WheresWalden

Hi all, I'm having trouble gauging what schools are appropriate for me to apply to. I've been thinking about going to grad school for political science. I honestly don't think I'm competitive enough for the better programs that will have better job outcomes and was looking into Master's programs in order to build up my credentials/confidence in myself/experience (contingent on getting scholarship though... can't really afford to shell out for that)*, but an old professor of mine has said I should just apply to PhD programs straightaway, that way I'll be funded. Problem is, I can't figure out what a reliable source is for rankings. It's easy to identify the top schools, we all kind of know what those top ten, top fifteen are, and sometimes they sort of shuffle around from year to year. But I look at US News or College Factual, for example, and there are some major discrepancies. My key question is this: What are programs would fall into "highly respectable, but not the top programs" and "very good programs where I'll still have a shot at employment in academia?" How do I know this/where do I look? My interests: I'm attracted to both theory and comparative politics, like the subjects of democratic theory and history of political thought in the United States, but also comparative or American politics with respect to democratization/autocratization and election systems. I suppose there's ways to kind of blend these various interests, but I'm sure that probably sounds pretty broad and I'm going to have to choose one direction and clarify my interests... not sure- I don't know how concrete an idea I need going into PhD programs, and that's also why I was interested in doing a year-long Master's, to dig deeper. * Secondary question: how realistic is it to hope I can scrape together scholarships at the graduate level? I'm vaguely aware that it's more difficult, but don't know much. I've also save a lot of money for grad school just in case. It could just about sustain me for the year I'd be going and not working. Any help would be deeply appreciated. I'd really like to apply to grad schools this Fall.