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Dwar

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Everything posted by Dwar

  1. USC seems to have...disappeared? The only reasoning I can see behind this is the re-classification of the USC program as either a policy or IR program? Maybe because of the unique cross discipline nature of the graduate department there?
  2. Hey All, Not sure if this has already been talked about, but US-News has recently updated their Political Science rankings for the first time since 2016. While the importance of ranking in actual outcome can be debated until the sun goes down, it is still noteworthy when they update the ranking list. Take a look (link)
  3. So I touched on this in the other thread, but generally the department is more important than the university. The very rare exceptions to this are in the case where the university provides the department with a lot of money to work with. But considering OSU is a pretty wealthy university and Ohio is generally a cheaper state to live in (compared to the East coast), I’d say in your case department beats university hands down. Basically, those people who would be hiring for a PhD position (either inside or outside academia) understand that the department is the important thing and will weigh it above any prestige the university as a whole carries.
  4. I’m going to agree with this advise, talk to faculty during your visit days. Besides the honest advice they provide, it’s a great way to hear the juicy sub-field gossip that only a professor would know, things like which professors are leaving, which ones hate new students, and which programs are misleading with their information. Obviously take all the gossip with a grain of salt, but it is hella fun to hear.
  5. Congrats on the acceptances! In terms of answering your question, OSU definitely has the best departmental reputation and ranking, and that’s much more important than overall school notoriety. In terms of funding, not sure if OSU has released those decisions, but in the past it seems to be in the range of ~25k which is a lot for a public university and will go a VERY long way in Ohio. That’s opposed to the ~20k UMD is offering which is basically just over the poverty line in the DC area. Quality of life is very important and financial security is a MASSIVE part of that. In terms of non academic work, I’m not really that knowledgeable about the PhD market for non academia. While I have spent time in DC (gap year between undergrad and grad), I was mostly in the non-profit sector and not the think tank/research one. BUT, if I had to talk about this one, I’d still say OSU will better prepare you for that. People and organizations in positions to hire PhD’s will know and understand the rankings and the overall view of specific departments and programs. By pretty much every metric OSU is a better program than UMD. That’s not saying UMD is a bad program or anything, it’s a great program and produces quality scholars, but it is less than OSU.
  6. In addition to what was previously stated, you may want to check out this Tax Website as it has a nifty tax calculator. In my experience it’s generally been pretty accurate, give or take a few hundred dollars.
  7. For those who want to learn how to use LateX, I strongly suggest looking into Overleaf. It was how I learned how to use it and it's a great way to use LateX, while still having some semblance of an UI.
  8. Hey Everyone, I know that for many of you all today has just been horrible. But I want to let y'all know that going through the cycle again, while daunting right now, is not bad at all. Take what you've learned from the cycle this year, both the good and the bad, and use it to get a head start on next years applications. I know right now it looks hopeless and horrible, but please remember that you are all a bunch of amazingly smart and talented individuals who will get into academia, one way or another. Going through this cycle more than once (or twice or three times) is actually fairly common. So please don't let this get you all too down! ALSO, 2020 and corona has really messed up the whole admissions process. Honestly on a normal year I bet you all would've been swimming in acceptances right now.
  9. Hey all, I am a current grad student, I've been active on this forum in the past, not so much this year. I just wanted to quickly jump in and say that every year there are trolls who post random schools (Princeton, Harvard, Yale, NW, Columbia). It never makes any sense and is unfortunately just something we all have to live with. The internet is full of bored, lonely, and mean people who have way too much time on their hands. Unfortunately, one of them picked this specific community to troll. They do it every year. On another note, I wish you all the best of luck during this process! It is stressful as hell, I can't imagine what its like doing this during a pandemic. You all are amazingly smart and talented.
