puddle
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Posts posted by puddle
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On 5/26/2017 at 3:56 PM, IR44 said:
I'm looking at a few tenure-track professors as potential POIs, though the vast majority are tenured. Is it problematic to highlight faculty you'd like to work with that aren't tenured yet? My initial instinct is 1) they may not get tenured at the current university and leave to be tenured elsewhere (though POIs leaving is always a concern). 2) they will undoubtedly be highly concerned with publishing/be generally swamped. Thoughts?
Late to the game here but I wanted to say something about this. Some top schools have high department turnover (even of tenured profs... not that I'm bitter about 1/2 my committee leaving before I finished my prospectus or anything) and so the tenured professors tend to get "stuck" with a lot of grad students when un-tenured faculty leave. Then new faculty come in and the department tries to foist off grad students on them. So when you are applying, it would be best to reference a mix of tenured & non-tenured (especially new) faculty. The strategy here is not to pin your admissions prospects on a tenured faculty member who is already overseeing a ton of projects but to show that your work speaks to both the department's established scholars and the direction they are hoping to take things in (their new scholars who aren't towards the end of their tenure clock yet). Make sense? Maybe not. I need more sleep. Send help.
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If the tax bill passes the senate then you've got even more to worry about. I'm ABD but if I was facing 6 years of 7k+ in taxes on a 30k stipend (and that's at a top school), I think I would take a long, hard look at my decision to go to grad school at all. Then thrown in the loss of the student loan interest waiver and you're looking at serious debt through grad school and then a strong chance that you won't end up in academia anyways once you leave. Scary shit.
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On 6/21/2017 at 9:23 AM, anonym892 said:
Thanks! Based on a quick search of the forums, my situation (PhD after JD) appears to be relatively uncommon, so I wasn't sure how strongly the JD would be weighed against me in my application, or whether I could reasonably rely on admissions committees looking mostly at my undergraduate record (and whether that record alone is good enough to justify applications to top schools). I really appreciate your feedback!
It isn't that uncommon. 2/18 people in my cohort had passed the bar and were working before deciding to go back to do a PhD.
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The only Marxist theorist I know is at Tufts and in literature.
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Honestly it's not worth taking on masses of debt for a masters and your job prospects with a low tier PhD aren't phenomenal (hell... even a high tier PhD doesn't get you more than a foot in the door). Consider attending the George Mason program and leaving after the masters years (either transfer to another program if you're good enough or take the terminal masters and go on to do something else with your life). Otherwise, apply again next year and think about what kinds of MA programs are worth applying to on a cost-benefit basis.
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Read their most recently published papers
I'll never forget the awkwardness of sitting in Stathis Kalyvas' office after failing to recall the punch line of his most recent article. To be fair though this might be a Kalyvas specific problem and I never ended up working with him but with ego-driven profs it's definitely worth brushing up on their work before one-on-one meetings.
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Yale's Package:
6 Years Stipend: 30,250 + (goes up every year, paid every 2 weeks year round)Years 1 & 2 - MA years, no teaching requirement
Years 3 & 4 - teaching 1 class a semester, 15-20 hours max... right now I'm doing maybe 5 hours total including attending lectures (no teaching in summer)
Year 5 - University Dissertation Fellowship (writing fellowship, no teaching or residency required)
Year 6 - teaching 1 class a semester
Also Included:
- full medical coverage (inc. full family coverage for spouse/partner & child if you or your spouse/partner gives birth while you are a graduate student)
- tuition and fees fully paid
- up to 4000$ increase in stipend if you have an external scholarship (if your scholarship exceeds 4000$ you do not earn more than Yale stipend + 4000$). You can also defer Yale's fellowship for up to 1 year
- department conference travel funding: $450 per year for first 2 years, $700 per year for each year after
- free Miller High Life @ GPSCY on Thursday Nights
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If anyone who snatched up a Yale admit would like to talk with a current grad student (5th year), please feel free to PM me. Happy to offer advice - anonymously or otherwise.
Also I should note that the "list" hasn't been sent out by our department so all hope may not be lost. Back in the day I got my "admit" email at 2am on a Wednesday because my POI was in Thailand and hadn't gotten around to it before then.
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On 2/5/2017 at 7:01 PM, tugbamina_871 said:
Hi everyone! I am a finalist in the School of Art and I am hoping to get in. Just doing some early research about housing there. I am married with a small child. I have seen a few grad housing apartments that look nice especially for families but it also seems difficult to get. I was wondering if anyone has seen these apartments, and if so, are they renovated in any way? Can anyone share any observations about the state of flooring, radiators, kitchen appliances and bathrooms?
Have you come across fellow graduate students buy in the area? Is it a bad investment?
Thanks very much in advance.
Hey There! Please feel free to join the 2017 New Grad Students Facebook Group and pose this question. There are lots of resources in New Haven and at Yale for families.
