midastwentytwo

Thanks for your reply. I have actually been researching a TON of professors, visiting websites, reaching out, and reading their work. Thanks for this advice and I will continue doing it. As for the MA, I have also been emailing numerous programs (think: Syracuse, Marquette, George Mason, Columbia, Georgetown, Duke, etc.) that host an MA but they are all non-funded. The answer I would continuously get was 'we may have funding left over after we admit the PhD students' and that is just not an answer I am looking for. I understand that MA's are not usually funded - nor should they be - but it still would be re-assuring to earn at least a partial scholarship for an MA. The cost is simply too great to add onto all of the other extraneous variables (transportation, books, and other living expenses).

Thanks for sharing your story. I have been thinking of enrolling in some political science/statistics courses at my local university, but the state school classes are pretty expensive (a whole paycheck per class, basically) which I simply cannot afford whilst paying off prior loans. I am hoping for a full MA scholarship in order to boost my references, gain some research experience, and write a solid thesis. If you don't mind me asking, how did you find your area of interest to research/propose? I am interested in racial demographics and how they correlate with education/QALY. But I have a slew of other interests in social policy and how it really improves people's quality of life - a matrix of housing, education, and health policy. I have so many interests its very hard to dial in on one. Thanks for your reply. I will check out those threads again.

@ltr317 thanks again for your reply. I stopped getting notifications on my profile and didn't notice that this post kind of blew up. Thanks for your sharing your story, insight, and feedback. I really appreciate it. To reply to some of your observations - yes, I am thinking of applying to HKS. I understand it is an investment, it is different from political science, and it does not seem to check out. But from my research I have witnessed numerous people graduate from HKS and go on to prestigious political science, sociology, and public policy PhD programs. I have contacted some of these people as well and they stated that they used the HKS MPP program as a stepping stone to gather solid LoR, take sample courses in their areas of interest, and really test their overall interest and drive in attending further graduate studies. I am trying to live near Boston, build my network, do some research, and gain some solid recommendations before applying to PhD programs. I have a solid GPA, a solid GRE score, and some good recommendations along with great extracurricular involvements that I feel would boost my chances of getting in. I have obviously given this some thought - and will give it much more thought - before I embark on another $120,000+ investment. Thank you for your feedback and story. I respect the fact that you went to audit classes and went back to school. With the way things are going with this economy I feel people get frowned upon more than ever for pursuing their dreams and risking financial instability. I wish you the best on your success story and the completion of your thesis.

Thank you for your reply @ExponentialDecay This was the type of reply I am looking for. I am in no way, shape, or form prepared for applying to a PhD program - that is why I created this post. I am aware of my ignorance and lack of eligibility for the sheer consideration of acceptance. I understand my profile does not warrant my acceptance to any degree which is why I am looking for a route to supplement my position through a graduate degree or an RA position somewhere where I can gain analytical and research skills that could further augment my application. I have been researching programs that provide partial or full funding in the realms of political science and thought I would post here to open up another medium. My hope was that someone would be like "hey, yeah, I was x major but I wanted to do y, here is a program that I did and some others that someone suggested." A pipe dream, I know, but I thought I would post this question and provide some context because you never know what you could find. And I would never say podcasts or any of that related material inspired me to study political science; it obviously takes more than scripted 20 minute segments to have someone commit four to seven years of their lives to something.

Program: MPP/MPA Schools Applying To: HKS MPP, DUKE Sanford MPP, Georgetown MPP, American SPA MPP, WWS MPA, Cornell MPA, LBJ MPA, (possible NorthWestern MPA and Hopkins but thats way too expensive in more expensive areas), and (unrelated kind of) LSE MSc Social Research Nationality Caucasian American Interests: I'm interested in social policy in relation to housing, healthcare, and criminal justice reform. Undergrad Institution: top 20 public university Undergraduate GPA: cumulative (transferred to state uni, had some credits at CC) 3.95/4.00; state uni GPA 3.902/4.000 Undergraduate Major: Healthcare Management and Insurance Studies Certifications - n/a GRE: not taken yet. aiming for low 160s/high 150s but ideally would like mid-160s Age: 22 Languages: English, elementary Italian and Spanish Work Experience: 1 year but two summer internships and countless extracurricular leadership involvements at uni: -currently working for a healthcare consulting company providing process solutions for health service companies at the technical level. hoping to work on population health and policy projects moving forward but we will see. I have applied to some jobs and internships in DC but that is easier said than actually achieving. - 3 month internship at a green energy startup researching for a business plan in accordance with environmental policy regulations - 3 month internship at a fortune 100 health insurance company in the operations department shadowing call operations and auditing/analyzing claim management problems -director of corporate sponsorship for dance marathon for local children's hospital that raised over $836,000; largest student-run philanthropy in New England actually -minor involvements with dance marathon before this position -vice president of membership development for all of Greek-life running education programs regarding sexual assault and alcohol awareness -peer mentor to first-year, first-generation minority college students advising them on classes and campus involvement. took mentoring class to pair with this. -teaching assistant/tutor for students in a psychology class -research assistant in psychology department -three total spring break service trips (one being a leader for migrant workers break in FL, two others being participants for human rights in WV and then hurricane relief in MS) LORs: Two professors I had: one with two classes and the other was the class I had and then became a tutor for. Professional reference would be the advisor that worked at the hospital and helped us out with the dance marathon. If I take another job next year (may apply for Americorps VISTA, CityYear, or teach english abroad) I will have them be my professional reference. SOPs: How my experience in healthcare tied with my experience on my service trips fuels my passion to perform research and help those in need. Concerns: I'm worried about the following aspects: 1. Work experience 2. Cost - really want some aid but I understand the more you work the more aid you will get 3. GRE score obviously - need to get on this. I am trying to apply by Fall of next year. It seems that the cost could be supplemented with a high GRE and more work experience. I eventually want to pursue a PhD but have no writing samples, academic connections, or research experience. I pride myself on my ability to network and plant to start building it aggressively wherever I end up getting my masters in order to foster connections for research assistantships, further LoR, and possible advisers. I'd appreciate any feedback on this from the people here. Thanks!

