sommelier

I will throw this out there, as someone who lived a few blocks away from NYU. The debts you will incur are not yet realized due to the fact that Manhattan living is tumultuous at best. Groceries, dry cleaning/laundry, eating out and buying clothing are extremely expensive, and was hard for me to maintain with a roommate while bar tending making 500 a night. I lived in a A 2 bed, 1 bath on the 3rd floor of a 5 floor walk up. No central air, no laundry, no elevator; but it was still very nice and newly renovated. It was also very safe and was in such a cool spot, located right on St Marks in the east village. We had it for the low low price of 2600 a month. 1 bedrooms in the same building were 1800. A few blocks closer to NYU, and the rent goes up, drastically. And before you start thinking about Brooklyn or Queens, you must do your due diligence as well as visiting the neighborhoods. I guess I cannot believe that you graduated with such amazing grades and are not receiving a scholarship or any sort of PhD funding. Seems like you would be a prime candidate.

LL Bean? Salvation Army & Good Will? lol... I am sure this person wants at least a hint of a social life .... First of all, Newark is actually a pretty laid back place, and the need for Ralph Lauren and other brand names is not very high. It is very easy to bargain hunt due to the fact that their is a lot of people in the general area and many places to shop. I would look for stores such as Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, TJ Maxx... they have a lot of bargains. Also, their are outlets at Rehobeth Beach, about an hour from Newark, that have some cheaper stores.

Be careful how much importance is placed on a schools prestige. That alone does not guarantee you anything in life, other than a bulletin point on your resume. You could go to CUNY and land a quality internship at the UN or go to GMU and land a graduate fellowship at the World Bank or IMF and you would be positioned just as well, if not better than a 'prestigious' graduate. My point is there are many ways to get from point A to point B. If you make your program work for you, get involved and exploit your opportunities to network and learn, than virtually any program can be excellent for you. Concentrate on getting funding, the opportunities presented to you and the place you really like rather than some magazine ranking.

On a side note..... George Washington has a summer program, 3 weeks for undergrad 3 weeks for grad students, which is called their 'foreign policy institute'. I am sure attending, teaching or any involvement in that is a step in the right direction. They have members of the UN, house and senate foreign relations aides and council on foreign relations members doing lectures and seminars.

If you were debating between Georgetown and a funded program at a mid level state university, then I can see taking on the extra debt. But you would be turning down Georgetown for Cornell! I love Georgetown, and I want to do my PhD there after I am done with my masters. But if given the choice, even though I am not crazy about Ithaca, I would choose Cornell with the great financial package. Especially if they can offer you a DC internship or connection. Not knowing much about your desired program or concentration field... even if Georgetown offered you the opportunity to have a slightly higher starting salary (say 70k over 60k), that gap is easier to make up quickly rather than trying to pay off a gigantic student loan. Do you really believe you are giving up that much prestige, inclined academics or networking to justify another $300 - $400 a month payment for 15 years? G town is an amazing school... but Cornell ain't exactly leftovers!

You should probably be taking summer classes, so you can take less of a course load next year. Take the gre in the early fall, so you can have time to re-take if need be. The GPA needs to be above 3.0 and gre needs to be high in order to have a choice of schools, otherwise you might be confined to FAU, S FL, FL State or a lower tiered school. I did my undergrad a SUNY Albany, and I know they are ridiculously competitive for their MPP program... it is their best by far. Is a CUNY school going to be worth the debt? (when factoring in NYC living) When you write a few good papers for upper level poli sci, make contact with some professors at the school you want to attend and stay in contact with them, maybe send them a solid writing effort for review. Others on this board, who are a lot more well versed than me in PP programs, will be able to help as time goes on.

After reading the last couple posts, it makes me happy that I made the decision to move to a place where I could go to a decent school and pay as I go for graduate school. Granted, I would love to be going to Columbia, Georgetown or GW right now, but I make over 50k and have grad school paid for, so I guess things could be worse. I just could not imagine taking on over 50k in loan debt for a degree that may not get you 50k/yr to start. I am 30, and when I get out of graduate school in '10 with my MBA I will be completely debt free. UNLV is not a superior academic institution by any means, but not having that $300 - $500 per month payment for student loans will allow me to take a little less money to get I job that I really like, or go on for my PhD. In many ways, our collegiate academic system is a real racket.

Excellent descriptions and advice. Mostly everyone seems very well researched in all of these topics. I am going to complete my MBA next year... I am already a year into the program, and I am committed to it due to the fact that I believe it to be one of the stronger graduate academic programs at UNLV. My undergrad is poli sci/econ, and that combined with the MBA I believe will be best suited for a public administration/affairs/policy doctorate program, if I get that far. If everything goes accordingly, which it often does not, I will still be applying to DC area school regardless of USNWR rankings.