Just some preliminary answers:
(1) The Yale apartments are definitely a good option for families but there are also many many apartments in the new haven area that would be suitable and affordable. The Yale apartments operate on a lottery system for fairness. They are maintained by the university and are in good condition. If you have issues, things will be repaired.
(2) I personally know a few people who have bought while in New Haven and it has probably been more trouble than it was worth. Once you own a house or or condo, all costs of repair and maintenance time are on your shoulders. Most graduate students do not have the time or will to maintain a house in addition to their studies.
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Let's break this down.
(1) You want a funded or cheap MA but you are an international student who is going to pay likely 10s of thousands of dollars to come to the US. Cheap is relative but you are not likely to find it as funded MAs (not MSc... in the States, political science is an arts degree, not a science degree) are rare in political science and virtually non-existent in the US.
(2) You want a research based MA but don't know what you want to study. If you are going to be doing research you need to work this out before your degree because programs in the states are often only a year long. They usually accept people who have this sorted out before they enter. No one is going to tell you what to study.
(3) You don't want to write the GRE. Most schools in the states require the GRE for graduate school. It is what it is. Americans love them some standardized tests.
My advice? Think really carefully about what you want to do & spend the time researching your options before asking open-ended questions to strangers on the internet. I'm sorry, this may seem harsh but you're clearly unprepared to start the process. Get your ducks in a row before you start marching, eh?
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Not in your field but I got my MA at UBC & am now getting my PhD at Yale
IMO it's best not to bankrupt yourself getting an expensive masters degree when a less expensive option is available. If you want to go on in your area, your PhD should be paid for so you can take a chance on a pricey uni then.
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Crown-York is great if you can get in (very competitive because there aren't very many apartments in there). They are clean & safe.
25 Broadway ... meh I wouldn't live there. That apartment is so close to Toads & can be super noisy at night.
I've never specifically sublet over the summer but I've never had a hard time finding a subletter for my apartment. Even had a subletter that started randomly in January and went till August.
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If you are interested, many schools have old or current comprehensive exam reading lists up online. Check these puppies out - more than enough reading to keep you occupied. Don't forget to take good notes on anything you read!
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If anyone new admits have Yale questions, feel free to PM.
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21 hours ago, alphazeta said:
I want to return to what several of us have said above (and what I think is honestly the most important point in this thread): Do not worry about trying to impress people. You're already in. They're sold. Now it's their turn to sell you. It's not really even necessary to "prepare" for these meetings.
You'll probably want to ask what people are working on (and this is useful information to have), but reading recent publications won't really do much for that conversation. Just ask about it and then listen to the answer. If it seems appropriate, ask about opportunities for collaboration (not in the sense of "hire me now as your RA" though).
Be prepared to talk about your interests in a general way. You're not being quizzed - you don't need to be impressive, but sharing your general research interests will help faculty POIs tell you about relevant resources, etc.
Ask about training, especially methods training, as appropriate. Feel free to ask about culture. With potential advisors, feel free to ask if they have any plans to leave in the foreseeable future.
These are casual conversations. In general, expect the faculty member to do the vast majority of the talking but make sure to ask any questions you need answered.
Unless you are meeting with Stathis Kalyvas who will quiz you. Nobody expects the Greek Inquisition.
- wb3060 and PizzaCat93
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On 2/12/2016 at 10:15 AM, brent09 said:
I appreciate this, but the advice makes me nervous. It can easily motivate prospective students to go overboard in the hopes of gaining some advantage over their prospective cohort.
I absolutely agree with this. I think you should begin the way you mean to proceed. Being a jackass is certainly no way to get along in grad school. In my case the question was an actual question -- not a point made with a question mark at the end. Genuine curiosity should always be encouraged :D.
- brent09 and Eobard Thawne
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This may sound small but here was the best thing I did on a visiting weekend:
I went to a lunchtime colloquium. I read the paper ahead of time, I paid attention during the talk, and at the appropriate time I asked a question. Turns out my question was a pretty good one because 2 of the profs I met with later on commented on it. One of those profs is now on my committee -- and our discussion about the paper/my question was the start of that very important academic relationship.
- aroundandabout and s1994
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3 hours ago, shane94 said:
There should be some, although almost none of them is purely Poli Sci. Check the deadlines of GPS (UCSD), Jaskson (Yale), CIR (Chicago), MAPSS (Chicago), QMSS (Columbia), etc. Also, if you are doing comparative, there are tons of area study Masters in the country as well.
Going to get a Master degree after getting rejected by all of your applied Ph.D. programs is definitely not ideal (so let's hope that it does not happen). But there are also plenty option left without leaving the US.
There are also plenty of later-application terminal MA programmes in Canada which are cheaper than their US counterparts, often come with TAships or other funding, and can really set you up for a better round of PhD applications after 1 or 2 years. I strongly recommend checking these out - they can make a huge difference both to the quality of your application & your understanding of the field/your research interests.
