Fall 2010 Admission Results

[MsOptimism]

Congrats, everyone!

So, did we figure out what's going on with UCLA? Does it seem that they've released all their acceptances by now?

[fromark17]

Congrats, everyone!

So, did we figure out what's going on with UCLA? Does it seem that they've released all their acceptances by now?

Only a couple people have claimed them and there aren't too many on the results board, so I would say they aren't done yet. I'd heard they're reducing their incoming cohort because of financial problems (or maybe reducing funding?), but I hope more admits are coming.

[natofone]

Based on the number of acceptances we have seen across several subfields, I would guess that UCLA is done with acceptances. I know that they are reducing their normal class by about 1/2 to 1/3.

[brouhaha]

Got an official no from Yale today for the MA. I feel pretty led on. This one actually really hurts.

[APGradApplicant]

I hope so. Do you have any info confirming this, or just speculating?

I talked to the grad secretary on the phone late last week and she told me that applicants would start hearing this week and that everyone will have heard something by end of next week...

[thatsnotmyname]

Got an official no from Yale today for the MA. I feel pretty led on. This one actually really hurts.

I'm sorry to hear that! I can understand how you feel led on. Hopefully you hear back soon from some other schools!

Edited February 23, 2010 by thatsnotmyname

[Rory]

I talked to the grad secretary on the phone late last week and she told me that applicants would start hearing this week and that everyone will have heard something by end of next week...

Hmmm...I was told that everyone would hear by the end of this week...I guess it depends who you speak to on the phone....perhaps someone would like to try again, see what they have to say today?

[Rory]

Got an official no from Yale today for the MA. I feel pretty led on. This one actually really hurts.

Ouch, that's kind of evil of them....

[APGradApplicant]

Hmmm...I was told that everyone would hear by the end of this week...I guess it depends who you speak to on the phone....perhaps someone would like to try again, see what they have to say today?

Sounds like a good plan. Rory and I already took the plunge...who wants to go next?

Diana Gallagher

Graduate Administrator's Assistant | 617-253-6676 | dsgall@mit.edu

Susan Twarog

Graduate Administrator | 617-253-8336 | twarog@mit.edu

[Shere Khan]

Got an official no from Yale today for the MA. I feel pretty led on. This one actually really hurts.

I can understand that! I mean, really, what kind of behaviour is this?

[Ahab]

I'm really struggling to figure this stuff out. So far I've received 4 rejections and I was not in the group of Washington admits that went out this past weekend. I feel like I could analyze this process to death and not have any idea where I went wrong.

GPA: 3.9cum/3.95polsci (Small liberal arts university with growing reputation)

GRE: 1390 - 700V/690Q

Great LORs but not from scholars with national name recognition

Multiple research projects and conference presentations. My writing sample won a national award.

My personal statement was short but I received a lot of help on it and I thought it turned out pretty well. The one thing I'm worried about is that I over emphasized the interplay between academic politics and real-world politics. I was trying to explain how I had gone from focusing on a career in the federal government to a career in academia but maybe it just made me sound like a lightweight.

I applied for comparative politics with a focus on East Asia/China. I tried to keep it broad but I talked about democratization/political socialization/internal politics.

I'm really happy for all of you that got in to top schools because I can only imagine what that feeling would be like. Maybe I just need to look in a different direction...

[Keller65]

I'm really struggling to figure this stuff out. So far I've received 4 rejections and I was not in the group of Washington admits that went out this past weekend. I feel like I could analyze this process to death and not have any idea where I went wrong.

GPA: 3.9cum/3.95polsci (Small liberal arts university with growing reputation)

GRE: 1390 - 700V/690Q

Great LORs but not from scholars with national name recognition

Multiple research projects and conference presentations. My writing sample won a national award.

My personal statement was short but I received a lot of help on it and I thought it turned out pretty well. The one thing I'm worried about is that I over emphasized the interplay between academic politics and real-world politics. I was trying to explain how I had gone from focusing on a career in the federal government to a career in academia but maybe it just made me sound like a lightweight.

I applied for comparative politics with a focus on East Asia/China. I tried to keep it broad but I talked about democratization/political socialization/internal politics.

