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socioeconomist

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Everything posted by socioeconomist

  1. It seems that you are totally competitive not just for the top 20, but for CHYMPS in particular. Just make sure to apply to at least 10-15 different programs. It is the most general advice for everyone, but in your case it is especially important. Good luck! PS. It is indeed weird that you mentioned Princeton as 'a less competitive school'. LOL
  2. Toni, I believe that Stanford GSB, Harvard and Princeton are indeed great choices for you. At Princeton, for instance, they have a joint program for Political Economy with common classes for both economists and political scientists. At the same time, you are still formally enrolled at either department, so you can remain an IR or comparative guy for the employment. Anyway, all these schools are really tough to get in, so try hard and good luck with it Just out of curiosity, what school are you at right now? (just PM me)
  3. From my experience, it totally makes sense to borrow some cash from a friend and apply to a dozen of schools. If you are not completely confident in your application, it is a suicide to apply for less then 6 programs.
  4. I did not want to offend anyone, but there are certain objective criteria which allow comparing US and European institutions (publications, placement etc.). Although, it is undoubtedly hard, because the systems are indeed different. I personally believe that German universities are of a high standard, but there are certainly no internationally recognized top institutions. There is no Harvard here, sorry. Science (even social) is international and thus the fact of not publishing in English is an indicator of weakness, not unfairness of world rankings towards Germany. But it is not all that depressing. For instance, Mannheim is ranked higher (#49) than Brown (#50) in the recent QS ranking on politics. FU is also doing a great job in terms of internationalization, but the truth is that it can be hardly compared to the top 50 in the US (which are btw great institutions such as John Hopkins, UC Irvine, Boulder, Vanderbilt etc.) So, would you rather study in FU or in Brown?
  5. I would say Jacobs, Konstanz, ETH or Mannheim (maybe FU, but definitely not Heidelberg). These are the only schools that have some value outside of Germany and that provide training comparable to second tier US schools. Nevertheless, you'd be still better off if you do GRE and apply to America.
  6. Hey guys! I was admitted to one of the Princeton's PhD programs and I am wondering what is the best housing option for a incoming graduate student (I'm single). As far as I got from the website, you can choose between dorms in the Old (New) Graduate College and apartments in Lawrence, Butler and Stanworth. I don't need much space and I'm totally fine with living in a dorm as long as I have my personal room. Of course, I would like to spend on housing as less as possible, although quality of living (not money) is my major concern. 0. How common is to stay in colleges rather than apartments? 1. What is the difference between graduate colleges? Is it true that you might need to share a room there? Is it mostly 1st year student who live there? Are the all mixed from different departments? 2. Is it obligatory in colleges to buy these meal plans? As for me, it looks ridiculously expensive, but I might be wrong. What do you think, does it make sense? 3. How is it likely to get studio in one of the complexes? 4. The website says that Butler and Stanworth will be closed next year and their residents will get a priority for the new Lakeside complex. What do you think about this new housing option? It looks cool, but I assume it'll be very expensive. 5. How do Butler, Stanworth and Lawrence compare? Sorry for so many questions and thanks in advance!
  7. I would second the previous comment. Oxford's polisci department is an underachiever. LSE is clearly a better choice for OP. Unfortunately, though, if placed in the US context (which is dominant in political science), both schools would hardly make it to top 25. PS I also know people who chose Essex over LSE and Oxford. If you look at the faculty, it actually makes perfect sense.
  8. I applied several years ago. Although the funding there is substantial, the quality of these programs is often uncertain.
  9. Hey guys, Congrats with all the acceptances! Could anyone please tell me what are the visiting days for Michigan and WUSTL admits? Thanks a lot!
  10. Congrats to Princeton admits! Will they have an official visiting time or something? I haven't heard anything from them on this issue.
  11. Thanks for the links! Do you think it is possible to take online courses somewhere recognizable by grad programs?
  12. Thank you for your response! That is probably what I am looking for. The thing is that I am from Europe, so I am not really familiar with the system of non-matriculated or extension programs. Could you please give a link to an example of such kind of program? So far I am positive that CC is definitely what I don't need.
  13. Hi! I just realized that for all my preferred PhD programs have some math prerequisites, which I lack. During my undergrad, I had a general two-semester math course, which included calculus and linear algebra, and two-semester course on probability and statistics. Now, in order to be competitive, I look for separate full-fledged courses on calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, probability, and maybe real analysis. So, the questions are: 1) Where can I take all these courses? 2) How fast can it be? 3) How expensive will it be? My main goal is to recognizably get fully confident in math as fast as it is possible. Thanks!.
