BruBru

Be sure to contact the department. I wanted to submit a writing sample that is 46 pages including tables, sources, etc. I simply e-mailed the graduate coordinator and asked permission to send in a larger sample. Every school that I contacted was very receptive and allowed me to send in this sample. The purpose of the limits that schools impose seem to be targeted at those who want to submit 50 pages of literature review. If your writing sample is original research, I am sure they are very interested in reading the entire thing.

I am having the same problem. Submitted my app a month ago and my letter writers have yet to receive an e-mail. I have also e-mailed the school and am yet to receive a response. If anyone resolves this issue, be sure to let us all know.

Interesting topic. I have a close friend who graduated last year and is currently in his first year at the PhD program at Cornell. He got accepted (with full funding) despite a 3.1 GPA and a GRE score of only 1140. As timuralp stated, a PhD program is about research, and since he had solid research experience that seemed to compensate for his low GPA and GRE score. I think students tend to place too much emphasis on those indicators, and fail to understand the importance of a good SAP, strong letters and research experience. Also, he had a choice between Cornell, University of Washington, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Texas - Austin (all with funding).

Be sure to write the department and ask whether or not you can send in the entire document. I had the same problem with regards to length, and upon asking received permission to send the entire thing. Given my experience, it seems that most schools have limits with regards to length to simply discourage those who are sending long literature reviews. If your writing sample is indeed a research article complete with methods, data, results, etc. they will allow you to break that limit.

I also have a quick question with regards to writing samples. I recently completed a manuscript for some research I have performed over the past year. The problem is that the paper itself turned out to be 36 pages, but the max pages accepted by most schools is 20. Given this limitation, would it be best to submit the quantitative (models, data, results, etc) portion of the paper or the more theoretical aspects? Perhaps a combination of both? Thanks, BruBru

Thank you all for all the help, I can not express strongly enough how much this is helping me in my search. That program at St. Andrews looks interesting... it does seem to be a good backup school. I would also love to life overseas for a while, thanks for sharing Leica.

Thank you all for such a quick reply. I plan to pursue an academic career, therefore an institution that is known for training researchers and teachers would be preferable to one that focuses on preparing you for a career in policy. As far as my area of interest is concerned, I am interested in examining the affects of changes in the environment on international security (eg climate change, water shortages, nature disasters, etc). Although currently I am doing work with several professors on the issue of post-Cold War arms control policy. Tidefan, thanks for the info on U Chicago... that is a school I will be exploring more in depth. I will also be taking a good hard look at MIT... seeing how that is the obvious best choice. Thanks again for all of your help.

Hello everyone, I am currently entering the process that most of you are completing in the next few months. I will be applying to political science PhD programs this fall with the goal of entering one in the fall of 2009. I am currently in the process of searching for programs that are "good fits." As most of you know, this is a challenging process that requires both determination and a lot of time. In order to speed up this process, I thought I would register (I read this board daily) and ask those with an interest in international security what schools I should be looking at. The only two schools I have found that seem to have at least a limited focus on international security is Columbia and Georgetown. Anyone out there know of any other programs that seem to emphasize international security? Or any tips on sorting through schools in order to identify such programs?