UndraftedFreeAgent

If your primary interest is methods, then I would strongly recommend taking as much math as you can. As you mention bayesian games and econometrics, you probably have at least some math background, but I would recommend supplementing it as much as possible, whether that means taking classes or teaching yourself. Sooner or later, you will need the following math skills if you want to really get into formal modeling or methods: (minimum) Uni- and Multivariate calculus Linear Algebra Real Analysis (the skill you really need is the reading and writing of proofs) Probability and Statistics (recommended) Calculus Based Statistics Time series econometrics Panel data Optimal Control Operations Management, or Non-linear Optimization (depending on what your school calls it). The minimum skills are things you should really take as an undergrad or be prepared to have a steep learning curve when you start. The recommended skills are things that will likely be part of your graduate training, but it always helps to get ahead when you can. If your school gives you the option of taking graduate level game theory, econometrics, or methods courses, then take them if you feel adequately prepared and believe that you can do well. Best of luck.

Letters from economics professors are not necessarily a handicap. It's more important that the professors have knowledge of your academic potential and that their opinions are relevant to your research interests. Given your focus on econometrics and methods, these may end up being just as or more helpful than letters from political science faculty. Moreover, professors with a strong methods focus are likely to be familiar with economics literature, as political science methods borrow heavily from economics.

Unless the school is paying for you to stay on campus or you don't have a car, I would recommend finding something off campus. You would think that living on the edge of campus would give you easy access to stores, but the main things there are bars and restaurants. Living on campus (from what my friends living there tell me) is really only a good idea if you plan to do nothing but sleep in your apartment. People living on the East side of town, including myself, seem to be happiest with their choices. On a related note, if it's at all possible, come down to Tallahassee for a weekend to apartment hunt. You really can't get an idea of the city from websites and maps. For example, downtown is actually on a fairly significant hill and some parts of town are subject to flooding. But yes, there are grocery stores near campus. If you're curious about what's around, you can use one of the google maps features to check what's convenient (check the Northwest side of campus).

I haven't been on the forum much in recent months, but I thought I would throw in my two cents. Moving from Econ to Political Science is definitely possible... that's exactly what I'm doing (I have a BS in Economics/Math and an MA in Economics and Econometrics). It seems as though many Political Science programs are undergoing the same transformation that Economics programs were twenty years ago. That is, looking for students who aren't afraid of calculus. If you can demonstrate a strong math background and interests in methods, game theory, or policy analysis, then you can make yourself a very attractive candidate, even without significant undergrad Political Science coursework. However, there will be some schools that will reject you immediately because of your earlier focus. Therefore you will need to send out more applications than most others on this forum did. Think of it as an expected value problem, where depending on your grades and scores, you might need to send out 5 well aimed applications to expect 1 admission on average. Thus you should consider finding as many as 15 schools for which you could apply. Be prepared to explain why you want to make the jump from Economics to Political Science. In your personal statement, identify work you have done in the past that could be applied to either field. In terms of Political Economy, make sure you know what it is before declaring it as your research focus. Not only is there not as much math involved as you would imagine, but it's a field in which it is quite difficult to find a job. Political economists study several different models of economic thought, but the vast majority of schools only want to teach neoclassical or new Keynesian to undergrads, so concentrating on anything else could adversely impact your ability to get a tenure track position. If you just have broad interests in Economics and Politics, you should try to identify a few specific topics that could be directed into one of the other fields (i.e. American, Comparative, International Relations, etc.). On the GRE, if you are focusing on quantitative methods, then you will want to score as high on the math section as possible, but you also must not ignore the verbal section. Since any program in Political Science is likely to be far more reading and writing intensive than a program in Economics, you need to prove that you will not fall behind. A few schools set higher requirements, but many require at least 500+ on each section as a school (not department) minimum just to consider your application. So you still have to spend those tedious hours studying for the verbal section.

