northstar22

These type of situations are exactly why I don't date other grad students -- there's too much potential for separation / relocation / upheaval, and I know that long-distance relationships rarely work out. For what it's worth (not much), I would put love over career. While I love academia, if I did meet that "special someone" and needed to "settle down" in a location, I'd be willing to give up my dream for her. I'm not sure how you guys feel about that, but it's definitely something worth discussing.

My group is the same way -- it's difficult to talk to people before / after class. It doesn't help that many of the people are "non-traditional" older people, though.

I'm also somewhat interested in Public Administration Ph.D programs at Syracuse, Kansas and Indiana, but I'm not really sure if I want to continue in public admin. at the doctoral level. It would obviously save me some time, because I'd already have an MPA, but my passion lies with political science.

Wow . . . 28% placement is atrocious. The 70% drop-out rate looks even worse. Unlike many people, I LOVE the rural Midwest (it's home) so living in Carbondale would be awesome for me, and I'd be perfectly happy living somewhere like Upland, Indiana or Marshall, Minnesota (BTDT), as long as I get to be a professor. The South is NOT my thing, though. As far as my stats, well, I haven't taken the GRE yet (I'll take it in a few months, applying 2012-2013 season for Fall 2013 admission), but my undergrad GPA was 3.5, and I'm currently working on a conference paper. Besides SIU and Colorado State, other lower-ranked programs I'm looking at are Purdue (Pub. Policy, Am. Pol.), Missouri (Am. Politics, Pub. Policy), Colorado-Boulder (Pub. Policy), Kent State (Am. pol., pub. policy), Michigan State (pol. theory), Northern Arizona (Am. pol., pub. admin) and Western Michigan (my alma mater and in my hometown) (Am. pol, pol. theory). Does anyone have knowledge of these programs? Top 25 to top 40 schools I'm considering are Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska-Lincoln, Indiana and Notre Dame. Reach dream schools would be Michigan, Wisconsin and Rochester. I'm not interested in Ivies, colleges located in major cities or any institutions in the South. RWBG, thanks for giving me that website . . . it really helps.

Also, does anyone have any experience with Colorado State University? I know they have a similar broad-based program as SIU, with an added focus on environmental policy.

I've noticed that there haven't been any posts on Southern Illinois' poli sci program here. I know it's far from top 25, but it does seem to cover several of my interests (public policy, American politics, and political theory) and allows a broad-based approach, rather than shoving you into one area (i.e., comparative, theory, American, etc.). Does anyone have experience with this program? I've also noticed their minimum admission requirements are pretty low (2.7 GPA, 1000 combined GRE, etc.). Would attending somewhere like SIU (or any other lesser-known program) be a bad decision when my main goal is to become a teaching tenured professor at a smaller department (third-tier, directional, rural liberal arts college or lesser-known Big Ten, Big 12, etc.)? Is a PhD from a top 25 essential to reach my goals? If it matters, I'd be coming in with a Master's in Public Administration with a focus in American policy.

grad student

I was at a coffee shop working on a project for my job, and I stopped home to check the mail. I saw a letter from the university, thinking it was a rejection letter. I opened it up, and scanned the first paragraph, which looked like standard rejection letter content ("thank you for your application, we received a lot of qualified applicants . . ."), and my heart sank. I kept reading, expecting to see that dreaded "r" word, but instead was shocked to read "...you have been admitted." I let out a "yes!!" and then I called my mom and told her the good news.

brilliant minds

Sorry, I did misunderstand your post! Also, I understand that credits will only transfer if there is an equivalent at the new university. I'm sorry if I came across as "whiny," that wasn't my intent. I guess I'm not "out of luck," which is a huge relief! Thanks to all for your answers to my questions.

Examination failure

That's exactly what I thought was the case, and pretty much what I was afraid of. So basically, I would be starting from scratch in a PhD program, in the same position as a new student fresh out of undergrad. Great. Of course, I have no one to blame but myself. I really wish I had gone the MA route instead. As for tenure-track jobs dwindling -- they are, but so are ALL jobs in this economy. Colleges will always need professors, so I don't see the career path going away any time soon. I understand your point about having a fallback (gotta pay the bills one way or the other), but I really don't want to get stuck in "fallback mode" again. My undergrad degree was a practical "fallback." The problem with fallback jobs is that they're hard to leave . . . they offer steady money and stability, which is really hard to give up, even for your dream career. I just really don't want to end up stuck in a day job wishing I had made it into academia.

I only applied to two programs, and was accepted to one. If only four programs interest you, and you are confident you can get admitted to these schools, why waste your and the acceptance committees' time by applying to programs that aren't good fits?

simple truth

I was able to speak with one of the chairs of my department a few minutes ago, and she said that my MPA won't keep me from getting into a poli. sci., public administration or public policy program, as long as I have clear research interests (which I do). She said that students in my situation have made the leap before. Thanks. My MPA program is 36 credits (including the thesis), 30 classroom / seminar credits. I also know that 30 is the maximum they will accept. I'm not sure if you'd know this, but, generally, do schools typically tend to accept 30 credits toward the PhD requirements, or do they usually accept far less? It seems like I'm wasting my time if none of the classes I'm taking now will transfer.

I love languages . . . I've learned Spanish (in high school) and French (on my own), and I'm currently working on Chinese. However, I've never used Rosetta Stone. I just can't justify paying the steep price, and I know (for me, ymmv) that reading books and talking to native speakers is more effective in learning a language.

I never heard of it before this thread, but I just joined. Thanks!

Tiger blood

Thanks! I'm going to complete a thesis (with original research) as part of my program, so I assume that will cover the writing sample. Although most MPA students don't take the thesis option, it is there for those "pursuing further graduate study." As far as other opportunities, there are several seminars and research opportunities available. I'm also working on building connections for LORs . . . I know my advisor has similar interests to mine, so I'm trying to build a connection there. For what it's worth, the University of Kansas and the University of Indiana (the two top schools in my field) do mention accepting PhD students with MPA degrees, but they both mention accepting a "maximum of 30 credits" from an MPA. I assume that's a bad sign, but I'm still in "clueless noob" mode. I do know that IU's program, in particular, seems to line up with my interests very well, though I don't think I have a shot of getting in

Hi! I'm new here, so I'll give you guys a little background on myself. I'm currently a 24-year-old first-year grad student pursuing an MPA and a regional planning certificate from a university in Minnesota. Although my undergrad major was in a (somewhat) unrelated field, I've always had a strong interest in public policy, political science and rural / small town economic development. I have always wanted to become a university professor, but I decided on an MPA over an MA in poli. sci. primarily to placate my parents, who don't see academia as a realistic goal and would rather me "get a normal job" (yes, big mistake, I know). Although I thought I could make a public sector / nonprofit career work, I have decided that I have ZERO desire to enter the 9 to 5 world . . . I finished my undergrad in 2009, and I've hated every minute of the "work" I've done over the past two years. However, I LOVE academia . . . teaching, researching, reading, conferences, writing, even living in college towns . . . everything. After finishing my degree, I want to pursue a Ph.D. in public policy and enter academia, preferably as a teaching professor. However, I know that most people pursuing MPAs are doing so with a "work / career" focus. Is it even possible to enter a decent poli. sci. or public policy Ph.D. program with an MPA, or will it hold me back because it is a "professional" degree? Will it hurt me in seeking a faculty job down the road?

I posted this in the wrong forum. Mods, could you please delete this.