2017-2018 Application Cycle

[spcgsw96]

Umass Amherst acceptance + 5 yr funding! I do love them for putting what the result is in the title of the email instead of the forebodingly ambiguous "Result"

[Anthony2016]

I know this is off topic. I have not had the best outcome. 3 rejections so far from US programs. I have applied for Economics programs at Toronto, UBC and Simon Fraser in case I don't get admission in the US Pol Sci programs. Anyone here knows if 161 in GRE quant automatically disqualifies me from these schools? Do I have any hope at all?

[deutsch1997bw]

3 minutes ago, Nelz said:

I know this is off topic. I have not had the best outcome. 3 rejections so far from US programs. I have applied for Economics programs at Toronto, UBC and Simon Fraser in case I don't get admission in the US Pol Sci programs. Anyone here knows if 161 in GRE quant automatically disqualifies me from these schools? Do I have any hope at all?

Are you asking about US political science programs or Canadian economics programs? If the former, then a 161 on the quant section will certainly not disqualify you.

[dr.strange]

Claiming the UNC admit. Was expecting a reject as it was just an e-mail telling me to check the portal. No word on funding yet, but very excited!

[Anthony2016]

No, I meant the Canadian economics programs. I thought my GRE for political science programs was alright. But it appears that my profile has a major weakness

[PoliSci-freak]

3 minutes ago, Nelz said:

I know this is off topic. I have not had the best outcome. 3 rejections so far from US programs. I have applied for Economics programs at Toronto, UBC and Simon Fraser in case I don't get admission in the US Pol Sci programs. Anyone here knows if 161 in GRE quant automatically disqualifies me from these schools? Do I have any hope at all?

I don't have much to offer re Econ programs/GRE scores, but I would caution you against using UBC/Toronto as "safety" schools. Toronto is #1 in the nation (Canada) and tends to place well, even in the US (not referring specifically to Econ but Toronto in general). UBC is a serious school and a PhD from UBC would get you looked at for academic jobs at US institutions.

Also, they tend to be more selective because they have very few spots.

SFU, it's much more lower ranked, but I know of at least a few PhD grads from SFU that have gotten amazing jobs in academia, one even at UBC (Okanagan).

[Anthony2016]

4 minutes ago, deutsch1997bw said:

Are you asking about US political science programs or Canadian economics programs? If the former, then a 161 on the quant section will certainly not disqualify you.

Do you think NYU gives more weight to GRE quant?

[deutsch1997bw]

4 minutes ago, Nelz said:

Do you think NYU gives more weight to GRE quant?

NYU has a reputation for being very quantitatively-oriented, so yes. 

[PoliSci-freak]

10 minutes ago, Nelz said:

I know this is off topic. I have not had the best outcome. 3 rejections so far from US programs. I have applied for Economics programs at Toronto, UBC and Simon Fraser in case I don't get admission in the US Pol Sci programs. Anyone here knows if 161 in GRE quant automatically disqualifies me from these schools? Do I have any hope at all?

Also, SFU is highly desired because they offer multi-year fellowships for many of their doctoral students, valued at 30K CAD a year, whereas UBC's grad school fellowship is 18K (then departments can add if they want you). You can definitely use SFU as leverage with other schools, if you do get in at SFU and get the fellowship...

Edited February 8, 2018 by PoliSci-freak

[spcgsw96]

3 minutes ago, Nelz said:

Do you think NYU gives more weight to GRE quant?

I'm not sure how accurate this is but I was given the impression that NYU is a little more quant focused than other places (as, I was told, is Harvard [can someone confirm? I found the math section on the app troubling too lol]) which is why I didn't apply there since I am very 'qualitative'

[Anthony2016]

3 minutes ago, PoliSci-freak said:

I don't have much to offer re Econ programs/GRE scores, but I would caution you against using UBC/Toronto as "safety" schools. Toronto is #1 in the nation (Canada) and tends to place well, even in the US (not referring specifically to Econ but Toronto in general). UBC is a serious school and a PhD from UBC would get you looked at for academic jobs at US institutions.

Also, they tend to be more selective because they have very few spots.

SFU, it's much more lower ranked, but I know of at least a few PhD grads from SFU that have gotten amazing jobs in academia, one even at UBC (Okanagan).

I have a strong Math background and a good GPA but the math questions in the GRE exam completely caught me off guard. I prepared from Barron's! Now I am not sure if I will even get into SFU (which is a great school but is placed at 151-200). Canadian schools give their minimum as 160 on the GRE quantitative which is slightly misleading because most US schools ask for a near perfect score. So I applied thinking I am past the minimum at least but now I am not so sure!

[Hamb]

8 minutes ago, dr.strange said:

Claiming the UNC admit. Was expecting a reject as it was just an e-mail telling me to check the portal. No word on funding yet, but very excited!

Congrats!

[jnewcomb08]

Claiming a Vanderbilt interview to be done in the next couple of days.  American politics.

[PoliSci-freak]

4 minutes ago, Nelz said:

I have a strong Math background and a good GPA but the math questions in the GRE exam completely caught me off guard. I prepared from Barron's! Now I am not sure if I will even get into SFU (which is a great school but is placed at 151-200). Canadian schools give their minimum as 160 on the GRE quantitative which is slightly misleading because most US schools ask for a near perfect score. So I applied thinking I am past the minimum at least but now I am not so sure!

If you get into UBC/SFU and have more questions about the city/institutions, feel free to send me a message.

[Anthony2016]

6 minutes ago, PoliSci-freak said:

Also, SFU is highly desired because they offer multi-year fellowships for many of their doctoral students, valued at 30K CAD a year, whereas UBC's grad school fellowship is 18K (then departments can add if they want you). You can definitely use SFU as leverage with other schools, if you do get in at SFU and get the fellowship...