Aside from rising_star, none of us have actually been to Tallahassee for anything more than a few days as part of a campus visit, so we don't really know much about apartments/condos down there. You might try contacting current grad students in your future department, as they will have better and up-to-date information on living in town. Based on previous discussions, the Northwest of town (that's where the address you listed is) isn't supposed to be that great an area, but then I haven't actually been there, so I don't know. I've included a link to the public transit website for the city, but your options seem to be very limited if you plan to remain on campus after 6:30pm. http://www.talgov.com/starmetro/systemmap.cfm If you're looking for an apartment, I recommend rent.com, apartmentfinder.com, and apartmentratings.com.

I was puzzled by their absence from the rankings as well, but if you have non-academic ambitions, they seem to place pretty well in government and policy institutions. Given the government pay grade system and how well some policy firms pay, you could well out-earn us all.

I think Delta must have drugged me or something.

Wow, then I guess their marketing director needs to be fired, because their pamphlets make them look only slightly better than University of Phoenix Online. But Smith wasn't directly offering admission, that was Rutgers. Smith just keeps sending application materials. I don't know how they are about funding, because after the first letter, I've just been throwing their stuff in the recycling as soon as I get it.

Based on the GRE a few years ago, Rutgers Law offered me admission "as part of a pilot program to see if the GRE is a good substitute for the LSAT" even though I wasn't applying to law schools. I've also been flooded with mailings from "Smith College of Social Work" trying to get me to apply to their PhD program. I took the GRE in June 2005 and they've been sending letters to my parents' house pretty much every month since. Again, I expressed no interest in social work, but I think the survey asked for hours spent volunteering in a given week or something like that

I thought the trip went pretty well. Everyone seemed friendly and like they weren't too stressed. For some reason I was really tired during the visit, so I didn't go out to the bars with the others, but there will be plenty of time for that later. It seemed like a group that was quite intelligent, but still knew how to have a good time. A lot of people were talking about the softball team, so it sounds like that could actually happen. If you were the only Americanist in your group, then I'm guessing there will be about 5 or 6 of us total. In terms of housing, it's just like you're looking for a place to live while working. The places close to campus are more likely to be filled with loud undergrads. There's some good stuff on housing earlier in this thread and in the Florida State thread from people who have actually lived there. I'm gonna be down there in a few weeks to find an apartment and put some of my stuff into storage. There are a lot of interesting apartment complexes listed on rent.com, apartmentfinder.com, and others like that, but you can't really tell about a place until you see it in person. Personally, I'm looking East, Northeast, and Southeast, within 5 miles of campus.

Hmm... I got the opposite impression. I guess we'll find out when we get there later this Summer.

For what it's worth, if you're considering a PC, be prepared to be stuck with Vista. Microsoft is phasing out XP (in June I believe) and all PCs come with Vista unless you buys as a small business. Your school's IT department will have some sort of guide, and possibly a link to student discounts, for buying computers or software for school. Ask your grad director if there is a departmental preference for Macs or PCs and if there are any programs that you simply must have. Also check which computer brands have licensed warrenty service shops on campus. That way, if anything goes wrong or you just need some tech help, there will be actual people you can talk to. At Notre Dame, my motherboard fried (my own fault) and I was able to take my computer in, get it diagnosed, and have a replacement part ordered and installed within 24 hours. The IT department's website will tell you what brands it will service. The reliability of Macs has somewhat lessened of late, but that's mostly because people are running Microsoft programs on them and it's the Microsoft programs that are causing the problems. I've been very happy with my Dell.

