IRToni

I don't know about Interfolio, but most schools I've seen had supplemental forms. I applied to M.A. programs 2 years back, and one of my recommenders had a hard time with computers, so I saw quite a lot of the recommendation forms. Most of the schools that I saw had addition stuff to fill out (usually one page with boxes to tick evaluating the student vis-a-vis other students in different skillsets). 2. I personally think if you make it easy for your recommenders, you can definitely have them send off a "large" number of recommendations. Now, if you're shooting for 20, they might be... unhappy, but anything below 10 seems to be fairly standard. I compiled a M.A. excel sheet for them with all the deadlines etc. I will also enter all of them in all online systems on the same day, and send them helpful reminders a week (and possibly a day, depending on their track record) before the deadlines. I'm applying to 10 programs,+fellowships, I think.

I would tell the truth, and talk to your letter-writers about how they could mention that in their letters. Did you "accidentally" use other people's words (happened to me b4, read something, and then thought I had thought of it), or what exactly happened? I'd probably attach a document explaining what happened, what I learned from it etc.

Me, too!

I would say, however, not having a PhD is a huge red flag in terms of LoRs for PhD programs, since they feel that the individual writing the letter can't adequately judge whether the applicant has what it takes to succeed in a PhD program. I have one professor who's really flaky, whom I still chose as a recommender, because he is very positive, and enthusiastic. His letters are actually really good, although I usually need to call him more than once, call his secretary etc. to obtain them, so don't rule out a professor just because he/she is kind of all over the place, and not very organized!

I personally had very different experience with different professors, so I've been tailoring my responses to them: One professor just ignores 95% of his emails (or skims them), so I call him up close to the deadline, and he does it, and his secretary sends me a "Done!!" email right after, at least for those schools that don't have automatic tracking! Other professors just get email reminders. I try to do 4 weeks, 1 week, 1 day, if they haven't proven themselves to be very on top of things, or very behind. This is only after the first one has been written though, for the first one, I tend to do 4 weeks, 1 week, 3 days, if necessary day-of, so they'll have the time. I also asked all of them to please send me a short confimation once they've submitted the LoRs (again, without automatic tracking), and noone considered it rude or weird. So far, they all appreciated me being so on top of things, because it's one less thing for them to worry about, if I make sure that they're aware of all the deadlines.

I usually put a title (either statement of purpose or letter of motivation), and my name and the page number of this document (1/2 etc.) at the bottom of the page. My reason is the following: Most adcoms will print out the entire file, and that would make it easiest for them, in case they loose a page or sth (which happens, both in printing and afterwards).

I feel like it's not rare, but also not quite common. I had one prof ask me to write my LOR myself, and she would then edit it, and there's some profs who always do that, while others would never dream of it. Ideally, your recommenders would write all their LoR themselves, but we don't live in an ideal world. Do you happen to have a lecturer that you trust who could proof your LoRs? Or, could you ask a friend who's well-acquainted with your work (like a colleague) to draft it, so your writing style isn't too distinct and obvious?

Most grad schools in the US adhere to the April 15 rule, i.e. they won't require you to make a decision before that. Most regular admissions should be over by then, so you should know where you got in. It gets kind of sticky if you're waitlisted, but I would say, cross that bridge when it comes to it.

Everyone's GRE percentiles are subject to change, and schools know that! In general, I would put the percentiles that are on the report the schools actually receive, which should be the most up-to-date ones!

First, I would recommend not publishing the letter in this public forum, especially as it's pretty identifying to both you and the school. I'd be happy to give you some feedback on it, just drop me a PM!

Why not just be honest? Send an email stating what you've done in the meantime, thanking him again for your help, and telling him that you'll be applying to his school, and you'd be really interested in working with him. Don't expect a response, but that makes sure that he will remember you, and if he thought you were a good candidate back then, and you performed well in your M.A., he might put in a good word for you. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll actually get accepted, but it's worth a shot, I would think!

