Chausson

I think you've largely answered your own concerns. I would assume that for political theory, undergrad institution matters indirectly, in terms of access to political theory courses and faculty (several name brand schools do not have many of either, so name recognition, at best, is a proxy for student quality and not a great one at that). In your case, you seem to have had access to both. I would likewise assume that the PhD granting institution of your professors also matters indirectly, in terms of whom they know and who knows them. In your case, your letter writers seem to be well-acquainted. Undergrad institution and GPA aren't really factors that you can change at this point, so I wouldn't sweat about them (they'll probably care more about your theory course grades anyways). I've been told that GRE isn't that important (at least for theory) and is probably a cut-off at max (depending on institution, they may care about quant score so you can pass first year courses, but your scores are probably fine). Relaxation tips? Personally, I've just holed up and been reading and listening to / finding new music. I probably wouldn't read anything related to your writing sample (otherwise you'll probably slap yourself for omitting that really great quote from X or overlooking that Y described the exact same problem that you did and perhaps did so much better than you). Fiction, works by scholars in other disciplines, or other political theorists/philosophers which lie within your interests probably work well. If you're adamant about a need to stress over something, i.e. if you want to replace your application stress by stressing out over something else, you could always read the news (the comments section tends to be an effective place to feel anxious over how uninformed people are). Otherwise, try new cooking recipes? Bake? Binge-watch TV shows that you've fallen behind on? Find people to hang out with (its winter break for most college students, so I'm sure you could meet up with people that you haven't seen in a while and see how they've been)? The application process is largely out of your hands now, so getting hung up on what-ifs of your application won't change anything. If you feel an incessant need to check Gradcafe (especially the results section, as we approach Feb/March), maybe choose a specific point of the day to check.

Your post is rather vague, but hey I'm a political theorist, too, and we read authors with vague prose all the time, so let me see if I can cover all the possibilities (also...procrastinating on my papers...). It would help us help you if you could specify your interests and the level of program to which you are applying. For Master's: Not that many PhD programs offer master's degrees in political science (or theory). Of those that offer them, most don't offer funding. UChicago has MAPSS, but most people do not get full tuition (also, I would not expect a stipend). Since you are applying for political theory, you could consider some philosophy master's which provide funding (this is a useful list, props to Professor Pynn at Northern Illinois: https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8wqvzgon4i2oxy/Philosophy MA Funding.pdf?dl=0 ). You could also consider some political theory programs in Europe, if you have a good second language. For PhD: If you mean tuition: most good PhD programs in the US will fund their acceptances, i.e. they will cover tuition and give you a stipend. If they can't fund you, they probably won't accept you. Canada, UK and Europe are different, and will depend on whether or not you are a citizen of the country or of a Eurozone country (though I have no idea how this will play out for UK). For US to UK/Europe, I would suspect that funding will depend on your advisor (since PhD programs generally require contact before admissions), but this funding seems unlikely in political theory. US to Canada might get you some funding, but I'm pretty sure that a number of program, e.g. Toronto, prefer that you have a Master's (I could be wrong about this). I don't know about Australia, but I would assume that they're similar to UK/EU. If you mean stipend packages: Again, most places will fund acceptances, but not all funding will be equal, especially once you factor in cost of living. Places like Berkeley might have higher packages, but you'll probably burn through the funds faster. I have been told that you can try to use packages from other schools as leverage to increase your funding, but I don't know how much that applies. I also do not know whether funding would be uniform even within the same program, especially since different students may require different levels of funding (e.g. a comparativist might need travel support). I would apply to schools first, and then see what you get. If you mean funding after the first 4-5 years: That's a harder question. I would first worry about getting into various schools first, and then asking the graduate students who are there. A number of good schools will offer some form of fellowship support, possibly by application, but it will vary. I think that this is quite difficult to tell from the standpoint of people applying to programs. I may be wrong on the funding, perhaps there is some magical source where people disclose funding amounts, but I am not aware of it. Then we get to the best grad schools for political theory part: Supposing that one has funding for 5 years (which tends to be standard package, and really, doing an unfunded PhD in political is not such a wise choice, unless you are independently very wealthy), I would not pick schools to apply to based on funding for political theory. Approach, theme, and time period definitely matter more. Political theory tends to divide itself into schools of thought. I would not, for instance, apply to Princeton if I were a Straussian. Of course, your interests can change, but it would be ridiculous to go somewhere (even supposing it had the best funding package) which you know that you will MUST change to have an advisor (not to mention, that I would be surprised if they admitted you). So really, without any information on your interests in political theory, I can't help you that much.

Use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (also useful in general, whenever URLs break, which is super frustrating for some policy reports). https://web.archive.org/web/20150226071939/http://jackman.stanford.edu/papers/pa04.pdf

You don't mention which subfield you're applying to, but I will assume, based on your major, that you're applying for political theory programs. If so, you would probably be better off submitting your writing sample on Arendt. If they see that you indicated political theory as a subfield, they want to know that you are capable of doing political theory, and that you know what it is. If you intend to apply to a different subfield, I would suspect that your Arendt paper would still suffice. If that particular subfield tends towards quantitative methods / if you indicate an interest in quantitative methods, adcoms would probably look for quantitative coursework in your transcript, on your resume for computer language proficiency or research positions which used quantitative analysis, or testimonies from letter writers on your quantitative skills. If you do submit your Arendt paper, I would also suggest getting second perspectives and polishing it. That choice, however, is up to your discretion.