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2017-2018 Application Cycle


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4 minutes ago, ArcierePrudente said:

Again, I'm not sure what their policy is on wait lists this year. It never hurts to ask! (Think of it this way: the decision is already made; you risk nothing by bugging them. ;) )

Ok.  Even if I'm applying for MAPSS? :P

But seriously: would I just contact the department directly?

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How do you bear with the thought that the decision letter could just be in your inbox and not check your email? Much respek

@Asaid It's more that I ask myself how I could bear with the decision letter NOT being in my inbox, and having to decide how much faith to place in Social Thought admitting me (a statistical near-impossibility, all things being equal). I'd prefer it all over and done with at once. 

@Ayerbender I'd expect the adcomm for MAPSS is different from the adcomm for the poli-sci PhD. And I'd also expect that no one is actually going to deny admission just because you asked a question. As I understand it, the individual who responds to queries is not responsible for candidates' admission. As for contact information, I don't have that handy, but the Social Sciences graduate admissions website should have an email address there. 

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17 minutes ago, ArcierePrudente said:

@Asaid It's more that I ask myself how I could bear with the decision letter NOT being in my inbox, and having to decide how much faith to place in Social Thought admitting me (a statistical near-impossibility, all things being equal). I'd prefer it all over and done with at once. 

@Ayerbender I'd expect the adcomm for MAPSS is different from the adcomm for the poli-sci PhD. And I'd also expect that no one is actually going to deny admission just because you asked a question. As I understand it, the individual who responds to queries is not responsible for candidates' admission. As for contact information, I don't have that handy, but the Social Sciences graduate admissions website should have an email address there. 

ok thanks!

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1 hour ago, possibleirphd said:

Brown admits, congrats! What are your sub-fields?

Theory and American Politics. I named Bonnie Honig in my SOP

Edited by bikakica
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13 minutes ago, bikakica said:

Theory and American Politics. I named Bonnie Honnig in my SOP

Does Brown have a strong theory program?  I was thinking of applying, but it looked to only have a couple theorists. 

(I'm also applying to a host of MA programs, though, so I wasn't prioritizing PhDs as much as I should have in retrospect.  This is more a question for if I apply from an MA in two years :P)

Edited by Ayerbender
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6 minutes ago, Ayerbender said:

Does Brown have a strong theory program?  I was thinking of applying, but it looked to only have a couple theorists :/

(I'm also applying to a host of MA programs, though, so I wasn't prioritizing PhDs as much as I should have in retrospect.)

I'm interested in the intersection of political theory and literature, and so for that, it's got some really good faculty. I'm not sure overall. 

 

Does anyone have a sense of the department overall? 

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3 minutes ago, bikakica said:

I'm interested in the intersection of political theory and literature, and so for that, it's got some really good faculty. I'm not sure overall. 

 

Does anyone have a sense of the department overall? 

Oh, that's really cool!  I guess that isn't so much my wheel house, which is probably why I had overlooked it.  Anyway, congrats!

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I have a general question about small departments:

With the small number of faculty and students they have, how do they hold classes? Say you have two IR people in the cohort, do they really open a class for just two? Or do a lot of classes get canceled because of low enrollment?

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10 minutes ago, BobBobBob said:

I have a general question about small departments:

With the small number of faculty and students they have, how do they hold classes? Say you have two IR people in the cohort, do they really open a class for just two? Or do a lot of classes get canceled because of low enrollment?

Just guessing here, but I assume they account for the small cohort size and are fine with some super-small classes?  (No idea, though; I would ask the school in question)

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14 minutes ago, BobBobBob said:

I have a general question about small departments:

With the small number of faculty and students they have, how do they hold classes? Say you have two IR people in the cohort, do they really open a class for just two? Or do a lot of classes get canceled because of low enrollment?

They probably do a field seminar every two years, so it combines the current and previous cohort into one.

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36 minutes ago, Ayerbender said:

Does Brown have a strong theory program?  I was thinking of applying, but it looked to only have a couple theorists. 

(I'm also applying to a host of MA programs, though, so I wasn't prioritizing PhDs as much as I should have in retrospect.  This is more a question for if I apply from an MA in two years :P)

One of Brown's main focus is theory. I wouldn't say it's necessarily strong vis-a-vis other top programs, but it's comparatively strong within the department. I'd advise you to look again, I'm pretty sure they've hired at least three theorists in the last two years alone. They should have at least 6 theorists, and considering the size of the department, that's a huge percentage.

Edited by Comparativist
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6 minutes ago, Comparativist said:

Brown's focus is on theory. I wouldn't say it's necessarily strong vis-a-via other top programs, but it's comparatively strong within the department. I'd advise you to look again, I'm pretty sure they've hired at least three theorists in the last two years alone. 

I just looked.  Theory is (naturally) their smallest subfield.  I recognize most of the names, though

I dunno - my profs advised me to go off the US News Report rankings.  If I end up going to an MA program, I will look at Brown again.  I only applied to a handful of PhDs (unfortunately, in retrospect)

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17 minutes ago, Ayerbender said:

I just looked.  Theory is (naturally) their smallest subfield.  I recognize most of the names, though

I dunno - my profs advised me to go off the US News Report rankings.  If I end up going to an MA program, I will look at Brown again.  I only applied to a handful of PhDs (unfortunately, in retrospect)

At least one of the new hires isn't on the list. So like I said, they have 6 theorists. The other fields have 7, or 8 in the case of comparative. That is quite rare for a mid-sized department to be structured that way.

I wouldn't personally attend Brown for a Ph.D. but that's another question.

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7 minutes ago, Comparativist said:

At least one of the new hires isn't on the list. So like I said, they have 6 theorists. The other fields have 7, or 8 in the case of comparative. That is quite rare for a mid-sized department to be structured that way.

I wouldn't personally attend Brown for a Ph.D. but that's another question.

That's fair.  (I'm not sure I would, either - but it is a school to keep in mind moving forward.)

Thanks for the info, though!

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Congrats to the Brown and Maryland admits!!

Still haven't heard from any of the schools I've applied to (including Brown), so things aren't looking that good for me right now. Let's hope  

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