phd_prospie

Top programs meaning Harvard, Stanford, UM-Ann Arbor, etc. At what age does your age become a disadvantage, especially if you're coming from a completely different field? For ex. you work in one field then decide to go back to school to get your undergrad and start applying for top PhD programs? 

This is a good point. After battling through a PhD I do think many find it utterly devastating if they can't get the kind of job they imagined. It's quite natural really.. years of training and socialization for a career you might not make it into.
 
FakeCoach is right that there's a systematic overproduction of PhDs and the academic job market just can't take them all. It's grim, but it's the truth. The question is where you draw the line. Many of the denizens of PSR would say being outside the 'Top 5' dooms you to a life of failure. That's true if your idea of failure is working anywhere that's not H-Y-P-S/acronym of choice.
 
I miss the real coach

Something you should keep in mind is that people have thought this through. I, and many others, have a number of years of work experience outside of academia. I think a lot of us would rather do something we enjoy and risk the academic job market than work in a job we don't like. And here's something else: the non-academic job market isn't so easy either.

You sound like you've gotten one too many rejection letters. Sour grapes much? Have you considered that maybe you're just a mediocre stident and no one wants to invest their time in you?

Just because you've had a bad experience doesn't mean everyone else is doomed to fail too.

You're going to have a very tough time getting into a funded PhD program. Your GPA is very, very low. It would need to be explained in your SOP and even then it will still hold you back. How about an MA? If you kill it (4.0) you'll have a better chance.

Here is a quote from the University of Washington's Political Science Dept. 
 
 
Similarly the average GPA for entrants to Notre Dame is 3.6 (http://graduateschool.nd.edu/departments-and-programs/ph-d-programs/political-science/admissions-history/).
 
Unfortunately you might find it difficult. I'm not expert and just an applicant like you. However, you're applying to some really competitive places..  If you do strike out I would consider looking at ways to strengthen your application. Perhaps a terminal MA?

If you want to work in the NGO world, go get internships. They're all very competitive, but it's the only way to get a start. An MA might help with that, but you will be in school for 2 additional years that you could have put towards starting a career. And you will likely be in debt.
 
Seriously, don't get an MA if you want to work for an NGO. Go get internships.

OP is presumably in the US and wants to study religion in IR. I can count on my thumbs the number of PhD candidates who do exclusively qualitative work in IR--especially when one isn't doing theory--who get TT jobs when they graduate. OP will need to understand math and take quant classes to even understand much of the literature that she will be engaging in. Do whatever type of research you like and whatever is the best tool for the job, but knowing quantative methods is just flat out necessary for studying religion in IR in the US.

I know that psych is also very quantitative; I mentioned it to make the point that political science needs to learn from multiple related disciplines. When rational choice dominated the field, it was because poli sci looked almost exclusively to economics for inspiration (because their quantitative methods made them seem so scientific and credible). It's a huge advance that political scientists (and behavioral economists, for that matter) have since read some psychology literature; woops, the central tenants of rational choice are empirically massively problematic. I think the field could also learn valuable lessons from history and both quant and non-quant sociology.  
 
For that matter, I have nothing against economics either. But they made a historical mistake when they started pushing out qualitative and empirically-minded people, and ended up with dominant theories based on beautiful parsimonious models which didn't correspond even slightly to reality. Political science shouldn't repeat that mistake.   

Don't listen to most of the advice you get here. Regional focus is less common that it used to be, but China and Middle East Studies people get lots of attention, there are lots of Africanists who major/minor in IR, and depending on where you apply, many in the old guard have a soft spot for Russia. Korea definitely works. You can always frame your interest as something more general ("nuclear") but say that something about country x makes it unique case meriting further study. If your interest is really narrow, you might think about Comparative (Foreign Policy).

I got into St. Anne's college, but have not heard about funding either. The website says mid-May, so I guess that settles it : we won't be awarded funding! :/

Hey, you'll be across the street from me   (Or would be.  I'm graduating!  But my husband will still be here.)
 
