alteregoista

I am fall 2010 (I hope) Tufts, Yale, Harvard-IGA and maybe G-town.

I didn't go the the Ford school, but I did go to Umich for grad school. and I can say that they are pretty generous with financial aid as a general rule. Most of the people I knew (myself included) either came in with great funding (tution+ healthcare+stipend) or were able to get that for their second year. If you are good student, and they want you they will try to help you out with coming. As for cost of living, IMHO Ann Arbor is NOT as cheap as you would think.

Thanks FSIA, it feels good to know that someone else is approaching this issue. I hear ya on the funding, but the issue with the Phd is also one of longevity. It's no secret that a lot of people drop out and it would be such as waste, especially if I turned down the chance to obtain a very relevant degree. There is also the question of grooming and support. from what I understand Phd programs especially the top ones tend to have mentors that want to groom you to be like them, i.e. research academics and am thinking it would be easier to sway me from my academia/public policy line without coming in with a background that squarely speaks to that. Your doctoral program sounds like good fit though. Might I ask is it one of the top ones for that field, or is its pull more about its charm and offering a more applied approach than the standard top-10/top 15 research institutions. Thanks for your response, I guess things will have to be jumbled until we each figure out what works best for us.

Hey, I don't know if this response is too late, but I've applied for a FLAS before and if I remember correctly I sort of used my regular SOP and just added a few paragraphs here and there to either explain how the language was/would have been important in the past and how the language will be an important of achieving the career/educational/intellectual goals for the future. If you use your regular SOP as a base, it makes it a little easier, I think. I hope this helps.

Hello all, I was wondering if any of you governmentGovernment affairs people would have some advice for me. I am deciding between applying to IR programs and Phd in Sociology. I already have an area studies Masters, but most of my coursework focused more on the history and culture of my region of interest (back then I was preparing myself for applications to Phd programs in Anthropology). And so, The IR degree would be worth while as I could focus more keenly on the political and economic considerations of policy in practice and how develop skills in conflict resolution. My goal/intention is work in the policy field as well as academia and am see either degree as a means of achieving this goal. But, maybe I am not being realistic. The way I see it, if I applied and got into a Sociology Phd program, I could intern with international orgs at least for a few summers and perhaps also during the year of field research in order to get some headway in the Public affairs job market by graduation. If I did the IR Masters I would intern while getting the degree, and then of course work for several years getting a firm grounding in the field and then go back for a Phd later in life, but after becoming an established, mid career professional. Any thoughts on this? Anyone else been in/currently in my dilemma? Thanks.

I don't think it matters as long as you stress why you want to do sociology now/what led you to sociology and connect your previous field to sociology in some way.

Anyone know anything about it? Is it worthwhile/as rigorous as other public affairs/poli sci Masters programs?

hello all, I am looking at potential programs and am hoping that someone can offer some suggestions: I am interested race, immigration, class and religion in the developed world (most likely either Europe or North America). More specifically, race relations between immigrants vs. natives in religious communities and how that affects political, economic, and social organization and social policy. So far I have contacted profs at the following schools and gotten a Yay or neigh from them: Columbia Duke Uchicago UCLA Harvard Any other suggestions? Thanks

thank you for the replies, I was hoping that my profile was strong enough to forego the the standardized test litmus test, but guess I will have to dust off those Kaplan books and get in the mind-set to retake just in case. btw, I am applying in the fall of this year, for admission in fall of 2010 so no worries.

Hello all, I am trying to decide if retaking the GRE will help or hurt me. So far I am applying in fall 2009 to Harvard (sociology and social policy) Harvard Columbia Duke