TChandler

Does anybody know of global indices on geography programs? How would HKU rank? http://geog.hku.hk/ Thanks!

Hello all - I am a current undergraduate senior double-majoring in English and International Relations at a top-50 liberal arts institution. I am on track to graduating with close to a 3.7 magna cum laude with an upward GPA trend. I have not yet taken the GRE's but have been scoring in the low-mid 700's on both quant and verbal on practice tests. I recently was accepted to present at a conference and am submitting for the MPSA conference this spring. Next semester I am potentially doing an independent study (equivalent of senior thesis as my school does not offer a program), taking a methods/SPSS course, and perhaps a GIS tutorial. My main interests are comparative politics, political economy of development, and urban/regional development/global cities; regionally I am interested in China/East/SE Asia, the Middle East, and the Balkans. I am also interested in post-colonial studies and literary theory from my literature major. I have three main questions: 1) How should I use a year or two off to increase my competitiveness for top-tier CP programs? I am applying (and believe I have a good shot for admission and/or funding) for an MPhil in Geography program at a top school in Asia - will that background make me an interesting candidate, or indicate a lack of academic focus (or somewhere in between)? I am also applying to IR-related as well as general entry-level analyst jobs, and also applied to the Fulbright ETA... 2) What are upcoming trends in CP? Will Chinese/East Asian Politics continue to grow in importance for the next 5-10 years? I know it's important to be interested in my field of research, but practically speaking, what subfields will be marketable when I complete my program (or is there a way to know?) 3) My GPA is not fantastic, and I am not published... Should I even be considering this? I have been recommended to look at Urban Planning. How does this field compare to academics/CP? Thanks so much!