eve2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Hey guys/gals- does anybody know when the University of Southern California (USC) recruiting weekend is? I need to know b4 making commitments to visit other schools. I hope to hear from them soon (with a yes of course)- but the sooner I know when their recruiting weekend is the sooner I can get back to other programs about their weekends. Thanks for *any* info at all! ps. personal message me w/ anything you wouldn't want to put in the forum. Were you admitted to Ann Arbor? Go to Ann Arbor!
PhDme Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 We are all aware of the quantification trend in Political Science. many might have heard of the Perestroika and the non-math PolSci scholars who protest, what they think, is the unfair treatment of their work in the leading journals. How does everyone feel about the direction that the field has taken? I would have much rather avoided dealing quantified politics, but seeing the trend I feel pressured to minor in methods. Are there other people out there in the same position?
lenin333 Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Currently I am in a program that has a lot of qualitative researchers in comparative politics. A lot of the MA students here seem to have a violent reaction to quantitative methods. Having an undergrad in economics makes me more amiable to the quantification of methodology but I do plenty of qualitative stuff. In the end, I think DSI is correct that the logic of social science is unified and qualitative and quantitative research methods aim at the same goal. I just think that our explanatory power is not as great as some scholars in the field would care to admit. That's my two cents.
slickj07 Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 i think the power of statistical methods and modeling is really important in understanding both real world and more theoretical phenomena for instance, even though perfect competition is a model that never can be met in the real world, it is a really important idea for understanding markets of all kinds (economic, political, etc). i read a post somewhere saying that qualitative research is set in the real world, whereas quantitative is not (ergo qualitative is much better). i hope i never run into a guy who can make foolish generalizations like that in my career.
UndraftedFreeAgent Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 i read a post somewhere saying that qualitative research is set in the real world, whereas quantitative is not (ergo qualitative is much better). i hope i never run into a guy who can make foolish generalizations like that in my career. What has gotten qualitative researchers in trouble is "hand waiving" analysis masquerading as a quantitative approach. They come up with some graph to describe an index they created themselves based on subjective evaluations and spend the better part of a book defending their reasoning (example: "The J Curve" by Ian Bremmer... which I actually enjoyed, btw). I think that the rise of the quantitative approach is signaling that Political Science is undergoing the same transition that economics underwent 20 years ago. With the exception of a few holdout schools, in another 10 years, I imagine that calculus and statistics (at a bare minimum) will be required for grad school. If there were a database of hiring trends, I'm sure that it would reflect this. Ugh, I have to go to work now... but at least that's almost over.
Ansible Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Hello, Does somebody know if NYU and UCLA have sent already all their admission offers? I haven
alanapsci Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Does anyone know what's going on with UNC??.. I understand that most people who have been accepted heard back a few weeks ago and that admit. students weekend is this weekend. I tried calling UNC but all they said is that they are still making decisions. Undraftedfreeagent... have you heard?(i just saw you still have UNC in your not heard from yet list) I am guessing maybe they just send out all the rejection letters after acceptances?? Sounds strange to me.... but hey it works differently each place. Thanks! Applied: UVA, UNC, UConn, American Rejected: UVA, WUSTL Accepted: waiting...
flyingwalrus Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Does anyone know what's going on with UNC??.. I understand that most people who have been accepted heard back a few weeks ago and that admit. students weekend is this weekend. I tried calling UNC but all they said is that they are still making decisions. Undraftedfreeagent... have you heard?(i just saw you still have UNC in your not heard from yet list) I am guessing maybe they just send out all the rejection letters after acceptances?? Sounds strange to me.... but hey it works differently each place. I was under the impression that UNC had made all of its decisions already. They made 26 offers and waitlisted a few people for funding. Maybe they haven't notified the waitlisted people, I don't know.
uncapp Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 I applied to UNC as well and haven't heard back. I just assumed I'm wait-listed. So, any of you who have been accepted there, feel free to turn down their offer.
alanapsci Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Thanks for filling us in flyingwalrus.. Ill be waiting for my rejection letter in the mail then! Question... does anyone know how good of a program UConn is? I know its not top 40 but does anyone know its ranking or what type of schools it would stand with... was just admitted today.
alanapsci Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 I should say I only applied to UConn based on website information and a feel about the department. Plus it was recommend and a last minute app.... so didn't do much research... Thanks!
