sense. Good luck with it!

McDermott lectured one of the papers I took, and I found him very engaging. He is popular with the undergrads, and his lectures are always full. That said, he never tutored me, so I don't know him well at all, but he seems like a nice guy.

Which college did you apply for?

[btanu]

Quick comment (sorry, long time lurker!) - I did my undergrad at Oxford as well, and at the college which Daniel McDermott is based at. By all reports (i.e. from college PPEists) he's considered to be a pretty good tutor.

Makes sense. Good luck with it!

McDermott lectured one of the papers I took, and I found him very engaging. He is popular with the undergrads, and his lectures are always full. That said, he never tutored me, so I don't know him well at all, but he seems like a nice guy.

Which college did you apply for?

[Ziz]

Thanks to both! I'm quite relieved actually because his profile isn't very detailed so it's hard to get a sense of his personality from the website. Now I'm hoping I get him again . Oxon, I kind of assumed you had some relationship to Oxford - I don't know why I didn't think to as you about them before!

[FairGame]

UVA folks (including Brouhaha):

There's a handful of rejections posted via website. How does that look? If I log in, it still says Submission Status: Submitted/Application Status: Incomplete.

Is there somewhere else I need to look?

[xotes]

UVA folks (including Brouhaha):

There's a handful of rejections posted via website. How does that look? If I log in, it still says Submission Status: Submitted/Application Status: Incomplete.

Is there somewhere else I need to look?

there should be "Decision Status" below the "Application Status". btw, your application status needs updating as well. Hope you would be admitted.

[LordNorth]

Mine still says Incomplete too.

[Wesson]

<br />

I used to have a very narrow dissertation topic. Then I went to one of the top schools in my list below (will remain nameless), where I was summarily told by a professor that I might as well just write a book and not bother with a phd. In general they seem to have a preference for those with broad interests they can shape (they can then continue their own research through you), rather than those that know what they want to do. Naturally in my SOP, my "intellectual maturity" quickly receeded.

The very scientific method of using the past few posts in this thread seems to support the notion that focus does not matter, and might even hurt chances of admission.

I don't really see it this way. First, I'm not sure it's a matter of broad vs. narrow interests. Instead, it's more about whether the faculty, including the admissions committee, perceive the applicant to be open-minded and interested in learning. Some SoPs read like the applicant thinks he or she already knows everything, and views the PhD program as a hoop to be jumped through rather than an opportunity for intellectual growth. Second, although some faculty probably do wish to "continue their own research through you," most prefer that you find your own path. If you do, you'll be a better, more innovative scholar. But faculty do gravitate toward students with research interests similar (i.e., related but not identical)to their own, and to students interested in learning more about how to do research. Third, keep in mind that you eventually have to face the matter of marketability. Your dissertation has to help you land a job. Some dissertations are quite narrow and/or quite dry, making it hard for their authors to find the right market niche. A good adviser will see this early on, and try to nudge the student in a more promising direction. One thing I would suggest is to try to put yourself in the shoes of the professor, the person who has been on the faculty 10, 20 or 30 years, and think about how the way you depict yourself will strike that person.

[serotonin_addict]

Northwestern refreshed my webpage with a decision link and as expected it is a rejection. Not a good start for today...

[FairGame]

there should be "Decision Status" below the "Application Status". btw, your application status needs updating as well. Hope you would be admitted.

Thanks. I gather UVA is different than most other schools who use this application software, since they've got this note on the page:

*Please be aware that your application status will remain "incomplete" even if all required materials have been submitted and received by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

So I'm not worried about the "Incomplete".

[LordNorth]

Thanks. I gather UVA is different than most other schools who use this application software, since they've got this note on the page:

*Please be aware that your application status will remain "incomplete" even if all required materials have been submitted and received by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

So I'm not worried about the "Incomplete".

Yeah, I'm not worried either. I did enquire about mine because one of my transcripts was listed as missing, whereas I'd already gotten confirmation that it had been delivered. UVA said that they just hadn't attached it to my file yet, and would use an official copy for review purposes if need be. But, yeah, I don't think it's an issue that our status hasn't been updated. It's probably just one more administrative task that they can do without at the moment!

