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UVaSpades

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  1. Government Affairs, under Professional Programs, would be the place to check out.
  2. In a sense, there's something of an endogenous relationship at work here, which is what I think coach was getting at (please correct me if I'm wrong, though!): the grades inform the department's general perception of you, but your department's general perception of you is also going to inform the grades they give. If they think that a given student can ultimately make it through the program, then it's doubtful that they'll give grades that they know would result in that student losing his or her funding, since the most likely response would be that viable candidate leaving, which they don't want to have happen. It's slightly more complicated than this, since I'm treating "the department" as one monolithic entity, but you get the general idea: it is desirable to keep talented/competent graduate students. But honestly though, the admissions committee took you seriously enough to invest in you and thinks that you can handle the work, so you should believe that, too. You wouldn't have been brought on board if they were convinced you would fail. There's going to be a learning curve (there always is to some extent), but there's no reason to believe you won't be able to succeed with the instruction they provide and whatnot.
  3. Sure, I've known people who have gone down that route. The major risk that comes with it is the choice to transfer after the MA, in that if you don't get in anywhere else you're kinda screwed since your letter writers at the lower-ranked PhD program know that you tried to leave (i.e. you don't want to be there). Is that worse than getting an expensive MA and subsequently not getting into a really good PhD program? I personally don't think so, but you might want to ask your current advisor or letter writers what they think. In terms of whether it can improve job prospects, as HC noted above the MA can be very helpful in the application process since it sends a certain kind of signal that a BA or BS simply doesn't. I feel that the application process is incredibly noisy, that it's difficult to indicate how good of a graduate student you will be. But if you do an MA, you show that you were able to take graduate-level courses, write an MA thesis, maybe get something published, whatever it may be, no matter what the pedigree of that MA is. So, yes, I think that it can help even if it's not a great program since it still acts as a costly and valuable signal of what kind of graduate student you can/will be. I should also note that I've heard that the NYU MA is not ideal for going on to a PhD program. I don't have personal knowledge of this, but here's a link to a post by Penelope Higgins on her views:
  4. Secret option (4): go to the lower-ranked PhD program, get a master's degree from there, and apply for a new program after you've finished. Fundamentally, I agree with BigTen and HC to an extent: you should never pay to go to grad school if you can avoid it. But I do think that getting an MA can help send a signal about your ability to handle graduate-level work, and I'm almost certain that getting an MA from Columbia or NYU is not worth the money it costs compared to an MA from another, lower-ranked institution. And if you decide you like it where you go / don't think you have a great shot at moving up to a significantly better program, then you can just stick on there.
  5. Feel free to send any questions about University of Virginia my way (so long as you're not asking when the results are coming out, as I have absolutely no clue about that; sorry!).
  6. It's amazing how much this parallels my own life. After I got out of undergrad, I spent a year working in retail, saving money for moving expenses and whatnot, only to end up heading to the CIR program. I took on the debt (I was fortunate to have paid my way through undergrad), then reapplied and got into a PhD program. So, it can happen. So, let's address your three points: recs, writing sample, and training. In terms of recs, it can definitely be done. While I didn't go down this path, I know people that got three new letters of recommendation that they used in their next round of applications. And if you really need news recs (as in, two or more), you're going to have to do something (such as an MA) to account for this. But if you're not the kind of person who easily connects to professors, this may be difficult, as MA students are generally not afforded the same kind of time and energy as PhDs. There are exceptions, and I've known people who have been very successful with getting letters in CIR and having great relationships with multiple professors, but many people only come away with the one letter from their advisor. Writing sample is easy enough: your MA thesis should do this. If you do go to CIR, I would personally recommend you set the bar high right from the get-go, and tell your advisor that you want an honors thesis, come hell or high water. That will push you to work harder, and give him/her more incentive to put the screws to you. In terms of "social science" training, this might be a bit tougher, especially since I'm not sure what that terms actually means in this case. With CIR, there's only so many classes you can take "free," i.e. outside of the course listings. This is problematic because not very many (if any) of the courses from the course listing can be considered methodology, thus limiting your ability to get training. As I recall, seven of the nine have to be on the course list, which means you would be able to take at most two methods courses; not ideal, but better than nothing. In summary, CIR can make a big difference in getting you placed into a PhD program, but also a job in the private or public sector if you decide that's what you want. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, as it sounds like you're facing an uphill battle, and would have to really work your ass off to get everything you've listed for reapplication. And it's definitely not for everyone; we had at least a couple of people drop out midway through the year. But people can succeed quite well coming out of CIR, so if you think it's for you, it's worth seriously considering, especially if you really need new letters, a new writing sample, and some methods training (though you could always do statistics courses at a local university or community college, if it came to that). Hopefully this was helpful.
