PoliticalOrder

For a one-year MA program...it doesn't really matter all that much if you are comparing apples with apples.

While I am not privy to their application stats...it wouldn't surprise me to see their MA programs get a lack of applicants. Has to easily be the most half-baked 'top' MA political science program in Canada.

A Ph.D. in political science focused on political theory has relatively no real value...both academically and financially. It is VERY difficult to get a TT job as a theorist, nearly impossible. And no private or public sectors have any interest in theorists for employment.

158 isn't even that bad. Go look through the results page, there are dozens of people who got into top programs with scores near or below that.

Political science is academic and non-interdisciplinary (at least, in the sense that it is a stand alone discipline) while international relations or 'global studies' and public affairs are less academic and more geared towards policy while also being much more interdisciplinary. Political science degrees, particularly Ph.D.s, are geared towards research and academia. The others are more geared (but not necessarily exclusively) towards policy analysis and vocational pursuits.

Real talk.... Grad school is not going to be a walk in the park nor anything to do with academia for that matter. Everything you do can always be better. You are going to receive feedback that points out problems with your work and you are going to have to learn how to take this feedback and make your work better.

Set aside a consistent time to go through the readings like you would any class and make sure you are one step ahead of the students at all times. What exactly was the problem last semester?

What exactly do you want us to suggest? Rewrite the paper and make it better.

Wrong forum.

It's not really that surprising, Brown does not have a very good Ph.D. political science program. It's a pretty small faculty and their placement rate is quite poor.

'Advise' in what sense? I am just having trouble understanding exactly what you would prefer...a professor that is a female? Well, we already discussed why this might not be the case. As for something else...an 'administrator' that can help advise students in other capacities? Most departments do not have this at all...there is usually a graduate student adviser, but this is just usually a professor that takes on that responsibility within the faculty...or an administer that handles administrative tasks...but these people usually deal with things that are more procedural than anything else.

Because previous searches have not resulted in the best candidates being female?

Also, it depends on the sub field. For example, it is virtually impossible to finish a Ph.D. in comparative politics in four years because it often is required to do up to a year of fieldwork.

Getting an F in a course is not a good indicator of success...however, one or a couple of blemishes on a record doesn't disqualify people from going to grad school, no matter the field.

Where did I dismiss the opinion of anyone? And you seem to be the one setting up the false dichotomy here. I simply stated that academic MA programs at Canadian universities are not that competitive; this is a sentiment shared by numerous people I have run into throughout my 'academic' career. Nor did I use my experience as the basis of my opinion, rather as an indicator to how someone with a fairly average application (at least numbers wise) can get acceptances to top Canadian programs. MA programs are not particularly strenuous nor especially competitive, especially in Canada, considering that virtually everyone needs one to do a Ph.D. in the country. Furthermore, a number of the best Canadian students don't do their graduate studies at Canadian universities leaving the pool of applicants a lot less competitive than they could be.

Yeah, but I bet you got into every Canadian masters program you applied to right? Being an international student does add a bit of a ripple to the statement I made, but I still stand by it. For academic masters programs, even at the top Canadian schools, you are probably looking at something like a 10-25% acceptance rate depending on field and school. I wouldn't consider that very competitive, especially when you are comparing that to Ph.D. program acceptance rates. Do you mean 10 international students in the math MA program? Because depending on the size of the cohort, that seems quite a large number. To the OP, for reference (far different field however, and I am Canadian), a couple of years ago I applied to 3 masters programs (UBC, McGill, U of T) with a ~3.4 GPA, fairly average GRE scores, and one summer RA position. I got into all three. My application was probably very solid, but far from 'stellar.' And you also, depending on where you are doing your undergrad, you have one potential benefit: UPenn, Pitt, CM, and Penn State are equal or better than any university in Canada.

Academic masters programs aren't really that competitive in Canada. That doesn't mean you will get in, but it is fairly easy to get accepted to masters programs even in the top Canadian universities.

The best way is to target professors, take their classes, do well in them, and visit their office hours frequently. If you are not taking advantage of professors' office hours at least a couple of times a month then you will not develop strong relationships with professors it is as simple as that. It's very common for people to complain about how it is hard to make relationships with professors but yet they never once went to their office hours. For example, this past semester I just started at a new institution...I had a professor targeted that is both very important to the department, well connected, and publishes a lot in my field. I took his class and put in a lot of effort and went to his office hours almost every week. First week I dropped in to ask about what he expects from the writing assignments, the next week I went in to talk about my ideas of a paper, the next week I went in to ask for advice on writing an abstract for a conference, the next week I went in to talk about another assignment, the next week I went in to ask about more questions for presenting at conferences, then the next week I asked a specific question about one of the readings and a professor who wrote the book, ect. ect. I did so well in his class that he offered to write me a LOR and work as an RA at the end of the semester. Professors like students that show initiative and are looking for guidance and work hard in their classes. You don't need to have small talk or find common interests to make an impression, just talk about your/their research, assignments, being a better academic, and anything that is involved with that.

No, your thesis is not a publication.

^ MBA programs require GMATs not GREs

I wouldn't even say McGill is incredibly strong at IR either although their recent hires have tried to strengthen that area. It is predominantly a comparative department. Over 50% of the faculty is comparative politics. Theory and IR are pretty even, although I would say the theory profs are generally more renowned than the IR profs. There are only a handful of Canadian politics people left. ^ Determined...Belanger studies Canadian parties. Gidengil studies Canadian elections/voting behaviour. So it's decent although you won't find many departments which have better scholars on that topic (esp. from a Canadian perspective) except maybe U of Toronto.

IMO, any debt is too much debt.

I do all the time and I just put it straight into the recycling/garbage.

MA programs are not very competitive in Canada, especially the ones you are applying to.

It's for both reasons...writing ability, and ability to identify a puzzle, theory, and how to support your theory. You cannot submit something that is co-authored.