1. Well, it's on the high end of Columbia's housing even for 1-bedrooms.  Is it a good rate for this neighborhood?  Kind of.  It's cheaper than most 1-bedrooms in the neighborhood, which can run $2,000 a month.  Is it a good and/or affordable rate overall?  Eh.  $1600 is far more than I'd be willing to spend as a single person moving to New York.  If you got a 1-bedroom in Columbia housing, it's probable that you'll be sharing with a partner, so that can be doable if your partner has steady income
 
2. They vary in size.  My husband and I live in a one-bedroom, and it's decently sized.  I wish I could remember how many square feet, but I'm bad at estimating size.  And I don't have our floor plan anymore (I thought I saved it PDF, but I didn't)
 
3. You can't, but in my building lots of people have dogs even though it says no pets.  I'm pretty sure we're an all-Columbia building (we have a doorman hired by Columbia and all our facilities people work for Columbia).  And some of them are huge, like this huge sweet bulldog and a giant golden Lab adolescent.  I'm sure tons of people have illegal cats (as a matter of fact, I know for sure that at least one of my neighbors has two or three cats because I've seen her gently push them back into the apartment with her foot as she leaves in the morning).
 
4. It has a really nice facade/entry way!  Haven't seen past that, honestly.  We're a block from a grocery store (terrible grocery store, but good for a quick "crap, I need tomatoes" run), and a couple of blocks from a nice small wine store.  Butler is also right on the end of the block across the street from Morningside Park.  It's a nice park during the day but I would approach from the Amsterdam side at night (not that you'd ever have a reason to approach from the other side; the park blocks everything, and Columbia is towards Amsterdam and away from the park).
 
PM me if you have specific questions about the neighborhood!

If you're willing to live in Upper Arlington, try Fox and Hounds. I got an apartment with them pretty easily as an out-of-tower and plenty of dog owners there.

You ask them about their research, their relationship with students, culture of the department, etc.  You share details about yourself like what your academic background and research interests are in the interest of eliciting responses that might inform you about whether you're a good fit with that prof or the dept.  They'll also tell you about new people coming and going from the dept., recent students that had interests similar to yours and where they ended up, etc.  This is not their first time doing this, so they'll lead the discussion (unless they're extremely socially awkward, which is somewhat rare.)

Though not really so much if you're including formal theory. It's a great department, just something to consider.

Unless you're looking in the immediate area right around campus ("University District"--basically south of Hudson, north of 5th, and between Olentangy River Road and 4th Street), March will be too early.  The campus area, which is mostly undergrads, rents about 6-12 months in advance.  Clintonville, the Short North, UA, Grandview, etc. tend to rent 2-3 months in advance, AT MOST, and sometimes as little as 2-4 weeks.
 
The expressways are pretty unnecessary, unless you live far from campus.  Clintonville is probably the easiest place to live--close enough to walk/bike/bus (so you don't pay $300-$700/year for a parking pass), but far enough away that it's quiet, not full of undergrads, and safe.  It's also home to two vegan bakeries, several coffee shops, great restaraunts, two Asian groceries, several food trucks, and a really awesome Whole Foods-like grocery store (with much better prices).
 
If you want to book a place in March for an August move in, and don't want to live right by campus, check out the apartment complexes.  If you're thinking about Clintonville, I recommend Olentangy Village (it's a little pricey, but not terrible--I pay $704/month for a one bedroom, and it includes heat, hot water, parking, a fitness center, a pool, etc).

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OK, so here's the situation (which might apply to other people as well).
 
MattCC's file was technically incomplete. I'm not sure what was missing, but it wasn't anything crucial for the committee, so we considered what we had. We were very impressed, but we also didn't think his proposed area of study fit very well with the strengths of our faculty, so he didn't end up on the short list. That happens, and it really isn't a reflection on overall academic promise in any way.
 
That's where things got weird. When a student's application is "incomplete" rather than "pending," the system won't allow us to send out a standard rejection letter. It forces us to include language about your file not having been considered (it was), and it gives us a choice between saying that the file was incomplete (true but irrelevant) or that the application was not competitive (technically true, but only at this program, and only for reasons of fit). The way things are set up, we're not allowed to send any other message.
 
I've contacted the Interim Director of Graduate Admissions to request that this policy be changed in the future and that we be allowed to send letters that more accurately reflect our committee's assessment of a candidate. We'll see whether they're willing to do so. I apologize for not having discovered this situation sooner, and thanks very much for bringing it to my attention.

Looking into this. Thanks for the heads-up.