devilinthedistrict

Thank you. Communication.

Hi all Just discovered this thread. Applied to 3 programs: Rejection from UNC (Hussman School), admitted with full funding at UMD and UC-Boulder.

Hi everyone, First of all, I recognize what a privileged position I am in. After two rounds of applications that ended in a plethora of rejections and waitlists, I finally got accepted to my top programs with assistantship offers. I'm between two programs (in social sciences) that are offering me TAships at right south of 20K for 9 months. School #1 is a reputable state school just outside of a major East Coast city, where I currently live and work, and School #2 is a smaller state school in the West. Both programs are respected in the field. I have multiple open houses to attend, and important decisions to make. My intention is not to brag or put anybody down, but simply to ask for advice. Does anyone have any advice regarding how to ask for more funding? I am open to doing another assistantship, or a research fellowship etc. I just don't know what kind of funding opportunities in the department/school I can go after and how to initiate those conversations. Thank you!

Hi all - After earning an interdisciplinary MA, 30 credits of on-campus graduate work in IR at a European school, and 2 years of experience doing research under a federal grant at a Top 10 university, I have decided that it's time to pursue a PhD. But I'm having a very hard time deciding between Political Science and Public Policy programs, and this is causing me a lot of anxiety since application deadlines are about a month away. Since I'm almost 30 and have ample research experience under my belt, my questions of interest are, well, more concrete than a lot of the applicants' would. Having said that, I constructed my SoP based on the areas I'm interested in, the questions I hope to answer, how my personal and professional expereince prepared me to study these on a doctoral level, and how I anticipate my research to contribute to the existing literature. I recently met with a Political Science professor at a DC university and had a rude awakening. He basically said that my research sounded significant but it wasn't "theoretical enough" to be a Political Science project. Rather, he said in a condescending way, I should pursue Public Policy and/or International Relations programs. In all honesty, I'm more interested in theory based applied research to evaluate existing policies and programs and offer ways to improve them, anyway. I currently have about 10-12 schools on my list: 5 Public Policy, 3 IR, 4 PoliSci. Based on my interactions with the faculty members and the information on program websites, PubPol and IR programs are ideal places. But, these 4 PoliSci programs I'm considering applying have Public Policy/IR tracks and encourage applied research. Should I not apply to PoliSci programs at all? What do y'all think?