I find studying political science very intriguing and would love to have my PhD in this subject someday. I also believe that a PhD would provide a very good advancement track for think tank/PAC/lobbyist organizations. Also, it would provide opportunity to join academia at some point if desired. I do see the difference between desired track.... academia versus private sector/consulting/ngo. My original ideas were simply a critique or disbelief that the 'top ranked' programs were as great as they purport, or if the top ten are really that far above programs lower down the list. I know that I feel an education combined with practical, real world experience is better than a purely theoretical approach to learning. For myself, a program that offers a variety of academic opportunities as well as networking and experience is what I am looking for in a doctorate program. A couple jokes aside... very good debate people.

nato... I do not really think specific location is what I was referring to as much as what that area has to offer. International relations majors would benefit just as much from working in NYC at the UN as they would in DC. As for PhD programs paying their student to attend, I would rather work and participate in a program rather than just participate in a program due to the fact that being a professor is not my main goal. I do agree that certain disciplines of Political Science might not benefit as much as others by a DC locations. However, I personally would much rather have professors that have actual political experience in any field of study. I have heard of funding obstacles from DC area schools as well, so I am sure that this is a negative in terms of ranking. But would the quality of speakers and lectures available to the student body not trump something like this? Practically speaking. It is not so much that I doubt that Yale, Harvard and Princeton have equal to or better programs of any one school (like G Town, GW) because I do believe that institutions such as those have an outstanding curriculum ... I just think that the methodology of that certain magazine has ulterior motives to its ranking system and the colleges it perennially favors.

And what is the basis of questioning the 'seriousness' of any part time academic program? First of all, many people have to work in order to support a family, pay bills, etc. Secondly, how could you view working in your field while studying in your field as a negative? I believe it to be someones prerogative if they choose to take 7 or 8 years to complete a doctorate program. I think that it is very narrow minded to paint all part time options with the same brush. I guess I am trying to evoke an argument as to why these rankings are not biased, and in favor of a dozen or so schools in all of their rankings. So far, I am not hearing it.

So how would experience in the actual field of politics not benefit someone who has chosen a profession in which it is ones job to analyze, teach and research politics? Would a 'political scientist' be best suited to never experience the actual realm of government and politics? I do understand the difference in policy issues and political theory, all I am pointing out is that I simply believe a certain level of practical experience to be extremely beneficial in this discipline. And, where would one be able to acquire such real world skills better than DC? I would make the argument that they are training future academic scholars, researchers and professors rather than superior political scientists. I do realize the academic rigor and excellent program structure of the selected schools. I am simply playing advocate for a school that I believe to be great academically, and superior in location pertaining to all things political. After being out in the working world for a little while now, I realize the importance of refining the total package you have to offer and employer, rather than simply a quality education.

I just find it hard to believe that Georgetown makes its way on to none of these lists. I realize the methodology of their ranking system might exclude them in some ways (publishing's by professors, high profile professors, etc.) but it seems inconceivable that they are left off of these lists. (I could also make this same argument about GW and American) You can be involved with so much that pertains to your academic discipline in the DC area, which is why I find it hard to believe these rankings. Hypothetically, a simple part time research job at a think tank, PAC or lobbying firm in addition to a MA or PhD in Poli Sci (or Public Admin/Policy/Affaits) would seem to such a great boost to formal education and put you in such a better position to obtain quality employment. And grad school part time while holding down a full time job at a major government agency or policy group would seem be so much more valuable than a total classroom experience at some of these top ten ranked institutions. Just my opinion.

Very nice! I think working in government for a while is a great way to make connections. Those DC think tanks pay huge money for people with advanced degrees as well as government experience, so financial success is a real possibility as well. I think it goes without saying that having a PhD and some high level government experience makes you a great candidate for academia positions. There are a lot of positives! I am looking into a couple grad certificate programs in security studies/political management/intelligence to help me gain some credibility in the DC political arena as well... Just in case a PhD needs to be put on hold for a while.

Like I have said... I really want to take my MBA into the field of business/government relations. My concentration is in venture marketing and management (with my undergrad in Poli Sci). I am feeling out grad certificate programs in a number of disciplines.... (legislative affairs, political management, public law, public policy, etc...) Everyone in DC is educated, and many at top institutions... I just want to be as competitive as possible for good jobs. If anyone knows any good distance learning grad programs, please post a link! Thanks!