stonehouse

If you are not sure whether your institution is prestigious or not, this means in most cases, it isn't. If you are coming from an institution outside the United States, I think you can check the academic output of your institution (I mean how many students from your school went to the mainstream graduate schools after they graduated) to guess how your institution is perceived by the admission committees.

Hi there. I'm applying several PhD programs in political science and was wondering which ranking system is most frequently referred and regarded definitive in this field. I've chosen some programs and want to add more diversity in my application portfolio but none of US News Ranking, ARWU, THE, QS seem to be perfectly reliable.

Where would you go if you were me? I've got admitted to four master's program including: Mphil in modern Chinese studies (Oxford); MA in East Asian Studies (Stanford); MA (SAIS); and MIA (SIPA). And Johns Hopkins says that they will grant me a scholarship that worths some USD 23000 an year. (no news of funding from other programs yet) I'm leaning toward Oxford now, considering the school name, tuition, and some unique experiences that I believe Oxford can provide. Stanford seems to be a comparable choice but it's expensive and doesn't seem to have rigorous program compared to the university's other programs, AND again..it costs a lot. I know that IR programs are quite different from the aforementioned ones but I'm considring SAIS as well (though I don't really like D.C.). I already have a job and highly likely to get back to my workplace after two years, but I hope that I could get a chance to pursue a doctoral degree later in my life..in this case... where would you go? need some advice.