Rosetta Stone won't help you in accessing Spanish source material though, since it's very heavily focused on speaking, basic everyday vocabulary etc. Traditional text books are often much better for this kind of thing, especially newspaper reading courses etc. many of these can be done in self-study.

I'm a current student (MA in IR/PS). Who would you guys wanna work with?

From what I hear, SAIS Nanjing has the problem that Chinese professors tend to "dumb down" their classes so foreigners can understand them. They want to adress this with making proficiency requirements more stringent, but I don't know if they've done that. When I was looking at SAIS Nanjing, you only needed HSK 5 (new) for the certificate, which, IMO, isn't really enough to follow actual academic coursework. As a result, some students I talked to were unsatisfied with the level of the courses, just bc of the simple Chinese (slow speak etc) used. Other professors, who didn't "dumb down" their courses, on the other hand, had trouble getting a good discussion going. For me, the fact that you need a semester more if you wanna graduate from SAIS in DC also raised a red flag, TBH. Since I've already studied at a Chinese university, I ultimately decided not to apply to NJ!

If you're up for leaving the US, the UK and Switzerland have some great programs with more of a qual bent, especially IHEID in Geneva, SOAS in London, Cambridge in UK.

I'm not in your area, but I will also have to agree with the previous posters. I don't know you personally, and don't know your work, and won't comment on whether you are suited to pursue a PhD. However, the way you keep blaiming your advisor for not forbidding you to do the topic, to me is a red flag. You mentioned that he pointed out (more than once) that the topic you had chosen was very ambitious. What else was he supposed to have done? He gave you honest criticism, and mentioned that the topic was difficult/challenging/ambitious. You chose, despite his warnings, to pursue this topic, he kept giving you feedback. Maybe his communication style is more direct than you're used to, but I really don't see how HE screwed things up there. It's not really up to him to make you choose another topic, and, especially in grad school, it shouldn't be his responsibility. Anecdotal evidence to follow: When I wrote my B.A. thesis, my advisor told me that it was VERY ambitious, and even proposed more manageable topics. I decided to go through with it. Now, my advisor knew me quite well, but obviously couldn't know whether I was capable of that. He said that he thinks it's ambitious, and might be hard and a lot of work, and I chose to do the topic nonetheless. That was then, IMO, my responsibility. Now, you managed to get your thesis defended (though you have to see that you took 1.5 times as long as an MA is supposed to take, and spent overall probably 1.5 years on a thesis that was supposed to be written in more like half a year), and that's great. But even so, it doesn't seem like you had this huge breakthrough, you didn't wow your advisors. Now, they might be wrong, and you might have what it takes to succeed in a PhD program, but you should ask yourself honestly why you want to pursue a PhD. In addition, if you decide to try and go through with it, I think it will be key to try to find the reasons why your thesis went as badly as it did, not blaming your advisor. It's your piece of work, something that you should stand for, not your advisor. Ask yourself what went wrong the first time, why it took you so long to realize how difficult this topic was (after being told by your advisor), and why you think the second thesis is not a true reflection of your abilities. Then, think of how to solve these problems, because a PhD entails writing a long piece of text, and if you have trouble writing the short MA thesis, those problems will most likely be exacerbated in your PhD, if you don't manage to solve them. Hope you're able to make a good decision for you!

Also think of cost of living, which is ridiculously high in Switzerland, especially Zurich. Cambridge isn't cheap, but cost of living differences will likely be high, so the money from ETH might not be as much more as you thought it was, especially factoring in insurance etc!

I'm in a 2-year program, and will have one recommender from undergrad and 2/3 from grad school. When I asked my profs, they thought it's good to show a consistent trend, so having one recommender from undergrad could be a good idea. In addition, my undergrad thesis still is the single most important piece of research I've undertaken, so it made sense. However, I was told that it would raise red flags about my performance in the M.A. if I had more undergrad than grad recommendation letters. I don't know how it is if you're in a 1-year program, they might be more understanding then!