  14. Brent, thank you for the response. I am quite sure of my field, I just really believe that it is more about methods and data you use and questions you ask than about quite artificial disciplinary boundaries. Anyway, it is beyond this discussion. GPA is lower because of the methods (~B+), substantive classes are fine (A+). I have studied for just two semesters so far, which are quite similar in terms of the result (though, hopefully the grade for advanced methods turn out to be even higher then for the general methods class). Do you think it is possible to mitigate this methods failure by performing well in quantitative summer schools (such as Essex or ICPSR)? I am quite confident in my writers and I hope that their recommendations will counterbalance by low GPA. Still, do you think that I' d better avoid discussing my low GPA or vice versa try to explain the reasons why it is low and why I am still great at methods no matter what?
  15. Hey guys! I am almost done with my studies in Europe and this year I am going to apply for PhD in the U.S. So, here is the thing. I completed my BA in Sociology with GPA of 3.95. Then I decided to change the field a bit and got enrolled to an MA program in Political Science. Now I have almost finished the first year, but got a poorer result of something about 3.5 out of 4 (it is not a final grade, but I will probably need to send exactly these preliminary transcripts with my PhD application). So, the questions are as follows: 1) How problematic is it for my application in general? I mean I read that many schools pay most of their attention to an undergraduate degree. At the same time I could imagine that my situation might be comprehended as "a bad trend" or something. 2) If it really could be a problem, I am wondering whether it'd be better to explain this situation in my statement of purpose (I changed my major etc.) 3) All other things being equal (and I really mean it!), do you think that given my situation I am more competitive for a PhD in Sociology or PhD in Political Science? My research interest actually lies in between these fields and I have quite similar experience and knowledge of both of them. On the one hand, I would assume I am more competitive for Sociology, because of the higher grades, but at the same time, it could seem that I didn't succeed in Political Science and decided to return. So, on the other hand, my way to Political Science is more straight-forward and even though I have lower grades in it, I could still catch up completing MA requirements during my PhD. Thanks!
  16. Right, poster session is what I thought of at first. But here I am not even sure how to put this event on my CV. It seems that there will be a bunch of guys like me with their papers, so probably the only benefit I can get is some new connections.
  17. Hi! My work has been accepted to a very descent international conference of the major association in my discipline, but just as a distributed paper. They wrote that it means that I am not presenting anything, but they want me to bring a limited number of printed copies and distribute them among other participants. Has anyone done this so far? I mean that it seems a bit weird. The problem is that the conference is quite far away, it is right during the study semester and I am not sure I will be able to get funding for that. Considering all this, for me the question is the following: Is it worth it? What do you think? Thanks
  18. Hey guys! I am almost done with my studies in Europe and this year I am going to apply for PhD in the U.S. So, here is the thing. I completed my BA in Sociology with GPA of 3.95. Then I decided to change the field a bit and got enrolled to an MA program in Political Science. Now I have almost finished the first year, but got a poorer result of something about 3.5 out of 4 (it is not a final grade, but I will probably need to send exactly these preliminary transcripts with my PhD application. So, the questions are as follows: 1) How problematic is it for my application in general? I mean I read that many schools pay most of their attention to an undergraduate degree. At the same time I could imagine that my situation might be comprehended as "a bad trend" or something. 2) If it really could be a problem, I am wondering whether it'd be better to explain this situation in my statement of purpose (I changed my major etc.) 3) All other things being equal (and I really mean it!), do you think that given my situation I am more competitive for a PhD in Sociology or PhD in Political Science? My research interest actually lies in between these fields and I have quite similar experience and knowledge of both of them. On the one hand, I would assume I am more competitive for Sociology, because of the higher grades, but at the same time, it could seem that I didn't succeed in Political Science and decided to return. So, on the other hand, my way to Political Science is more straight-forward and even though I have lower grades in it, I could still catch up completing MA requirements during my PhD. Thanks!
  19. Thanks, guys. I had a feeling that it is not really appropriate in the U.S., but here in Germany some people tried to convince me that the opposite is true.
  20. Hi! I will also go there for the second session. As far as I know - this is the most renowned non-degree methodological training you can get.
  21. Hi! I am going to apply for PhD programs in the U.S. soon and I am wondering whether it would make sense to explicitly state my young age (22. given that I already have a master degree) in a CV. Could it be an advantage? Or vice versa? Thanks. PS I know it is not really important, but I am still curious
  22. Thank you guys. I totally agree that it could be hard without a math background even in the lucky case of acceptance. But, in reality I have no difficulties with stuff like "Mathematics for Economists" of SImon and Blume, I just don't have any records that I had a separate course of calculus etc. Regarding my "fuzzy interests", it is just a matter of time and, of course, I will have a certain topic for my SOP. So, let me put it this way: are there any econ programs among top-50 with no formal admission requirements of math courses? I feel like it is the only thing that stops me from applying...
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