Purgatory Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Ansible said: Hello, Does somebody know if NYU and UCLA have sent already all their admission offers? I haven Â
JordanJames Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Thanks for posting that silencio, I didn't realize the NRC had UCR ranked that high, interesting...
alanapsci Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Thanks silencio! I was a bit worried UConn was way way way down the list so this makes me much happier!
iheartplato Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 someone posted a georgetown admit on the results page?? anyone else hear from them?? i'm thinking at this point i should just give up all hope entirely of getting in anywhere. *sigh*
Quarex Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Thanks silencio! I was a bit worried UConn was way way way down the list so this makes me much happier! The impression I got from meeting with some people there is that their program has likely gotten a little stronger in the last ~decade, and the recent influx of interest and money into the school thanks to the big NCAA basketball wins a few years back will likely see their situation continue to improve. Plus, the Dairy Bar has the best ice cream in New England!! Of course, you never know what the future may bring, and obviously every other department in the country is trying to improve its fortunes, too. Hard to say. I will be happy if I accept their M.A. offer--they are extremely friendly, approachable, and know their stuff, which is all obviously important. An actual Ph.D. acceptance would be nice, though. One last thing to consider--it is amazing just how much nearly every department in the country seems to find a way to show that they are near the top of the heap when it comes to something. One program that I think was ranked about 10th from the bottom overall in that list brags on its webpage about how it has the like fifth or sixth highest graduate publication output in the country. It makes me wonder what they are doing to achieve that, but it is still one of many dozens of factors to contemplate when ultimately deciding.
alanapsci Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Quarex, thanks for the rundown! Let me know if you ultimately decide to go to UConn! I am from VA and have lived my whole life here so going to UConn would be like another country Best of luck with your other applications. I definitely have always thought rankings really had little to do with real substance of a program (they all fight to get ranked and where they fall can sometimes be a little strange) and what mattered more to me was the professors, the general attitude of the program, placement, and my own personal "click" with the university.
polisciphd Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Somebody posted a Harvard KSG admit on the results page...
Hybrid Nomad Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Somebody posted a Harvard KSG admit on the results page... There are two acceptances now. And from what I have seen last year, rejections will be sent out by postal service. So either I just write them an email now and get kicked out right away, or I wait for the letter to come. Oh bother.
UndraftedFreeAgent Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 I was under the impression that UNC had made all of its decisions already. They made 26 offers and waitlisted a few people for funding. Maybe they haven't notified the waitlisted people, I don't know. I have a friend who's in another department there and she told me that it's pretty much standard for departments there to wait until after they meet their first batch of accepted students and get an idea of how many will commit before they send out their final yes/no answers. Unfortunately, I'm willing to bet that we've been dumped, since there are so many of us and no way that we could all be on some mythical wait list. Hopefully I'm wrong. Best of luck to everyone. Sorry it takes me so long to respond, as I'm generally off at work from 7:30am til 6:15pm.
lenin333 Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 I have a contingency contract with Starbucks if I don't get in... I am planning to study under Juan Valdez. Hopefully, he will give me the attention needed to pursue my career in pulling shots.
UMNdude Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 Yo, to the person who indicated he or she was accepted to UMN, did you call or did they call you?
alegriapura Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 Yo, to the person who indicated he or she was accepted to UMN, did you call or did they call you? I got a call from the graduate director.
UMNdude Posted February 26, 2008 Posted February 26, 2008 I got a call from the graduate director. That makes me sad. But, congrats!
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