Dear all, I'm currently in the application process, and am applying to some schools outside of the US as well (Canada, UK). In many of these schools, it is expected that prospective PhD students get in touch with their POIs. Currently, however, I'm stuck on how to approach this. Obviously, I want to keep it brief and to the point, but don't I have to include some background about myself? Should I attach my CV and/or my proposal, or rather wait for a reply and then attach the documents they want? Also, when is a good time to contact people? I figured I'd wait until after classes resume in the UK, so profs will be in the office, but I'm not sure about that. Just as a reference, this is my current "blueprint": Dear Prof. ..., I am writing to you because I am interested in pursuing a PhD in the field of ..., more specifically ... I would be very interested in working with you, because ... Are you currently taking on advisees? Would you be interested in supervising a thesis on the topics outlined above? I am currently enrolled in the M.A. of ... Previously, I studied ..., and wrote my senior thesis about... I don't know how to end it either, so am kind of stuck at this point. Anyone in the same boat and willing to help? Thanks in advance, Antonia

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but have you tried telling him that you feel uncomfortable? If you've had a good relationship with him so far, why not give him the benefit of a doubt? He might think that you not saying something is a sign that you're ok with where he hopes this is heading... (I'm not saying his behavior is right or condoning it, all I'm saying is, he might not be aware of how comfortable this is making you feel. I personally would hesitate about going to an outsider before having talked to him myself). I second the suggestion about making sure to only meet in public places, and I also think that he is not the only person that could help you publish your thesis. I personally would want a second opinion, just because I wouldn't be sure if he actually thinks my thesis is worth publishing, or if he just uses it as an excuse. This is not at all to lay blame on you, you are not responsible for his behavior. However, the way you deal with it is something that you are responsible for and that you can impact.

That's a tough spot to be in. I think the first thing you should figure out is where do you want to end up. The BTS is good, but it's an academic program, wheras Hertie (and Willy Brandt) are more practitioner-oriented. Also, how much work experience and connections do you have coming in? From what I hear, the professional year, and career services are huge strengths if Hertie that can help you, especially if you have an idea of where you wanna end up, but don't know how to (and haven't gotten a lot of experience yet). I wouldn't choose Potsdam just for the location, and I've never heard of the program there, but since I'm doing IR (not public policy, take that with a grain of salt). Jacobs University is supposed to be good academically, but is operating at a structural loss, so it's not the safest place to be in terms of it being around for 20 years or so (so name recognition will be low). Hertie is definitely the most well-regarded program of the lot, although it is really expensive. I do think it all depends on where you wanna end up.

boston university, they have a separate M.A. in Religion and Politics, though more IR-oriented, I believe.

Library? In my country, you can donate all kinds of books to a library. If they're in good shape, they go into their "stock", if they're less good, they sell them for you (for like 50 cents a piece).

If you put something as "under review" on your CV, though, it's seen as pretty much a joke, since most manuscripts under review actually get rejected. I think it might make more sense to put that in your SOP.

If you're dead-set on China, Fudan is probably your best option, but don't expect to get an academic job afterwards. In addition, most people I know that did an English-language program in China were not able to simultaneously learn the language, bc Chinese is hard, and needs practice, and you're most likely to hang out only with English-language peeps. Also note that in terms of language-learning, most of ML China is not ideal for beginners, because they tend to not be very good at pedagogy, teaching grammar etc., and your class is likely made up of Koreans/Asians, who have different experiences learning Chinese. I know people who did their PhD at European unis, but spent most of their time doing fieldwork/language study in China, which I do absolutely believe to be better. I also know people who did their Post-Doc at good Chinese universities (think Fudan, Renda etc.), and managed to land good positions afterwards. Also note that the government scholarship in China is really low. In my year (2011-2012), it was (I think) 1400 RMB/month, plus a shared dorm room. If you're willing to live on campus (in a shared room), and to eat mostly in the campus cafeteria, not go out etc., this might be enough to live on, but it's not comfortable, especially not in SH, arguably the most expensive mainland city.