TheGnome

It happens. If you have other offers from roughly comparable or higher ranked schools, you should try it. Worst case scenario is that they will say no. There is no shame in accepting the offer if they say no, and no shame in rejecting it if they say yes. As long as you do what you do in good faith, you need to pursue what is best for you. Grad Directors know that, and since they also want to get the best students they can, they will help you if it is in their power. In a sense, negotiating is actually mutually beneficial. You just need to remember that it might just not be possible for the DGS to make adjustments on the offer, so don't take it personal if negotiating gets you nowhere.

My vote would be yes, FWIW. A stats minor (and/or math courses) with good grades and a high GRE Q score should substantially improve your chances. If you pair them with a polished SoP (which signals that you have a good idea of what you are getting into) you would be competitive anywhere. These things probably matter more if you intend to pursue your PhD with a quantitative empirical bent, but they should help your chances whatever it is that you want to do.

The only publications that really matter are the ones in peer-reviewed political science journals that people have heard about. It is extremely rare to see this in an applicant file (though you might try your chance with BFB to get an actually informed answer). I'd say even the majority of ABDs on the job market doesn't have that. If you are one of the few who has a *real* publication, that is great. If you don't, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Also good luck to this year's hopefuls. It will be over before you know it

A good, polished SoP that shows a clear understanding of what you are getting into will go a long, long way to make up for the lack of polisci background. Obviously first you have to understand what you are getting into, before showing them that you do. Perusing the recent literature on your topic will help. By literature I mean actual polisci articles published in major peer-reviewed academic journals. An engineering degree (or two) can actually be an important asset. I would say, get the SOP done and don't worry about the rest. You will be a competitive applicant everywhere you apply.

According to the USNews rankings: 4 of the top 10, 8 of the top 20, and 13 of the top 25 political science PhD programs are public schools. Public-private distinction is a false one for the quality of post-graduate education.

I would say, take it easy. Everything you need to know will be explained to you once you start and you will do just fine. For every question you list up there, you can easily get answers here that would suggest entirely different experiences. Honestly I thought what my answers to those questions would be and what kind inferences you would draw from them, but I couldn't arrive at anything useful. If you are really really curious, I would e-mail the senior theory grad students at A&M. It is likely that even their experiences will differ completely based on to who or to what tasks they are assigned, but you can at least get a much more relevant picture from them than you will ever get here.

I would say: It is not inappropriate, but it is also not necessary at all. People who contacted faculty members and got good results tend to say that it helped, and those who contacted them and didn't get good results tend to say it doesn't help. I personally don't think it is something you should worry about. Unless you really do have a question, or have something meaningful to say, the e-mail exchanges (if you got a reply that is) do not amount to anything. a brief post by Penelope on this topic, a faculty member who writes in this forum.

Declined offers from Indiana, Notre Dame, and Michigan State

I would absolutely do that. Since you won't have much time to do your due diligence when you get out of the waitlist (fingers crossed), no reason why you shouldn't do it now. If you don't get out of the waitlist, fine, you can go with your current option. If you do, you will be able to make a more careful decision by visiting.

I don't want to get into this argument. All the ethics talk is scary. However, I do want to emphasize for the future applicants reading these pages who are thinking of transferring (and who may be stressing out): It is OK. It is common. Faculty members at your institution and at the schools you will apply encounter this kind of stuff all the time. I am just a lowly grad student who is about to become -yet again- a lowly grad student, so my perspective is obviously limited. Still, if you have concerns and want to talk about it, feel free to PM me now or in the future. I would be happy to offer my two cents.

I am transferring. I saw nothing but encouragement from my professors. They supported me and seemed to be happy that I am moving to a place that will be better for me and my research interests. YMMV, of course, but I don't think I am too far off from the mean to be an outlier. It is a delicate situation that should be handled with care, no doubt. However, it is far from being uncommon.

I think this should be memorized by every prospective student. Thanks for the link! I went ahead and checked their data from ICPSR. I am sure it will be of interest to many people, since the graphs only contain so much information. Here is the link http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/34697 I think in US people usually mean APSR, AJPS and JOP when they talk about top 3 in political science in general. I am certainly not the authority on this, and the journals you list are definitely great outlets, but I believe things get a bit more blurry after APSR, AJPS and IO for IR. ISQ is surely great, has high visibility, and I am sure many consider it to be among the previous group. I just think that the previous three is more uncontroversial. World Politics, it seems to me, became a more comparative politics-ish journal rather than an IR-ish journal in the recent past. Depending on their bent, many people may prefer Journal of Conflict Resolution over International Security. JOP, while considered one of the top 3 generalist journals in the discipline, lags behind IO for IR. Then there are other stuff like British Journal of Political Science, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, European Journal of International Relations etc. Anyway, I wasn't aiming to throw random comments on journals. My point is, in the US, for IR, much of it depends on the context when singling out individual journals for "top-ness" after APSR, AJPS and IO.

1) a)Think about what kind of jobs you would be aiming for. What kind of jobs would make you happy? I am sure CUNY PhDs get jobs, there are schools lower ranked than CUNY and their students get jobs as well. It is not a walk in the park though, not at all. More students fail to place than those who do. Job market is tough for everyone for all jobs, and it gets tougher as you move away from the top of the list. But people do find stuff. Go and check if those jobs are the kind of jobs that would be in line with your expectations, and decide based on that. b ) Transferring is tough. There is a lot of headache involved. However, people do it, so can you. If you decide to go (based on your assessment of 1-a), I would suggest you to keep an open mind. See if you like the program, if the people and the resources would allow you to do what you want to do. See if there is any other reason for transferring, apart from going to a higher ranked place (not that you necessarily need one). Then decide if you want to transfer or not. Do what is best for yourself. 2) Yes, but with some caveats. I would prefer deferring to someone who knows more about what they are saying to comment on those. Generally though think of it this way. There are three (very broad) bands: below CUNY, CUNY-level, and above CUNY. If you go to CUNY, your and your colleagues' target will be the first band. If you perform really, really well, you may be able to grab something from the second band. If you are exceptional you may get to the third band. I would say though, think hard about going to a school where the only outcome you will be happy to settle with requires you to be an outlier. Obviously take everything I said with a grain of salt, and ask these questions to people with more experience - to your professors, especially the younger ones. Edited because of this:

I often get too excited about the stuff I am reading at the moment. Heart rate rises, I smile a lot, I want to talk about it with everyone (luckily, I have a very patient SO). Unfortunately, however, the more time it passes since I first read something, the less exciting it becomes for me. When I first read Imagined Communities it was the coolest thing. Now I don't feel the appeal whatsoever. No offense intended, of course - I am just revealing my absolute lack of wit and tact. Right now, I am reading Wagner's War and the State (tip o' the hat to coach), and I genuinely think this one is surely one of the best out there. Who knows what I'll think next week.

It is March already folks. Let's give some of the love back to GradCafe by posting on the Let's do it for our future friends and colleagues before the current group starts leaving this forum for good. I am sure most of you benefited from the earlier versions of that thread while preparing your application. I know I did. Let's go and fill those pages.