fsmn36

I'm having a bit of a dilemma (that my friends assure is me being paranoid, but hey, I over think; I'm a grad student). In my program, we have to have one committee member from our main field, one from the subfield, and one from outside it. Not a problem right? Or so I thought. My issue is my topic and the limited number of profs in my main field. We have only 3 IR profs. My thesis? Far more applied and in a different subfield of IR than any of those profs are interested in. One told me they wouldn't do it because of my topic. Another has made very clear they don't like my topic. So I've asked the third and am waiting to hear. I'm just worried they will say no and then where will I be? I figure the school will either insist one of them be on my committee or I will have to change my thesis topic (to get a more positive response). I'm not too keen on the idea of someone being forced on my committee AND not liking my topic. It would almost seem easier to change my topic. But quite frankly, it is what intrigues me the most, what I want to study, what I'd like to someday do. Perhaps I'm naively holding onto it? To be honest, though, I don't even know what I would turn to next. My specific interests are simply not reflected by the 3 profs we have. Anyone had similar difficulties like this or any advice?

They'll find out. That seemed to be one of the first questions everyone asked each other. You'll get some gentle ribbing, but it shouldn't be too bad. Unless your department loves bars.lol (That was my friend's problem till she turned 21.)

I have a friend in my program who did undergrad in 3 years thanks to taking community college classes for high school, and then applied right out. She started this fall in her PhD program at 20!! I'm doing my masters first, so, provided I get my degree on time, I'll be 25 when I start the PhD portion of my education.

I have so many interests, it's hard to say. Can I just be an eternal student? Not to mention, I sort of already did this; I started college as a theatre/dance major and am now in grad school for international relations (plus, I got a business degree in there too). But I've actually been thinking about this recently and I gotta say, I'd probably go for philosophy. I've been reading philosophical texts since I was 10 or so and I minored in it in college and they were my favorite classes. I've also realized I am more a political thought academic than political scientist. Considering that's pretty much gone out of style, though, I'd say I made a better choice.lol

My school informed me I wouldn't know about fin aid until June. :| It would have been nice to know before making the decision, but I guess not all schools are as considerate/on top of things.lol

Ah, ok! I know that area less well, but it is nice. Lots of woods.lol LOL Yes. Right now, I do feel again like I'm back in England. We've had rain and gray skies for about a week! I'm ready for real spring to come about. I'm jealous! I stayed in Milan for about 3 days and LOVED it. I liked it more than Rome, even! It was my kind of city--Italian, but metropolitan too. (Plus, the high streets. LOVE!) That'll be nice though--you won't be burned out on homework! My masters is approx 2 years. I'm wondering if I can trim it down though by taking classes (or writing a lot of my thesis) during the summer. We'll see how it goes once I start dealing with actual classes. I may even have to extend it if I don't get enough money and have to work on a more regular basis. :| But! I do think it will be awesome. We'll all have to meet up within those first few days of orientation. And having lived in the town once before, I can direct people to the awesome shops and the best food. :wink:

Oh, yes, I do love it. Despite the freezing cold.lol You were up at Concordia, huh? Very cool! Interestingly enough (since you were at Concordia), I am attending MSU Moorhead (till May 15th that is!). I'll be getting a BA in political science and a BS in business administration. I've spent five years in undergrad because I changed majors and transferred schools after my freshman year (my one year in Columbia--I attended Stephens College there). As for England, I attended the University of Portsmouth for Honors Business Admin last year as part of an exchange program. I loved it over there. Especially London! I want to move there for awhile some time in the future...It was some of the best times I've had in my life. And I loved getting to travel. I couldn't do it as much as I would have liked, but I made it to Italy and Ireland. So beautiful.

I agree.

