fouler657

I'm currently just a few days away from finishing my first semester of my PhD program studying Political Science at a fairly highly ranked state university with an excellent placement record. I'm fully funded, and I was brought in to study under the department head who is a well-respected, excellently connected scholar in our field. I like the city where my university is located, I get along well with my cohort, and I'm doing pretty well in all my classes. All I've ever wanted to be is a professor, and everything seems to be on track for me to achieve that goal. There's just one problem. I really hate my program. I know grad school is supposed to be grueling. I have my Master's degree in political science, so I already had a small taste of what grad school had to offer. I'd done my research and talked to a number of other grad students to try to get an idea of what it would be like, but I just was not prepared for how awful it would be. The professors don't give two shits about the students. We're literally daily reminded that we're under constant scrutiny, and that we might not make it until next year. It got so bad that the graduate student liaison actually had to have a talk with the director of graduate studies because some of my fellow first years were starting to crack under the pressure, not that it helped much. The department is ridiculously gossipy, and the professors are the worst offenders. We're always hearing negative things different professors have said, or even posted on their facebooks, about how unimpressed they are with the first year cohort. The professors even tell us that they share our exams and papers with each other and will sit around talking about us at happy hours and other events. They make everything unnecessarily difficult, almost to the point of hazing, and they actually seem to take pleasure in it. In my Master's program my advisor was extremely supportive, which I understand is not the norm. She mentored me and really helped me and encouraged me in the pursuit of my research and academic goals. I’ve had lunch with my new advisor once, and let's just say it wasn't encouraging. Not once since I've been at my new university have I felt like any of the professors give a damn about any of us. I know graduate school is supposed to be tough, and that the first year is supposed to be bad, but my experience has been beyond bad. It's humiliating and demoralizing. I'm curious about other people's first year experiences. Am I being too sensitive, or is my program actually just terrible? If this is how it is everywhere, it might be time for me to reconsider my options. If it's just my program, it might just be time to find a program that's a better fit. So, what was your first year experience like?

So, people haven't really been posting on here lately, so I hope somebody will respond. I'm moving to Iowa City in August to start my PhD program. I've lived in Texas my whole life, so I'm pretty nervous about surviving an Iowa City winter. I'm going up there in a couple of weeks to try to find an apartment. If anyone can give me some advice on which areas or real estate companies to avoid? Or which ones are the best? Also, any advice on how a native Texan can prepare for an Iowa winter? Thanks!

I am currently in the process of writing my Thesis. My proposal is written, defended, and approved. Now, I just have to start actually writing the paper. I am an awful procrastinator, and I know that if I don't make some sort of plan and stick to it, I'll be in big trouble. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to budget your time when writing your thesis? Thanks!

My research interests are identity politics, ethnicity and ethnic conflict, and political violence.

I know there is no such thing as a safety school anymore when it comes to graduate school. I could be the perfect student, but if I wasn't a good fit for that specific program, I wouldn't get in. However, my question is: are there some programs that are pretty safe bets as long as you're somewhat competitive? I'm applying to 10 schools, most of which are highly competitive programs. I wanted to pick at least one school that is a pretty safe bet. Any suggestions?

I'm having trouble finding grad programs that focus more on qualitative research. I know I'm probably in the minority for wanting one, but surely there are some programs out there. Anybody know of any good ones? Thanks.

It really depends. What did you score on the GRE? Have you been to any conferences? How strong are your letters of recommendation going to be? Sometimes you can make up for a lower GPA with strengths in these areas.

I'm currently working on my MS in a qualitative program. I've been looking into different PhD programs in Political Science, and I've noticed that most of the schools I'm interested in only have current grad students with MAs. At my school, the difference between an MA and an MS in Political Science is that an MA has language requirements, while an MS requires "research tools." Is it the same everywhere else? Even though my research tools are mainly qualitative, I'm starting to panic that I won't be able to get in anywhere. Help?

I'm currently a first year Master's student. I've just been informed that in the fall I'll no longer be working as a research assistant, but instead I'll be teaching two sections of an undergraduate class. I'm 23 years old, and it was just last year that I was an undergraduate student. I'm pretty nervous and unsure about how to go about everything. I'm in charge of picking my own textbook, creating my own syllabus, setting my own rules, etc. If anyone could give me some advice, I would more than appreciate it!

So supposedly all the letters were sent out on February 22. I have yet to receive mine. Application paranoia set in, and I took it as a bad sign, until I saw a couple of posts saying that others have had this problem. I called the Graduate School, and they connected me to the Political Science Department. I talked to the department, but they only told me to talk to the Graduate School. Has anybody else had this problem, and if so, have you figured out a solution?

I also got two letters. So I ended up getting rejected in three different ways: the website and two letters. The first letter was very nice. It was the usual...we have had quite a few applicants and only a small number of spots. The second one was kind of rude and definitely unnecessary. It just came out and said that I got rejected because I wasn't competitive. The first time stung a little, the second one was confusing, but the third was just amusing. They should probably come up with a more efficient system.

Subfield: American Interests: Con Law, American Constitutional Development, judicial process and behavior