Columbia PhD

[lifesurfer]

hey everyone. i posted earlier in the results forum, but my post was deleted and i did not get a chance to see if i got any responses.

my post was a reply to a couple of posts regarding the possibility that columbia has already reviewed and made all admission decisions for the phd program in political science. one poster mentioned that s/he had insider's info from professors in the department confirming that all admits have already been contacted. another poster mentioned the s/he had been reassured that the process is still ongoing. in the past, it seems that applicants who have not gotten good news this month will get bad news in march...

in my reply i mentioned that i know for a fact that my application (alongside others) was not processed and forwarded to the department for review until the very last days of january because of the backlog caused by the high number of applicants this year (650+ according to the administrator i contacted.) since some people were accepted/wait-listed twenty days later, i am wondering if my application could have actually gotten/be getting a comprehensive review given the twenty day turn-around. to clarify, i have yet to hear from the department one way or another. i hate to think that applications that got processed later, for whatever administrative reason, might not be getting full consideration.

does anyone know if columbia accepts/wait-lists applicants in batches? to me, this seems unlikely given that i understand that most admissions committees meet to agree on all admits at once to guarantee a well-rounded group. insights?

[Yes]

to me, this seems unlikely given that i understand that most admissions committees meet to agree on all admits at once to guarantee a well-rounded group. insights?

That's what I would have thought as well.. Very strange story - call the department?

I got offered a place last week (was it last week?) when all the other acceptances came out. I have no inside information on whether they are done with admitting, except an email from a professor at Columbia that mentioned that there was someone else in the IR cohort with a strong theory background (which holds for me as well) so it sounds like decisions have been made. This is only speculation, of course.

[curufinwe]

If we were to graph the 'time of acceptance' (x-axis) and 'number of students accepted' (y-axis), I am assuming we'd have a very low st.dev., which would mean it is a very low possibility to get an acceptance after that 'acceptance wave' period (which usually is an hour at most on this forum). Though that possibility exists, I am not sure how healthy it is to keep on hoping for that kinda low possibility.

Of course I don't have the data to prove the odds. It is all observational data of the results page from this and last year But at least that is what I am thinking. Once I see people claiming acceptances on the forum, I give it half an hour to receive an e-mail. If nothing, I write that school off.

Edited February 25, 2010 by curufinwe

[lifesurfer]

That's what I would have thought as well.. Very strange story - call the department?

I got offered a place last week (was it last week?) when all the other acceptances came out. I have no inside information on whether they are done with admitting, except an email from a professor at Columbia that mentioned that there was someone else in the IR cohort with a strong theory background (which holds for me as well) so it sounds like decisions have been made. This is only speculation, of course.

thanks for your reply. that's my hunch as well, except that it's strange that some people got rejection emails at the time as well while i gather most of us haven't yet. also wonder whether and how my application, alongside others that were processed late, was reviewed in time for the mid-Feb decision-making...

congrats on getting in, by the way. would you care to share a bit of your background? curious to learn what you think might have given you the edge. you can message me directly if you'd like. thanks again.

[Medievalmaniac]

If we were to graph the 'time of acceptance' (x-axis) and 'number of students accepted' (y-axis), I am assuming we'd have a very low st.dev., which would mean it is a very low possibility to get an acceptance after that 'acceptance wave' period (which usually is an hour at most on this forum). Though that possibility exists, I am not sure how healthy it is to keep on hoping for that kinda low possibility.

Of course I don't have the data to prove the odds. It is all observational data of the results page from this and last year But at least that is what I am thinking. Once I see people claiming acceptances on the forum, I give it half an hour to receive an e-mail. If nothing, I write that school off.

Hey - not a PS Major, but wanted to weigh in on this...I did that, when someone got an emailed acceptance from Catholic, and then a week later received an admit via mail instead of email. I don't know why that is, but it is. Just wanted to share my (positive) experience in this, for what it is worth.

[Yes]

congrats on getting in, by the way. would you care to share a bit of your background? curious to learn what you think might have given you the edge. you can message me directly if you'd like. thanks again.

Thank you! Sent you a PM

[lifesurfer]

seems like a second batch of people heard back today, if we go by the results forum. definitely makes me wonder how the process works at columbia. by fields? random groups? doesn't seem standard.

[yangus2010]

Thank you! Sent you a PM

Hi, yes, could you like to share with me too about your background, and I want to learn from you for my future endeavor. You can send me a message if you like.