Hello here, new to the forums would seek some kind direction

[granlistillo]

Hope to not offend, not carrying a flame shied. I graduated with MA in Poli Sci with a 3.5 nearly 15 years ago with no real distinction. Spent my time in the 90s as a Naval Officer flying around the MED and the Gulf. After that I was a suit in Europe both a Fortune 100 company and my own import export gig. When Spain housing boomed crushed I came back to the us to do the job I really only could-fly airplanes for the airlines, and it takes a passion of mine and turns me into bus driver at times.

I live in Melbourne Fl and I don't have the luxury of living really close to a PHD granting school. I have a well developed dissertation, thesis, which with diligent research should hold it largely unnassaible on a committee murderboard. I have some post graduate USAF International Security Credit on top of my MA. Additionally, I am near native speaker in Spanish.

Now the bad news, with neary two decades out of academia I must admit I do no remember how it works. I guess I could fly and try to do the course work in my little free time or I would need a assistanship/fellowship.

1.Does have any tips for me to get started?

2 Would cold calling a department chair be a worthwhile endeavor?

Thanks for waiting through the novel.

Shawn

[orst11]

First off, are you looking to get a PhD in political science, with specializations is IR and public policy, or are you looking more into a PhD in the field Public Policy, IR/International Affairs? If it's the latter your questions can probably be better asked in the government affairs forum: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/11-government-affairs/ . I will note that in the latter work experience is sometimes/often more important at top programs.

Secondly, since you mentioned you haven't been in the academic world for around 15 years or so, I would first recommend taking the GRE. If you have already in the past 5 years than you should be okay in this aspect.

Thirdly, when it comes to recommendations. I would probably recommend that you ask people who you have taken post-grad courses with because they probably would remember you better. If you had previously written something spectacular, MA advisors may remember you but after 15 years may be retired so may not be your best bet.

Also, when are you looking at applying? You may want to hold off calling if you aren't applying for the 2012-13 academic year just because programs are currently dealing with this years application season. In the meantime, I would suggest reading and researching what programs have faculty that match your academic interests if you haven't done so already.

Maybe someone else can chime in on other things but hopefully for now that helps.

[Zahar Berkut]

In addition to the great points above, I should also ask: why do you want the PhD? Are you trying to become a professor, or make yourself more competitive outside academia?

[granlistillo]

In addition to the great points above, I should also ask: why do you want the PhD? Are you trying to become a professor, or make yourself more competitive outside academia?

In addition to the great points above, I should also ask: why do you want the PhD? Are you trying to become a professor, or make yourself more competitive outside academia?

Roger that on the GRE, I guess that is my first step.

As far as life out of academia, I am pretty sure of a decent life flying in the airlines. I went through the MA program in Polic Sci back nearly 2 decades ago. I would be open to a phd in public policy as well as poli sci. As far as becoming a professor I love teaching, both in aviation and in the military. As far as my world view, the bottom line is that EVERY thing I learned as a military officer is opposite to what I thought it was supposed to be. The higher in grade I became the more the truth was inverted. My interest in academia is that after 25 yrs of military service I have become a gosh darned liberal. To paraphrase Martin Luther... Here I stand.

I appreciate the comments, so far I gather that I need a new GRE and that I may want to broaden my perspective to public policy?

[balderdash]

As far as life out of academia, I am pretty sure of a decent life flying in the airlines. I went through the MA program in Polic Sci back nearly 2 decades ago. I would be open to a phd in public policy as well as poli sci. As far as becoming a professor I love teaching, both in aviation and in the military

I think what Zahar meant was: a PhD has very, very little value to anyone who doesn't intend on using it to teach at a college or university. The skills it imparts are inapplicable to most professions, and the time commitment makes it a poor investment if its something that's you'd like to do just to increase your profile vis-a-vis, say, consultancy jobs, or just out of personal interest. If you intend to teach political science/public policy, though, by all means pursue it.

I think orst has very ably given you a brief introduction. I would also check out some blogs that discuss such issues. Here are two examples, one from Chris Blattman and another from Dan Drezner.

[granlistillo]

This is great. Yes, I want to teach and research as a career changer. Don't want to fly a jet again unless it is a fun though. I think I Could be a very effective professer in both the resesarch and teaching side. Also, I like the lifestyle. Would a Resume or CV based application meet with more success at age 43 than if I was competing with my self at 23 and ver little experience in the word? Anything I can do to expedite the process?

[orst11]

This is great. Yes, I want to teach and research as a career changer. Don't want to fly a jet again unless it is a fun though. I think I Could be a very effective professer in both the resesarch and teaching side. Also, I like the lifestyle. Would a Resume or CV based application meet with more success at age 43 than if I was competing with my self at 23 and ver little experience in the word? Anything I can do to expedite the process?

I can't answer the first given I am younger but hopefully someone can, but as for the second, there are definitely a few things you can do to be ready for the process. Working on a rough draft of a SOP is always beneficial given you will come to realize that you will edit it probably at least 5 times.

First, I think making a list of what you want out of the process is always helpful. This can be beneficial both for your SOP and when narrowing down programs. For instance, if you want to teach/research at a R1 institution obviously the quality of programs you look at are going to be higher than that of if you want to teach at a smaller lesser known school.

Secondly, you can always start asking people about recommendations. This could cut the time down dramatically, plus you will have less stress later when applying.

Finally, I think one thing that helps the most is reading. Read prospective advisors work and their profiles and possibly contact a few. I say the next thing from experience, you may think you want to work with Prof A because of similar research ideas, but they could be a total d-bag. Look up admission data for programs that interests you. Both before and after taking the GRE. Overall, I think getting organized definitely helps expedite the process the most out of anything.