AuldReekie

Do you have spare time to improve it without neglecting your statement of purpose and writing sample? If so, then yes.

What do you want to after the degree? If an academic job in the US is your aim then a US PhD is pretty much the only realistic option. There's no point paying for a masters degree unless you're trying to make up for some weakness in your record to date. Good luck with the GRE. I also found the quantitative section a nightmare

https://www.wm.edu/offices/itpir/_documents/trip/trip_around_the_world_2011.pdf< Page 34. Quantitative analysis isn't so dominant - in IR at least - as you might think. Not that I really disagree with the advice above.. quant is definitely hot right now in the US. Just being pernickity. I've gone from being math-phobic to being excited about the possibilities it offers in just a few months. So keep an open mind.

What do you want to do after your degree? It looks like there's quite a divide between programs with many focusing on policy/practical issues in a way that the more 'academic' MAs won't. Knowing what you hope to do in the future will make it easier to narrow down your options

I'm starting with Moore and Siegel's book 'A Mathematics Course for Political and Social Research' + the accompanying youtube videos. So far I have found them quite accesibile. I suppose I better have a look at the online OSU calc course.. I left all of this behind age 16, so I'm in for a real shock! Trying to get through it before July..

Fantastic

Congratulations. You must be so relieved! Well done.

There was some discussion of this in the grad school supplies thread a few days back too.

Hello everyone! I'm in a good position having been accepted to somewhere I'd quite like to go, but also waitlisted at a couple of schools that I would consider. April 15th is approaching and I'm pondering how close to the deadline I should go before accepting my current offer. I don't want to muck them around, but there's also the fact they'll match other financial offers which perhaps incentivizes me to wait. Good luck to all of you and even more so if you're not in somewhere yet!

Seems like a good strategy, although I'm not sure how that'd work in my field. I know some programs have a culture of aiming exclusively for the 'top' journals and as such some people come out with nothing published by graduation.. not good!

I guess there are some advantages to being limited to 2 bags on a transatlantic flight!

Anyone go to the TAMU visit weekend?

My current Lenovo has held up pretty well. I've only owned two laptops, but each time I went for the 'business' model or through the business site. With many companies there's no difference, but with Dell I found there to be a massive increase in build quality for almost exactly the same price. Worth having a look at at least.

Bear in mind that this probably depends on your program and field. With the program I'll likely be attending you don't have a permanent adviser until the end of coursework, so there's time to get to know people.

In my second year of undergrad I stumbled across the website of a US PhD program (I'm from Europe) and pretty much from that point I decided it was what I wanted to do. However, I think having the odd *wobble* or a little bit of uncertainty is a good thing.. after all we're constantly bombarded by warning about the rigors of a PhD and then the academic job market. You talk of a sense of doom and I can really understand that. I wanted to do a PhD, but I also wanted to make sure I was going in with my eyes open. No what ifs.. In the end I decided to try working in area of interest and managed to get a decent job in that area. As it turned out I absolutely hated my work and of all the jobs I was doing something that should have been perfect! Maybe I 'wasted' a year or two, but I know I'm much less likely to doubt my choice having explored some other options and interests. So.. be aware of what you need to do to be competitive for a PhD program, enjoy your studies and continue to explore your interests, academic and otherwise.