  10. Hey, Just wanted to jump in and caution against attending an academic oriented MA degree program that you have to pay for. If you intend to go into academia and attend a PhD program, an academic oriented MA program will not set you significantly apart from your classmates but it will saddle you with a mountain of debt. Debt is the one thing that you do not want when attending a long PhD program or starting off a career in academia (The pay is is not that great even if you can even get a job) For professional MA programs, I suggest you head on over to the Government Affairs page on this site, they'll be better assisted to answer your questions. But a word of warning, in a climate like this, think long and hard about taking on significant debt.
  11. Unfortunately, I think this will be the case with most programs this year.
  12. I suggest you head over to the professional government sub forum. They’ll be better prepared to answer the questions you have about those specific program. Most of the people on this forum mostly deal with political science grad programs, not professional ones.
  13. I Suggest you try your hand at PhD programs now. Your profile seems like it should get you a few admissions. The reason that I suggest going for the PhD as opposed to the MA is mainly because in your PhD program you'll be earning an MA as well. Very few programs allow credits to be transferred from other programs. I'd say an MA also doesn't really put you at a comparative advantage vs someone who doesn't have an MA. Especially if you are looking at more professional MA programs, the academic oriented PhD programs won't view that necessarily as a plus. While I doubt they'll view it as a negative, it won't really be a plus. Also there is that whole cost things. professional MA programs can be expensive AF. With that all being said, I do understand why you'd want to go to a political science program. The main flag with your profile is obviously the lack of political science course work. So if you do go the MA route, try for a local state one. They will provide the required course work to make your case for admissions, without costing a boatload of money.
  14. Penn just announced no new admissions for their arts and sciences college. TBH I think that it's the programs at rich private schools that will mostly feel the squeeze this year and close/reduce admissions. Public schools often will use grad students as cheap labor to teach their freshman/undergrad courses. It's a lot easier for the department to justify new grad students if they provide that service to the University. Meanwhile, private schools will often not require that for every semester for students, with first years often not having to do any teaching.
  15. Wanted to whole heartily agree with this statement and sentiment. A great advisor/mentor can make or break a graduate experience. choosing a poor one because of the institution is a horrible idea. Additionally, i'll echo what you said about quality of life. I think this factor is often overlooked by many applicants. However, many fail to realize how important quality of life really is. If you are someone who loves the city, you'll hate living in rural NY. That will then seep into everything and ultimately negatively affect your whole experience. Additionally, mental health issues are rampant in grad programs and being in an environment that you do not like will only exasperate that issue. I also agree with this section. While I did only work one year, I think it both made me a better applicant and I also think it'll make me a better graduate student. It provided me with the perspective for what a non-academic/grad School life can be. So now I have a reference point going forward. It showed me that this graduate school path is truly the one that I want to be on. Not to mention it allowed me to create a small financial cushion that will allow provide me the financial peace of mind that many grad students are lacking. 10/10 recommend taking a gap year/years to work and figure out if grad school is truly what you want.
  16. Cal State Online for Fall 20 ? seems like the UC’s will be a “mixed approach”. Not sure what that means TBH.
  17. Ooooohhhhhh, my bad. That makes sense. TBH I’m kinda surprised that the US is actually being more proactive about university support then other places.
  18. From what I understand, in most cases a high MA GPA (3.8<) does in fact negate a lower undergrad GPA. Or at the very least decreases the damage that a lower undergrad GPA will inflict on an applicant. With that being said, I do think that if financially possible you should consider applying to PhD programs as long as your GPA is a 3.0 or higher with that GRE score. From my experience it seems that most Adcomms prefer students with a 3.5 or higher but will still consider students with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.5, especially if they have amazing GRE’s (which you do). the main reason that people will generally dissuade someone from attending an MA program in polisci is that they can be expensive and ultimately unnecessary. Meaning that they’ll often fail to provide substantial aid in an industry which is does not support Initial high salaries. In addition, most programs would still require a student to complete the coursework associated with their program and subsequently earn a second MA degree at their PhD granting institution. Meaning that a student would most likely not even gain a shortened time frame from their MA program. With that being said, I think a very good reason to attend an MA program is to prove to PhD Adcomms that a student does have the ability to succeed in grad classes and to make up for a poor undergrad GPA. With that in mind, I would caution against one year grad programs (I think the U Chicago program is one year) because it doesn’t allow you to show your MA grades or show the Adcomms that you can in fact succeed in grad classes.
