Atua

Hello ~~ I've already matriculated into a PhD program in August, but I'm thinking about reapplying to one school for F2012 that I was wait-listed to for F2011. My reason for doing so is that my current program has no one I can work with. I focus on IR and CP in the Middle East - no one in my department does any work on this region and the department has a heavy theorist and Americanist (quant) layout. Thus far, I like all the faculty - they're collegial, smart, and nice, though I'm not sure that these traits will help me advance my research and my career. Anyways I'm just looking for some advice from those who have been in a similar situation, i.e., dealing with a bad fit. Or, even if you haven't been in a similar situation, do you think fit is vital? You may be thinking to yourself, "why would Atua accept a bad fit offer?" Long story short, I accepted my best financial offer because all of my acceptances were backups with bad fits. Why did this department accept me? The person who accepted my cohort picked a few of us with Middle East interests (maybe to build cohort camaraderie?), but I'm not sure why this was done given the lacking IR faculty. Thanks~~ Atua

Hi all, I'm looking for a Poli Sci PhD program that includes studying a foreign language. I'm interested in studying politics of the Middle East (not interested in Middle East Studies degree), and thus continuing my study of Arabic; I'm currently in intermediate Arabic. Of course there are options like studying on my own time, but I would prefer a curriculum that includes language study. Do any programs exist that encourage students to become fluent within their curriculum, as opposed to simply taking two years of language study (like many of the UCs in California) to clear language requirements? Best, Atua

Hi all ~~ I am in a bit of a pickle. I accepted an PhD offer to a university that was my last choice; my first choice schools obviously didn't come through. Anyways, the school that I will now be attending in the fall offered me a fellowship which entails about 20K a year (for 5 years) in addition to paying for my tuition and health care. My problem is that this university was my last choice - the safe school in which I knew I could get in and I did. Since it was a safe school, I knew it wouldn't be great, and it's not - my choices for classes are lousy (actually worse than I imagined) and there are no faculty that work in the same region as myself. My options are below: Option 1: reapply to different schools in the upcoming application season for fall 2012 admittance. But if I do this, my question is would I burn bridges if my new department found out I was doing this? Would they likely find out that I'm applying elsewhere? Should I just tell them I am going to apply elsewhere, rather than hope that they just don't find out? Do I run the risk of having my fellowship (from the graduate school) rescinded? And, yes, I would be using rec letters from my undergrad professors because I will have just met my graduate professors, and I wouldn't want my grad professors to know I'm applying elsewhere. Option 2: bite my tongue, complete my MA at said university, and move on. One of my mentors told me that if I like the university by the time I complete my MA then I can just stay, and if I don't like it then I can leave. Regarding graduate applications, my profile has completely changed since I first submitted graduate applications in fall 2010 for fall 2011 admittance. I've studied abroad, further developed my research interests, was given numerous awards/honors at graduation, and have secured national fellowships for language study this summer. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. You may think this is premature since I haven't even matriculated yet, but it's been bothering me... especially since I was recently confronted with the lousy class offerings. Thanks, Atua