CarefreeWritingsontheWall

Personally, I found Marc Busch's 5 tips to writing a thesis useful on top of a research design course. I had a professor send me their dissertation prospectus as a sample of what a research design or thesis proposal should look like. Different subfields typically call for different things, and people can organize them in different ways - the key difference being book vs. article format. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/mlb66/5%20steps%20to%20writing%20a%20thesis.pdf

I think you've weighed your options in terms of cost and prestige, but less location and fit. In terms of your substantive research interests, does one program offer you more accessible faculty and courses in your field of interest? Is there someone you could clearly work with as a supervisor at Duke (or was the professor at Columbia that you mentioned also a prospective PI)? Can you see yourself living in New York vs. Durham? If you're looking to continue your networking in the private sector, NYC might be better but the cost of living there will also be quite significant. In terms of work load, does one require you to TA or RA? Do you want to have those options available to you? A degree from either will position you well after the fact if you make the most of it. But these are just some thoughts I had based off your information.

Personally I wouldn't rule out McGill for IPE, though you'd need to be self-motivated. PM me if you want more info.

Universities don't have IR departments. Programs will have a department of government, political science or politics, within which there are subfield specializations (in the US: IR, Comparative, American and some have Theory or Methodology as additional fields, some don't). You're typically required to declare one primary field, and then pick up a second as a 'minor' though the amount of work you put into both in terms of courses is roughly the same. You will do comprehensive exams in both fields. At some places your primary field is a longer exam, with an oral, than the second but at others they're the same length. Some schools will additionally require you to pick up a third and 'course' out of it, meaning you take the required number of courses in this third field and you don't have a comprehensive exam to pass. Learning more about this requires looking up the departments program guides on their websites. It's all online. Your dissertation will then be in your primary field, though it will undoubtedly incorporate elements from the other subfields. I should add that USNews has rankings of departments by subfield, though they're out of date considering how many professors have moved: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings

Nope - so the waiting part is over. Now for the deciding. I declined my UWashington-Seattle offer as well.

Georgetown rejection finally came in yesterday.

Damn. Mine starts with K. How bizarre. This process is just...I've lost count of how many times I've rolled my eyes or wanted to bang my head against a wall.

I've still heard nothing...I feel like I'm waitlisted or something. That or they've just forgotten. What letter does your last name start with? Maybe they're slowly releasing them alphabetically.

Hi Tayrae77. I would qualify what you're asking for as not so much a "quant heavy" program, and more so something practical. It sounds like you don't want the theory behind quantitative methods but the skills - if you're doing policy work, it is a HUGE plus on your CV that you can work with and manipulate data. As much as political science is viewed as being high on the big data phenomenon, the private sector and consulting are always looking for people comfortable with working with it. The learning curve is steep, but if you have practical programming skills under your belt they'll travel well on the job market in both the private and public sector. Practical skills do require a basic understanding of the underlying math but it's not impossible to find. Your best bet is to find a department that is supportive of mixed methods training. MPA and MPP programs sound like they may be a better fit based on where you want to end up - they're much more interdisciplinary (economics, sociology, business and politics etc.) than a straight political science degree. Some schools have a focus on international development, but they tend to be interdisciplinary in an academic sense (anthropological theory with political science theory - can be difficult since the fields don't entirely see eye to eye). If you walk into an academic program, you may not like what you find since the causal inference process and research design elements are going to be stressed above practical applications - theory can sometimes come off as one step removed. That said, some departments are better integrated with their policy programs. The Evans School in Seattle at the University of Washington, or the Goldman School at Berkeley are great if you're looking into west coast options. Stanford also has a public policy program. UCLA's political science department is very much oriented towards formal theory and quantitative methods in a theoretical and practical sense - they're definitely training some high quality methodologists but that sounds like the opposite of what you want to do.

There are two recent rejections on the results listing, one from today and the other from yesterday. Could be that they're finally rolling them out, but mine is also still listed as "submitted."

Nothing from Georgetown for me either...they've released late before but at this point I'm not holding my breath, especially since someone mentioned their open house being on April 1st.

Well I managed to swing fitting another visit into my schedule, though my savings account is hurting for it. 2 planned for the next 2 weeks. I'm hoping they provide clarity. It's begun to feel like the more people I talk to, the more I have to consider. I thought I was leaning one way but now I'm not so sure.

I know two people who went from completely unrelated fields to political science - one from genetics and one from commerce.

Do you know if the GU March 15th results are their last 'wave' of admits along with rejections? Has there been any mention of an open house? If I don't hear something today I just might pull my hair out.

Ah there's that Harvard rejection. Only one left - so ready to know my final result! Congrats to those who applied to one program and got in. I really wish I had been able to do that - I wouldn't call it crazy. This is the first time I applied with a wide net. I originally intended to apply narrowly, but it backfired on me two years ago when I only applied out to three programs beyond my alma mater and I didn't get in anywhere. I was strongly encouraged to apply to more than 5 programs - at one point I had a list of 12 schools but I dropped to 8 when I crunched numbers and considered fit. I ultimately didn't want to apply anywhere I wouldn't go if I only got into that one program. I just finished paying off my VISA with my accumulated application fee and Christmas debt from December actually. Luckily it didn't take me as long as I expected.

