PoliSci 2007-2008 Cycle

[crazypoligirl]

Well there are accepts at Princeton and I have not got one. But I cannot conclude I was rejected. I think we have to wait. I spoke personally Thursday morning with the Administrator of Graduate Studies and she said "early next week." I think I was probably rejected as I find it hard to believe they would draft an email to any student saying they got in, and not to ALL students who got in. Oh well.

In at Harvard, in at Duke, in at Georgetown with full funding for five years, rejected at Columbia (I presume), rejected at Yale, probably rejected at Princeton, waiting for Committee on Social Thought.

In sum: it's tough but I still caught some huge fish.

yea you did!!! life must be pretty peachy over there! congrats!

[crazypoligirl]

I am similarly confused. English is one of the primary languages of Canada, correct?

That was unnecessarily rude, especially since he/she was just trying to be helpful. Granted, it was confusing as heck given the typos.. but come on! Be polite, we are all human here!

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

That was unnecessarily rude, especially since he/she was just trying to be helpful. Granted, it was confusing as heck given the typos.. but come on! Be polite, we are all human here!

Canadianpolisci, I apologize if I offended you. I thought I was just being funny, but temperatures are running even hotter than I guessed. I meant that in a joking manner, but I suppose text does not convey body language or facial expression.

[Canadianpolsci]

I am so eternally hurt. Sure I was admitted to Harvard Government. But I have a thin skin, and having typos in a posting about Princeton hurts so bad. So bad.

Its horrriiiibuble. I mean, horrid, but horrid as in the way I just spelt that. Or is it spelled?

Meanwhile I think I got waitlisted at Princeton. That is my feeling.

[hoopz]

besides feelings, does anyone have information about where princeton is in their decision-making process?

[browneyedgirl]

re: princeton

I just spoke to someone in their office who said all decisions were made yesterday and that letters are going out today by regular mail. she added that the DGS has given a heads-up to people via e-mail.

[Quarex]

had a 3.4 in undergrad in an obscenely hard science major from a top 50 school. had a 3.8 in a policy program at a top 3 masters program. worked in policy for 5 years. took 5 phd poli sci courses at a top 25 dept. and got an A in every course. basically, any policy course i've ever taken, the worst i've done is an A-. had a well-defined research proposal that literally fit perfectly with 6 of my 8 schools in terms of what their profs really did well in. very high GRE scores (90-95 percentile on all sections). plus strong LORs, albeit from no famous profs. the only thing i can think of is to go back in time and major in IR or econ in undergrad. damn 18-year-old version of me...wtf was he thinking??? i'm going to go bash my head on my kitchen wall for an hour now.

Hmm, yes, you seem to officially have the best "this system is very cruel" story so far.

One of the things most backwardly keeping me sane during this whole process is that I know my application was completely all over the place. Awards and recognition and great letter-writers here, abysmal undergraduate performance in unrelated field there. I knew I basically had no chance of getting into anywhere really good, so I was just going to be happy if I got accepted anywhere (hence the huge number of applications). If I end up finishing an M.A. with a great GPA, doing an even better round of research, presenting at conferences, stacking up the positives in my application, and then still get shot down again everywhere in two years ... well ... yeah.

You still might get accepted somewhere, though, right?

Also, the guy complaining about Minnesota's curt response just got owned in the responses, though I do not know if it was a legitimate post.

[silencio1982]

Also, the guy complaining about Minnesota's curt response just got owned in the responses, though I do not know if it was a legitimate post.

i saw that. just proves you never know who reads these things!!

[JordanJames]

Oh my god, they actually do read these boards.

i saw that. just proves you never know who reads these things!!

[Canadianpolsci]

re: princeton

I just spoke to someone in their office who said all decisions were made yesterday and that letters are going out today by regular mail. she added that the DGS has given a heads-up to people via e-mail.

So this means, if I have not got a "heads up via email" I was not accepted?

BY THE WAY: DO THE SCHOOLS KNOW ABOUT THESE FORUMS? MAYBE THEY CAN STOP SENDING OUT REJECT LETTERS 3 WEEKS AFTER WE KNOW. COME ON IVY LEAGUES, GET WITH THE NEW TECHNOLOGY!

[crazypoligirl]

So this means, if I have not got a "heads up via email" I was not accepted?

BY THE WAY: DO THE SCHOOLS KNOW ABOUT THESE FORUMS? MAYBE THEY CAN STOP SENDING OUT REJECT LETTERS 3 WEEKS AFTER WE KNOW. COME ON IVY LEAGUES, GET WITH THE NEW TECHNOLOGY!

hahaha! if only... i am still waiting on my chicago and columbia rejections...

[browneyedgirl]

So this means, if I have not got a "heads up via email" I was not accepted?

BY THE WAY: DO THE SCHOOLS KNOW ABOUT THESE FORUMS? MAYBE THEY CAN STOP SENDING OUT REJECT LETTERS 3 WEEKS AFTER WE KNOW. COME ON IVY LEAGUES, GET WITH THE NEW TECHNOLOGY!

that was definitely the impression she gave me. the fact that Princeton wasn't my top choice doesn't make me less disappointed. just because I wasn't dying to go there doesn't mean I wouldn't like to get in.

[iheartplato]

Damn. I WAS dying to go to Princeton.

