A Dalek

Not an unusual profile at all. Several schools have a policy subfield. Don't hesitate to apply to policy schools either. They make more $$$ anyway.

Graduate admissions this year should not be influenced by current developments on federal grant making. Regular admissions in polisci don't rely on grants to pay for grad admissions. Some STEM fields might be influenced but that's because they're more likely to use grants to hire grads to work in specific labs. Different model from polisci.

No.

A word on interviews from a faculty member. While part of the reason interviews are done is to ask more details about research interests, part of it is to evaluate English fluency (for international students) and to verify the candidate is capable of basic manners (for all). Some people look great on paper, but are hard to work with for a variety of reasons.

Regarding future trends, I think we're moving towards smaller cohorts. There are exceptions of course. The high ranking rich privates (e.g., Harvard, Yale, Princeton) may be able to keep up large cohorts, but many places are moving towards smaller cohorts due to budget constraints and the worsening job market. My big recommendation to applicants is to ask yourself if you're okay going into industry or working in a teaching focused institution. There are just fewer tenure track jobs in research universities. There is nothing wrong with going industry or taking up a teaching focused job. There are worse futures than spending a few years reading political science research and making six figures in an industry job. Just know what you are signing up for and adjust expectations accordingly.

Might be too late but my two cents is to avoid MAs unless they address a specific deficiency. If you want to do a US PhD long term, doing a US MA makes sense to build relationships with US professors. Non-US degrees are heavily discounted in the US. We just don't interact with European universities enough to evaluate. There are a few exceptions like Oxford/Cambridge but CEU isn't one of them.

I think you have a decent chance. There is a positive impression towards an econ background, at least in terms of quantitative background. Long term do you want a job in the US or the EU? The field has a strong bias towards its own students.

It's not a realistic option tbh. The market is flooded with un/underemployed PhDs and you probably won't be able to get adjunct jobs with just an MA. The sort of places where you could find something with just an MA are middle of nowhere towns, making 30-40k/year with minimal job security or benefits.

MAPSS isn't worth it. Most MA programs are bad returns on investment unless they address a specific deficiency in your background. Undergrad and grad level polisci are very different, so I don't think it'd hurt you to apply to PhD programs directly. If you want to do risk consulting, aim for a program in the DC area. They're more likely to have the connections needed for that sort of job.

It's a cash cow for the department and people know it. Most MA programs are if I am being honest. Never pay to go to grad school unless it's a professional degree. Only do an MA if it very clearly addresses an issue with your application, e.g. you are transitioning from a different field, or you are doing it for fun. In 99.99 percent of cases it's better to enter a PhD program directly.

I'm just here to strongly discourage having theory as your primary subfield. It's a dead subfield in terms of the job market. There are maybe half a dozen theory specific TT jobs in a given year. Do either comparative or American politics as your primary. Theory as a secondary field is okay, just don't expect to get hired because of it. I +1 applying for PhD programs directly. Even if you want an MA, it's better to get into a lower ranked PhD program, get the MA as part of that for free (and getting a stipend along the way), and re-apply for higher ranked programs after.

Something simple you could do is do a simple survey where you ask people about their social media use and vote intention. Are people who use TikTok more likely to vote for Biden? You could probably field the survey among your peers to keep it simple.

Hello ya'll, I last posted here nearly a decade ago when I was applying to graduate school. I am now on the other side of things as an Assistant Professor. Something I have been giving a lot of thought to recently is how to better recruit students, especially from traditionally underserved populations. My sense from reading applications is that a handful of undergraduates get a lot of feedback on where and how to apply, and a lot of applicants are wandering around in the dark. Some of my colleagues run informational camps to provide interested undergraduates information on graduate school, but I suspect they tend to recruit students who are already receiving feedback from other sources. Out of curiosity how many of you attended such a camp prior to applying to graduate school? Even if you didn't attend one, were you aware that they existed? Off the top of my head, I know USC, Michigan and WashU St Louis all run some type of informational camp for prospective students. Were did ya'll receive information about graduate school before applying? Did you talk to one of your undergraduate professors?

Any other incoming UCR grad students looking for housing? If you're interested in possibly being room mates PM me.

Yeah, I really don't get why Claremont is like that. Their graduate rankings overall are okay, but unless they fund their graduate students I don't see how they expect to rise any higher. But yeah, congratulations on the offer. UIUC seems to have a substantially higher rank, so if you get off the wait list there I'd definitely choose them. However UCR is still in a decent ranking and cost effective if that doesn't work out.