MrsPhD

Try to take stats classes that could help your writing sample too. You can to definitely take MLE (logit, poisson, etc.). If the 2 classes you mention are research design and OLS, that is not enough to separate you from the crowd.

There is not such thing as transferring to another department. You would have to apply to another department and start over (of course, you'd have some training which could be good). The students you mention probably have a pre-doctoral fellowship or are visiting students at Harvard. Of course, if that is what you'd like to do, it would be good option. I have never seen someone spend 2 years somewhere else, though. Sometimes people spend a semester to a year somewhere else. But spending the time in which you are supposed to be writing your dissertation far from your advisor is strange (1 year is fine, but 2 years!). Yes, I know people at Penn State that got good jobs. You should look at their placements, but a lot of the work is going to come from you. Programs can give you tools, but it is how you use them and how much you invest in your work! In the end, if you liked the professors are Penn State more, then there you have your answer. About applying again... That is a tough decision. You'd have to think whether you can do something in a couple of months to improve your package or not.

One good professor is not going to change the fact that the Northwestern program in AP is not as good as the other ones you are considering. Also, with Political Psychology, you need a strong methods training and Northwestern does not have that (Northwestern is strong in CP qualitative, not what you need, and there is that quant/qual divide). WashU is strong in political psychology; you'd have a lot of people to work with and professors sometimes co-author with graduate students (I remember seeing one paper on AJPS recently). Their methods training is a bit lacking compared to UCLA, but better than Northwestern. They've had a very good placement record in the past couple of years. UCLA has better methods training. However, they have less people on political psychology and more professors working on public opinion. The professor you mention that is moving there is going to be an associate; he does political psychology, but also race/minority politics -- which seems to be a strong area at UCLA or at least they had a lot of ABDs on the market. If you like race/minority politics, that would be something to take into account. If you want to do something at an intersection of psych and public opinion, then UCLA could be a good place too. You are also considering Michigan? It has great methods training. I tend to relate Michigan more to institutions/bureaucracy, etc. But that is probably because I haven't seen who else is there in a while. You should check out who you could work with and definitely consider it; ranking of the institution matters.

If you already have a committee in place, seek advice from another member. Be specific about what you need from them (e.g. read a chapter and give comments; help address a particular problem you are having). Once you are done, you'll need recommendation letters to apply for jobs, so doing this will also help you get great additional letters (don't put all your eggs in one basket).

Be honest. It seems as if you don't have second thoughts of continuing your studies; your second thoughts are about having to fund the program yourself (Did you apply for fellowships? Are you looking into only doing a MA?). You should ask them for their advice about how to improve your record before reapplying. (Just retaking the GRE is not going to cut it.) You will want them to write letters again next year so you want to keep the connection with them. You could even RA for them (sometimes colleges/universities have programs for that) which might improve your letters.

One key part for getting into PhD programs is letters of recommendations. From Chicago, you know that if you get a letter from a professor, people are going to know who they are and they also got their PhD in the US. From Paris, you should only be getting letters from really well known professors; for instance, if you get a letter from a junior professor who did their PhD in Europe, it is not very informative if you want to do a PhD in the US. (Even a letter from an assistant at Chicago with a PhD in the US is more informative than that.)

Select the one that allows you take classes with PhD students. My understanding is that NYU, GW, Columbia, put you in classes taught by adjuncts. UVA puts you in a class with the PhD students. You should ask the departments. If your goal is to apply for graduate school, having classes with PhD students makes your grades more informative and it also means you accomplished something. If you take classes with professors, rather than adjuncts, you might be able to make a relationship and get good letters of recommendation. But you'd need to be their RA or something else, because a letter like "I have met X 2 months ago and X was good in my class" is not going to cut it. How long are these MA programs? Also, the department you go to might admit you into their PhD in case you strike out. Getting into those top programs is hard and just doing an MA is not going to give you a big enough edge to get in. This is why this strategy might end with you just having a big debt.

Shouldn't you ask that to them?

