polphd

I'm an UG who wants to apply for PhD programs in a few years. I love my field, and enjoy discovering new patterns and trends. In the scheme of things, I was wondering what you guys think this generation, and the next generation, of political scientists are accomplishing, in a "practical" sense. We all hear of economists revolutionizing the field--Paul Krugman today, and Milton Friedman in the past. In chemistry, scientists make practical contributions to medicine, material science, etc. And, I feel that historically, political scientists' did the same thing (particularly in international relations and theory): Anthony Downs, Lipset, Huntington, Herbert Simon, etc. Where do you find this in today's atmosphere? It seems that with the recent declines in political theory and "traditional" IR, there are not many new theories being developed--formal theory has been around since the '80s, and realism/liberalism have grown out of ideas that were developed more than fifty years ago. Which names today do you think will be remembered 100 years from now? When you are professors, how do you plan to keep an eye to the long-run? What ideas have been developed in the last ten to fifteen years that you think will stick for a while?

At U Chic I was thinking Ethan Bueno de Mesquita who has done a lot of work about government-terrorist interactions; but I think I overstated when I put them on the list.

The top schools, as I've heard, are: Rochester Stanford Princeton Cal-Tech (if you really want to do quant, they are quite selective on math) Stanford GSB Harvard IPE program U Chic. NYU WUSTL A&M I'm interested in the same thing as you , applying next year, so thanks for starting this thread.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've taken all the minimum courses you've listed except Real Analysis, am thinking of picking up Rudin and picking up what I can--I have heard Rudin is painful though, so if I can find any easier less compact alternatives, will definitely supplement with those. I also know STATA, perhaps that should help? I might pick up on R if that is the newest thing. Thanks again, good luck in the coming months!

Thanks for all your help, this is awesome info. I talked to my professors, and they had mixed feelings about reapplying to one's undergraduate institution. I'll throw my application in the pile anyways, just because I'm applying to so many reaches as it is. As for the math courses--I'm currently a senior, so I will be doing research or working for a year before I apply. I can't really take the courses at a university without paying high nonstudent fees. Would you recommend I just read Real Analysis books on my own, and then try to write paper drafts that might demonstrate my knowledge? What suggestions do you have on how to show the committee that I have learned these subjects (and, of course, actually learning the subjects)? Also, any ideas on what jobs might be good to hold during my year off? I'm considering many things from the peace corps (a two-year stint that isn't directly related to modeling, of course) to working at a university or for a financial firm. Thanks again!

Hi everyone! I've been lurking, figured I should post. I'm not applying till 2010, so any tips on improving my application are welcome... I'm going to a H/Y/P, applying for poli. sci. with methods. My departmental GPA is around a 3.7, actual one is a bit lower. I don't have any published work yet, but I'm working on an honors thesis that focuses on repeated bayesian games, and I'm hoping to research more with another professor next semester (they've all been incredibly helpful). Have taken math-based econometrics, microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, stats, and a few finance courses. My major is government/polisci, so I've taken IR/Politheory courses as well. Any idea on what I can do to improve over the next year aside from studying for the GRE? I hope to apply to Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Rochester, U. Mich, NYU, Columbia, UCSD, U Chic. Thanks and good luck to everyone!