Oooo. I never thought I'd see someone with similar goals as mine (i.e. working on academia to get into government). I was beginning to think I was alone!lol I'd like to get my PhD, publish a few journal articles with some ideas to better the world (or at least government) then be snatched up by said government to run one of those fabulous bureaucracies that deals in foreign relations. Hopefully advise a president or two ala Kissenger (though less German and less male-ly). You know. Nothing big. :wink:

Sigh. Something that would be so awesome for me since I have no car (and considering grad school, will not have one for a *long* time still) and yet...not located in my area. One day I will actually live in a non-college town in the midwest and be able to take advantage of things like this. :roll:

I lived in Columbia for a year and England for a year and found the temperature to be very much the same. I'd say Columbia gets a tish worse on heat and cold, but literally by like 5 degrees. It's very nice. Fall lasts till like, December. Which is very nice for someone like me from MN where winter starts in September. :| Sorry for missing this thread earlier. I'll be attending for my MA in political science. I must say, Mizzou isn't too popular on this board. Or else all the lurkers are planning on attending.lol

Argh. Thought I'd searched it well enough. Guess not. Sorry!

Then again, I had a lot of that in undergrad. Going to a small state school in the midwest, I think about 1/4 of the population is married or engaged. Which is just...crazy to me. I was hoping there'd be more possibilities in grad school, but it looks like it might not be much better!lol

I'll be attending this fall to start my MA in political science. I lived in Columbia once before, so I'm very happy about it. Anyone else?

Well, here's to another week of silence from Georgetown. Anyone else still waiting to hear? I'm thinking I'm going to have to suck it up and just call them about it.

LOL That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid! I've been doing that for the past five years of undergrad and very well may have to do it for 2 years of a masters program. Saving money=good. Mindless work=mindless. :roll:

So, I noticed someone posted about the MPP/Gov PhD program at Georgetown and it got me thinking. Has anyone who applied to a dual program at Georgetown heard? I know there's one other person on this board beside me and the poster who has applied for a dual. I'm wondering if that aspect has something to with why we haven't heard anything (no rejection/acceptance/wait)?

Ah, good for you! I was wondering how long I should wait before asking about funding. Will you share what you find out? And can I ask your sub-field?

Just got accepted by Missouri via email. No word on funding, but at this point I'm just so relieved at getting in somewhere. I'd about given up hope.

I certainly do! In my case though, it wasn't a sense of grandeur or assumption that I would get in. It's expensive!! If I don't get in this year, well, I'm certainly going to start saving up so I can apply to more schools again next year.

Amen. I'm a bit of a realist (pessimistic according to my family, a true Minnesotan according to Garrison Keilor) who thinks things can always get worse. The people closest to me are going through some rough spots and some of them cry their eyes out, while others adopt a fake optimism. To be honest, I'm not good at dealing with either. I tend to be rather stoic. But there is nothing so annoying as someone who literally yells at me to "have faith" or "why don't you believe in yourself". I know I am not the smartest person out there, nor the best educated (state school up against Harvard undergrads?) That doesn't mean I don't think I deserve to go to grad school or that I won't try. That's what they seem to think. It's being realistic about the process, the economy, and myself. I believe in karma in a sense, sure, but as someone said above, my good thoughts aren't going to convince a grad admin 10 states away to accept me over the person who fits perfectly within their department. Do your best beforehand, and keep trying, but once it's out of your hands, well...it's out of your hands. And in the end, if you assume the worse, you can't be disappointed, right? RUPA!!

I hear you! I've been putting back up plans into place, but lining up for internships and possible job placements doesn't tell me if I need to suck it up and renew my lease for another year or if I should stick with my current job just because I may have to. It's very frustrating.

I know I haven't seen anyone else who applied to Mizzou on the board, but just in case there's a lurker or two who have, I thought I'd share. I just emailed with the assistant for graduate admissions of the poli sci department who said notices would be going out sometime this week or at the beginning of next week. Not a lot of information, but it's something.

LOL! That's standard at my house. My roommate is going for grad school in opera performance.

For those of you who contacted the school about your status, how did you phrase it? Did you talk to the poli sci dept or the grad school? And did you tend to ask about you or just about when notices were going out/notice status? I'm contemplating calling two of my schools to find out, but am having problems figuring out how not to sound desperate.lol