Nozistin

There doesn't appear to be a WWS 2017 thread so I thought I should start one since it is a big dream school for a lot of us here. Any predictions when results will be out?

No, I think the MPA/IA is the most competitive program. HKS doesn't have any admission statistics bus GSPP does and I would think they are somewhat similar. WWS has some as well I believe but they are harder to find. It's a downloadable PDF book I think.

My original package at UCSD was a bit bigger (about $23,300 per year) with 25% TAship the first year and 50% the next four. They mention nothing about summer. I just received the SEED fellowship so it blew up to 25k a year without TAship for 3 years and guarantee of that much for the other 2 but with a TAship. Seems good based on what I'm hearing here and other offers received but I also know La Jolla is super expensive so I'm a bit worried. Anyone know if I can TA or RA on top of the fellowship for extra funds?

Sorry! Too much excitement. I removed the name! Thank you all! Sorry, the confusion is from not believing I had any chance at getting in. AHH. Super stoked. Thanks everyone!

Hi All, I just received an email from UCSD with the intro found bellow. Should I be super stoked or am I getting way ahead of myself? " Dear GXXXXX Congratulations! On behalf of the Department of Political Science it is my pleasure to inform you that you have been recommended for admission to the UCSD PhD program in Political Science. Upon successful evaluation of your credentials by the Graduate Admissions office, the Graduate Division will send you an official offer of admission. We are very excited about the prospect of you joining our program. " It is followed with more information regarding the funding packaged offered, resources, and information on how to submit ITR. Am I in or is this just a courtesy email? I'm freaking out a little right now. Thank! *Edit: I did not in any way meant for this to come off as braggy or anything like that. I honestly was confused. Thanks all who responded.

For folks applying to multiple Center for Public Leadership Fellowships, are you guys writing original essays for each application or recycling some of the material? The prompts have cross over and the second (200 word) essay is the same for all of them. I'm wondering if it hurts ones chances if material is recycles, particularly in the longer essays since the prompts are slightly different.

Also to @Poli92 I guess more specifically what I am wondering is will these programs prepare me to work with large data sets in an analytical manner? Will I learn STATA and basic coding with SQL and/or Python? And how transferable the quanititiative skills are to areas out side of public policy analysis? I know these are generally broad questions with a simple answer being "if you don't want to public policy analysis then why do an MPP?" Well, I am primarily interested in public policy but am gaging what other doors this may help open and what skills I will be building. *Particularly important with the cost of HKS. Thanks for any responses in advance!

Hi all, Just thinking about career options here and seeing what folks think. Im wondering if an MPP can prepare one for data analyst/scientist jobs at a for-profit? Basically, make one competative with stat BAs or other applied social science majors? I applied only to HKS, GSPP, and WWS, the last two being very quant heavy schools. Im wondering what options that would open outside of public sector and non-profit jobs I guess. Thanks!

Hey Ya'll, Some applications require you to input your work experience AND upload a resume. It's kind of annoying. I simply don't get why but anyways, on the sections in the apps where they are asking for work experience inputed with the individual text boxes, are ya'll simply recopying your resume into there? Also, should I include internships as well or only paid work experience? Should I enter non-relevant work experience? Sorry for the annoying questions, its crunch time and I am trying to prioritize. Thanks in advance!

Hi Everyone, I'm preparing my SOPs/ Personal Statements for this cycle and am wondering if anyone knew how long the WWS personal statement should be? Before You run off and say check the webpage, the webpage says two to four pages but I'm not sure if his is single or double spaced. Double space would make much more sense but I wanted to verify if anyone knew for sure. Also for those applying to both WWS and GSPP, are you using the same personal statement/SOP for both schools with the minor changes in why the school is a good fit? The prompts are not too different it seems, particullarly because the WWS prompt is so broad. For those applying to these programs and HKS, how are you going about tailoring your personal statement/SOP for it? The prompts for the two MPP essays are very different in a sense from the other two schools and am wondering if I should tailor my central PS/SOP or simply write two fresh essays. All tips welcome. Thanks!

