flyingwalrus Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 should i withdraw my application from a school i am now no longer considering (given the offers i have already been made)? it seems only fair to the other applicants, but i'm having a hard time drafting the email in a way that doesn't sound like, "see you lataz suckas!" of course, i suppose i don't need to give a reason. from a purely selfish perspective, i would want to see if i am admitted and perhaps visit the school for the purposes of networking and learning more about the program--i might not accept a grad school offer there, given my other choices, but i would certainly accept a job someday--and most programs do have a waiting list, official or otherwise. but my ethical gut is telling me just to withdraw and save the committee the time of reading my 35-page writing sample as well as give some other dude/chick who really wants to go there a better shot. No. If they offer you admittance, just quickly and graciously turn them down.
slickj07 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 you have probably already seen this, but if not: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/21/ranking i find it incredibly useful, and it confirms what digging i've been able to do about departments where i have received offers. this is a good story, even though any kind of list is going to have major flaws. in any case, all 8 poli sci program i applied to are on there. i also like its bias toward formal theory, since that's what i'm focusing on (set in understanding american institutions) would you mind sharing the other schools that you're considering (besides Berkeley)?
JordanJames Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 should i withdraw my application from a school i am now no longer considering (given the offers i have already been made)? it seems only fair to the other applicants, but i'm having a hard time drafting the email in a way that doesn't sound like, "see you lataz suckas!" of course, i suppose i don't need to give a reason. from a purely selfish perspective, i would want to see if i am admitted and perhaps visit the school for the purposes of networking and learning more about the program--i might not accept a grad school offer there, given my other choices, but i would certainly accept a job someday--and most programs do have a waiting list, official or otherwise. but my ethical gut is telling me just to withdraw and save the committee the time of reading my 35-page writing sample as well as give some other dude/chick who really wants to go there a better shot. Congrats on being in such a great situation. If I were you, I think I would contact them and withdraw my application. While a free trip and networking opportunity would be nice, you'll have plenty of chances to network in the future (at conferences etc.) that will obviously be more fruitful than an admitted students day visit. I wouldn't think you taking the trip and going to another school would make them more (or less) likely to interview you in the future. And if you ever do interview at the university, you'll get a chance to see the school and meet with people at the school anyways. Also, a person who is considering going to the school will find the admitted students day much more valuable. This is of course only if there is no way that you will choose to go there. If there is even a slight chance that they will be able to change your mind, you shouldn't withdraw your application.
JordanJames Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 you have probably already seen this, but if not: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/21/ranking i find it incredibly useful, and it confirms what digging i've been able to do about departments where i have received offers. Here's a link to the study, for those who were wondering about other schools: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~chin ... _paper.pdf
eve2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 would you mind sharing the other schools that you're considering (besides Berkeley)? Let me get in (or not) everywhere I applied first, and then I'll post about my options. I don't want to jinx myself. Are you going to the admit weekend @ Berkeley slickj07?
slickj07 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 well, i guess i just meant where have you gotten in so far? but i'm most definitely going to the visit days. i was born in California but haven't been back since i was 5!
zephyr Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 general question for those of you who have taken upper-level/graduate poli sci courses. do you think they will help your application? i'm wondering because i didn't take any poli sci courses in undergrad, but i've taken a handful of graduate (masters and PhD-level) courses in the field at a top 25 school. while in theory i would imagine these classes are much more challenging and would probably be significantly more important to an admissions committee (hence improving my chances to get into a top program), i just don't know and am curious. in general, i know it is easier to get higher grades in grad school classes, so the fact that i got all A's in these courses may or may not mean much. thoughts?
polisciphd Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 general question for those of you who have taken upper-level/graduate poli sci courses. do you think they will help your application? i'm wondering because i didn't take any poli sci courses in undergrad, but i've taken a handful of graduate (masters and PhD-level) courses in the field at a top 25 school. while in theory i would imagine these classes are much more challenging and would probably be significantly more important to an admissions committee (hence improving my chances to get into a top program), i just don't know and am curious. in general, i know it is easier to get higher grades in grad school classes, so the fact that i got all A's in these courses may or may not mean much. thoughts? I did not take any poli sci classes as an undergraduate either, but took plenty in route to my masters in IR. I don't know about you, but I worked my butt off in grad school to get the grades that I got, harder than I ever did as an undergrad, so I don't necessarily think that undergraduate classes are easier content wise, I just think that by the time you get in grad school, you not only know what studying methods work best for you, you are studying something that you really enjoy, which makes any class easier in my opinion...
