Ohio State vs Minnesota

[anxiousmike]

Say you're interested in experimental methods (lab/survey/field) and political psychology. These schools seem to be neck and neck, but which one do you choose? I'm thinking Minnesota holds the upper hand currently.

[VivaVLC]

This is a tough question, as both schools have great behavioralists and experimentalists. If you know that you're interested in political psychology--and know that it's the key factor in your decision--then the clear choice is Minnesota. They have a bigger group of political psychologists. However, if you're not 100% married to pol. psych., I would go with Ohio State, as it's a much higher ranked program for American Politics in general (top 5 or 10). I would also consider Northwestern; they have a good pol psych/public opinion group, and Jamie Druckman, who wrote the book on experiments (literally), is there too (see Druckman et al. 2011, "Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science).

[anxiousmike]

Hmm. This really is a tough one. I will be doing political psychology and political behavior, applying in American Politics. Would you be more likely to get a job coming out of OSU, keeping the many other variables equivalent?

On a separate note - significant other not thrilled about Columbus. How's Columbus' job market? Any points to sell her on?

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I think Viva is on the nose with this one...Close call and probably can't go wrong either way. Minnesota has a nice track record placing folks in political psychology. While OSU has a better reputation in American more broadly, they have lost some folks in American/methods the past few years. It's still a great group, but probably a closer call between the two departments than it has been in years past.

[studentized]

I echo the last post. OSU has lost a lot of faculty in American/methods. For political psych, think about some others too: Stony Brook, Florida State, Illinois.

[wordshadow]

I am too looking to specialize in political psychology (ergo the username) and have research interests in a) the social psychological roots of political violence, particularly international conflict (a merging of traditional American Politics with IR) and the role that prosociality (egoism/altruism) plays in the selection/perceived legitimacy of political leaders. I also have an interest in the intersection of behavioral game theory and psychology.

Of the schools I have applied to, I know Ohio State and Minnesota have very excellent political psychology faculty/programs. I am not, however, aware of much of the faculty/departments at UC-Irvine and Florida State, though I have heard good things about both. Anyone more familiar than me with either of these two programs care to offer any more detailed insights? Thanks!