fenderpete

Hi all, I'm trying to decide where to apply for the 2010 session and I'm currently torn between Political Science and Public Policy programs. I know I want to end up in some sort of policymaking role rather than academia, but I also want to have an inherently security focused thesis - on counterterorrism and counterinsurgency - something I'm not sure I can do with a Public Policy program. My undergrad degree was a BA in Politics, I finished with a First Class Honours degree (equivalent of summa cum laude, or around a 3.8-3.9 GPA) from teh University of Nottingham and finished joint top of my year. I did the GRE last year but wasn't happy with my results so I'm retaking (610Q, 690V, 5.5AWA) as I want to be competitive at the best programs. I worked as a research assistant for my prof last summer and completed a First class 16,000 word thesis for my undergrad. I've worked as an exit poller, worked in a refugee camp in the Middle East and been heavily involved in extracurriculars - sitting on the Students' Union Council and acting as president of our deparmental society. Hopefully with a good GRE and good LORs (I've got two internationally recognised profs who marked my dissertation and one other ref who knows my work) I've got a good shot at some good programs. My dilemma is whether to go PoliSci or Public Policy. I'd happily go Public Policy if I can focus on IR! I want to be based in Washington DC or at least East Coast if possible as I really want to try and get some relevant internships while completing my PhD. Could you possibly advise me on whether there are any programs out there that offer what I'm after? Thanks a lot, Pete

I'm not particularly interested in formal modelling or quantitative methods but I think it'd be good to have at least a working knowledge of them - but I don't think a heavily quantitatively based program like Rochester would suit me very well. I want to carry out research on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency and I'm not sure how well a Public Policy program fits that aim.

The thing is, while my goal isn't necessarily teaching (I'm not ruling it out) I would like to be able to undertake political research - and maybe end up at a think tank doing research as well as or before actually getting involved in the policy process - I don't want to just be able to analyse public policy. If I was applying to PoliSci IR programs I would have a totally different personal statement to if I was applying to a Policy program - I'd focus on my research interests rather than the policy linkage. Also, the shorter timescale would be great, but what I want to do for my thesis is very IR based with a bit of comparative thrown in. With a PoliSci PhD I'd also do the Comps and end up teaching a far wider range of material, which I think would give me a great grounding for a foreign policy career. I'd happily do a Public Policy program if there was one out there that was very IR/Security focused, but I really don't want to do a PhD where I don't get a chance to get inside real security issues and end up studying municipal waste management for three years Do you know of any such programs out there? Thanks guys.

I did my undergrad as a BA Politics at the University of Nottingham, which is in the Russell Group (basically the UK Ivy League) . I'll have a look at Canadian programs, but I eventually want to live/work in the USA so an American PhD might help!

The thing is, I want an IR research PhD because it's what I'm most interested in - particularly counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism (which is what I plan on writing my thesis on) and I don't think a Public Policy program would be best suited for that. Of those I've listed is there enough range there to give me a good shot at getting into at least one program if I get 700+ on the GRE? Also - Natofone - are there any Public Policy programs you'd recommend that have a very IR/security focus rather than public administration? Thanks guys

Thanks a lot Where would you recommend in terms of lower pedigree? I thought American and George Mason were a bit more 'safety'. Good to know that ND isn't worth applying to though! I'd love SAIS but unfortunately you need an MA to get into their PhD.

Hi all... Well I'm back. Finished my undergraduate degree and ended up with a First Class Honours and managed to get joint top of my year - hopefully that'll help when applying to the September 2010 session. I've changed my plans and want to pursue something a lot more specific now. Last year I applied without clear research goals, a lacklustre personal statement and a weak GRE (Q610, V690). I'm redoing the GRE this summer and working through a calculus/stats book. I now know I want to work in security studies with a view to getting into policy and research post-university. Coming from a UK university, my quant skills aren't great, and it's also not my preferred methodology - so with that in mind I'm looking for good security departments where I can work qualitatively and then get a decent policy job post-PhD. With that in mind I'm looking at the following programs: Georgetown

TBH I'm most annoyed about all the time/effort/money I put in this year - I know I could probably have really nailed my GPA last semester without the application distraction, and now I might have slipped down in terms of ranking within my year as a result. Most disappointing, I know my undergrad dissertation won't be as strong as it could have been... Time to start applying to backup choices with a lot more fervour... internships here I come (hopefully).

