Canadianpolsci Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I think this depends on the program. But, Duke is great. What is your subfield? I'm assuming from your moniker that it's not American Politics.
Peter Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Anyone want to share their opinions on the respective strengths/weaknesses of the programs at UCI and USC? I really thought I'd get rejected by all of the schools, so I never thought I'd have to choose two in SoCal. Thanks for those who responded earlier re: WUSTL acceptances---I appreciate it. It will stink to get rejected to one of my top choices. But so it goes, I suppose. As for the UCI vs. USC debate, I believe you'll find UCI is ranked higher, but USC will provide more funds with their acceptances AND I believe you'll have a lesser TA requirement. I am also waiting on USC (did not apply to UCI) but whereas I've heard from Davis and UVA I think I'll opt for one of those programs. It's a hard question, though, and largely depends on how much you value US News rankings. And more superficially, I visited both and enjoyed the USC campus more, though the materialism is a bit hard to swallow. I thought the following might be useful for some. Again, it depends on how you value the rankings. But I snagged these off of a website, so take them for what they're worth. Many of you likely already have these rankings engraved in your mind, but for those who haven't seen them... POLS Rank/School Average assessment score (5.0 = highest) 1. Harvard University (MA) 5.0 2. Stanford University (CA) 4.9 3. University of Michigan
grtgmeloser Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Thanks Peter, I've read so many different ranking studies (citation, placement, NRC, US News) that I really do wonder how impactful such studies are. It seems like the forums are full of debate regarding the importance of rankings, so I was hoping that someone out there might have some personal experience with either program (i.e. a friend is a current grad, etc). I imagine choosing a program is full of intangibles, like the proximity of the campus to an In-N-Out Burger or the propensity of the faculty to use and/or appreciate Lebowski quotes. It'd be funny if we chose programs as randomly as adcoms chose admits.
silencio1982 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I'm in a similar situation here. Also, the fact that I can't even tell my fiance and famiily where we're (or I'm) going to live after we're married is driving everyone NUTS! haha, yep. i know how you feel. my husband is applying for jobs in 3 regions of the country right now... he's a saint.
polisciusername Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Admitted to Duke today - email from dir. of grad. studies!
flyingwalrus Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Admitted to Duke today - email from dir. of grad. studies! Congrats! What are your fields of interest?
Ansible Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Hello, I have read this forum many times but this is my first participation. I am an international student and I have been rejected by Wisconsin, and accepted by Indiana Bloomington and Washington University in St. Louis. Even tough, I am still waiting for Princeton, UCLA and NYU; I think that I will accept the WUSTL offer. For this reason, I would like to ask somebody some practical information about St. Louis. Many thanks and good luck
crazypoligirl Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Congrats to everyone who has received acceptances over the last couple of weeks! I am envious of those that have multiple acceptances.... I am still waiting. All I do is wait. I wish I got paid to wait on these adcoms....Seriously though! Tell me! Now! Put me out of misery PPPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEASSSSSSE!
flyingwalrus Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Ansible said: Hello, I have read this forum many times but this is my first participation. I am an international student and I have been rejected by Wisconsin, and accepted by Indiana Bloomington and Washington University in St. Louis. Even tough, I am still waiting for Princeton, UCLA and NYU; I think that I will accept the WUSTL offer. For this reason, I would like to ask somebody some practical information about St. Louis. Many thanks and good luck You should post your questions about Saint Louis in the city guide. WashU has a great department. St. Louis has a lot of good restaurants. They also have Forest Park which is a huge park with lots of free amenities.
silencio1982 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 hey ya'll. i was wondering if you could provide me with an opinion on something- i am going to try to make this situation as clear as possible without giving too much personal info away. last month i had some contact with a grad student in one of the depts i applied to. she provided me with new information about this dept that made me think it would be a great fit for me. i knew it was a good fit, but this new information about work going on within the dept makes me think it's a great fit. in the fall i had contacted a faculty member at this school, but he/she did not respond. turns out, as my grad student contact informed me, this faculty member had some personal matters that limited their availability- this is probably why he/she did not respond. the grad student told me to email that prof again, and a few others, and use her name, but i was squeamish about contacting faculty so close to decision time. well, i know they will be making decisions soon but i am weighing whether or not i should email faculty. would this be tacky? unprofessional? too desperate? what do you all think?
