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Thank you . I've read/heard that for M.A students applying to PhD programs (in the U.S) having a publication under your belt is more a requirement than a plus to your application? In other words, if you're applying with an M.A opposed to just an undergraduate degree, you're more or less expected to have published something to be considered a serious candidate? Does anyone know if this true?

Thanks so much for your response victorydance. That was very helpful/informative.

So, hopefully this isn't too "stupid" of a question... I plan to speak with some profs about this sometime soon, but, as Canadian, I was hoping to get an "American" perspective here as well. I was just wondering, how does an undergraduate or M.A student get published? I'm currently finishing up my undergrad... I'll be starting my M.A in political science (at a Canadian university) in the Fall. I figured I should probably start looking into strengthening my portofolio in the chance that I so choose to further graduate study at the PhD level. My decision to apply to M.A programs was a very last minute one so I've only recently started to really consider these things (research experience, publications etc.) Are M.A students afforded more "opportunities" to publish or is this something that usually comes with working closely alongside a professor as a research assistant? I have one publication in an undergraduate academic journal, but I don't think that will count for anything when applying to PhD programs... Also, how do people usually go about getting a postion as a research assistant? Is it just a matter of approaching professors and asking them directly? From lurking the forums its seems like almost all undergraduate students in the States who apply to grad programs have some experience working as a research assistant, whereas in Canadian universities it's not as common? (I may be totally wrong on this) Additionally, how important is it to take coursework in stats and quant methods? I've literally only taken calculus in first year... and from my understanding, a one-year pols M.A program at, for example, the University of Toronto, only requires one half-year course in methods. Moreover, is it feasible for an M.A student from, say, UofT or UBC to get into a top (10?) ranking political science PhD program in the U.S? I apologize for how long this is!!! Thank you in advance!