PhDhopeful2013

my initial reaction would be to follow the funding! and while your away, make a point of it to maintain your networks in DC. If the program really only takes you three semesters, then your time away will not even be substantial.... debt avoidance FTW!!

a good sign would be if the MA program has placed recent graduates in PhD programs that you would be interested in. Otherwise, in my view it's not necessarily the prestige of the MA that will matter, but how you use it to improve your PhD application. If it's a 2-yr program, you need to be focused on your PhD app from Day 1! Year 1 will fly, and by your Summer/Fall of Year 2 you will be actually doing your applications. Therefore in Year 1, you need to start narrowing down your interests and get your research questions situated in the literature. Use your seminar papers to get you to this point. From Day 1 make sure that the grad director knows that you want to move on to the doctoral level. Make sure you can take a class or two with profs that you would like to recommend you. Make sure to have a solid relationship with at least three profs in the dept that know your goals and research interests. Of course you will learn a lot and have a great intellectual experience too, but really to be blunt the MA will be more instrumental at this point.... Good luck!!

I'm just curious about the differences and how they may impact career trajectory? Could you elaborate a bit? Also, im curious about your impression of Univ of Maryland generally and in "the DC context." Thanks for your advice!

Yay! Congratulations!!

Congrats!

another thing to think about is your recommendations. do you have 3 letter writers in mind? if so, are any of them political scientists? if you don't have close ties with any poli sci profs now, you may want to think about taking a few poli sci classes at a local university to establish some relationships. this would also help you to define your research interests within the discipline and to find programs with the appropriate fit...

What about when choosing between a prog ranked in the high 20's and one in the low 60's? both would be good for my interests and training. how much weight should the rank factor hold in the decision? seems like a significant differential to me, but I've also heard rankings don't matter much outside of the T15...

thank you! yes - avoiding the April 14th stress is a huge bonus!!

thank you! me too

Thank you! I hope you hear good news soon as well!

Good luck to everyone waitlisted out there! Clearly things can change for the better (and quickly!)!!

In at Maryland!! so happy right now!!

thanks! yes, that's what I was thinking -- if there was an official visit weekend, prospectives may wait until after the visit and then make their final decision about the program within a few days. without an official visit, decisions may trickle out.... Anyway, I'm happy to be on the waitlist.. there's still a chance!

Anyone know if/when Maryland has a visit day/weekend?

Also, anyone know if/when Maryland has a visitation weekend?