I'm really happy for all of you that got in to top schools because I can only imagine what that feeling would be like. Maybe I just need to look in a different direction...

It's been a tough year. Never lose sight that you had the luck of applying during a recession. Lots of posters on here are giving this their second, third whack.

[Keller65]

Well Notre Dame applicants, steel yourselves: a week ago this afternoon more admits were emailed out. They may be deliberating as I type.

[readeatsleep]

Got an official no from Yale today for the MA. I feel pretty led on. This one actually really hurts.

im sorry to hear that brouhaha. you should know, though, that those MA programs are cash cows, and students in those kinds of programs often feel neglected by professors. im not sure it would have been the best choice anyways.

[curiousgeorge84]

No, I haven't gotten any funding info yet. Not sure they've accepted everyone yet that they're going to (I expected to maybe see a few more accepts on the Results page) so maybe they're still sorting out funding. Rest assured that once I know that I won't have to live in my car in order to go there, I will definitely accept!

On my funding and admissions letter it said, in so many words, to let them know as soon as possible because someone else could get my funding if I wasn't going to attend. I just accepted their offer today. They may have given a certain number of funding offers and are waiting for replies so they can sort out who gets what. If someone declines, then another student can get the full funding or whatever is being offered.

[natofone]

I'm really struggling to figure this stuff out. So far I've received 4 rejections and I was not in the group of Washington admits that went out this past weekend. I feel like I could analyze this process to death and not have any idea where I went wrong.

You just didn't apply to enough schools to account for the randomness factor. This process isn't logical or something that you can easily predict.

[curiousgeorge84]

No, I haven't gotten any funding info yet. Not sure they've accepted everyone yet that they're going to (I expected to maybe see a few more accepts on the Results page) so maybe they're still sorting out funding. Rest assured that once I know that I won't have to live in my car in order to go there, I will definitely accept!

In addition to the acceptance posts, there is a girl from Lebanon attending who focuses on women in the Arab world.

[curiousgeorge84]

You just didn't apply to enough schools to account for the randomness factor. This process isn't logical or something that you can easily predict.

I disagree. I only applied to 6 schools and I'm already into a place that truly is the best fit and I haven't heard from three of them yet. My research exactly matches the research of the professor with whom I'm going to work. I think that you really need to research the professors at the schools to which you are applying and match your research to them. Make sure its a full professor who has more sway in the decision making process. If a professor sees your proposed plan of study and is excited by what you want to do, he is more likely to push to admit you. GPA, GRE scores, and achievements are really just the beginning. If you are applying for a PhD they want to know that you are already focused, because your class papers in the program should be directed toward the subject upon which you want to write your dissertation. Also, it's not number of schools, its range. How many safeties and levels? Everyone should go into this assuming they won't make it into a top 10 or 20 because sometime 4.0GPA and 1600 GREs doesn't cut it, if 500 other people have the same scores and same number of publications.

[mpe]

In at MIT, wait list for funding. Received a letter (FedEx) today. Letter was mailed yesterday, so it might take another day to arrive depending on where you live (I live in Boston). 360 applicants, 7% accepted.

[Rory]

In at MIT, wait list for funding. Received a letter (FedEx) today. Letter was mailed yesterday, so it might take another day to arrive depending on where you live (I live in Boston). 360 applicants, 7% accepted.

Congrats!

[APGradApplicant]

I disagree. I only applied to 6 schools and I'm already into a place that truly is the best fit and I haven't heard from three of them yet. My research exactly matches the research of the professor with whom I'm going to work. I think that you really need to research the professors at the schools to which you are applying and match your research to them. Make sure its a full professor who has more sway in the decision making process. If a professor sees your proposed plan of study and is excited by what you want to do, he is more likely to push to admit you. GPA, GRE scores, and achievements are really just the beginning. If you are applying for a PhD they want to know that you are already focused, because your class papers in the program should be directed toward the subject upon which you want to write your dissertation. Also, it's not number of schools, its range. How many safeties and levels? Everyone should go into this assuming they won't make it into a top 10 or 20 because sometime 4.0GPA and 1600 GREs doesn't cut it, if 500 other people have the same scores and same number of publications.