Ahhh! This makes it sound all the better! Did you find it hard to win out on getting a unit in Lakeside due to the lottery draw system? For me it's a top priority - even if I'm in a studio. Do you have the option to renew your lease or are you back in the draw for next year?

Open question - how have people found the new Lakeside graduate student apartments since they opened last summer (2015)? Like many previous posters, I'm averse to living in a dorm style room as I haven't in the last 5 years though I'm single. I plan on requesting a pet friendly unit however, as I'm aiming to bring my dog with me. Does anyone have any experience moving into graduate housing with pets?

Re: SOPs and final dissertation resemblance: I would say that every US program expects your project to change. More generally, people's interests usually stick to the same substantive issue areas, but their approaches and puzzles of interest are highly subject to change given exposure to new concepts and scholars. That said, my MA supervisor wrote on the same thing he was interested in in his SOP - he also finished in 4 years but that's certainly a huge exception to the norm. Re: PhD's in public affairs - my sense is that these types of programs aren't that numerous outside the US. Speaking as a Canadian, I know that most policy schools here are based around MPPs and MPAs, though a few model themselves off SAIS & HKS and have a PhD in policy. Policy degrees are more far practical, hands on, type degrees and the work tends to be heavily normative and prescriptive (the best policy option is x etc.) vs a political science degree which is more about, in this case, why certain policies were chosen (not necessarily whether they were the right choice). In terms of jobs, you would have a lot of options in private consulting but those connections don't tend to come from the program itself - you'd have to pound the pavement to earn the network. You could potentially work for government, but they much prefer MA level policy degrees - the pay bracket for PhDs is higher, and thus fewer positions tend to be offered (along with the sense that PhDs can be overqualified or less in tune with policy on the ground). I personally don't see the value in it - an MPA would get you into all of the same jobs a lot quicker for a lot less. Policy PhDs tend to offer much less funding as well. I'm not sure what you mean when it comes to being ideological vs. pragmatic. A policy degree is certainly more hands on, and far less about academic research and the development of theories. If you're more interested in policy, in being on the ground and making choices, it offers a very different lifestyle than a PhD in the social sciences. The program requirements will likely also differ, as will coursework. Policy programs can be cross-affiliated with politics departments, but many of them are completely separate. If you're attending a policy program in Europe, you will almost exclusively be taught by practitioners, which in and of itself also offers a very different type of class with far less regular meetings and less reading. But again, this depends on the program. On the learning and having a good time doing it, without following a set plan, I'd say graduate school in any sense offers that - it's one of the biggest draws for me. My MA has already let me travel a ton and make abrupt life choices. Two years ago I looked into it, and I did apply out but I didn't get in anywhere. Having internships and field experience was very important to everywhere that I applied. SAIS wrote me a personalized rejection letter saying they felt great about everything in my profile except that I was 21 at the time and I had never spent more than a day outside of Canada. So, that said, the applications also look different, and if you apply to certain schools they'll also look for you to submit a policy memo as opposed to a writing sample related to academic research. Being multilingual is also important. I just didn't fit the profile as much as I thought I did, and after a 2 year academically oriented MA I personally know that I am far more inclined to academic research and teaching. If you're looking outside of the US policy schools, program reputation still matters as well. Centrally located programs like NPSIA and GPSIA in Ottawa (at Carleton U and Ottawa U respectively) will be natural feeders into local policy positions. There's also IHEID, and the Central European University, as well as the Hertie School. These places also tend to be less transparent about where their students go after they graduate in terms of placement so that's another thing to consider.

Ah! There is it. For some reason the email notification never came through last week.

I want to visit UPenn but it's on a Friday which is very hard to swing with my current schedule. Did you receive any info from them on funding yet? I haven't heard anything from anyone there since my initial acceptance email.

TGIF! We survived another week. Congrats to the Harvard Admits! I have yet to hear anything.

More of a personal curiosity really. I really love the school and the area of DC it's in. The fit is great - very comparable to the people I would be working with at Princeton. Also a much smaller cohort, which brings with it different benefits. The person I want to work with most at Princeton currently has 6 students, and can have up to 10... I was also rejected from their policy school two years ago as well - I'm wondering if I can get in this time around. My mind is by no means made up as to where I'm going right now pending visit days.

I still think some programs send out results alphabetically as results are uploaded individually - but again, this is all speculation...

Congrats to the Yale admits! Fingers crossed we hear something more concrete from Georgetown this week. I'm dying a little...still haven't been able to get any work done.

Name recognition is certainly something, but in some ways because they're ranked so close together you could make the most of OSU and still place very well. I know it's very well regarded in the Canadian university context. I would urge you to visit both to fell them out and speak to professors, as well as current grads, to ascertain if you like the vibe of the community and the focus of the department. They're also situated in very different settings - Columbus v. Ithaca. That's certainly something to consider.