silencio1982 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 general question for those of you who have taken upper-level/graduate poli sci courses. do you think they will help your application? Absolutely. First of all, it shows your enduring interest in political science and your ability to do graduate level work. in general, i know it is easier to get higher grades in grad school classes, so the fact that i got all A's in these courses may or may not mean much. thoughts? I think this definitely depends on your undergraduate experience-- It certainly held true for me-- my undergrad GPA is .2 lower than grad school; but my husband (in a different field) had an entirely different experience. While his GPA for undergrad and his master's was about the same, he worked his butt off for those grades in grad school and didn't have to try as hard in undergrad. I think any poli sci course work that you have done very well in would help rather than hurt. While it may have been "easier" to get As, remember not everyone does get all As, I think that definitely shows something about your aptitude for the subject and your ability to be a successful graduate student. Now is the time where we're all second-guessing ourselves (me, too!), but in reality most of us are probably pretty strong applicants. At any rate I can't see any scenario where getting As in graduate level poli sci classes wouldn't be a huge boost to your application. Good luck!
polisciapp Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 I received a phone message today from a Prof at Northwestern who wanted to talk about my app. I haven't been able to get in touch with him. No word on whether this was an admit call or an interview call or a "we hated your application so much we want to call you and just laugh" call, but it was a call nonetheless. No email though. I've been hitting reload like crazy both on this thread and on the results page to see if anybody else has had a similar experience or has been accepted, but no dice. (Also of note: I checked my online app page, where it says that when a decision has been made a link will appear to take you to your doom or glory, and there was no link, hence no decision, at least none put online). Did you ever call them back? Did you get an email today? Either way, I believe a congratulations is in order.
rollinson Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Did you ever call them back? Did you get an email today? Either way, I believe a congratulations is in order. Just got off the phone with him. Oh my god. Yes! That is all.
silencio1982 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 congrats! can i ask what subfield you applied to?
flyingwalrus Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Just got off the phone with him. Oh my god. Yes! That is all. Congrats!
polisciapp Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Again, Congrats. This is probably annoying by now, but it would be helpful to post your info here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/polisciapps/
rollinson Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 congrats! can i ask what subfield you applied to? Good question: I'd say American Politics with a Theory lime twist.
silencio1982 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Good question: I'd say American Politics with a Theory lime twist. cool - i applied there for IR, with a theory lime twist :crosses fingers:
eve2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 are we all sitting at our computers, pressing reload every 5 minutes?
eve2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 rollinson: congrats, by the way, on northwestern!
polisciapp Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Yes, and yet, I have no idea why. I know that the probability of receiving any kind of notification is statistically insignificant. Wait, I guess I do know why: I am incredibly bored and neurotic.
eve2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 i wonder if polisci people are as a group more neurotic. we seem to be a pretty active bunch on all the boards and blogs out there. speaking of which, any i don't know about yet where i can go and waste more time? of course, this is the next six years of my life. it's pretty huge and i think natural that i'm a bit distracted (and psyched!)
silencio1982 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 are we all sitting at our computers, pressing reload every 5 minutes? haha. you guessed it. i have totally lost interest in my actual work now that notifications might be coming in. oops.
zephyr Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 true...i did study much harder for my grad-level poli sci courses than i did for others...or more appropriately, i read more than i've ever read in my life! i was just pointing out the fact that most people get high grades in grad school classes (albeit because they like the material AND are more devoted to putting in time to master it), and i'm wondering if my nice transcript from them may not necessarily set me apart from others.
polisciapp Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Looks like a UW-Madison admit by postal today. Anyone?
flyingwalrus Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Looks like a UW-Madison admit by postal today. Anyone? My roommate will be checking the mail for me when he goes home for lunch today.
silencio1982 Posted February 14, 2008 Posted February 14, 2008 Looks like a UW-Madison admit by postal today. Anyone? i wish! it seems like most of the UW admits so far have been international students. i wonder if they are notified first... or maybe they just make up a large % of the admitted cohort this year... anyways, all my mail gets delivered to my husband at work. so if i get a letter today, i should get a call from him relatively soon...
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