midwest513

Yep. And Keith Poole as well.

Again not sure if I agree on this one. Pretty different focuses I think. Fowler is productive in focusing on genetics and social network analysis...otherwise UCSD is pretty focused on urban/local politics...with the exception of Seth Hill (who is young). Wisconsin on the other hand has a more standard department with focuses on Congress, voting, political communication, etc..in their American folks. I think if I had a strong prior about what I wanted to research in American politics, the departments are both strong but clearly have different strengths if that makes sense.

Easy. Vanderbilt UNC NWU Gtown UW UVA UCSD Penn Duke is a weird one. As neither Rohde or Aldrich really publish all that much or are on the cutting edge of the field.

I think the applicant is a bit confused as well. In the US you don't apply to specific faculty members. You can mention them in your statement to the department in general, but it's not the case that you would apply directly to Walt for example.

I did my undergrad at GW. Placement looks odd because they are on such a lag from when they really started revamping up the political science program. Expect the new grads to be doing decently on the job market. Depends on specialization obviously.

Economics is very different from Political Science in this case, for a variety of reasons and also because they are less specialized and everyone takes the foundational courses. Also, your friend has little to worry about if he was RA'ing for Imbens or Athey. In a sense your personal statement is probably half signal, half actual plan.

Isn't there a simple explanation that gradcafe usernames might not reveal (AKA last names)?

Sounds like you need to just turn off the phone.

As does ProQuest.

That's because you guys will do whatever it takes to get anyone to spend more time that is necessary in Rochester!

Great idea...what a way to build a relationship with an institution!

Many schools require you tell them where else you are applying in the apps.

WashU has some good people...look for young folks who are publishing in this area. Diana O'Brien is a recent WashU grad. http://www.dianaobrien.com/

Jacobsen doesn't publish all that much and Fowler, Hill and Zheng are all great, but at least in American Politics if you aren't doing the genetics stuff, placement hasn't been all that hot.

If your interest lies in experiments, NYU and MIT offer people who do that stuff very well. UCSD might not be so much your alley from what I see of your interests.

I study American politics/public policy. Graduate programs need graduate students as cheap labor. Political theory classes are always in high demand and I am sure you will teach a few seminars. Much of it is downright irresponsible considering how awful the job market is. You may love political theory, but be realistic, you could be wasting 6-7 years of your life (it takes theorists longer to finish too) for no prospects.

You should know going into this also that the market for political theorists is downright abysmal, the worst of any subfield in political science.

Not really all taht much...only if it really contributes to your research area of developed your quantitative skills, etc...

Definitely a department on the rise.

Any top department trains people in quantitative methods. It is highly demanded by the profession, etc and thus it is hard to avoid a 'quant' department. FInd your niche. Take the two classes so that you are fluent in the discipline. Everyone does it.

The best way of doing this sort of thing is to find the people who publish on this and see where they work, got their Phd, etc...do the same for where the people they cite study and got their Phd, etc...and comb through those lists! It's not an easy process, but you'll be better off with the broad knowledge than just from people posting on here. Sometimes, YOU need to do the legwork.

While everyone is right, I think what previous posters were saying is that a masters if you haven't done a poli sci undergrad is a sufficient but not necessary condition for admittance to good PhD programs. While every situation is certainly unique, one can still be competitive in the application process without it.

Weird question. How do you know you want to do game theoretic modeling (which is all based heavily in mathematics) when you haven't taken a math course since high school? You should think seriously about that because deep knowledge of calculus, real analysis, linear algebra, etc...is necessary in doing formal modeling.

I'd ask for my money back (you could use it to treat all of us to a round at Midwest!)!

Hey all, more of these would be appreciated when you all are ready and all with your decisions. I'd be especially interested in seeing more political economy and American politics SOP's.