Rohit1979

If recommendations from my previous university professors can save me the trouble of going through a masters program, then definitely it is worth the effort. What if I associate myself with some ongoing research at some decent social science institute and convince the professor to support my application. If my association is for a short span I may not be able to publish, but at-least I will have a relevant recommendation. How will that work?

Thanks for the valuable inputs. I fully appreciate the fact that my lack of academic experience in political science is the biggest impediment. And I am definitely considering taking up some masters program first then proceed to doctoral level program. But still I am befuddled by the fact that some of the top economics and finance departments accept applicants from engineering and mathematics background with no relevant academic experience. Though both economics and finance has significant quantitative part but they are still totally different fields of study!

More or less I got the same feed back from people here. Universities over here do not have a provision of allowing students to take courses outside the regular degree programs. So taking up some Political Science courses is ruled out. Some universities offer some short term certificate kind of programs. But they are mostly in "more" professional courses like financial engineering. The only option left is to associate myself with some reputed political science professor and work on a research paper. Will my chances improve significantly if I succeed in getting a paper published? Can you suggest some other field of study that has political science concentration or at-least borders with political science? What chances do I have on fields like public policy? What are the long term prospects in teaching or research if I obtain the doctoral degree from not so reputed university, say below 30-35 rank? Thanks in advance Rohit Verma

Hello Everyone, I need little help regarding PhD programs in political science. I have a bachelor and masters degree in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK), which happens to be the top tier engineering school in Asia. Driven solely by my passion for political science I have decided to pursue a doctoral level course in political science or political economy. I would mostly be focusing around comparative politics, dynamics of political organizations, public choice theories, polling behaviors and patterns. Few relevant points about my background: (1) B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT Kanpur (ranks in top 40 in engineering and technology sections of almost all the surveys). (2) GPA around 3.60. (3) Average or below average grades in maths course (But the competition in IITs are very intense. Even average grades from IIT are considered far better than excellent grades from some other universities.) (4) GRE: 800 Q and 680 V (5) No academic or research experience in any field of social science. (6) Around 4 years of solid practical experience in active politics of India. I worked full time for an aspiring national political party of India for around 4 years. My job centered around designing and coordinating election campaign strategies. I did pretty well as testified by the quantum of votes garnered by the candidates for whom I designed election campaigns. (7) I am not in touch with my graduate school, therefore very remote possibility of getting academic recommendations. Though I can manage professional references. Here are my questions: (1) What are my odds in top tier US universities like Princeton, Stanford, WashU and Yale. (2) My intention is to pursue a research and teaching career post doctorate. What are my chances to have a successful research and teaching career if graduate from low ranked university. (3) Almost every school requires a writing sample. Some of them even insist it to be an extract from your masters thesis. Clearly I lack this requirement. Is there a way to make up for this shortcoming. How significant role does this part play in deciding one's candidature. Thanks in advance, Rohit Verma