Faculty perspectives

[A Dalek]

Regarding future trends, I think we're moving towards smaller cohorts. There are exceptions of course. The high ranking rich privates (e.g., Harvard, Yale, Princeton) may be able to keep up large cohorts, but many places are moving towards smaller cohorts due to budget constraints and the worsening job market.

My big recommendation to applicants is to ask yourself if you're okay going into industry or working in a teaching focused institution. There are just fewer tenure track jobs in research universities. There is nothing wrong with going industry or taking up a teaching focused job. There are worse futures than spending a few years reading political science research and making six figures in an industry job.

Just know what you are signing up for and adjust expectations accordingly.

[JPYSD]

On 12/25/2024 at 2:16 AM, A Dalek said:

Regarding future trends, I think we're moving towards smaller cohorts. There are exceptions of course. The high ranking rich privates (e.g., Harvard, Yale, Princeton) may be able to keep up large cohorts, but many places are moving towards smaller cohorts due to budget constraints and the worsening job market.

My big recommendation to applicants is to ask yourself if you're okay going into industry or working in a teaching focused institution. There are just fewer tenure track jobs in research universities. There is nothing wrong with going industry or taking up a teaching focused job. There are worse futures than spending a few years reading political science research and making six figures in an industry job.

Just know what you are signing up for and adjust expectations accordingly.

 

I fully second this. Many programs of my T10 graduate school (not sure about PoliSci department yet) also announced that smaller cohorts would become more the norm in the future, as they want to instead focus on higher stipend standards and generally better conditions for graduate students. That means that even rich private institutions will put more money towards fewer people and as such, likely accept smaller cohorts. With the upcoming Trump administration and educational budget cuts, this trend will likely intensify, even at private universities, sadly making top PoliSci PhD programs even more competitive.