guest789
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Posts posted by guest789
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Another plus for UT Austin @nivy25: if you decide to go industry route, the tech startup scene in Austin would mean you a) are less likely to have to move afterwards assuming you get a job in data analytics/science/tech public policy - all of which are common routes post poli sci grad school - and b) are likely to be in that small proportion earning 6 figures as @BunniesInSpace implied. [Another way to get into that group is to go a top school (generally like Princeton or quant methods wise like NYU) or otherwise get outstanding methods skills in some other program.]
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I think most standard political science programs (not the "boutique" empirical/formal programs like Rochester or NYU) consist of 90% of the cohort struggling through the methods sequence, then doing simple regressions throughout their career. That's to say I wouldn't rule yourself out of attending a standard or "quant" program. There are only a few programs that really train methods-heavy political scientists (NYU and WUSTL immediately come to mind, as does Stanford), and basically only one that actually trains proper methodologists without substantive interests (Harvard with King and Imai). Keep in mind, however, that even Harvard has a substantial body of qualitative faculty and students and you only need to take one quant course there. Many comparativists at Harvard are qualitative (e.g. Steven Levitsky). So, in sum, I would suggest looking at broad programs that have a variety of methods and epistemological approaches.
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17 minutes ago, ballofstress said:
If anyone has advice on this I would greatly appreciate it. I have an in-person visit coming up with a school. They are booking the hotel and they are reimbursing me for my flights. I am scheduled to fly out on Thursday, but my state is undergoing a crazy snow/ice storm. I emailed them once to see if I could change my visit, but then I checked on my tickets. There is a cancellation/change fee for the tickets. I'm not sure if they would be willing to pay it, and it isn't something I could really afford. So, I told them that I would get myself to the airport, but that there was a very good chance of the flight being delayed or cancelled. In reality, I'm very nervous to drive the 2hrs to the airport. I have no idea what to do, and how to handle this without making myself look bad with the school.
It's a business expense - not personal - for them, so I think you should relax in terms of what you would look like.
Which school is doing in-person visits during COVID anyway?
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18 minutes ago, BunniesInSpace said:
(for example, Arthur Spirling went from Oxford to Rochester)
Spirling is also a really good example of someone whose research interests notably changed from starting PhD program #1, then went to Rochester to presumably do formal theory (otherwise why would you go there...), to the work he does now in methods. FWIW for those who think their research interests will stay the same...
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11 minutes ago, StarkDark1 said:
A bit off topic, but does anyone know how a PhD in Canada affects your job prospects in the USA?
For example UBC has a great reputation, and is probably equal to the #25 to #35 range in the USA. But if you get your degree there, will it make it harder to find a job in the USA? Haven't heard back from UBC yet, but it's something I'm considering.
I saw a twitter thread on this a few months ago, let me dig it up... he went to UBC.
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23 minutes ago, gradpumpkin said:
Question- if something changes about our profile that would be beneficial in admissions, do you think it's too late to let some of the late-February notification schools know and would that be a good idea? For example, if I got nominated for a big award would it be smart to tell Yale or Cornell? I'm not sure if they would take it under consideration at this point in the cycle.
Let them know. If you get the NSF, for example, it's not uncommon for departments to admit you after the fact especially if you were borderline.
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I'm thinking very seriously about whether a PhD is worth it. These numbers are terrible:
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9 minutes ago, nightowlll said:
Hey, congrats to your admits! I just read some of your posts and want to give you some information as a Chicago alumni. If you feel you are creative, intelligent, and hardworking enough, then Chicago would definitely provide you with a lot of resources. They have a great platform for you to succeed. But the downside is that few professors would care about you. They are toooooo busy and most of time just focus on their own research and job. I don't know what your subfield is. Just take a look at their placement website and you will find many students end up in a place that looks unmatched with the prestige of the university. Also look at the CV of the current grad students and you will find some of the fifth, sixth, seventh year students even do not have a publication. Also, it is not easy to graduate in five years. As I know, graduating in six years is relatively fast. Professors there are great, but they are just too busy to teach and discuss with you unless you are coauthoring a paper. But as I see, most of the professors there like to work individually or with professors at other institutions. I don't know about UCS. Just give you some information and you might need to think about the tradeoff if you choose Chicago. I didn't apply to Chicago as I just don't want to stay in a cold place without any help for at least six years.
I think you're in a rude awakening at any department if you expect tons of help from professors all the time. IDK.. Grad students are adults, they need to manage their own publications, timeline, etc. It's not like professors at USC are likely to be any more available than UChicago... I think BrownSugar should just wait and see what the admit days are like.