Thanks for your reply @ltr317 and I can understand why my intentions may seem obscure. My ultimate goal/dream is to teach and do research at the university level. If this does not work out then my secondary goal is to work in administation (dean of so-and-so, provost, assistant to the president) if the first goal does not work out. I want to teach. I want to do research. And I want to do both of those things very well. If that does not work out, then I still want to work in higher education. I am interested in political science because I enjoy reading political science and have always been fascinated by it along with history. I understand it is an intensively daunting task that is not for the feint of heart but I still want to try to achieve my main goal. I understand that an MA is a possibility but I was wondering if there was anyone that had a similar experience as mine (pursuing a graduate degree in a completely different field) and succeeded to tell the tale.

Thanks for your reply @Comparativist. I understand my intentions may seem hazy from this forum post but I assure you that I know what I am getting myself into. I want to live, breathe, and sh!t academia. I want to be dropped into the deep end and claw my way out under the weight of Aristotle, Marx, and many others as I learn languages, perform research, and hope to publish. Yes, I also understand it can be one of the most math-intensive fields of higher education as with any humanities or social science doctorate. This does not worry me at all. I have taken Calc 1 and 2, statistics, micro and macroeconomics, and have already begun venturing into SaS, Python, and Java coding - although I am quite naive in this venture as of now. Yes, I may not finish in four years - or even five or six - but nothing comes easy and the thing I have been told time and time again is that you have to be obsessed with what you are pursuing your PhD in and I am just that. Whether it be the radio, TV, and podcasts or books, articles, and magazines everything I do has some social, political, or economic ties to it whether it is for business or pleasure. I want to teach and do research. I understand that getting a PhD is not some fluffy happy-go-lucky thing as I have some friends that are currently pursuing that route, but I know what I want and it has taken years of battling internal and external barriers to finally realize this. I pursued my undergraduate study because I thought of it as secure and safe for my loans - and so I tailored everything in my undergrad to keep that route secure and safe: high GPA, relevant internships, and any extracurriculars somehow tied to healthcare, education, or social well-being. If I have missed out on anything - which I am sure I have - I am willing and able to listen to any and all criticism, feedback, and instruction as to what I am getting myself into when I enter a PhD program in political science. It is both a depressing and enlightening time as one is bogged down with assignments, readings, seminars, etc for more than three years and then faced with an ever-daunting academic job market that seems to be ever-shrinking.

I graduated with a degree in healthcare management from a top 20 public university. I completely was too narrow-minded in finding a job and did not focus on what I really liked. I have a great GPA (3.9/4.0), some research experience in psychology, some volunteer experience with service trips, and a lot of professional experience in healthcare through internships. Eventually I would like to teach at a university or even just be a higher up administrative person. My old boss told me that in order to go through the ranks of higher ed administration you need a phd as most of his colleagues with one were getting promoted faster than those without. Has anyone with a completely different degree gotten a PhD in political science from somewhere competitive (top 20)? what did you do? I sadly got talked out of applying to the honors program (I transferred and wanted to do it as a junior) and have no thesis or real writing samples. knowing this, I feel I should pursue a masters, but thats SO expensive and time consuming. I can't find funded political science MA's nonetheless. I have thought about getting an MPP or MPA but all I have heard is that it is more application focused and less research focused. I'm completely lost but I feel some success stories or advice would be incredibly appreciated.

title. anyone have any experience or advice on what to talk about that is out of the ordinary? I have a general gist of what I am going to talk about it. But thought it would be worth the ask.