RafJacob

Thank you!

Question: if one is told that he/she will be nominated for a financial aid package award (i.e. a fellowship) by his/her school's polisci Dept (at the PhD level), does that usually mean that he/she is bound to receiving the aid, or merely that he/she will be put in contention for receiving the aid?

Hi, I'm completing an MA in Political Science this year from the University of Quebec (I'm a Canadian citizen) and will be applying for PhD programs in a few U.S. universities. Given the amount of time and money each application requires, there are only so many schools I can apply to. I have narrowed it down to about 10-12 programs that interest me, based on a host of different factors. To provide you with a brief background, I had an 3.5 GPA as an undergrad and currently hold a 3.8 GPA as a graduate student (I'm fairly confident I will be at 3.9 by the time I send in my applications). I have relevant work experience (e.g. research fellow in a research chair, policy analyst in a public policy think tank) and expect to have three strong letters of recommendation. I'm taking the TOEFL and the GRE later this month, so I don't have the results for either yet. Which program(s) from the following list do you think present me with the best odds of both being accepted and getting funding? *Washington University in St. Louis *UMass - Amherst *Johns Hopkins University *Binghamton University (NY) *American University *George Mason University *Virginia Tech *University of Virginia *Florida State University *University of Kentucky *University of Cincinnati *University of Illinois - Champaign Informed feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Raf