Title says it all. GRE: 165V 157Q. Went to a Cal for undergrad and graduated with honors. I have two years of work experience plus a lot of undergrad policy work in both interships and student orgs. I am applying to GSPP, HKS, and WWS and wondering if I have a good shot. Thanks.

Title says it all. Just took the GRE and got a 165V 157Q, much better in verbal than i was expecting and a bit worse in math. I have a 3.76, about the same in major, from a top 5 maybe 10 university. Do I have a shot at UCLA, UCSD, Duke and etc type schools?

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if people know what Universities have top urban politics or urban political economy programs? In particular, I am hoping to research what force contribute to strong economic growth in metropolitan areas looking at multiple variables with a more quantitative approach. I believe I have a relatively strong app with a 3.7+ GPA from a top 10 university, some research experience, and am taking the GRE next week and will likely be around ~161 in both based on current practice test. So I am hoping to apply to some top 20ish universities, though not HYS status. And pointers, particularly to professors in or aroung this field, would be clutch. So far I have UCSD and UCLA on my list of options. Thanks in advance!

Same issue man. Also from the East Bay and I am willing to take it during the week and any local location yet nothing. Thinking about just reserving a spot in Sacramento, driving out the night before, and getting a cheap hotel or staying with a friend. It bloody f-ing sucks. I hoped calling would be the solution but it seems you didn't have any luck with that right?

Thanks! That's helpful to know. I know CC positions are still hard to come by but that seems about right and makes me feel a bit more sure about going to a slightly less ranked school. Most of the UC are great in their own right but I know a degree from UCSB or Irvine won't put you in a great place for an R1 or big 4-year job but if they mean I have a good shot a teaching at a CC in California in a TT job I would be happy to go their.

Generally, I guess my question is does university prestige matter a lot if we are looking to teach at a community college? Would it even help much? I'm currently in the process of preparing to apply to some Political Science PH.D programs for the 2017 academic year. I think I'm in an OK position to be competitive for some top 20 programs (3.75GPA from Berkeley, some research experience, decent LOR opportunities) but I'm not in a good or great place and am not super optimistic about doing well on the GRE. Assuming I don't kill it, my chances for some top programs are slightly slim but think I can land a spot at UC Davis, UCSB, or USC for example (hoping to stay in California). Are my chances of landing a CC job much slimmer if I went to one of the high mid-tier institution compared to my chances if I went to UCSD, Duke, or UofW (probably the top programs I can get into)? If ya'll have any idea or advice it would be great. Of course I would go to the best school I can and will try applying to a range of programs that I think fit but I'd like to know if these programs are even worse applying to or if I should put all my chips into a Top 20 because anything under that puts me in a bad place after graduation. Thanks in advance.

To be honest, I have no idea how folks would sign off on their letters and whether that is something they would include. But thank you. If you saw a letter coming from a professional source, such as a private foundation or none-university research institution, would that raise a flag?

Thanks for the response! I need at least 3 some schools may take more. These are all I have. There is an other CC professor who knows me pretty well but I'm scared of having to many CC professors write me letter of rec. I'm mostly wondering how much graduate school prestige matters in these cases (Harvard Ph.D v University of Utah) and how appropriate non-professors are for Ph.D. LORs?