  19. I think most schools have done this? From my understanding, the CARES ACT provided funding funds for schools and at least half of them need to be sent out directly to students who have been affected by the corona. At the least at the universities that I am affiliated with it has taken its form in a “corona virus fund” or something of a similar name where students apply for grants based on need (moving, medical costs, food, etc) and then receive a check from the university. if I am understanding the article correctly then UCLA is following the terms of the aid that they received. Unless the article is saying that UCLA is using funds in addition to those specifically stipulated by the CARES ACT.
  20. From what I understand, American academia is very very snobbish and elitist so there are very few non-American schools that American academics actually know about and respect. The obvious ones being in the Anglo sphere (Big three in Canada, Oxbridge, LSE, Essex, and Edinburgh in the UK, ANU, Sydney, and Melbourne In Australia, and Auckland and Otago in NZ). Outside of the Anglo sphere maybe Sciences Po is really the only widely known and respected school to American academia. I don’t know what country you’re from so it’s difficult to make that specific judgment. I’m also not saying it’s impossible to break into the American academic community by attending a foreign school not listed above, it’s just far more difficult.
  21. Not really. For MA degrees its mostly about what you do and who you work with. But, TBH, strongly consider if an MA in polisci is something that you want to do. Generally it's advised that people do not apply to terminal MA degrees if their desire is to pursue a PhD as most PhD programs require you to earn an MA along the way regardless of prior grad work. With that being said, some people do go the terminal MA route prior to a PhD. The main advice for that is to go the cheapest route as debt is something that you should try and avoid. ESPECIALLY if your goal is academia.
  22. I'll agree with @sloth_girl about the Results posts, I also suggest you take a look at the faculty thread. It's a longer read but DEFINITELY worth it.
  23. Totally agree about that. As I’m starting to register for classes it seems like the grad seminars cap at 15 students which is below the limit. The only question that I really have is how dorms would work. As mentioned in the article Oakland is mainly a commuter school so they don’t have to worry about that. I’m interested in how larger and non commuter schools are going to handle that whole thing.
  24. Hey all, I saw this article about a local MI university and their plans for college in the age of corona. The college's plan, as of now, is below. In-person laboratory classes, but limited to a small number of students. “We might have three students in a large lab where social distancing is possible, and where they can wear masks and can be tested before they come in,” Pescovitz said. Some classes moved to larger venues on campus – the university president offered an example of a class of 50 in a room that seats 250 so students can maintain safe social distance. Ballrooms in the Oakland Center student union may be converted to classrooms, because they are large enough for safe social-distancing. Because there are a limited number of large venues on campus, many classes will be held online. Sports teams will play, but players will be tested for coronavirus frequently. No spectators at sporting events. Face masks will be required on campus. Dorms will be open, but only 20 percent of Oakland’s students live on campus, so most can retain social distance in their homes. Frequent testing of students, staff and faculty. “I hope Michigan will have the ability to do more COVID cases than we can today,” Pescovitz said. “We hope to be able to do testing on campus, along with serology and contact-tracing. That allows us to be as safe as possible. If frequent coronavirus testing is not possible, the university could take the temperature of students frequently. I do want to point out that the article ends by saying that the university cautioned that their plans may change based on the health situation in fall, but that the university administration is moving forward as if the above plans are on for the fall. I'm not sure exactly what this means for other major universities, but I assume that many will start to adopt plans like these. From what I've seen however, it seems most of them are putting off a final decision until May/June time.
  25. I wonder if the US will adopt the Canadian model at all and offer federal aid specifically to students Hahahahaha, no. Absolutely not. I think this administration would first let the west coast leave the union then adopt a Canadian style support system for students, universities, or even localities. States should just declare bankruptcy, don’t ya know.
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