Quantification of subjective responses to a self-selected survey makes econometricians cry. I agree that an adcom rating system would be pretty useless, but some level of transparency would be nice. To those of us on the outside, adcoms seem to be a black box mechanism that sucks up our money and time and spits out "yes" or "no" with no real explanation. It's especially puzzling when we get into our top choice schools, but are rejected from our safeties. I know it would be too much to ask, but more feedback than a form rejection letter would help allay concerns that our applications are not actually being read. For example: Penn State's Political Science rejection cited an "unusually high median GRE" score of 1290... mine was more than 100 more than that. Mind you that PSU was low on my list and I wasn't a good fit, but it was still puzzling. They could even send out several sets of form letters: one for low GPAs, one for low GREs, one for poor fit, one for "you're too awesome for us", etc., for virtually no additional cost. If they're actually reading our applications, it would involve one extra column in the Excel file, entering a number to represent the form letter that should be send, and then using the sort function. In terms of standardizing the application process though, there has been a bit of "progress", in that a lot of schools are starting to use systems like Embark or ApplyYourself. The problem is that these systems still have a lot of bugs, and most of our undergrad schools haven't adapted to the 21st century methods of sending transcripts. I'm willing to bet than in another 10 years (ie when some of us will be on adcoms or writing letters of recommendation), the entire process will be electronic. Hopefuly it won't go as far as the federal government has gone, where your file is first judged as qualified or unqualified by a computer without human involvement. Their system turned me down for a few interviews, because it only took me one year to complete my MA rather than two or three. I'll go away now. I'm at work being bored.

I still envision a prof aiming a shotgun at a toilet. The Mythbusters showed that shooting fish in a barrel isn't that easy, I wonder if shooting a crap is any different.

I would say that the writing section matters, but only in that they don't want to see an exceptionally low score. A score below 5 for someone who wants to study language or literature would raise some question marks. You definitely don't want to be below the 50 to 60 percentile in any section, even though I'm guessing the quant score is pretty meaningless to most humanities programs.

It's tempting to ask for your money back, but I wouldn't do it. For one thing, the money was probably collected directly by the grad school, not by the department and pretty much all schools make it clear that the fee is nonrefundable. There are all kinds of reasons that they may not have responded yet. Maybe they're still considering your application. Maybe they didn't have your full application, even if they say they did. I had several schools (all using the Embark system) tell me that my file was complete and then claim not to have my transcripts. Clerical errors happen all the time, since this is paperwork involving ourselves, our undergrad registrar's office, their admissions dept., ETS, any other programs you've attended, your recommenders, and the department itself. That's a lot of potential error, not even mentioning postal or computer problems. Two years ago, I received a copy of someone else's GRE scores from ETS and let's just say that I'm very glad they didn't send those scores to schools. The point is, you shouldn't ask for your money back. You could however, call/email the department and let them know that you never received a decision. That way, since you didn't intend to join their program, you could still let them know that their system was defective, so they can improve for future years.

I agree with engguy that you should spend the Summer working to boost your verbal GRE and learn how to get a 6.0 in writing. I've been reading on this forum about how competitive the English programs are, and you will want as flawless a record as you can muster. Good luck!

Your job situation sounds rather similar to mine and I had some employer pressure to stay as well, though they quickly realized that they weren't going to convince me to stay. One thing to consider is the placement record of the program you are considering. If you are planning to go on to a PhD program, what percentage of the MA program's students do that and how successful are they in getting good admits? If your current admit is definitively better in these regards than your local options, then now is certainly the time to go. Your parents are right, in that now is the "cheapest" time for you to go. After another year in the company, you would likely be earning a somewhat higher salary, tuition will have increased (assume a 5% hike), and living costs will have risen as well. Also, if you have a TA-ship, then that should already cover most, if not all of your tuition and some living costs. Most people on the forum who have assistantships also have some level of tuition waiver. Again, if academia is your goal, then the sooner you can get started, the better. I'm assuming that you have an academic future in mind, but if you are thinking of moving up in the think tank world, that would be the time to really consider your employer's offer. In the eyes of employers, particularly in government, experience is far more valuable than education. The pay grade system the federal government uses counts a BA + 1 year experience the same as an MA, and an MA + 1 year experience the same as a PhD (note: this is what the pay grade definitions say, not what will necessarily get one a job). You would also want to get the details of an offer of tuition assistance from your employer in writing, as a verbal agreement could easily disappear or turn out to be much less than you were hoping. The only people I know accepting employer tuition assistance are going for MBAs, but in each case, they were required to dedicate an extra number of years to the company after graduation. Another option, if you are considering returning to a think tank after your degree(s), is that you could ask for a leave of absense from your employer. Since your bosses clearly like you, they might be happy to welcome you back after you've had time to build your skill set on someone else's dime. I know I'm hoping wave goodbye to the private sector for good when I leave for my new program, but working at a think tank with an MA or PhD would also be a great option.