Hey Gradcafe Community, I was hoping to get advice on who to ask to write my LOR. I have been out of school for a year now and even when I was in school I was not the best at connecting with professors. I have a couple of options but none of them are great to be honest. Those professors that know me better are less reputable while I also have options from my current position (supervisors with PHDs) at work that I'm wondering if they would be appropriate. Basically these are my options: Professor 1: Poli Sci professor. Outside my subfield. Stanford grad, currently works at a top 7 institution. A- in class. Was a research assistant for him for a semester about two years ago. Knows me 5/10. Professor 2: Critical Writing professor. UCLA grad, taught at multiple top 10s. A in class. It was a small class and she often commented very positively on my work. Knows me 5/10. Professor 3: Poli Sci professor. Closer to my subfield. UCSB grad. Teaches at a CC and that where I know him from. Took 3 courses with him: A, A, B. We are pretty good friends now. Knows me 10/10. Work supervisor: Ph.D. in Psychology. Harvard Grad. Current research director at private foundation where I work. Will continue to get to know him more. Knows me 7/10. Work supervisor: Ph.D. in Rhetoric. U of Utah Grad. Former chief of staff of President of large state University. Current program officer of private foundation. Will continue to get to know him more. Knows me 8/10. I was hoping to give a heads up to and reconnect with those I've lost touch with sometime soon so all opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hey Grad cafe community, So I keep hearing this word "fit" when people talk about applications, acceptances, and decisions but I'm not sure I fully grasp what it means. I know it's based on whether your research interest "fit" well with the school's department but to be honest most departments don't seem to stand out much for me. They really don't seem to be that different when reading about them. Columbia for example has an interesting MPP/PHD dual degree that seems unique and captures my interest but based on department websites I can't see a significant difference between Cal, UCSD, UofM, and etc. I'm interested generally in Urban Politics and all larger departments seem to have 2-4 professors in this area with the research of most being of equal interest to me. Maybe this is because my interest are not super focused yet? I guess I'm just wonder how other people are finding "fit?' Or making themselves "fit" in their SOPs? Is it really that important? My top choices are UCSD, UCLA, Berkeley, and UofW mostly because they have good placement, I hate the cold, and am used to and happy with larger public research institutions but I feel like I'm missing something pretty big here because people seem to be making much deeper decisions than I am. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for that advice! Ok, this may feel like a tangent but there is a point: My two research interest aren't complete nailed down yet. They are narrowed to the relationship between urban political institutions, urban violence, and economic growth or violence in Latin America and it's relationship to economic growth. I know they are very different but similar in some ways and I think my first two years of courses will help me choose which I want to dive into more. Should I choose before applying though? I believe I'm more interested in urban politics but I'm still not fully sure since both deeply interest me. I also know I should choose one for my SOP and shoot hard for it but I don't know which is more strongly reinforced by my background. This is where by organizing experience may sort of comes in sort-of. My research experience is 100% comparative. I did 1 semester as a research assistant studying electoral violence during election cycles. Is this helpful if I apply with a focus on urban politics? My organizing experience has research lens to it. I spent over a year as a policy coordinator and analyst working with the effects of local Promise programs (free college) on local economic development. My writing sample is also on urban politics. Is this experience as useful as my academic experience when it comes to my SOP? And is my academic experience useful if I decide to focus on urban politics? Like of course I'll throw it in but can milk it since it's the little experience in real academia? I'm a CC transfer student so I didn't get much of a chance to do a lot of research or write an honors thesis :/ So I'm trying work with what I have. Also, less relevant but I grew in a tough neighborhood which drives my interest in urban politics and I lived 5 years in Argentina which drives my interests in Latin American politics. I also speak, read, write Spanish fluently.

So I know this is hard to know but I mostly just want tips on where to head from here GRE: Have not taken it yet but practice testing in high 150's both right now. GPA: Overall and major GPA from 3.75-3.77 from UC Berkeley. 4.0 My last year if that matters. (CC transfer student though - GPA the same at both institutions). Experience: A lot of organizing experience will have two years of post-grad work experience by application time in non-profit work. Writing sample: 17 pages on On the Changing Role of Police Practices Targeting universities ranked 5-20. Mostly UCSD, UCLA, Berkeley, Duke, and maybe UofW in that order. 1 semester of research experience. 1-2 strong LORs and one mediocre one. Come from a low-income Latino background, fluent in Spanish, and want to focus on Latin American politics. Where should I focus my next 9 months of prep to best increase my chances? Improve my GRE scores? Get a research focused job? Thanks in advance. Scared to post Writing sample but if ya'll think I can get some good tips on ere without getting it stolen I will.