Who would have thought it would be so hard to get people to just let you study? I mean, seriously, schools--I'll pay you. As much as a stipend would be awesome, at this point I will happily pay you to let me come and work diligently at your school. I will even sacrifice food and shelter to do so. PLEEEEAAASSSEEEEE JUST LET ME INNNNNNNNNNNNNN you sadistic power-wielders!! And I mean that in the nicest possible way. Thanks.

[lenin333]

I am going to strike out. This sucks.

[silencio1982]

blargh- i am getting impatient today. i live in boston and still haven't received anything from MIT. i am 99% sure it will be a rejection but what the heck is the issue with the USPS? you can walk from MIT to my apt in 15 minutes.

also... i am dying to hear from northwestern. what is taking them so long to decide... it's my only other chance of being accepted and i just want to know!! now that i said that i'll probably get rejected on monday.

chicago i have just written off at this point.

i never really realized i was such an impatient person until the past month. i can't believe i am still so impatient even after i've had good news!

[Quarex]

Hey, the rest of you rejected-so-far people wanna get together and form some kind of alternative Ph.D. commune? We can study things like the supports of the bridge under which we live, and write extensive papers detailing the movements and predicted future migration patterns of the common gray rat.

[ampersand]

Hey, the rest of you rejected-so-far people wanna get together and form some kind of alternative Ph.D. commune? We can study things like the supports of the bridge under which we live, and write extensive papers detailing the movements and predicted future migration patterns of the common gray rat.

Oooh, sounds interesting. Even though I've been accepted to a program, can I maybe be a visiting professor at your commune?

[iulixa]

Hey ampersand, how did you find out about Maryland? Was it a mass email? And when did you find out?

Thanks!

[Canadianpolsci]

It seems, though we can't confirm for sure, that those admitted to Princeton received emails. We know others received emails stating a)rejected b)wait listed.

I have not heard anything. I presume I was rejected. But I still have to say: isn't it odd that they emailed only SOME of the rejects so far?

Does anyone else find that odd? Did the people who got personal rejections make it to the last cut or something?

I am now going to say something that may give false hope to many people: I think that perhaps in a couple subfields (I know they split up decisions by subfield) there may be wait list decisions pending.

Anyway.

[lenin333]

It seems, though we can't confirm for sure, that those admitted to Princeton received emails. We know others received emails stating a)rejected b)wait listed.

I have not heard anything. I presume I was rejected. But I still have to say: isn't it odd that they emailed only SOME of the rejects so far?

Does anyone else find that odd? Did the people who got personal rejections make it to the last cut or something?

I am now going to say something that may give false hope to many people: I think that perhaps in a couple subfields (I know they split up decisions by subfield) there may be wait list decisions pending.

Anyway.

I have gotten absolutely nothing from them. Even my embark status is missing some items which concerns me but I know that I submitted all materials via the electronic system. I don't know what I did wrong on my admissions process. If you look at my stats I feel I was a strong candidate and I don't think that any of my recommenders were hesitant about their recommendations. Maybe I should find something else to fulfill me.

[AllFiredUp]

lenin don't get down on yourself. A new week -- a new month -- is upon us, scuttle being that Toronto has yet to sit down to applications.

[nina gorman]

I love the communal university idea, as well as its subfield in polisci of rat migration patterns. One of my career goals is to help establish a schloars/ activists retreat. Hey, I just realized recently, I don't need a Ph.D to do that anyway nor for my other career aspiration- writing books and articles for the masses. So, a part of me thinks maybe I don't need a PhD after all. That commune idea is looking better. Any one know how the free schools of the sixties die out - you known those established by hippies and academics disillusioned by biased and stifling academia. I wonder if there were any "free universities"?

Lenin, what are your real research interests and career goals? nina aka gurley flynn

[zephyr]

It seems, though we can't confirm for sure, that those admitted to Princeton received emails. We know others received emails stating a)rejected b)wait listed.

I have not heard anything. I presume I was rejected. But I still have to say: isn't it odd that they emailed only SOME of the rejects so far?

Does anyone else find that odd? Did the people who got personal rejections make it to the last cut or something?

I am now going to say something that may give false hope to many people: I think that perhaps in a couple subfields (I know they split up decisions by subfield) there may be wait list decisions pending.

Anyway.

i'm assuming the rejection posted is there because the person didn't get an acceptance email. no other mention of rejection emails on the results page that i saw. i'm pretty sure they're done. don't sweat it...i mean, you've got harvard. some of us have nothing.

[lenin333]

@Nina,

My MA is in European, Russian and Eurasian Politics and History. It is a two year MA here at U of T. My main research has been economics of transition and democratization in post-communist countries. Recently, I have been interested in Eastern European integration into the EU and its effects on democratic campaigning and corruption.

Off topic, I want to go to Cuba before it changes over to have a good perspective on its transition. But I am afraid of US officials as I am an American.

For further details, check-out undergrad stats.

[spin]

I'm relieved to have this all done...my life has been on abeyance since November. My final tally is:

Official Admit: Berkeley, Michigan, UCSD, Cornell

Official Reject: Stanford, Yale

Unofficial Reject: Harvard, Columbia, WashU, and possible Princeton.

I'm really sorry for those who struck out; I can't imagine how heartbreaking it is. I have the utmost respect for your dedication towards the 'nobility' of academics and Political Science; I sincerely hope you'll have the opportunity and/or the drive/perseverance to try again next year.