AlphaLvSim

The GPS PhD cohort is very, very small, but don't forget that you also have the UCSD Department of Politics PhD program on campus, and UCSD is a top 10 school.

Unfortunately I cannot speak to the UK experience, but I suspect that enough differences exist that it is hard to directly compare the cases. Overall, I do not think the problem is that a 1 year program is bad; timing, with applications due in winter, is the real barrier. Regarding LORs, advice that I have gotten from multiple sources is that making sure your letter writers know you well is far more important that getting an average letter from a well known scholar. To make those connections takes time, and that slows down how fast you can realistically apply.

So, I have been thinking about similar questions myself. One important element, to me, is that the 1 year MA program is unlikely to get you into a PhD program any faster than a 2 year MA. Why? Because of the structure of application deadlines. PhD applications are due in December and January; if you are in a 1 year program then this is possibly before you even have 1 semester/quarter of grades posted and likely before you can build any significant relationships with faculty for LORs. Most MA programs have you write a thesis, but it surely will not be done by the first winter. Thus, you are likely to re-apply to PhD programs -after- you have finished the 1 year degree. If you were in a 2 year program, you would be applying in the fall of your second year, which means that the 1 year program does not offer a temporal advantage. You might not have your thesis finished, but I imagine your letters, as well as grades, will be more useful after a full year in the program. That said, the upside of the 1 year MA is that you can get work/research experience during your gap year, and that is added value (or +EV as some of us are prone to say).

I second the advice in this thread: you almost certainly have better ways to spend your time or money than with a retake. From the conversations with academics that I have had, the AW is the least important section of the GRE, and your other two sections are impressive even for a top program.

Simmer down now. Assuming that you are making a good-faith effort to be pointed in the right direction and not just handed answers, check out this link below. It is to a non-academic source (Politico) but the author is an academic that specifically studies the differences between lobbying in the EU and US. Look into her work (including a book on the topic) and I am sure you will have a better idea. link: https://www.politico.eu/article/why-lobbying-in-america-is-different/ And try to think of how your request might come across, and don't take refuge in the language of instruction; you selected the program after all. It is always better to be asked to be given a few pointers, authors to look into, etc instead of looking for fully assembled work. disclaimer: I do not focus on EU (or US for that matter) institutions; I just performed a cursory search and this popped up.

The application process is quite the stressful marathon; hang in there!

I got an email with a offer letter. My actual status on the UCSB portal did not update until days later. Regarding later acceptances, I am not sure and it was not something that I asked when I called the department for some other clarifications.

I talked with the office and apparently the admit decisions were supposed to go out earlier than they did, but there was a communication error that delayed sign-off by the Dean's office. Admit day is April 6th, so if you have not gotten a rejection it might be worth calling/emailing. My conversations with the grad assistant Carol were pleasant and informative.

My understanding was that the process had some hiccups, but I heard back from UCSB over a week ago.

I still appreciate your information/perspective, because my other source (the grad office) has quite an incentive to paint everything in the most favorable light possible.

Well, I don't know how much stock I would put in my conversation. I didn't mean it to sound like I was contradicting you, but more along the lines of "hm, the grad office has a product to sell, I wonder if they were sugar coating?"

This is interesting. I had a length conversation with staff at GPS and they indicated that essentially I should decline any 24.99% positions (9.5 hours) since 10 hours was the threshold for 50% base tuition remittance, and the impression I got was that departments that offered 24.99% were being scuzzy. Of course that is just one person's opinion.

Yeah, its the drop in the 2nd year+ that is most concerning to me. According to the department, you can pick up TA-ships sometimes, but it is all a bit vague. If I was assured a fellowship to support me in those quarters the decision would be a little bit easier. I plan to ask around on visit day and see what I can find out, but even 20k/year in Santa Barbara is fairly slim (though I know that public universities cannot offer ivy-level funding of course).

I am currently on the fence RE: UCSD. I applied to the MPP program, and despite its newness, the program seems solid. In the end, funding is likely a factor; currently the only fellowship that they awarded me is for the first year out of state tuition. Since I live near DC I am going to go to the event on March 29th; anyone else planning to go?

I just got my offer of admission for UCSB. The letter describing the offer structures the package in a way that is not super clear, but I got more information from the department. The first year, my in-pocket stipend would be right around $20,000 and would involve TA-ing 2 out of the 3 quarters. For subsequent years, I have two quarters of TA-ing assured with a stipend of $6800 each, and the final quarter would depend on potential future fellowships etc. So basically $20,000 the first year and $13,000 thereafter. I know that this is very much on the lower end of things money wise, though I am cognizant that UCSB does not have a ton of money to throw around either. Perhaps more importantly, I am curious if the TA load is high/medium/light for that level of funding. Two TA positions each year seems relatively high for this level of support, but perhaps I am wrong.

Ditto. I applied to their PhD in government, but the security studies program would be such a better fit.

Got an email an hour ago from UChicago's CIR program with acceptance and 1/3 funding. I'm happy to have some acceptances, though I was hoping to have a PhD offer (or at least a generously funded MA offer) on the table by now.

That is good to know! I should have clarified RE: funding. It seemed like the GPS program offered more substantial funding packages compared to the east coast schools (I'm looking at you Elliott School at $65k/year tuition and $8k/year max scholarship) so I was wondering if perhaps it is a higher level decision to craft an offer package beyond "give us all your money, cool?".

So, finally decided to register. Thus far, it has been a pretty brutal season, with 9 rejections and 5 pending applications (mostly Phd programs, but also two terminal masters). Today I got this email that (maybe) indicates that I got in to UCSD's GPS MPP program: "Thank you for your application to the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. I'm pleased to inform you the admissions committee has reviewed your file and feels you will be an excellent fit for GPS. At this time your application has been nominated for admission, and in the coming days our committee nomination will be reviewed by the UC San Diego's Graduate Division. You will receive official communication from that office, via email, regarding your file. Congratulations on your nomination!" Perhaps that means that I am accepted but it is a matter of funding from the Grad Division? One of the reasons that GPS was on my MA list was because their deputy director of admissions told me that they do offer full rides, and even sometimes a stipend. This is also the school that massively (hopefully accidentally) trolled me: I come home to a thick envelope from them, open it excitedly, and find that it contains a wall calendar with nothing else, not even a "good luck on your still pending application!".