2017-2018 Application Cycle

[deutsch1997bw]

Is it possible that Indiana has actually announced all of their acceptances? According to the graduate secretary, decisions were still being made last week. Not really sure if I believe her, though, considering that some decisions were announced a couple of weeks ago (if the results are to be believed).

[Dreamer109]

I'm still waiting on 5 official letters. But I can safely assume 3 are going to be rejections out of hand. Anyone else getting that hopeless sinking feeling seep slowly in?

[DKG18]

50 minutes ago, WaitingGame1718 said:

UIUC

I'm still waiting on UIUC.

[purifieddrinkingwater]

1 hour ago, WaitingGame1718 said:

UIUC

Waiting on UIUC too. Btw, I carefully wanted to ask people about their thoughts on UIUC, Rochester and Emory... that is, which program do you think is stronger? Per your subfield or polisci in general.

[purifieddrinkingwater]

Just heard from Caltech their decisions will be sent out no later than March 15.

[Asaid]

8 minutes ago, purifieddrinkingwater said:

Waiting on UIUC too. Btw, I carefully wanted to ask people about their thoughts on UIUC, Rochester and Emory... that is, which program do you think is stronger? Per your subfield or polisci in general.

Rochester, IR, methods, and in general

[Chuck Mangione]

1 hour ago, deutsch1997bw said:

Is it possible that Indiana has actually announced all of their acceptances? According to the graduate secretary, decisions were still being made last week. Not really sure if I believe her, though, considering that some decisions were announced a couple of weeks ago (if the results are to be believed).

I see no reason she would lie about that. I've had friends at other schools get letters far before everyone else did around February while others got in during March. On top of that, IU had most of us submit applications fairly late (unless you were an international applicant), so they could have been working with acceptances with the international admits first and then moved onto domestic applicants.

Edited February 21, 2018 by komina12345

[deutsch1997bw]

36 minutes ago, komina12345 said:

I see no reason she would lie about that. I've had friends at other schools get letters far before everyone else did around February while others got in during March. On top of that, IU had most of us submit applications fairly late (unless you were an international applicant), so they could have been working with acceptances with the international admits first and then moved onto domestic applicants.

That makes sense. I forgot about international students having to apply earlier. I guess the admissions process just makes one a bit cynical!

[meteora]

1 hour ago, purifieddrinkingwater said:

Waiting on UIUC too. Btw, I carefully wanted to ask people about their thoughts on UIUC, Rochester and Emory... that is, which program do you think is stronger? Per your subfield or polisci in general.

Among the schools you mentioned, I only applied to UIUC. However, it is certain that Rochester is a good place to study. Especially, the placement record looks really nice. http://www.sas.rochester.edu/psc/people/phd-alumni.php

[Cutaway]

7 hours ago, Qw23 said:

Does anyone know when will the CIR/MAPPS program at U Chicago announce their decisions? That's probably my last hope now.

When I was accepted to the MAPH and to MAPSS (different cycles), I received the offer attached to my rejection from the main program. So yeah, you'll hear from CIR/MAPSS soon. A piece of advice as a recent MAPSS graduate: MAPSS delivers on its claims about PhD placement (I have 3 funded offers), but I would suggest doing MAPSS only if they offer you a full or near-full scholarship.

[SDMSK]

6 minutes ago, Cutaway said:

When I was accepted to the MAPH and to MAPSS (different cycles), I received the offer attached to my rejection from the main program. So yeah, you'll hear from CIR/MAPSS soon. A piece of advice as a recent MAPSS graduate: MAPSS delivers on its claims about PhD placement (I have 3 funded offers), but I would suggest doing MAPSS only if they offer you a full or near-full scholarship.

Thank you for the insight. I would definitely only do it when I’m offered a good scholarship. Otherwise, 60k for 9 month plus the living expenses in Chicago, which has the highest sales tax in the country btw, is too much.

[Wiesbaden]

Is there someone who applied to UCSB or Syracuse? I think they are supposed to inform the result during this week...

[Ayerbender]

36 minutes ago, Cutaway said:

When I was accepted to the MAPH and to MAPSS (different cycles), I received the offer attached to my rejection from the main program. So yeah, you'll hear from CIR/MAPSS soon. A piece of advice as a recent MAPSS graduate: MAPSS delivers on its claims about PhD placement (I have 3 funded offers), but I would suggest doing MAPSS only if they offer you a full or near-full scholarship.

How did you like MAPSS?  That would be my goal if I'm not accepted to a PhD program, honestly

[csantamir]

Anyone else get an interview from CUNY? Only 1 person so far on results page.