[curufinwe]

So, all this talk about "fit", it is not hard to find a fit school, unless you study a really niche topic. I mean, how off can you be when all you need to say is, say, "comparative politics, party systems" if you have done the tiniest research about the school??

I did apply for a proper topic, without getting into details, and all my schools were good fit because there were a good number of faculty that studied it. What else can cause rejections then? Do you think it goes like "hmm this student had 3.87 but the other one has 3.89. Let's choose the other one"?

I am starting to get a funny feeling about my future chances because I have NO IDEA what they look for in a student!!

Edited February 11, 2010 by curufinwe

[FairGame]

Yeah, I'm not worried either. I did enquire about mine because one of my transcripts was listed as missing, whereas I'd already gotten confirmation that it had been delivered. UVA said that they just hadn't attached it to my file yet, and would use an official copy for review purposes if need be. But, yeah, I don't think it's an issue that our status hasn't been updated. It's probably just one more administrative task that they can do without at the moment!

Literally the exact same thing happened to me. I can't imagine working in an admissions office. The Dec-Feb period must just be an absolute nightmare.

Going to try and call today. Fingers crossed for both of us

[LordNorth]

Literally the exact same thing happened to me. I can't imagine working in an admissions office. The Dec-Feb period must just be an absolute nightmare.

Going to try and call today. Fingers crossed for both of us

Ooops, I meant *unofficial transcript for review purposes.

Cool, let us know what they tell you about how results are going to be sent out. I'd absolutely love to attend UVA, so can't wait to find out. Good luck to you too!

[ladedodaday]

So, all this talk about "fit", it is not hard to find a fit school, unless you study a really niche topic. I mean, how off can you be when all you need to say is, say, "comparative politics, party systems" if you have done the tiniest research about the school??

I did apply for a proper topic, without getting into details, and all my schools were good fit because there were a good number of faculty that studied it. What else can cause rejections then? Do you think it goes like "hmm this student had 3.87 but the other one has 3.89. Let's choose the other one"?

I am starting to get a funny feeling about my future chances because I have NO IDEA what they look for in a student!!

I think recommendations are a lot more important than many people on this board seem to think. It obviously varies from school to school, but judging by people's results here, they seem crucial.

Edited February 11, 2010 by polisciFTW

[backstreets]

Yeah, I'm not worried either. I did enquire about mine because one of my transcripts was listed as missing, whereas I'd already gotten confirmation that it had been delivered. UVA said that they just hadn't attached it to my file yet, and would use an official copy for review purposes if need be. But, yeah, I don't think it's an issue that our status hasn't been updated. It's probably just one more administrative task that they can do without at the moment!

What a relief to hear. I'd been having mini freak-outs over not getting a decision on UVA because they said they only had unofficial transcripts. (For some reason, my UPenn application status has the same problem, but I figure that if they didn't receive the official ones or couldn't rely upon unofficial transcripts, they'd have said something... Or at least, I'd hope that they'd say something instead of just moving on to the next applicant).

[curufinwe]

So, people born on the wrong side of the world, without the chances of going to a brand name school or without the chance of taking the classes of the awesome professors that everyone knows, will need really good luck to get in

ah, fate...

[Ziz]

I agree that reference letters are important. I applied to the same school 2 years in a row. The first year I was rejected, the second accepted. My stats were identical in both years, statement was slightly different though both were well written. The only significant difference was that the second year I had a referee that had worked with the head of the admissions committee and was good friends with him. She's the type that wouldn't give glowing praise. Her letter was probably along the lines of "she is good at this, but needs to work on this" so I'm sure the letter was an honest assessment of my abilities and not inflated. So I believe I got in the second year because of her letter.

[Yes]

I agree that reference letters are important. I applied to the same school 2 years in a row. The first year I was rejected, the second accepted. My stats were identical in both years, statement was slightly different though both were well written. The only significant difference was that the second year I had a referee that had worked with the head of the admissions committee and was good friends with him. She's the type that wouldn't give glowing praise. Her letter was probably along the lines of "she is good at this, but needs to work on this" so I'm sure the letter was an honest assessment of my abilities and not inflated. So I believe I got in the second year because of her letter.