  7. Let me start by discussing Ohio State and the University of Washington. Personally, I am of the mind that unless you are independently wealthy, it is never a good idea to do a PhD without funding. Ohio State is, indeed, an excellent program, and had you gotten funding there, I would recommend them in a heartbeat. But you did not, and you would have to incur a fair amount of debt by attending there, which would be difficult to recoup once you get a job. But TheMarketMan's point is a solid one, and you should look into the possibility of funding past your first couple of years. But unless it is basically guaranteed at that point, be wary. WIth UW, it depends on what you want to do. If your interest is in political science and international relations theory, I'm not convinced that the Jackson School's PhD is for you due to its interdisciplinary approach. Since it is such a new program, there also will not be any sort of placement information, which makes it difficult to gauge what you should expect for return on investment, as it were (see ). But if your interest is in more traditional IR, I would probably stay away. Now, comparing UVa and USC is a bit more apples to apples. I'm admittedly a UVa grad student, so my advice may be biased, which is something to keep in mind. I would say that from a substantive perspective, UVa is probably the better place to go to if your interest is grand(-ish) theories of international relations, due to the faculty we have that go in that direction. Your interest in China might lessen that comparative advantage, though we recently placed a doctoral candidate at Old Dominion, whose dissertation is on power dynamics and U.S.-China relations, so there's that. When it comes to broader methods training, however, I think USC may have an advantage. UVa is still trying to put together a solid methods sequence, but it looks like USC already has one in place (though I can't find a course listing for USC, so I'm not sure how accurate that statement is). But this might be more of a temporary thing, I can't really say. USC also has their U.S-China Institute, which may provide an advantage for your type of interests, but again, I'm not familiar with how it works. It's also worth your time to compare the job placements for the two universities: http://politics.virginia.edu/phd_placement http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/240/docs/POIR_Recent_Placement.pdf I would argue that UVa is slightly better, though USC is by no means terrible. It's also worth considering that UVa has a reputation for better placement with liberal arts schools as well, if that's something you're interested in. To summarize, I would definitely stay away from Ohio State and UW, unless funding manages to come through in the case of the former, or you decide that a traditional political science PhD is not for you and you're willing to gamble on the program (and lack of funding) in the case of the latter. Between UVa and USC, you have something of a difficult choice, though I would lean more towards the former. UVa is more highly ranked than USC (at least according to US New and World Reports), and almost certainly better for IR and security. But USC *might* be better in methods training (though UVa's catching up) and China-specific research (though UVa's definitely capable of producing China scholars and has done so in the recent past).
  8. If you're flying from within the U.S., yes. If not, I have no idea. You should be getting an e-mail in the next week or so from the DGS with details.
  9. It'll be in March, though I'm not sure which weekend. The timing of UVa's spring break (the week of the 10th) makes me guess it will be the 22nd-24th weekend, but that's completely and entirely speculative.
  10. Unless UVa explicitly told you there won't be one, there will be. We have one every year, so you'll hear soon enough about the details, I would imagine.
  11. It'd mostly be for academic things (grades, attendance, teaching, etc.) and checking the news and whatnot, and then keeping myself entertained while I travel. Other than having some stuff for plane and train rides, my media is limited since I don't have that many photos or home movies that I'd be keeping on there. That's why I figure the 32 GB would be sufficient, since I can just add and subtract movies and TV shows for trips, thus keeping the total volume of stuff on there to a minimum. But I was mostly just curious to see how much space people are actually using.