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On 1/17/2016 at 0:30 PM, sociologyapp2016 said:
Both statements are flat out false. Yes, the admissions process can be arbitrary, but grad committees don't just pick names out of a hat.
And think about the logic of your argument. It's like equivalent of: "I never smoked my entire life. I ended up getting lung cancer at age 50, though fortunately I ended up living to be 100 years old. Therefore, whether you smoke or not is meaningless with respect to longevity."
Lol what?
Fair enough. That's not really what I meant but I think I expressed this poorly. I guess what I should have said was that there are many applicants to top programs. Of these, several will have similar stats to you and a similar fit. Several will have better stats and better fit (or one of these). Whether you are accepted or they are accepted cannot be predicted. This is why - IMO - schools don't report accurate GRE or GPA cutoffs for their programs.
Here is an example from my own experience. I applied to a program equal in ranking to the one I ended up getting accepted to. I had 4-5 profs I could have worked with, had grades & GRE scores on the high end of what they accepted that year, had a etc. I was not accepted. I was later told that of the profs I "fit" with, none were looking to take on new grad students my year (going on sabbatical, had too many students from a previous year, was changing schools etc.).
So, anyways, yes... your grades do matter & your GRE scores matter in that they keep you off the outright "no" list. Just like your lifestyle choices make a difference in whether you get cancer or not. However - there is a largely unpredictable element in acceptances to grad school as in lung cancer. I don't mean you can't improve your chances of being accepted by working hard, getting good grades, applying to schools that seem to be a good fit, etc. I mean that once you have taken all these precautions, you cannot know what the system has in store for you. You could still be rejected from every school you applied to... or you could be accepted to them all. The system is - as you say - often arbitrary. Though names are not just "picked out of a hat", I am not certain that any other selection system is particularly more "fair".
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UBC... There are better funding packages elsewhere but some part of this is that UBC expects you to come in with SSHRC. If you don't hold one already, they will make you apply each year you are there.
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On 1/14/2016 at 2:28 PM, CarefreeWritingsontheWall said:
Hey Puddle! Thanks for the answers. Just wondering how many programs you applied to in total - you mentioned that you had already signed your commitment letter before your recruitment weekend visit, but I'm unsure if this means you applied widely or narrowly with a specific program in mind. When it comes to fit, what were the primary reasons why you ultimately chose the program you did? Also, out of curiosity, did your GRE scores and experience applying into the program fall below, or above your department's posted average statistics?
Hey - I applied fairly widely (3 in Canada, 8 in the US with 7/8 in the top 10). The school I chose was by far the best school I got into (both objectively in terms of funding, reputation, etc. And for me in terms of the number of profs I could work with). I sorta chose a school based on fit but I prioritized funding, faculty size and reputation... I have no regrets about this as I ended up changing my advisory team and dissertation topic 3 times before settling on my current project /team. My school has a lot of money and lots of opportunities to pick up funding for exploratory research. This is awesome... I can't imagine going to school somewhere that didn't have those things. Reputation seems like it shouldn't matter @ grad school... But dont kid yourself, it does. Big, internationally famous, rich schools with "t-shirt" worthy names will open doors. People answer emails more quickly, they are more willing to interview you for jobs, hell... Even US customs goes more quickly when you drop your school's name in at the beginning of the conversation.
My GREs were good (800 math, 760 in eng). I had a 3.7 gpa from a large public R1 where I had also been a 4 year full-ride D1 student-athlete. I had an MA with distinction and a fairly interesting thesis. Good letters of rec from my thesis advisors and one prof from the US who I had worked with for years. I had 2 years research experience in south eastern Africa. I had no publications but 2 conference presentations. I had/still have Canada's SSHRC scholarship.
... Oh and of the 8 top-10 schools I applied to, I was accepted to only 1. The system is unpredictable. That's my biggest word to the wise. You just cannot know if you are going to be accepted. Your stats are essentially meaningless. I think fit is meaningless too because I was rejected from worse schools with which I had technically better fit.
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On 12/23/2015 at 3:41 AM, shane94 said:
Did most of the students in your cohort go to APSA in their first year? What about MPSA/SPSA, or other smaller regional references (say, for example, ISA-Midwest)? Thanks!
Some people went to APSA but not very many in their first year... large amounts of conference funding isn't that easy to come by unless you have a paper to present so the richies went and the poor saps stayed behind. I presented at a smaller regional conference (WPSA) and I received something like 500$ from my department to pay for it (not nearly enough... but it helped).
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On 12/22/2015 at 11:38 AM, wpg205 said:
I'm finding this very funny, if a little sad.
Sense of humour always helps.
UCLA vs. Berkeley for undergrad. How much more weight does Cal have over UCLA in masters/PhD admissions?
in Political Science Forum
Posted
I did my undergrad at UCLA and PhD at Yale with a Canadian Masters in between. I was a recruited student athlete choosing between UCLA (on scholarship) and Princeton (on parental goodwill). I loved my time at UCLA and have no regrets about my choice and don't feel that it held me back in any way.