Training - To work at an international organization, I would go for the Chicago MA. Harris has great reputation. Plus, I know a lot of people working at international organizations and they are looking more of the data science, policy evaluation, etc. types. - An Econ MA can be a lot of theory and nothing practical. If you have not taken Micro and Macro before, it will be an uphill battle, and it is not something you can really use in practice. The reason why Econ MA can do policy jobs is because of their stats training. But the Harris School MA will give you a better preparation for that than any Econ MA. None of my friends working at World Bank, OECD, IMF, etc. did Econ actually. Application - Also, have you seen this at Chicago? https://dssg.uchicago.edu/ I know people who participated and now work at google, survey companies, etc. It would be a great connection for you. - Nobody cares about a thesis. You should work on research with professors or help them out as an RA. You can also work on your own project for classes without having to call it "thesis".

If this is the US, then the deadline is April 15. It is strange to have an earlier deadline. I think that she can still accept and decline later if she is taken out of the waitlist from her first choice. A lot of previous comments refer to hurting people on the waitlist. This is absurd, departments make more offers than places they have to fill. This means that one person who decides to change an accept to a decline is not affecting anything and probably nobody will be taken out of the waitlist. My department regularly makes 20 offers when we have 8 spots. There are usually 10 people on the waitlist and I don't remember the last time we accepted any of them. Also, with my comment above, you should notice that being taken out of the waitlist will be hard at her first choice. So she should not miss the opportunity at the other university. Unless she is really set on her first choice and she tries to beef up her CV, and reapply next year. It will depend on whether she likes the other university. But being taken off the waitlist is not impossible. A long time ago, when I applied to PhD programs, I had a professor call me the day of the deadline (April 15) that she wanted me to go to their program. They had rejected my application a month before! Anyway, this was a top program but I was already going to my first choice, so I say no. But I guess that if my first choice had called me, I would have had to re-think my decision. People want students to go to the best place possible and for students to be happy. At least that is how I see it. As a professor I would be disappointed but most of these students turn into colleagues and you just want them to do well.

At least they fired them or pushed them out. I'd see that as a positive.

Are you in engineering or some lab-based discipline? Because this usually happens in these disciplines, particularly in universities with less money. You would basically get a fellowship in which you have to work as an RA for a professor part-time (20 hours a week). They need to figure out if some professor would like to work with you and has money. At least they are doing the match for you. Some ask you to start emailing professor asking if they have funding. If you really like this program, yes, contact the professor and say that this program is your top choice and you are looking forward to hearing back from them. Something like that. If you have better offers or offers from programs you like more, then go with those, and decline the offer.

What do you want to do with the MA? If you want to apply to a PhD, then it seems as if they have a bunch of adjuncts teaching classes, which is not useful. Just because a MA has the words you like on it does not mean it is relevant. You can also look for MA that allows you to select optional classes. If you want to work in policy or an international organization, you can look for an MPP or a Master in International Development, several of which at taught in the DC area, and take relevant coursework on what you like. Information about careers for the MA graduates: you need to ask that to them. It is their job to keep stats on that and if they don't, then that tell you something.

Actually, Fulbright does allow you to apply for PhD. They just pay for the Masters and then, the department would pay the rest. I have several friends who had Fulbright and they applied for the PhD, Fulbright covered 1 or 2 years, and then the department paid for the rest. Others got more funding through the department and declined Fulbright. You should also be careful because in some countries Fulbright does not cover 100% of tuition for private universities because they prefer that you go to a public university. I had friends at Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton who had to get loans or additional fellowships to be able to cover all the tuition. Did you know that with Fulbright you will get a J1 visa which means that you will have a 2 year residency requirement?

