victorydance

^ Would add Cornell to that list. Bunce is an absolute juggernaut in post-communist states.

How comprehensive is the testing? Is it not possible to get volunteers?

Man, I can't imagine doing a ph.d. in a second (or third) language. You guys have balls. That being said. I would go. What difference does it make leaving early? You are leaving anyways. It will also give you the opportunity to have extra time to find a good place to live and get accustomed to your surroundings.

There is no way anyone here can answer this.

I am glad I don't have a spouse (or even worse, kids) at this stage in my life. Would make everything so much more complicated.

Don't really care, just give me the best grad school as possible. I would prefer the city, but it's not a big deal if I end up in places like South Bend or Ithaca.

Not a chance. I live abroad with my girlfriend and I already told her that the Ph.D. is non-negotiable. If I get in, I am out of here. If she wants to come then come but it's on you. I made sacrifices to be here; if she wants to continue the relationship, it's her turn.

No offence, but this seems like a horrible plan. I wouldn't advise going to grad school to up your social life/life experience. Don't know what program you are going into, but you aren't going to have much free time at all. If you think you can party on the weekends and do well in grad school you are in for a surprise. My advice: don't go to grad school right away. Take a year or two off, go live somewhere else, live your life, and grow emotionally.

Probably about when I hit 22. I had spent the years from 18-20 saving up a lot of money. I knew I wanted to get out of my home city and away from my family and be on my own. I had just finished my associate of arts at a community college at 22 and was ready to move to university. I applied to a school across the country for the next year and then took off and lived in Colombia and Brazil for a year. Got into the university and moved there and continued to put myself through college. I had so much money saved up that I spent my summers in Latin America and still have money to spare and now live in Mexico City. I think the big difference was for me was that I had already spent my late teens and early 20s partying, clowning around, ect. By the time I hit university I was beyond all of that. My new friends and room mate were going out all the time during school, but I just worked my ass off. I went from a very underdeveloped academically person at a very top end school for my country to one of the top students of my class and involved with research as an undergrad. I had lived abroad on my own and had survived a significant injury at work that left me permanently disabled. I was a lot of more emotionally mature (and just plain older) than the vast majority of other students at my university. Basically, I have been around the block experience wise plus acquired a solid education by the time I was 25. I have lived in Latin America for I think 3 years in total now. For most people, it's either one or the other. I have been lucky, but it has also been possible through planning, sacrifice, and hard work. I think the whole going straight to undergrad and being spit out of the college system at 22 while being on the parent's dime is probably one of the stupidest trends of today's society. No kidding young people have the lowest unemployment despite having solid educational backgrounds, because we are breeding a bunch of emotionally immature, low life experience, deer-in-the-headlights young professionals.

There really is no 'right way' of writing an SOP. In fact, that's what kind of makes the whole process fickle and frustrating.

Obviously a different field, but I also contacted profs looking to work for free. Trust me they love it. When you are low on the pecking order, sometimes you need to work your way up the ladder the hard way.

Because at the end of the day, what do you think is a more appealing introduction to a professor? A random anecdote hook, or clearly defined and interesting research questions? I would say the latter.

I have the same thought process, but went a completely different route. I just launched into my research interests (broad first paragraph, specific second), then went into departmental fit. My thought process is this: after reading 200 or so SOPs I would think people would get sick of either hooks or a run-down/narrative of the applicant's experience. I decided to switch it around, deliver the goods (research interests and research questions I want to investigate) first, acting as a hook a prof would actually enjoy, then describing how I got there. Is it going to work? Who knows, but I know that corny hooks are often played out and annoying to readers.

I am bit worried about this happening to me next fall. My honours thesis adviser barely ever responded to emails and is quite aloof. I am no longer in the city of my university and can't physically urge him to hand them in either. But maybe I am just worrying for no reason. He does know I am applying to grad schools and he offered to write me letters without asking. So we'll see I guess.

I don't disagree with this. I think of course professors should devout time to all students, ie. being welcoming during office hours or outside of it, willing to go through material again to understand it fully, give advice when asked, ect. But I think these are just normal duties of professors for any students, whether undergrad or Ph.D. That being said, to expect any more than that is kind of foolhardy. Of course, some profs are just much more supportive of their students, but many are not. Depends on the situation. I also think an important factor is developing relationships with profs. The better your relationship with professors, the more they are willing to help; at least that has been my experience. If you show you are a hardworking, interested, and driven student, then your mentor ship from them will be greater. ------ Regarding the transfer thing: I don't think it as big of a deal as people make it out to be. Leaving after a year to go to a program that is a better fit and is better ranked isn't going to rustle too many feathers, if any at all.

Well personally, I don't see any reason why professors should invest a lot of time outside of ABD students. All things remaining equal, MA students typically aren't the top students nor do they have the methodological training required to actually conduct substantial research designs. Not saying MA theses are bad or anything, but when you compare a MA thesis and a dissertation, the difference is night and day. In fact, some of the best undergrads write better theses than average MA students. Lastly, MA theses by nature aren't meant to push methods in the field of political science. On the other hand, ABD students have the methodological background and ability to actually push the boundaries of the field. This is where advising actually takes a substantially important role, because advisers can share their expertise and criticism skills to substantially improve a piece of work that is worthy of that time. I just think the opportunity cost is too high for professors to devout a substantial amount of time to mentoring/advising MA or pre-ABD students. Besides, the vast majority of time spent by the students at these stages are taking classes, not conducing research.

I think it's the right move. Honestly, there really isn't much of a opportunity cost to applying to a few more programs. As long as you can afford the application fees, ect., there really is not point not to.

Lead the discussion but let the students do all the talking. No one expects you to be a rock star teacher off the bat. You just need to lead a discussion and know the material from the class. You are there to help students learn the material, not teach it.

If it's not conditional, then I wouldn't imagine it would negatively affect your ability to enter the doctoral program. But I would definitely check with the prospective program beforehand to make sure. However, thread very lightly. It seems there are underlying issues that don't have to do with your program solely. However rosy the doctoral program looks, it will definitely be much harder and stressful than the one you are in now. You don't want to be in the same situation you are now a year or two from now. Saying that you have no time to see a psychologist is completely dishonest. All it takes is an hour a week at the most. Seek help immediately. Hurting yourself to cope with depression/anxiety/other mental problems and pushing yourself to isolation is a significant sign of poor mental health. Seeking help in some form already is a positive sign, but you need to take another step and seek professional help. Your mental health comes before everything.

You are conflating two things here. Professional programs and Ph.D. programs are completely different; both in difficulty of acceptance and the aim of the program. The latter is for people interested in research and the university expends a much greater degree of resources and money to these types of students. The former is for people looking to increase their employment prospects and the university actually gains a net-positive (ie. money) from these programs. Doesn't mean professional programs cannot be competitive to get into (especially very specific ones - for the poster above, that is probably why you cohort is so small), but it is a TOTALLY different ball game.

How would you graduate if you dropped the class?

University prof Senior policy analyst Policy advisor Director of a research institute

I would imagine the library at Oxford for historical texts would kick the living crap out of Stanford.

I am confused why anyone in academia would be forced to date another academic.

I am sorry, but there is just no way two courses of Arabic is going to get you anywhere near an intermediate level.