Jump to content

justinmcducd

Members
  • Posts

    13
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Not Telling
  • Application Season
    2013 Fall

justinmcducd's Achievements

Decaf

Decaf (2/10)

1

Reputation

  1. Hello everyone, I was wondering if teaching interests should be mentioned if you are applying to programs that predominately place people in teaching roles. The programs I'm applying to are ranked in the 25-50 range, and several of these programs tend to place most of their grads in teaching roles. That said, a large part of your phd training anywhere consists of developing strong research skills and hopefully publishing a dissertation, and I would guess virtually all programs have a desire and incentives to place their grads in research positions as much as possible. From my own perspective, my motivations for wanting to go for the PhD are a combination of research interests, as well as being interested in teaching college level political science. I know research interests should be central to the SOP, but would talking about teaching interests, reasons for wanting to teach be excluded and/or potentially perceived as weak desire to be a successful research scholar? Thanks!
  2. Just an FYI, their deadline for applying for funding is Nov. 15... I'm not sure if that absolutely precludes folks getting their apps in later from funds or not, but did want to put that on your radar.
  3. Very true! If anyone has any input, I'm struggling with a similar question regarding how to discuss my prior research experience in comparison to what I'd like to do in a PhD program. I gave my undergrad thesis to a fairly large conference (international soc. of political psychology), though I can't say I'm interested in specifically doing poli psych only, and in the years since have developed broader research interests. I'm not sure if/how to integrate this into my SOP since it does appear on my CV, and not get typified in being interested narrowly in one subfield.
  4. Why? I've heard from a grad adviser that publications in particular are a big selling point.... strange. What does add weight, other than letters, SOP, and scores?
  5. That's interesting, and a bit unnerving. I would think that conference presentations at least show that applicants know what the research world is like. I'd think it also shows an ability to formulate research questions, undergo research projects, and contribute to the field... all the things that good PhD students and job market candidates usually do, right?
  6. If you are as competetive naturally as you say... I think law school and likely the practice of law will be a good fit. But if you're getting a bad feeling about what your doing in your first year... you're still young enough to change paths. Hell I'm 27, worked in the political/policy world a few years and then went on to a masters in policy.. realized I hated it (profesional politics, the only job offers I got), quit my job, and moved in with the folks for a bit to figure out what I really wanted to do. The law profesion is tedious and most lawyers I know arent happy with their jobs at many points, but some seem after a while to enjoy it... I think a lot of folks go into law on the wrong assumtions of what being a lawyer really is, regarldess of pedegree. Those folks tend to be unhappy. If you think your one like that, and dont have a wife/kids, get out and live life while you can.
  7. Sorry if this topic is a little over discussed recently, but I too am trying to decide whether I'd be better off going into a (likely funded) masters program in general experimental, or just taking a semester or two of undergrad post bac psychology classes at the local research university. Here's my weird situatiton: I'm finishing up a masters in public admin at a pretty well ranked policy school. This comes after working a couple years after undergrad as policy researcher and political consultant. I'm doing an optional masters thesis that, while directed heavily towards policy scholars, is methodologically basic psychology research. I also presented my undergrad thesis to an interdiscplinary psych conference (international society of political psychology), though my degree was in philosophy. Anyway, I guess the brass tax is that I do have some merits in my favor, but am unsure about how to fullfill my research ambitions. A masters would allow me to do some more research in the areas I'm working on, which in some ways I'd like to have before applying to PhD programs. The downside is, I'd have to do another freakin masters! One last thing, while I don't have much formal training in psych, I have read lots and lots.. from popular science to medical neuropharm texts. I'm not too concerned about being overwhelmed once in, I just have an uphill battle making myself look like a solid bet to admissions commities :-(
  8. Thanks so much for the responses! If I can, let me ask the further question.. So basically my undergrad paper that was presented to ISSP sought to explain (partially at least) the emergence ideological belief systems in terms of recent cognitive/behavioral psch, and ground a theory of 'how' ideological beliefs occur based on historical docs and modern research into how cogntive processes allow such beliefs to form as part of environmental interactions. My masters thesis is based on complex systems theory as it applies to policy effects/outcomes, and how students mentally model such behaviors and how effective meantal modeling influences policy choice... In other words, I'm WAY out of the range of normal poli sci.. yet these areas are just the (I'd argue interesting and relevant to social science) problems I've been lucky enough to have the capability to research. I'm interested in many aspects of institutions, political behavior, political comunication and would love to learn some more advanced research methods than what I've been taught so far. How do I market it this weirdness ;-)