This strikes me as being his personality problem, though I'm not fully aware of the circumstances. I had a similar experience with my thesis advisor in undergrad. I've made it my personal objective to publish in a journal better ranked than any that have accepted his work. Are you planning on going for the PhD after your masters? If so, that might be a good time to change schools, if you can't really change advisors. Pure sciences are notorious for students having terrible experiences with their advisors. Have you checked out the forum on the PhD comics site? Most of the people on this forum are newly enrolling grad students, whereas most of the posters over there are more senior grad students who might have better experience-based advice to offer.

Clearly I've been staring at my computer too long and need to leave for my mid-day break, because the last two posts merged together in my mind and I thought you were talking about carrying a church from a truck into your apartment. If you have heavy stuff like couches, beds, and stuff, you should check out the "forearm forklift" or whatever generic versions of it there are. I helped a friend of mine move accross the street from her old apartment awhile ago and that thing made it a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. This way, your arms will be sore instead of your back haha.

I left South Bend, Indiana in August and I can't wait to get TO Florida (FSU) haha.

Before investing in a sunlamp, you should find yourself a GOOD winter coat, gloves, a hat, and boots. They should be pretty cheap this time of year. Then you should spend some time at a skating rink learning how to walk on ice. The school and town are pretty good about treating roads and sidewalks, but winter does take a little getting used to. Nothing really shuts down in the South Bend area, except at the height of the very worst storms, so it doesn't get as depressing as you'd think. My roommate in grad housing had never seen snow before, and aside from being cold, he seemed to have a blast. If you have a bit of extra money, you might consider getting an automatic car starter, so you can get the heat running in your car while you're still inside. I posted a bunch of stuff in the South Bend/Notre Dame thread a while ago, hope it helps.

I'm willing to bet that anything within walking distance of campus will be overflowing with undergrads, though I haven't been able to find websites for either of those properties. The fact that people on apartmentratings.com mentioned that the properties are "student-oriented" doesn't sound promising to me. I was originally hoping to live within walking distance of campus, but it seems like that really limits the options, especially for those of us who would just as soon avoid party related noise. I do sympathize though, because parking is supposed to be aweful. The profs were telling us to arrive on campus by 7am or we'd end up parking by the stadium and walking/riding the shuttle to class (which sounds perfectly fine to me). Since the general consensus seems to be that a car is necessary for everyday life in Tallahassee, I'm now looking for something within 4 miles between North and East-Southeast of campus. The Governor's Square area (due East) looked pretty nice and has some places that interest me, though I'm looking for a one bedroom that allows pets, has some sort of porch/balcony/area where grilling could take place, and isn't in a flood plane. Things that would be a plus: a coffee bar within walking distance, a close grocery store/farmers market, and windows that face East (so I can wake up to the sun in the morning and not be blinded by glare while watching tv in the evening).

Who goes for a PhD in a discipline that really only lends itself to academia and is NOT obsessed with his or her studies? In my last program, we only oulawed "talking shop" when at the pub post-exams, and even then, it didn't really work. I'd find it hard to believe that students in a top-15 program, as you described it, wouldn't be serious students. I really hope you're wrong about the intellectual environment. More on topic: after deciding on a program, I only really doubted myself the moment I gave notice to my employer that I'm leaving. I had a sudden fear that this whole thing wouldn't work out and that I will have left the best job I could ever get.

The fellowship foundation is hoping that you will tell the alumni association and that they will publish it all over the place, thus getting free advertising and PR for the fellowship foundation. If it's a big time fellowship that most college grads would recognize, then telling the alumni would get you some publicity, but either way, I would probably avoid it.