I think you should have applied to more specific MA rather than a general political science MA. If you want to do comparative, something regional or topical would have been better. That said, the goal of the MA at this point (given your options), is to get letters of recommendation. It will be hard to get a letter if the MA is only one year. I have read the worst type of letter of recommendation (e.g. I have known X for 2 months. X participates in class. I cannot say anything else about X.) If GWU allows you to attend classes with PhD that is better; but DC is super expensive, you will have to wait until 2019 to apply for PhD (if you manage to get RA work so that professors can write you good letters, but they have PhD students to advisor and work with). Can't you do an MA in your own country and apply for PhD directly the next round? I guess I am not sure why you want to spend so much money (tuition + cost of living) to do an MA that is not really going to give you that much of an advantage. The best letters are the ones in which a professor mentions how you were an RA and did X and Y, and that you know about your research agenda. Having quantitative background or some indication that you will work through the courses (instead of whining) is a necessary. For CP, depending on your region of interest, language could be important and even some type of fieldwork/research experience in your region or topic of interest (e.g. World Bank).

To get better recommendations is not just about taking classes and the grade, but engaging with the professors and maybe getting some RA experience with them. Your CV seems pretty thin. You also have to take into account that lower R1 universities have a lower number of fellowships and you will depend on professors for funding. You have to pick up skills they will find useful in their labs. So basically you could technically get admitted to a program, but then you don't get funding.

Glad I could help! Good luck.

It seems like you will have 1 strong letter of recommendation from you person you did the research with. Talk to him about your interest in grad school and ask for advice. See who else could write you letters and approach them about being their RA. It is better to get people that did their PhD in the US (if that is where you want to do your PhD).

Duke has one of the best Stats departments in the country. I have a lot of friends who have done some PhD in social science at Duke and a lot ended up working in industry (data science related). They had no problems getting a job. Those are my two cents.

My understanding is that UVA will have more optional classes because you can take classes in a bunch of other departments (which are under the Masters umbrella). If you go to faculty, they have a ton of faculty who are offering classes in their own departments and you could go and take those classes. The Georgetown Masters has almost no faculty and the classes you could take don't give you many options.

If you are a woman, NY has female residences. Check this out: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/realestate/webster-apartments-rooming-house-for-career-minded-new-york-women.html It could lower your living costs. I agree with above. What is your goal after the Masters? Which program serves that goal better? Is the cost of NYU worth it?

Not having to be a TA is a big plus. Having 2 potential advisors (or co-chairs) who seem to be interested in mentoring and letting you figure out what you want to do (rather than you being an extension of who they are)? That sounds great. Also, take into account that sometimes people move. So having several faculty and even an outside lab interested in you, makes Berkeley a better choice for you. It also sounds as if you'd have more chances to collaborate and co-author papers. At Columbia there is one person and he/she might leave; not ideal.

How is the placement of their graduates? You should be looking into that.

It seems like you are going to be spending too much money. MA in PS at Columbia is not going to get you into a PhD program. You won't get strong letters in such a short amount of time. I often read silly letters like "I've met XX in my class... He is is taking the class right now and participates in class. I haven't read any of his work, but seems interested in political science." They make me fall asleep. Some of them are 2 paragraphs long and don't say anything. If there is something in Toronto doing China or Asia, you should ask to be their research assistant, even if it is for free. You need to get a better letter of recommendation and also, work on your research agenda. Chinese politics is OK, but what of Chinese politics? China-Japan relationship seems too specific and I don't think it is even relevant/interesting. Sounds like a history project to me. Also, have to taken any methods classes? Do you know Chinese? Japanese? Are there any scholarships from the Canadian government to spend time abroad (e.g. like Fulbright)? You can also look if there is masters in Asian politics or something of the sort at Toronto. Getting a regional focus will serve you much better than doing a general political science masters. To be honest, the general political science masters will be a waste of time you want to do a PhD. You'll basically end up with 2 masters on the same thing.

When you are doing a PhD you'll mostly be from your office to your home, from home to your office to class to office. If you like the idea of Option B, make sure Option B is not very expensive, that you won't be spending a lot of $$ traveling home for the holidays, or that you'll have a long commute from your apartment to the office. For instance, if you have a 20,000 stipend for the Midwest, it is fine. If you have a 20,000 stipend to live in Manhattan, you are nuts. It is OK to be brave as long as you are being practical. You can also get on a plane and visit Option B. Get an AirBnB close to your potential office and figure out if you see yourself living there and do things you would do in your normal routine.