sinni

The courses you took sound extremely useful! I am sure that they should be more than sufficient on top of a good GRE score.

Thank you all for your input. I am not applying to beyond the top 15 because I am not very wealthy, and not particularly young anymore, and I feel that my job prospects will be rather dire if I do not attend a top program. If it does not work out, then I am going to try doing something else with my life.

As someone who is very familiar with BU's Poli Sci department I have 2 things to say: 1. It has some fantastic faculty, especially co-teaching in the IR department, and 2. It has virtually no reputation and awful placement record.

Thanks for letting me know. Do you happen to know if any schools have a more quantitative bent in the top 10 vs others?

Thanks for your input! I am also wondering how many schools I should apply to, as applications are quite expensive. I am currently thinking 5, and trying again next year if it does not work out.

I am sorry if I can't be more helpful, as I am applying myself. But what stats courses have you taken? If you're interested in heavily stats driven research, I would definitely try to bump the quant GRE. Your profile doe not give enough info about other preferences which may determine your interests. Have your professors suggested any specific faculty?

As someone who made a somewhat similar trajectory, (though i figured out I wanted to do Poli Sci while still in undergrad), I think it may make sense for you to take as many courses relevant to your chosen sub fields as possible. If you are interested in theory, it may make sense to load up on contemporary political philosophy courses, or any other philosophy classes depending on any gaps you have. Unless you studied intellectual or economic history, a history degree is not indicative of a background sufficient for theory. If you are interested in any other sub fields I suggest taking random math classes with a focus on statistics, possibly calculus, and any regression methods. If you are interested in IR, Game theory may also make sense.

What aspects of international development interest you? I did a very theory oriented MA program, and now work in development, and frankly I am not sure anything prepares you to work in development before you actually do it. What are your end goals?

Hello, I am sorry to be yet another annoying newbie on this site pestering members about chances. However, I've been out of school for a few years and I am wondering if I am being unrealistic about my prospects. For personal and financial reasons I do not plan to apply to any programs not in the top 10-15, and I am wondering if it is worth to spend the money for the cycle if my chances are completely slim. If anyone in comparative has experience with the last cycle or two, please share your opinion. If you can suggest ways to improve for next year please let me know. I feel that my main issue with working full time and travelling a lot is not having direct constant exposure to research in the field. I am not sure how to fix that. Programs of Interest: Comparative Programs (with Eurasia regional focus/research faculty) Type of Undergrad Institution: Large Private East Coast Research University Major(s)/Minor(s): Economics/IR double major —Undergraduate Thesis Undergrad GPA: 3.6 (cum laude) MA: Ivy League Regional Studies MA (2 years)/No GPA calculated but decent grades – Graduate Thesis GRE: V: 160, Q: 160, W: 5.5 (have been studying to improve, will retake in a month) Any Special Courses: · Math (2 semesters of Calculus, statistics, econometrics)—planning to take linear algebra in the fall (was not mandatory in undergrad). Will try to take game theory too. · Advanced Comparative Politics and History Courses both from undergrad (4) and grad (8). Languages: 2 Regionally relevant languages (at full fluency) Teaching: Teaching fellow for 4 semesters as MA student. Was a TA for courses in Political Science (comparative) and Economic History. (excellent reviews from proffs and students) Letters of Recommendation: I think should be good? BA thesis Advisor ( Tenured History/IR proff), one MA Poli Sci Proff (tenured at top 5 department), MA thesis advisor (who is no longer in academia). Research Experience: · Besides BA and MA thesis mostly archival research from undergraduate. Unfortunately no published papers in field of interest. · One summer research experience after graduate school cleaning and organizing data for a university political research lab. · Political Think tank research experience. · Couple of book reviews in academic journals. Other: Currently work in international development non-profit (3 years), same regional focus as research interest. SoP: Struggling to articulate a single focus, but am drawing on international development experience and MA research. Thank you in advance for any insight.

I respectfully disagree about the GREs. I did well in multiple calc/stats courses (graduated from top 30 private school) yet my first time taking the GREs was a disaster. I panicked and ran out of time. But I agree that 152 requires a re-take.

Thank you for your suggestions. My MA focused on Eastern Europe (I know its out of vogue, but still a passion). The issue is that my MA was deeply interdisciplinary, and I probably took more history courses than Poli Sci ones (at the time I was still thinking about a history PhD). I think focusing on gaps is a good approach. I'm mostly interested in civil society development in post-communist societies.

Hello, I am new to the site, so apologies for any redundant questions, I think I initially posted this in a different place. I am a few years out of school with a BA in Poli Sci/Econ and an MA in Area Studies. I am looking to go back for a Comparative Politics PhD. I work in international development, not in academia or policy, so have no new research I can write about it my statement. I don't have anyone who can seriously work through my statement with me, and I feel like I am already asking a huge favor of professors writing my recommendations. I know my general areas of interest, and know who I want to work with at perspective schools, I am struggling with how specific my research question should be in the SoP? Do I need to talk at length about others doing similar research? Do I need to know which countries/populations I want to hone in on? If intensive methods courses are part of the PhD, how can I identify which I will be using before taking any of them? For example--I have taken econometrics, but presumably this knowledge will deepen during the program, as will my use of qualitative methods. I have learned from my 2 year MA experience that interests change, and projects evolve and shift over the course of study. Sometimes you realize that your question is too ambitious or unanswerable, and you need to narrow your question. It seems very presumptuous to lay out a very detailed question without the preliminary work. If anyone has any tips here, please share. If you know anyone willing to share sample SoPs or ones from past years please let me know.

Hello, I am new to the site, so apologies for any redundant questions. I am a few years out of school with a BA in Poli Sci/Econ and an MA in Area Studies. I am looking to go back for a Comparative Politics PhD. I work in international development, not in academia or policy, so have no new research I can write about it my statement. I don't have anyone who can seriously work through my statement with me, and I feel like I am already asking a huge favor of professors writing my recommendations who have not seen me for almost a decade. I know my general areas of interest, and know who I want to work with at perspective schools, but I my question is how specific should my research question be in the SoP? Do I need to talk at length about others doing similar research? Do I need to know which countries/populations I want to hone in on? If intensive methods courses are part of the PhD, how can I identify which I will be using before taking any of them? For example--I have taken econometrics, but presumably this knowledge will deepen during the program, as will my use of qualitative methods. I have learned from my 2 year MA experience that interests change, and projects evolve and shift over the course of study. Sometimes you realize that your question is too ambitious or unanswerable, and you need to narrow your question. It seems very presumptuous to lay out a very detailed question without the preliminary work. If anyone has any tips here, please share.