Well that's my year done - rejection from Princeton WWS. Time to book in for another GRE and start raising funds to reapply next year

Rejection for me. Well that's the last of my schools - completely struckout. Next year it is I guess...

Got my rejection letter from Chicago today. Just Princeton to go now.

Afraid I can't help you with the L. American interest - but check out UPenn's program on Ethnic Conflict and Princeton's Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination.

LMFAO - Brilliant Linden, just brilliant

Yup - posted on Results board and on the last page of this topic. Princeton is my last chance, and tbh I've already started applying to internships and am on the verge of rebooking a GRE test slot.

Columbia rejections are up on ApplyYourself - got notified to check via email.

OK... As a lowly third year PoliSci/IR undergrad here's my explanation of comparative politics. By and large, comparative politics takes more than one case and compares it with others to try and determine some sort of relationship. I'll take the example of democratic consolidation because it probably lends itself to the clearest definition (it's also how I cut my teeth in comparative). You want to find out what factors are important in a new democracy taking hold and becoming consolidated. You could either compare the country with similar countries where democratisation has occurred or with very different countries. The choice of whether to do this is personal preference and each has pros and cons - the choices can be described as SS (same-same) or SD (similar-different). How many countries you choose determines methodology (quantitiative vs qualitative) as you obviously can't compare 180 countries in-depth, but you couldn't get much information from comparing shallow statistical analysis of only two countries. You then move on to how you plan on comparing them - across a broad period of time or at a specific period of time (snapshot or longitudinal), by specific factors (economic system, strength of military, indicators of civil society etc.) and how you plan to determine whether various conditions are met. The end goal is to prove/disprove the importance of various factors by 'comparing' different cases. That's simplistic as hell, and I'm sure will be ridiculed widely, but that's the jist.

Same here tbh. This year is done for me, barring someone at WWS suffering an embolism and letting me in. Got an essay written over the weekend and moving on to my dissertation tomorrow. I've got trips to NYC, Washington DC and Beijing to look forward to and the summer to sort out my life for the next year, ace the GRE and write knockout SOPs. Yes it sucks to strikeout first time out, but life goes on.

I really hope you two guys have some success, I think you both deserve it

Congrats plisar - awesome news on the MIT front - congrats to everyone else who got in there too!

UPenn rejections are up on the Apply Yourself website.

Who did you contact to get feedback?

Congrats to all the Harvard applicants - absolutely awesome achievement. Hopefully that might be me next year

What was your GRE if you don't mind me asking?

Not sure how to vote on this, as I know I made mistakes and could have done better, but given the constraints I was under (undergrad workload, and lack of good advice) I'm not sure I could have done any better this year. Biggest things that I need to work on... I think I possibly applied to the wrong programs - I wish I'd applied to DC schools now and also really regret not being able to apply to Harvard (I got messed up due to a scholarship application, which was for an MA, and by the time I didn't get the scholarship it was too late to apply for the PhD program). So that'll change and a lot more research will be done for next year... My SOP... I think it's a bit too 'undergrad'. I didn't focus enough on research interests and making the statement all about 'fit' for a given school. I just crammed in some token references to professors I'd like to work with in what fields - I get the impression more is needed there too. LORs - all from great people but one I would definitely change now, as it was more of a character reference than an academic reference, and there are now people I know who'll do a far better job. I'm also going to go in and talk over my options with them so they can maybe write a more targeted LOR. GRE - this is the one I am most eager to improve. 690V is great (I'd like to break 700 next time though) but by 610Q just doesn't cut it against other international applicants who've been doing calculus instead of sudoku for kicks. I'm going to absolutely hammer that over the summer and will be very disappointed if I don't see a big quantitative improvement. Overall I think I've learned a lot from this year's app cycle (the main one being that you can't really do it properly while still studying unless you're uber-prepared, which I thought I was). Hopefully with the improvements above and some good work experience (I've already got invited to a thing in April that would make my app really pop) over the next year I'll be in good shape and maybe get in at one of my top choices next year.

Huge congratulations Really pleased for you Say hi to Barry Posen for me!