changeisgood

So, like, I'm applying to your program, eh? I've got pretty good fit as far as I can tell. You've got a couple of Profs working in my preferred area (AP/judicial politics). If you've got any suggestions to tailor my file I'd appreciate the help!

I'm right there with you on the GRE, but I'm done taking it. I've done just about as well as I can. Just going to go with it and see what happens.

I'm kinda curious as to why you would say that.

Somewhat yeah, but at most programs (those outside the top 20) you *really* have to have bad grades to get tossed out without a second look. What I mean is they don't know what grad school is about or what it's for, how much work is involved, etc. They don't want to do research, or teach, or they're just looking for something to boost their potential income as opposed to really understanding what an advanced degree really means. A lot of times they're better off going to law school or getting an MBA, or something else.

A person in my department who keeps track of this stuff said about 80% of the graduate applications they get are either not serious or the applicant clearly doesn't belong in grad school.

As long as your undergrad GPA doesn't suck, your file will get a serious look by any school in the country.

I suppose I never thought about it the other way around. I don't know, I guess I just considered Poli Sci to be more, prestigious? Maybe this is a conversation I need to have with myself.

That's kind of what I was thinking. The second part is what I'm already looking at, and I'll probably go that route. Texas A&M has a strong relationship as well between the two departments, as does LSU.

I'm currently working on an M.A. and my research agenda is moving toward political communication and persuasion (as a subset of political behavior), with a strong mass media element. It has been suggested to me (by my advisor) that I should consider getting a PhD in Communications as an alternative. I know that there are many Comm professors with PSC PhDs, but how about the reverse? Would I be shooting myself in the foot if I did this? Would I be locking myself into the Comm world and out of the Poli Sci realm? Or would some kind of interdisciplinary degree be beneficial? I'd appreciate any opinions from knowledgeable people on this.

Just out of curiosity, is the low quant GRE score thing any less worrisome for someone with a completed M.A.? I realize it probably depends on the school. Would A's in grad-level stats courses help offset it?

@panama, I know from experience that a generalized SOP is not going to get you where you want to go. You need to be as specific as possible about a) who you want to work with and b)why. Just saying "I want to study primary campaigns" isn't going to do it. I'll be entering the cycle in AP next time round after I finish up my M.A., and my prof is helping me narrow it down. I know from the DGSs and admissions folks that post here that SOP is the most important part of your application, followed closely by recommendations. Also, if you are really interested in doing primarily quantitative research, there are other universities you should look into. WashU St. Louis, SUNY Rochester, Indiana, and Ohio State should all be on your list. Don't discount other schools who might not be in the top 15 either, many of them have excellent quantitative programs (Georgia, Washington State, etc.). Oh, also, what's your TOEFL score like? That can be a big deal for international students.

Thanks for the response. I talked to my advisor and I answered my own question.

Hey all, it's great to have faculty from Gtown and The OSU on the forum as those are two institutions at the top of my list. I'm starting an M.A. at Oklahoma in August and I'll be doing the PhD app cycle in 2016 for entry in the 2017-18 academic year. I've already got a ton of info just from reading this thread, so thank you for that. Here's to acing methods and publishing good work!

I had a question about these, specifically Chicago Harris and the Duke Sanford School. Are they viable options for an academic PhD, or should I steer clear of them? Are they more for government and think-tank positions?

Alright, I'm sure I'll be asking for advice on where to apply as I go through this year and get ready to tackle the selection process next Summer/Fall.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it, right? My advisor knows what I'm aiming at and I've asked him to help me aim my research in a direction that's likely to draw the right kind of publishing attention. We will see where it goes from there.

Appreciate the thoughts on staying in one place vs. diversity. I do have a lot of experience in the field, as most of my law career was in government. I've been involved in political campaigns, PACs, and worked for several agencies as well as our state's Attorney General's office. I have a Con Law/Civil Rights background. I got the chance to GTA this summer for a prof. in my dept. who was running a freshman AmGov course "against his will". Heck, I could have lectured most of the course off the cuff without notes, just from my own personal experience. It might have been a bit cynical though. As far as goals, I would not say it's "TT or bust" but I do want to teach, research, and write. TT will definitely be what I will shoot for but if it doesn't happen, there are enough smaller liberal arts colleges around that I'm sure I can find something. It means a whole lot more teaching and much less time for research, but them's the breaks I suppose. Moral of the story is figure out what makes you happy in life as early as possible! I don't really have any desire to go back into the business world, or to be a political operative. I might entertain some kind of think-tank position, but I really do want to teach.

Yes, I'm willing to move if need be. The wife and I have already discussed it and we'll do what's going to give me the best chance to get into the best program. Even if that means going off myself for a few years. My kid's getting ready to start high school and he'll be a junior by the time this is an issue. And there is always Skype. However, we are fairly mobile as my wife is a non-TT lecturer at OU and never has been interested in research, she just likes to teach. But, her field is modeling, so she's been talking about getting onto *my* papers and coat-tailing the publishing. Seriously though, she'll be a great tutor for quant analysis. I have virtually no prior knowledge in that area, but have been studying it for the past several months in preparation. Downloaded R Studio and got myself some texts, borrowed my wife's Linear Algebra and stats books, and diving into it. It's really a lot more fun than I thought it would be!

Well, maybe not, but I am an oddball. I have a Poli Sci B.A., got my J.D. in 1991 and have been practicing law ever since. But I'm now having a mid-life crisis and have decided (with my wife's wonderful support, as she is a PhD in Math) to switch careers and go into academia. I'm enrolled in the University of Oklahoma M.A. program starting this Fall (2015), and the eventual goal is a PhD and a TT job somewhere. Sooooo...any advice would be helpful. My undergrad GPA is not helpful at all, but it *was* completed 27 years ago and I've changed a lot since then. I did manage a 3.2 in my Poli Sci classes, tho. The bad grades are due to 2 major changes and a lot of partying. Once I figured out what I wanted to do with my life, things smoothed out. My GRE is currently 165/150/4.5 but that was only with a 4-week prep on math I haven't looked at in 20 years. I'll take it again next Summer and improve it. I have no idea why the writing was so low but I'm confident I can get that above 5. OU let me in as an M.A. student after rejecting me as a PhD student, primarily because of my unusual situation and I think the professors see me as a project. The idea is to kick ass for 2 years and then see where I'm at for PhD purposes. Research interests are AP with media/public opinion/voting behavior emphasis. If any of you could give me some guidance I would appreciate it. For instance: I'm 48 years old, but with a lot of life experience. Will that help/hurt/be of no consequence? So far all my degrees are from the same university. I've noticed that's rare with TT professors. Do I need to really make sure I go somewhere else for a PhD, or does it matter on the job market? Any suggestions on programs which will take me or that would be a good fit? I can list out the top tier schools same as anyone, and if I have a 4.0 Masters GPA and get my GRE above 330 I will hopefully have options. But I would appreciate any specific ideas anyone may have. Thanks and I will be hanging around here during my Masters program. Good to know this forum is here.