[redfive]

got that nice uminn rejection by checking the online portal

[Albert01]

Also just checked a rejection from U minn through portal.

[meteora]

9 hours ago, WaitingGame1718 said:

Anyone waiting to hear from University of Illinois?

Since an applicant stated that his rank on the subfield waitlist is 7th, I think we can assume that Illinois has a very large waitlist. 

[Wongs]

anyone waiting for Boston University?

[Kief13muse]

As for Penn, I just emailed the DGS. He said "the committee is considering applications and you will receive a notification in the system when decisions have been released," which I think means nothing but rejections. 

Personally I've been through a really tough cycle. With a nearly perfect GRE score (V169/Q167) and a 3.8+ GPA from a top IR MA program in the US, clearly I overestimated my competitiveness and applied the top 20 programs mostly. So far I've received rejections from 8 out of 10 schools that I applied for (counting Penn), and the odds are against me for the remaining two Ivy schools. I've been out of school for a while and now work in a completely irrelevant industry in my home country. This might be the last chance that I could get back to the American academia, unless I could find an RA position there to strengthen my profile for next year (difficult due to visa issues however). 

But it's always good to know that so many of you have been doing wonderful research and are able to get into great programs. Wish you all good luck!  

[Salve]

54 minutes ago, Kief13muse said:

As for Penn, I just emailed the DGS. He said "the committee is considering applications and you will receive a notification in the system when decisions have been released," which I think means nothing but rejections. 

Personally I've been through a really tough cycle. With a nearly perfect GRE score (V169/Q167) and a 3.8+ GPA from a top IR MA program in the US, clearly I overestimated my competitiveness and applied the top 20 programs mostly. So far I've received rejections from 8 out of 10 schools that I applied for (counting Penn), and the odds are against me for the remaining two Ivy schools. I've been out of school for a while and now work in a completely irrelevant industry in my home country. This might be the last chance that I could get back to the American academia, unless I could find an RA position there to strengthen my profile for next year (difficult due to visa issues however). 

But it's always good to know that so many of you have been doing wonderful research and are able to get into great programs. Wish you all good luck!  

Hey! Don't despair! I've also been out of school for some time, and working outside of the US in a not very related industry. I now have two offers from very good schools. You still have two other schools to announce their decisions, and even if they say 'no', it's not your last chance!  You have amazing scores and a great GPA. You can work on polishing other areas of your profile if need be. But then again, you still have other two schools to announce their decisions. Write to me if you need to chat with someone.

[Ayerbender]

Receive email from Oxford with subject "Graduate Admissions".  Proceed to open email and find a request that I complete a survey...

 

British schools are cruel XD 

[meteora]

I recently had an email from a program indicating me that the department would recommend my admission to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. However, it states, "That office will process your application only after you indicate that you accept this departmental recommendation...Please can you let us know at your earliest convenience whether you accept this recommendation by signing and returning this letter." Should I accept their recommendation when I decide to commit to this program? I think this process looks a bit weird since most schools do not let students decide whether they accept departmental recommendation for an admission.  

[Ayerbender]

Just now, meteora said:

I recently had an email from a program indicating me that the department would recommend my admission to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. However, it states, "That office will process your application only after you indicate that you accept this departmental recommendation...Please can you let us know at your earliest convenience whether you accept this recommendation by signing and returning this letter." Should I accept their recommendation when I decide to commit to this program? I think this process looks a bit weird since most schools do not let students decide whether they accept departmental recommendation for an admission.  

Removing my post because @Stdrauss's advice is better

Edited February 21, 2018 by Ayerbender

[Stdrauss]

17 minutes ago, meteora said:

I recently had an email from a program indicating me that the department would recommend my admission to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. However, it states, "That office will process your application only after you indicate that you accept this departmental recommendation...Please can you let us know at your earliest convenience whether you accept this recommendation by signing and returning this letter." Should I accept their recommendation when I decide to commit to this program? I think this process looks a bit weird since most schools do not let students decide whether they accept departmental recommendation for an admission.  

Please don't guess what they mean by that, as things like accepting decisions are very important. Try to ask your advisor or person in charge of your program/department and communicate with the admin staff of that school to find out exactly what they mean.

[meteora]

19 minutes ago, Stdrauss said:

Please don't guess what they mean by that, as things like accepting decisions are very important. Try to ask your advisor or person in charge of your program/department and communicate with the admin staff of that school to find out exactly what they mean.

I see. I think I should contact the graduate coordinator of the program as you advised. 

Edited February 21, 2018 by meteora