Max Power

This is really really good. Any lifting program that doesn't start with the big, multi-joint compound movements is going to be substantially less effective than one that does. Isolation movements aren't bad, per se, but they should not be the primary part of a lifting program. A good place to start is to plan each workout around squatting (front, back, zercher, just make 'em good and deep and get past parallel) and then doing one big pressing movement (bench press, standing overhead press, dips, floor press with bands and chains, etc) and one big pull (deadlift, power clean, chin up, pull up, power snatch, etc). 3 heavy sets of 5 (plus an adequate warmup) of each is a full body resistance workout. You can do some assistance stuff if you want, but you probably won't want to. For the first 8 months I was lifting, the only movements I did were back squat, bench press, overhead press, deadlift, power clean and chin up. Weight gain/loss is a function of calories in vs calories out. Heavy barbell movements will not make you get bigger unless you are also eating surplus calories. Look at all the people in the gym who don't look like Arnold circa Pumping Iron. It does have ton of weight loss benefits, especially squatting and deadlifting. They will promote your body to release more testosterone and growth hormone than any other movement, which are great for weight loss, plus adding some lean mass means a sped up metabolism, so you burn more calories while you are writing papers.

As far if your profile needs strengthening, read the profiles thread and look at what types of profiles people had and where they got offers from. Find profiles of people who got into schools you want to go to and what types of schools people with a similar profile to you got into. Decide on your need for a masters degree that way. As far as doing an MPA/MPP, my gut reaction is that this is probably not the most effective degree you can do. The modal MPA/MPP student is not planning to apply to PhD programs. You will be getting a professional degree in administration or policy. This is not to say that there won't be some overlapping skills, but you will have to do a lot on your own. I went onto the Kennedy School's site and looked up the requirements for the MPP. The core of it is required classes in: economics, quantitative analysis, politics and advocacy, financial management, strategic management, ethics and leadership. These are fantastic skills for someone who wants to go work in or around government, but only the first two or three on that list are going to be skills that will really bolster your application. When I was at QMSS, I did 12 classes and the one I took that was the least applicable to my applications was actually a class in SIPA about campaign management. Everything else was either a methods class (stats, survey methods, GIS, research design) or a substantive class in the political science department.

Oh and they also voted to get rid of the American Community Survey http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d112:3:./temp/~bdIU1w::|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=112| http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll232.xml

i have no idea about how a committee will read it. but for the school you are considering, you will be perceived and treated very differently if you approach them saying "i like it here, but its difficult being unfunded. if there's no way for you to give me funding, i'm going to apply to outside fellowships and also for transfers to see what type of funding options i can get in the future" than if you approach them saying "i am planning to leave for somewhere better. the end." the former will get you sympathy. the latter will not.

if you are unfunded, i don't think anyone at this program you are considering would hold it against you if you applied to transfer, as well as applied for outside funding that could pay for you to stay in their program. the question then is, what can you do between now and next december that will maximize the improvement on your application. maybe its spending a year as an unfunded student but it might be working somewhere doing some sort of research. you may not get methods training, but you may get a chance to tighten up your research ideas plus you'll be getting paid and won't be going into debt while you try to find your way to a funded position.

computer science undergrad, political science phd

Now that I'm officially done with my cycle, I'll put for the same offer the earlier folks did to answer anything people are wondering about next year, especially in American politics. I promise responses though they might not always be timely since I have no idea what my gradcafe habits will look like.

I was feeling similarly about my decision. I just accepted Harvard today, declining Columbia and MIT (all American). Based on my thinking about my decision, I can say: you made the right choice. At that point, it was just degrees of how right it was, but they are all fantastic programs that can give you everything you need to succeed and beyond that its what you do with it.

I went there and can answer any questions. Pm me

when in doubt, i'd say you will be better off doing the phd in a more conventional department. how many people hired by poli sci departments have phds in international development or public policy or whatnot? by contrast, there are lots of people working in other programs with poli sci degrees

not quite. it starts on wednesday. there was some general GSAS thing that happened over the weekend but that seemed mostly about housing and whatnot. I'll be at the department one. i can let you know how it went when i get back

awesome news. congrats!

Shorter version of what I said before: It certainly doesn't hurt. I don't think its going to make you stand out from the field enough to really help a lot either. If you are applying in American, it probably helps less.

It obviously does vary by subfield. In American, my lack of knowledge of languages hasn't slowed me down and I'll be skipping languages in favor of advanced methods in grad school. If you are in a subfield where language skills are important for subfield, I'd imagine that it is more likely to be a problem if you don't have any language skills than setting someone apart if they did have them. I just went to my first recruitment event and it seemed a lot of the incoming class in comparative/IR had other language skills and the current grad students didn't have the same level of knowledge on language resources that they did on everything else about their program because they hadn't used them, owing to coming in with language skills or skipping languages for advanced methods.

there is not a ton to say until you have seen the departments in action. then we can kick it into action about making our decisions

Thats really nice. I was already thinking that the 18k I was offered was really good for South Bend and was not really far off the offers I had from Harvard, Columbia and MIT after cost of living adjustments. Add in another 8k/year and that is probably as good as it gets

the counterpoint, of course, is that she developed those interests while she was there. it would be crazy to think we all developed our interests independent of the resources we were surrounded by

this is probably a good idea. i've decided i can't possibly make up my mind until i finish going to the recruiting events so i'm just not thinking about (at least as much as possible) for the next several weeks

don't forget ISPS, better known as Income Supplement for Political Scientists

i would assume its because most schools pay their faculty lines over 9 or 10 months and its a book keeping issue

grantman, i'd like to wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do, work or reapplying. you have been relentlessly positive during a period of time that has made a lot of people crack and just might be the nicest guy on this forum. i am rooting for you to find success on whatever path you choose.

Thanks. I got it off a hair dryer.

I suspect Harvard has made all of their offers given that I was told the exact number that they were making (27) and I think someone claimed a wait list at the same time

When in doubt, I'm inclined to say that a funded offer from a top 25 program is much better than spending a year on a masters. actual costs, opportunity costs and whatnot. its the same thing i said to someone else who was debating a masters or cornell (i forget exactly who). most people find that their interests change at least somewhat while they are in grad school. you may find yourself shifting towards some of what northwestern does. worst case scenario, if you go there, is that you are really unhappy and transfer (but at least you'll have been funded for the year). that said, if you go the masters route or otherwise wind up re-applying, i'd recommend doing some thinking about where you are applying before you re-apply. If you can't honestly say "if this was my only option, i'd happily go there" about each school you are applying to, then why bother? if you don't really think northwestern was a fit and think you might prefer a masters and re-applying, why apply in the first case?