I get the feeling that admission has a lot to do with being able to distinguish yourself from other applicants (but then, what do I know...). It could be a great recommendation from someone well-known. It could be an exceptional undergrad record at a famous institution. It could be a special interest... etc etc etc

In a process where most people are smart/interesting/get good recommendations, it is difficult to stand out. And I think there are many ways to do that.

[Yes]

Right, and now I want more replies from schools. I am tired of waiting. I want some feedback, NOW!

[michal]

Right, and now I want more replies from schools. I am tired of waiting. I want some feedback, NOW!

Yeah, it seems like things have been pretty quiet. I'm leaving for Sri Lanka in under 24 hours and I'd love to hear something before then...

[nervouscomparativist]

I think recommendations are a lot more important than many people on this board seem to think. It obviously varies from school to school, but judging by people's results here, they seem crucial.

Thanks. I´ve been wanting to say that forever. I think it´s pretty obvious that the objective criteria many people are posting here (GPA , GRE and so forth) don´t go a long way towards explaining admission success. That´s good in a way, because GREs are a pretty bad indicator of academic ability, and GPAs are not easily comparable. Other professor´s opinions are probably more highly valued; for example, think of the many many ambitious and hard-working students with low to mediocre intellectual creativity (or even interest), some of which are interested in academia primarily for the career (and the title). An Adcom cannot possibly sort these people out by GPAs and GREs (they are probably even disproportionately good at those), but other professors can (and do). Of course, this does not imply that people that got rejected even though they had good objective stats are always part of this group. But, relationships with professors certainly matter (and their importance sometimes gets diminished in this board, because they are unobservable from our perspective). In terms of research interests, I ´m pretty sure that it pays to be rather specific (and demonstrate proficiency); not necessarily regarding your interest in the future, but at least about some research that you have done before. There is no better way to judge the research somebody will do than by the research he or she has already done (which is, by the way, why the writing sample, another "unobserved" component" of the application that is often neglected here, is probably pretty important).

Edited February 11, 2010 by nervouscomparativist

[Rory]

Right, and now I want more replies from schools. I am tired of waiting. I want some feedback, NOW!

I'm with you, Oxon (although I don't have that lovely Stanford acceptance to quell my fears of striking out completely)

Here's to hoping that Yale (at least) gets back to us today or tomorrow...I'm not sure I can take another weekend with no news whatsoever...

Edited February 11, 2010 by Rory

[interista]

So, people born on the wrong side of the world, without the chances of going to a brand name school or without the chance of taking the classes of the awesome professors that everyone knows, will need really good luck to get in

ah, fate...

I don't know...I think we all need a bit of luck, and I wouldn't count yourself out just yet. I have pretty solid stats from a "top-10" liberal arts college and recs from respected professors (all three of whom I developed close relationships with), but I'm 0 for 3 right now with HYP lurking on the horizon. And for some reason, everyone seems to have applied to Georgetown, my "safety," though it's not much of a safety for theory. But I'm holding out hope because there's a good chance that the three schools that rejected me might not be looking for someone with my specific interests. I'm not sure how much one can assume a Yale rejection from a Duke rejection (or a Columbia rejection from a Northwestern rejection). While I think it's a bit of a cop-out to describe the application process as "arbitrary" beyond a certain point (e.g. selecting between two applicants with 3.8+ major GPA, 1500+ GRE and strong recs), it makes sense that such decisions are made on the basis of whose interests align with those of the faculty. Or maybe my profs secretly wrote me horrible recs

[Yes]

I'm with you, Oxon (although I don't have that lovely Stanford acceptance to quell my fears of striking out completely)

Here's to hoping that Yale (at least) gets back to us today or tomorrow...I'm not sure I can take another weekend with no news whatsoever...

I know, the weekends are painful! I have a feeling about Yale. I think we will know by Friday.

(unusually optimistic today... I think because there haven't been any more Harvard hoaxes recently )

[Yes]

Thanks to both! I'm quite relieved actually because his profile isn't very detailed so it's hard to get a sense of his personality from the website. Now I'm hoping I get him again . Oxon, I kind of assumed you had some relationship to Oxford - I don't know why I didn't think to as you about them before!

Yeah, my name gives it away...

Let me know if you have any further questions; or anything I can help with. Which college did you apply for?