Ansible Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 You should post your questions about Saint Louis in the city guide. WashU has a great department. St. Louis has a lot of good restaurants. Many major tours (music and theater) come through the city too, so that's a plus. I also wouldn't make any final decision on where to go until you know all of your options.Those other schools are good too.
flyingwalrus Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Hi Many thanks for your response. Even though I will be expecting for the response of Princeton, I know that it will be a rejection. Only a question: Is St.Louis an expensive city? I don
JordanJames Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I'm going to grad school, now I can relax. Accepted at UC - Riverside. It is my backup, but all I really care about is having the opportunity and freedom to conduct my own research, so as long as I have this 1 acceptance, I'm happy. They also gave me a $16,000 fellowship that requires no TAing or RAing. For anyone else who applied to Riverside, the email was sent from the Graduate Division's office.
monkeyorama Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I'm going to grad school, now I can relax. Accepted at UC - Riverside. It is my backup, but all I really care about is having the opportunity and freedom to conduct my own research, so as long as I have this 1 acceptance, I'm happy. They also gave me a $16,000 fellowship that requires no TAing or RAing. For anyone else who applied to Riverside, the email was sent from the Graduate Division's office. Congrats!
flyingwalrus Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I'm going to grad school, now I can relax. Accepted at UC - Riverside. It is my backup, but all I really care about is having the opportunity and freedom to conduct my own research, so as long as I have this 1 acceptance, I'm happy. They also gave me a $16,000 fellowship that requires no TAing or RAing. For anyone else who applied to Riverside, the email was sent from the Graduate Division's office. Congratulations!
silencio1982 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I'm going to grad school, now I can relax. Accepted at UC - Riverside. It is my backup, but all I really care about is having the opportunity and freedom to conduct my own research, so as long as I have this 1 acceptance, I'm happy. They also gave me a $16,000 fellowship that requires no TAing or RAing. For anyone else who applied to Riverside, the email was sent from the Graduate Division's office. Wow, congratulations! That is awesome
JordanJames Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Thanks, I'm so hyped up right now. I needed this. I have to take the bar exam and haven't studied at all because all I can think about is whether I'm going to grad school next year or not. Good luck to the rest of you who haven't heard anything, I feel your pain.
MissingVandyCandy Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Where are those Texas letters? Argh. The bastards. I was so complimentary to their Admissions team for being fairly quick after promising e-mails on Monday. Now they are appearing slower than Rosaenne in the 100x dash. I want some Austin love damnit! Anyone else finding their slowness odd given the promises?
flyingwalrus Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Where are those Texas letters? Argh. The bastards. I was so complimentary to their Admissions team for being fairly quick after promising e-mails on Monday. Now they are appearing slower than Rosaenne in the 100x dash. I want some Austin love damnit! Anyone else finding their slowness odd given the promises? No. Professors are slow.
polisciphd Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Has anyone heard from UW-Seattle? Nope, not yet...
UMNdude Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Anyone hear from UMN PolSci Dept if recommendations have been submitted to the grad school? (because the grad school allegedly does the notifying 1 week after recommendations are submitted from dept) Or is the painful silence mean that the forecast is slightly cloudy with a chance of doom?
MissingVandyCandy Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 For what it's worth I got an e-mail, as I'm sure you did too, from the department saying they will let us know the committee's decision in late February. That might mean they will let us know their recommendation to the larger GS. But usually those are formalities. In any event, we were promised (I was) to hear something by late Feb.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now