It doesn't give a minimum GRE score. So I applied. But their program is sought after, then 161 might not cut it.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Nelz

[megabee]

UCLA rejection at 5 AM, North Carolina acceptance at 8 AM. Now a member of the "acceptance and rejection on the same day" club. The whiplash is real my friends.

[Anthony2016]

4 minutes ago, PoliSci-freak said:

If you get into UBC/SFU and have more questions about the city/institutions, feel free to send me a message.

Thank you! I will definitely get in touch. Fingers crossed. Would love to live in that city!

[ArcierePrudente]

3 hours ago, Wiesbaden said:

I regard this application cycle as the verification of my abilities. So, the rejection hurts me. I know this pressure do not help my mentality, but pressure may lead development.

That's a very easy and understandable way to think... but it's really more a verification of your research, test scores, and LOR writers' abilities to perfectly align with your chosen departments' active faculty, their own research focus, and overall budget this year. 

 

I say this now, having applied to several late-decision schools, my favorite one of which has not yet released acceptances. So we'll see how I feel in a few days' to a couple weeks' time. But I wanted to give you--both of us--some perspective here. 

[izmir]

12 minutes ago, megabee said:

UCLA rejection at 5 AM, North Carolina acceptance at 8 AM. Now a member of the "acceptance and rejection on the same day" club. The whiplash is real my friends.

Congrats! I wish I could join that club but it doesn’t seem likely for me today ?

Edited February 8, 2018 by izmir

[RodneyTrotter]

Also claiming membership in the UCLA reject club. Was also ways going to be something of a stretch for my profile, so no surprise, but would have been nice.

Can also claim a UMass Amherst acceptance though. Nice email sent out and a surprisingly good funding package. Hadn't considered it to be my top choice, but has a good American politics faculty, so we shall see.

[Wiesbaden]

1 hour ago, ArcierePrudente said:

That's a very easy and understandable way to think... but it's really more a verification of your research, test scores, and LOR writers' abilities to perfectly align with your chosen departments' active faculty, their own research focus, and overall budget this year. 

 

I say this now, having applied to several late-decision schools, my favorite one of which has not yet released acceptances. So we'll see how I feel in a few days' to a couple weeks' time. But I wanted to give you--both of us--some perspective here. 

I think some of them are not my abilities, but kinda "luck" or a "coincidence." Can we control LOR writers' abilities? How about a budget or a quota of prospective students? Although they can be Z variables, we cannot prove the causal mechanism with them. If so, I just recognize them as fatalism. If I start to consider them, my mentality is already broken and this criterion is my psychological line lol. A result of chance in the field of science may be contradictory, but maybe the scientific result of my accidental behaviors

[buckinghamubadger]

I was just waitlisted to WashU. 

[LosingHope]

Guys, I've been lurking for a bit and I really don't know where else to say this. I applied to UT-Austin, Northwestern, Indiana, Berkeley, Wisconsin, Georgia, and UCSD. I haven't heard back from anyone except for UCSD and Wisconsin who rejected me. Reading this, I can heavily assume I've been rejected from everywhere as many people are getting Indiana and UT-Austin admits, on top of Northwestern and Berkeley having already sent out letters to their applicants. 

Honestly, I've been feeling depressed and somewhat suicidal lately. I have nothing else to look to after this. I worked so hard to do all of these things, and it just makes me so angry and sad that I haven't been able to get into anywhere. I know people like to joke about, "Oh, you've struckout" but I honestly believe this is a real possibility at this point. I have no one to talk to, no one to speak with, and nothing else to pursue in life. 

If I can't even get into one program, I feel like everything I've done so far in my life has been pointless. I'm sorry for the rant here. I really don't know where else to put it.

[possibleirphd]

Just now, LosingHope said:

Guys, I've been lurking for a bit and I really don't know where else to say this. I applied to UT-Austin, Northwestern, Indiana, Berkeley, Wisconsin, Georgia, and UCSD. I haven't heard back from anyone except for UCSD and Wisconsin who rejected me. Reading this, I can heavily assume I've been rejected from everywhere as many people are getting Indiana and UT-Austin admits, on top of Northwestern and Berkeley having already sent out letters to their applicants. 

Honestly, I've been feeling depressed and somewhat suicidal lately. I have nothing else to look to after this. I worked so hard to do all of these things, and it just makes me so angry and sad that I haven't been able to get into anywhere. I know people like to joke about, "Oh, you've struckout" but I honestly believe this is a real possibility at this point. I have no one to talk to, no one to speak with, and nothing else to pursue in life. 

If I can't even get into one program, I feel like everything I've done so far in my life has been pointless. I'm sorry for the rant here. I really don't know where else to put it.

Do not feel discouraged. A LOT of people reapply in the next cycle and know how to make their apps stronger. Maybe a Masters? All in all, it'll be okay in the end. It is a lonely road when applying to PhD programs, but please feel free to PM if you want. 

[LosingHope]

3 minutes ago, possibleirphd said:

Do not feel discouraged. A LOT of people reapply in the next cycle and know how to make their apps stronger. Maybe a Masters? All in all, it'll be okay in the end. It is a lonely road when applying to PhD programs, but please feel free to PM if you want. 

I've already gotten a MA to fix my undergraduate GPA. I've done research. I've even worked a bit. I don't know what else I'm supposed to do.

The more I think about this, the more I just wonder if it's better just to call it a day and just give up on it all. I have nothing else to turn to. Sometimes, I just question why I'm even still alive and why I even bother to keep trying. So much shit has gone wrong in my life, and I don't need the one thing that could take me away from all of this get cut off as well.