  12. What size capacity do you guys recommend? I'm leaning towards the 32GB, but I'm wondering if the 64GB is worth the extra $100.
  13. Anyone here use an Android tablet? I'm trying to decide between an iPad and an Asus Transformer. I understand that the iPad is probably better suited to the needs of a grad student (teachers programs and research tools are really good and well established), but I much prefer the Android OS and was hoping that I could hear some comments from some grad students who use an Android tablet.
  14. I'll be at UVA as well. I actually already got an apartment lined up, though I can't remember exactly how I found it. BRAC was one of the places I checked, but mostly I used it to find the property managers in the area, then check out their websites. As I recall, the three big groups are Real Property Inc., Godfrey Properties, and Shamrock Corporation, but everyone seems to have low opinions of Godfrey so I ignored them. When I visited the campus in March, I met a number of grad students that rented from Shamrock and liked them, but I only had time to look at RPI properties. I did find something I liked though, so I can't complain too much.
  15. Quick questions about Papers: is there anyway to share or sync your library with more than one computer? I'm thinking about getting a Macbook Air as more of a "work" computer, but would also want to hold onto my Macbook Pro, so it'd be nice if I could have them sharing a single database.
  16. One of my former co-workers went to UW's English program from 2009-2010 without funding and he seemed to have a pretty easy time of it, in that he was able to work full-time without really stressing about his classes, papers, etc. Just one individual's experience, but for what it's worth, he made it look reasonable.
  17. Glad to see this thread moving as of recent, both current and incoming students alike. So, I've been looking at properties from a number of different websites (BRAC, Craigslist, RPI, Wade Properties, etc.), and I've been able to compile a list of places that seem to fit my preferences. The problem is that they tend to be on or a block away from 14th, Wertland, or Grady. I guess my question is, just how bad are those areas? I like the convenience that they seem to represent, but if they're really as troublesome as some posters have made them sound, I have some other rentals I've been considering more in the JPA or downtown areas that I can focus on. I'd like to keep my options as open as possible, but I'd really appreciate some input from people who are familiar with what it's like. That said, I should also mention that I've previously lived directly on frat row of a large public university for a two year span, and really wasn't all that troubled by it. So, unless the Corner/Rugby area is somehow especially bad, I can probably handle it, but I'd like to hear what makes that area so undesirable. Thanks much, and looking forward to visiting for the admit weekend!
  18. I'm not the person who claimed a funding offer, but I was sent a funding package back on February 18th. It was actually from the Director of Graduate Studies for the program, so if you have any questions about funding, it would seem to me that they could be directed towards him. Assuming you're admitted straight-up, I believe this is correct. However, I have known at least one person from last year who got in from the wait-list and did not receive a funding offer.
  19. Peachy, now I get check my mailbox and post office box (on the other side of town) obsessively, in addition to the constant e-mail refreshes!
  20. Anyone want to claim the MIT acceptances? I've been waiting (im)patiently for those to come out, and I'd love to hear anything about it beyond the info on the results page. EDIT: Whoops, Ashlett beat me to it, haha. Seriously, though, I really am curious.
  21. It sounds to me that UVA decides on funding in April, at least according to the letter. That said, someone in last year's admit cycle wrote that they had e-mailed and gotten a tentative funding package much earlier. I'll probably be mailing them tomorrow to ask about that and what the deal is with their admit weekend.
  22. Got into UVA's program. Haven't gotten into anywhere the past two years (at least for a PhD), so this is a huge relief. Sorry to those who didn't get in, but there's plenty of other places left!
  23. Yep. Went to Duke's grad school site, clicked on the Apply for Admission button, then the link to check a current application. Might just be my luck that they knocked me out of the way early on, haha
  24. Just checked Duke's website and their rejection notice was up. I'm glad to at least hear something from them, even if it's negative.
  25. C'mon, man, there's still hope. I'm still feeling good, if only because it doesn't seem any IR folks have been accepted there...
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