catherinethegreat

Like many others pursuing a Ph.D, I hope to get a tenure-track job at a decent university. I'm not sure HOW much name value of a program plays into the hiring process...

I'm currently trying to decide between two Ph.D programs in Political Science: one is UMD College Park, and the other is a low-ranked program. Both programs are offering me full funding, but here is the rough breakdown. UMD College Park -~$17,000 for the first year plus $5,000 summer fellowship, $18,000 years 2-5 -T.A. appointment for 5 years -High cost of living Low Ranked Program -$22,000 fellowship for five years -No TA load -Low cost of living I know that my decision shouldn't be based solely off financial factors, and I don't intend it to be. However I'm having a hard time making a decision, and would love to hear some advice from you guys! I think that I'll be able to focus more on my research/publications/presentations if I attend the low ranked program, but I'm worried about the job prospects after completion of my degree. What do you guys think? Thank you in advance!

Hello all, I've been accepted to the PhD Program in Political Science at UMD. Does anyone know anything about the program, specifically, the IR subfield? I see that it's ranked #29 on USNWR, is Top 30 considered "good" among the field? What is its reputation like? Also, math isn't really my strongest suit, and UMD is very quant-heavy. Does the IR field generally tend to utilize more quantitative methodology over qualitative? If anyone can give some input on the program's pros and cons, surrounding area, etc, I would appreciate it!