- uncle_socks and Barry B. Benson
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I'm not who you asked @BrownSugar, but UChicago already decided that you fit their program! That's what fit refers to and they all expect us to change our research interests anyway,
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2 minutes ago, PolNerd said:
Guys, anyone know what an actual starting salary range of a tenure track political science AssProf is? I have years of work experience and an MPP and I think I am starting to weigh the pros and cons of giving up my current policy career and going back to school, especially because I think I am already making the salary of a tenure track professor at the moment.
It depends on the school, but at the UCs it's like 80-100K/year (it increases quickly though, particularly with outside offers). It would be less at other schools. Public universities often have to release this information, by the way, so you can check.
And obviously, a job at a UC is very very very hard to get and very prestigious.
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4 hours ago, JayDee123 said:
Yes, my papers are in the same type of outlets Kevin Quinn publishes in, though he has placed in more prestigious journals than I have at this point.
If you still want to do law in political science, like say election law or gerrymandering, he would be a great person to work with. And don't worry about the prestige - he's a full professor.
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1 hour ago, NeedaMormon said:
For people who aren't proficient in LaTeX, I learned how to make my CV using LaTeX and that helped me out a lot.
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Agreed with all of this.
I found it really helpful to have a research idea when I was learning R as well. I was learning it for a reason - it was the only way (given I didnt have access to Stata) to answer my research question. So I kind of had to learn it.
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2 minutes ago, iamlia said:
I actually have been wondering about this but in my case I got my Master's from NYU and applied there for a Ph.D., although in a different department... I thought that might be beneficial for my application but seeing what people replied to you just discouraged me ?
Ah, what I said really only applies to people in the same department as the one to which they're applying. And people still do get admitted to their home departments and choose to attend; I just think it's generally discouraged.
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10 minutes ago, retrotomato said:
Edit: question-is it uncommon to get an admission from your alma mater? I got my Bachelor’s from one of those schools and ?
I think it is relatively uncommon, yes. Most departments tend to think accepting their own students leads to academic inbreeding and there's less of a chance to branch out and explore other subfields.
There are some exceptions, e.g. Harvard or Stanford might accept some of their own, but even then those undergrads tend to go to another T3 school instead of their alma mater.
However, you have a unique advantage here in that you can probably get detailed, actionable feedback -- go ask your professors what went wrong! I think it's likely the academic inbreeding stigma and nothing to do with your app.
- aae322 and Crossed_fingers
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3 minutes ago, Habermas said:
Did anyone get waitlisted at Michigan?
I haven't heard from Michigan yet. Have you received a rejection letter or are you just assuming?
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Your GPA won't matter much if you can demonstrate a compelling research agenda for political science in your SOP with a writing sample and LORs to back it up. Are the law reviews outlets like where Kevin Quinn at Michigan has published? He's someone I know off the top of my head who does empirical legal work. If so, you're doing really well.
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4 hours ago, _nutella_ said:
I know it's so important to ascertain the vibe of the department, the happiness of current grad students, the mentorship style of POIs, the availability of additional resources and funding for research, etc.
I have no idea how we'll really get this information virtually via Zoom...
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5 hours ago, BrownSugar said:
I want to wish everyone luck as a new week starts soon! I myself have gotten a bit despondent recently regarding decisions, but I’m hoping this week will brighten things up, and I do count myself fortunate to even have an offer in this cycle.
I have a feeling with multiple solo-authored pubs, you will be more than fine! There are still a lot more schools to come.
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Just now, jimmyb898 said:
Considering that it was an informal email, maybe only the AP folks received it? Trying to keep hope alive!
I should clarify that it's an email from the DGS - which is as official as it gets without being an actual letter from the graduate school and they mention that will be coming soon. Not an email from a POI.
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My portal has not changed. The email stated it's not an official letter - that will come from the graduate school in a week or two, so I imagine the portal will update at that point.
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3 minutes ago, polisci123_1 said:
Congratulations! What subfields are you both in?
AP
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Also I know everyone is anxious, but if you find that it's affecting your quality of life and it's something you deal with generally -- figure out a way to deal with it BEFORE you go to grad school. Grad school, or so I'm told, can be very hard on your mental health and the people that succeed know how to deal with their mental health.
2020-2021 Application Thread
in Political Science Forum
Posted
Congratulations. Relatedly... I wonder if this is indicative of a general pattern this year, i.e. will most applicants who get into to a top school be shut out from all but one?