  9. Hey guys, I'm trying to figure out which PhD programs to apply to, and was wondering if I'm selling myself short. My interests are primarily in american politics, specifically political behavior and psychology. Like a lot of students, my first couple years in college where pretty bleak, and even though I improved a lot, I'm spooked about applying to top programs. I did present my undergrad thesis to the International Society of Political Psychology, and I'm finishing up an MPA with a 3.75 GPA (4.0 in academic classes, ie. I got b+'s in human resource management and a class on negotiation). My masters thesis studies the ability of students to conceptually transfer deep properties of complex systems across physical and social domains, and the impact of transference on policy preference (sorry I know thats vague/wonkish). I also worked a couple years after college as a political consultant and policy researcher/aide in the GA house of reps minority leaders office. So my question is, should I focus my letters of intent strongly on my research, or would this make me appear too myopic or narrowly focused? Also, would the relative success I have had in the last 7 years over power the terrible years I had academically from 18-20? Thanks guys, your advice is very appreciated!
  10. Thanks for the response. Why do I want to go on for the phd? I'm interested in the big questions, mainly how the traits of human cognition influence world affairs, and how educational inovations can possibly produce smoother functioning societies. Working in an area that is truly and deeply interesting to you seems more attractive than making money doing something that doesnt stir anyting inside of you ;-) The only lab type research I have is the experiment I'm designing myself for my masters thesis... I'm kind of flying blind, though I do have inputs from a couple psychologists and a statistician to make sure I'm carrying out things correctly. I'm wondering if that will come off as ambitious or foolheaded to admissions committees!
  11. Hey guys, I've been mainly interested in political science programs that feature political psychology as a strong focus... but after a good bit of research it seems that social psych has a leg up both in the field and across academia in general (i.e. placements). I'm just hoping you guys may be able to save me some cash in application fees if I'm too far out of the ballpark ;-) Here's my background: BA, philosophy, concentration neurophilosophy with solid course work in neuroscience, and lots of outside reading in cog psych, social psych, etc. I presented my elective senior thesis to the International Society of Political Psychology (~50/50 spread of poli sci and social psych), and then my major thesis to a regional philosophy conference. I went on to work as a political consultant and policy researcher a few years, and am recently finishing up my MPA... My masters thesis, though done in a school of public affairs/policy, studies the impact of conceptual transference of deep functional properties of complex adaptive systems from physical systems to social systems, and how such transference impacts policy preferences (sorry I know this is vague). All things considered, should I bother, not having lab time and being somewhat lacking in formal psych training? Thanks guys!
  12. I'm wrapping up my MPA at UC Denver, which while not and Ivy league school, is pretty well respected. I also got my BA in philosophy, and applied after working as a policy researcher and political consultant for a few years after college. Here's my advice: First off, MPA's seem to be mostly beneficial in the region you go to school, and perhaps the best best part about an MPA is the networking you will have access to. That said, the MPA, at least where I went, is so broad in terms of subject coverage that it really doesn't make you an expert in any field. For instance, we took a class in public finance, a class in human resources, and a class in admin law. Does that make you an expert in such field, such that employeers seek you out? Absolutely not. Also, the public secto job market, even here in Denver (which weathered the recession better than average), is pretty bad. Just about all the jobs I've seen posted want 3-5 years of very specialized experience. I applied for a few positions, and even with a decent work history, did not even get an interview. The situation is similiar for most of my classmates. I did the MPA as a hedge, hoping to land a decent job for a couple years and then head on to a PhD in political science, but instead just decided to take whatever job I could and apply to phd programs this fall. In a nutshell, I wouldn't recomend the MPA as gateway to non profit positions, at best you'll find lots of non-profits looking for interns, which may, but will not normally, lead to paid position down the road. Also, coming from a phil background you'll probably (like me) find 60% of the course work mind numbing. The public
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use