Question about comparative strength of programmes!

[grace246]

Hi all,

Firstly, am very grateful to everyone who posts on this message board, which has given me a much clearer idea about lots of things regarding the application process and PhD system in the US. Coming from the UK where the system is quite different it's extremely useful!

In that vein, I have a question about a few of the programmes I'm currently considering and wondered if anyone could offer some advice! Not being very familiar with that many departments or Universities in this country, beyond looking at boards like this and rankings, its hard to work out which will be the 'harder' ones to get into. Now I completely understand that there is no right answer about which are 'easier' to get into, but I'd ideally like to apply to 7ish schools (it becomes prohibitively expensive and time consuming otherwise), and would like to at least be a little strategic and include some slightly 'easier' (I use inverted commas since I know nowhere is easy to get into!) schools in my final list.

So, can anyone offer any advice about the following schools?

Boston College

Brandeis

U of Chicago

Columbia

U of Illinois, Chicago

John Hopkins

Northwestern

WashU

U of Michigan

My vague sense is that of those, BC and Brandeis would be marginally easier? And that U of Michigan, Columbia and Chicago are my longest shots? Anyone any thoughts?

Oh and I'm looking to apply for Comparative Politics; my research interests include democratization, identity questions of race and gender, and China (mainly in relation to the previous two areas).

Thank you!

[flyers29]

My vague sense is that of those, BC and Brandeis would be marginally easier? And that U of Michigan, Columbia and Chicago are my longest shots? Anyone any thoughts?

Generally speaking, yes. Though things don't go in "generally speaking" terms per se.

Edited September 27, 2011 by flyers29

[RWBG]

Something I wrote earlier:

Keep in mind the different strengths of the department. For example WashU (assuming you mean WUSTL and not UWashington) has a strong focus in formal theory, which means math skills, etc. will be more of a factor in your competitiveness.

If you give more information about yourself, I'm sure members of this forum would be happy to give you more specific advice.

[grace246]

Thanks for advice! I hadn't seen that competitiveness thread, so was very helpful.

Um, yes, more specific advice would be great if anyone is feeling generous enough to offer it. I did my undergrad in Social & Political Science at Cambridge, and got a 2.i (67), which doesn't translate that easily to this system, but put me about 30th in my graduating cohort of 120. My degree was a combination of History of Political thought, some work on China, on the Politics of Security of Development, Modern Britain and some IR stuff. The area I'm most lacking in but also am most keen to develop in the course of a PhD programme is formal theory and methodology stuff. I'm taking the GRE soon, which I guess will give me a better indication of where I should be pitching myself. I should have good letters of recommendation, and I'm currently teaching at a University in the US (an Intro class in speech & argumentation, and coaching a debate team). I'm interested in issues of gender and ethnicity, and specifically how they play out in electoral systems, as well as issues of nationalism (especially in reference to democratisation). Anyone got any thoughts on good places to apply given these interests, and/or what kind of schools I should be realistically aiming for?

I also wondered what you guys thought about letters of recommendation. I'm going to get 3 from people at Cambridge (from my Director of Studies, my Tutor and one of my supervisors), but I wonder how important one from my current employer (so it would be my Department Chair) would be? I've not told them I'm applying, and ideally I don't want to have to tell them until I get an offer, since the most likely scenario is that I don't get in, in which case I don't want there to be ill-feeling or a sense that I'm wanting to leave when I've only just arrived. Will the lack of a letter from them be problematic?

Thanks all!

[balderdash]

Good to see another Tab - I was in St Ed's last year. What college were you/who was your dos?

I would call up with your dos, talk through your options, and really get a better sense of what it is that you want to do, with any methodology. I would highlight a thesis or one of your supervisions that you really got passionate about and then expand this into a research question or theme that you want to take up as a doctoral student. Lucky for you, you'll have experience writing personal statements for uni already, whereas most American applicants won't.

As for your marks, no worries, you've "checked the box" so far as they are concerned. These schools get many applicants from Cambs, so they'll be fully aware of how to assess the 67 against US GPAs. I think you're fine to apply to the schools you've listed, but keep in mind that many, many students take a few years off, have multiple rounds of applications, etc before they start a program. You may not get the offer you want first time around (I didn't).

As for the references, definitely the dos and tutor, but for the third choice, go with whoever is able to best speak to your future academic potential, whether that's the Chair or the supervisor. There are no names in PPSIS that I can think would be an absolute game-changer for US admissions (though again I don't know the whole department), so I think the choice will have a lot to do with the research topic you take up in your personal statement. I wouldn't think choosing the supervisor would be a question mark, unless you've been working there for a while and the topic is germane to his/her work. But really the choice is yours.

[grace246]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the help so far. I had a few other questions about the schools currently on my updated 'schools I'm interested in' list, and I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on

a) Funding opportunities/likelihood (some of the website are very clear that everyone who gets admitted gets funding, and others are less specific)

Which fits my interests best - which, as I mentioned before, is a Comparative approach to identity (esp gender), nationalism and democratisation (but esp in terms of identity and nationalism).

Boston College

Brandeis College

Brown

Chicago

U of Illinois Chicago

John Hopkins

Northwestern

WashU

UC Berkeley

U of Washington (esp keen to hear any thoughts on funding here)

Penn State

UPenn

I promise I'm not just being lazy in my research, and I've obviously spent lots of time on these websites, but not being plugged into a Political Science department in the US its kind of hard to work out some unofficial but important things about departments you pick up from being 'in the system'.

Thanks!

[orst11]

I will comment on funding for a few of the places I have researched.

Boston College: Funding is usually provided to the few PhD students they accept. So if you are offered a spot for the PhD program they typically will fund you but like other schools in the Boston area they like to offer consolation masters with little or no funding.

Brandeis College: Funding is provided to all people admitted into the PhD program. Listed on their website it says the typical stipend is $20,000.

Chicago: Funding is provided to most people accepted for the PhD. The typical stipend is $21,000 which is pretty good when comparing it to other schools in the Midwest.

U of Illinois Chicago: Funding is provided for the majority of students through fellowships, assistantships, and tuition and fee waivers. I think the last time I heard the stipend was between 14,000-16,000. Typically not all of the grad students are funded especially within the first year.

John Hopkins: Funding typically is provided. Last years stipend was $19,900.

Northwestern: Funding is provided to admitted applicants. The current stipend level is $19,620.

U of Washington (esp keen to hear any thoughts on funding here): In the past couple years, they have only been offering funding to just a few top applicants. Also, lately it has been hard to come by and people have received funding one quarter but not the next. Stipend is usually $4,575 per quarter but if you receive assistantships your stipend typically will increase every year. Also they are known to provide summer funding for a few students.

Penn State: All admitted students receive funding.

Edited October 12, 2011 by orst11

[flyers29]

And for the record, "most" departments will offer funding to a good portion (if not most/all) of accepted individuals. General rule is no funding, no go!

Edited October 12, 2011 by flyers29