Curious- natofone, in my opinion, is correct. I decided to cast a very wide net to account for the "randomness factor" as he so correctly identifies, that is rampant throughout this process. Applying to six schools that are all "really great fits" isn't necessarily the wrong way to do it, but I myself wouldn't have wanted to put myself through all that stress. What if I didn't get into any of those six?

I know that some people here are really struggling with themselves becuase they didn't get in anywhere so far this season. Trust me when I say I very much feel for you and continue to keep all of you in my prayers that you will find what you're looking for. At the same time, however, it is never a wise decision to apply without a safety program (and no, Brown is NOT a safety program, despite its lower ranking) unless you'd truly only want to get a PhD from a top 15 or 20 program and would otherwise prefer to persue another career (which if someone honestly felt that way, I'd almost rather see them not get in anywhere because they'd be going into academia for all the wrong reasons in the first place!). I feel very blessed to have gotten in at UT-Austin and UC-Davis (along with schools like Rice and FSU, which aren't as high up on the USN rankings but nonetheless hold strong positions in some of the other rankings that Bobb-Cobb was nice enough to post earlier). I also feel fortunate to even be on the wait list at a power house like University of Rochester, which I never expected possible.

That said, I applied to schools like Georgia and U of Florida because I didn't know what was going to happen most everywhere else, as it really can be a game of complete randomness. Both these aforementioned programs are great fits for me, have some great professors, and are no doubt on the rise. Will I go there now that I have all the options that I do? Most likely, no. However, would I have been more to happy to go to one of those places were those my only options. Absolutely! Would I have had to humble myself in some ways going from a Vandy undergrad to Georgia, U of Florida, Oklahoma or SUNY-Albany? Of course! And it would have been tough at first, believe you me. But I feel that my calling in life is to teach political science, and I sensed that 2010 was the year for me to begin graduate school.

Anyhow, that's my two cents, and I'm sure it's not worth much more than that, but yeah, there's where I'm coming from in all of this.

[fromark17]

In at MIT, wait list for funding. Received a letter (FedEx) today. Letter was mailed yesterday, so it might take another day to arrive depending on where you live (I live in Boston). 360 applicants, 7% accepted.

Congrats! Now I'll be eagerly awaiting a package. I put my home address for correspondence so I have to wait for my parents to get home from work and let me know if they got anything. FedEx usually ships pretty quickly so lots of people should get something today (or tomorrow at the latest I would guess).

Also, does anyone know how many students MIT usually enrolls each year? A 7% admit rate for 360 applicants means about 25 acceptances, which points to a pretty small cohort.

Edited February 23, 2010 by fromark17

[natofone]

I disagree. I only applied to 6 schools and I'm already into a place that truly is the best fit and I haven't heard from three of them yet. My research exactly matches the research of the professor with whom I'm going to work. I think that you really need to research the professors at the schools to which you are applying and match your research to them. Make sure its a full professor who has more sway in the decision making process. If a professor sees your proposed plan of study and is excited by what you want to do, he is more likely to push to admit you. GPA, GRE scores, and achievements are really just the beginning. If you are applying for a PhD they want to know that you are already focused, because your class papers in the program should be directed toward the subject upon which you want to write your dissertation. Also, it's not number of schools, its range. How many safeties and levels? Everyone should go into this assuming they won't make it into a top 10 or 20 because sometime 4.0GPA and 1600 GREs doesn't cut it, if 500 other people have the same scores and same number of publications.

Obviously you should only apply to schools with a good fit. That goes with out saying. Much of this process is out of your hands and very random. You don't know ahead of time who will be on an admissions committee, which prof is "due" to get more grad students, how well a department is doing this year in regards to funding, what direction the department wants to go in, which faculty actually choose to work with graduate students, how many other candidates in your subfield (or specific research area) applied that year, how competitive the applying class is, or really even what kind of expectations each school has in terms of strength of application.

[natofone]

Also, does anyone know how many students MIT usually enrolls each year?

Last year they accepted 31.

[APGradApplicant]

Congrats to the MIT admits so far! I grew up in Belmont, MA, one town over from Cambridge and my Dad (who's now one of those dreaded lawyers ) is undergrad class of '77 and was even a poli sci major there. Great school and city to be in.