Welcome to the 2014-15 Cycle

[Poli92]

Given the trend of the last couple of years, we're a fair bit behind schedule on getting this started up. So, since last year's season has more than wound down I feel that it's fair to get started anew. This will be my first cycle and I'm anxious/eager/terrified to get it started. I am interested in IR/CP, specifically looking at the relationship between ethnicity and contentious politics. 

 

Here are links to the threads of the last two cycles, each with very interesting contents of their own: 

 

2013-14 

 

 

2012-13 

 

If we can have half as awesome of a group of posters this year as there were in last years' thread, this will be a pretty awesome environment!

 

Best of luck everyone!  

 

 

Edited: typos and such

Edited June 12, 2014 by Poli92

[Phdforme]

Thanks for your initiative.  Success!

[AuldReekie]

Hey everyone,

 

I can't believe I first signed up to this site almost four years ago  as a slightly over enthusiastic undergraduate ( ). In the end I swithered and went off to get some experience in the 'real world' to make sure that I wouldn't get any silly ideas midway through a PhD program. Although I ended up in Brussels, perhaps not the real world!

 

Hopefully I can focus on International Security & IR Theory, with a dollop of CP and some political psychology. Looks like I'll be applying to quite a broad range of schools and probably applying to up to 12 or so. I can't pretend to be looking forward to the application process.. Good luck everyone!

[jeetlebuice]

Yay, I've been waiting for this!

 

I'm planning on applying to IR programs as well. Anyone else looking into Canadian schools for IR? NPSIA, GPSIA, Munk?

[testingtesting]

In.  Anyone have any advice for the below 4 questions (cross-posted elsewhere) on my candidacy?

__________________________________
 

Undergraduate in Political Science from middle-tier university with MPP from elite British university applying for PhD in Comparative Politics/Political Economy for 2015. Nearly all post-grad work was in Economics, Statistics, or Government departments, effectively giving me an MSc in quantitative social research methods plus an MSc Public Policy.

 

(1) How should I treat poor performance in my 1st year of undergrad in my SOP/CV? My overall GPA was 3.5 but was 3.70 over my last 2 years.  Additionally, my overall Political Science GPA was 3.59, but exhibited a massively upward trend: excluding my 1st year it was 3.74, with a 3.71 over the last 2 years.

 

(2) Do I opt for 4 letters or drop a strong letter from a academic in sociology and pick up an okay one from someone in comparative? I have 3 amazing letters but only 2 of them are from political scientists and none are in my subfield.  The 3rd is a tenured sociologist.  I can get a good-but-not-amazing letter from an assistant professor who is a rising star in my field of interest but not tenured because VERY young.  

 

(3) Would I be competitive in any of the following tiers (see qualifications below)?

Tier 1: Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale

Tier 2: Columbia, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan

Tier 3: UCLA, WUSTL, NYU, Duke

Tier 4: Wisconsin, UNC, Cornell

Tier 5: Rochester, Northwestern, Texas, Minnesota

 

(4) Is it appropriate to list non-academic publications in my CV (i.e. published NYTimes Op-Ed or many short WSJ letters to the editor)?

_________________________________________

 

UGrad GPA: Overall: 3.50 / Last 2 Years: 3.70

UGrad Political Science GPA: Overall: 3.59 / Last Year: 3.92 / Last 2 Years: 3.71 / All Years But 1st: 3.74

MPA (Public Policy) GPA: ~3.65-3.67 (Graduating from British system with a 70 average [4.0] but largely because I have marks in the 80s and 1 mark of 59). 

GRE: 168 Quantitative, 168 Qualitative

Graduate-level statistics coursework: econometrics, statistical computing, simulation methods

Mathematics: Completed through Calculus II

 

Research Experience: 1 RAship in economic research center at elite university, 1 RAship on interdisciplinary project across politics and social policy department at elite university, 1 year as government health policy researcher, 3 policy research internships in think tanks. 

 

Accomplishments: Won Best Paper Award at international public policy conference, 4 small merit-based scholarships and awards ($250  to $5,000) from non-profits and academic centers to attend invite-only seminars/conferences.

 

Publications: Nothing peer-reviewed. Wrote a large technical report for a government department (can't share report, but can acknowledge I wrote it and my name is on it) and MA thesis in comparative politics (serving as writing sample). Submitting a research note to AJPS next month... Many letters (and an op-ed) in newspapers like New York Times.

 

Presentations: Have made formal presentations of my research at graduate student conferences, undergraduate conference, and before UK government, and international organizations (OECD).

 

Letters: 4 letters by young elite university faculty under 40, 3 good and 1 likely generic but from comparative politics:

-1 from well-known, tenured methodologist jointly in politics and statistics departments

-1 from tenured formal political theorist, not particularly well-known outside of the field I am applying to

-1 from non-tenured comparative politics faculty who is seen as a rising star in the field (very young)

-1 from tenured professor jointly in sociology department

 

Affiliations: Member of PhD comparative politics research seminar, APSA, university-wide faculty interdisciplinary research group

 

Research Interests: Broadly, political participation and comparative political economy.  Specifically: Class-based inequality of political participation, electoral turnout in hybrid regimes, redistribution in new democracies, political determinants of state fiscal capacity.

Edited June 13, 2014 by testingtesting

[cupofnimbus]

Oh goodness, I guess it's already that time again. 

 

I'm still working out if I'm going to participate in the 2014-15 cycle, though I'll be making a decision in the next few weeks, before I start reaching out to my LORs (I've met with several of them since the 2013-14 cycle ended for me in March). Hopefully together we'll be able to figure out if I can strengthen my application! I welcome feedback and suggestions and the positive environment I found here last cycle.

 

A bit about me: I'm interested in post-conflict policy addressing the reintegration and civic participation of ex-combatants. I have an MPP and experience working with this issue in the international context, but have also been lucky enough to work with returning vets in the US, as well (strictly in a policy-research capacity, though). I'm pretty sure my interests fall somewhere in the comparative/IR camp, though with an obvious policy slant, given my history, and some American and a heck of a lot of methods in there, too. I'm also planning to adapt the framing of my research question by the areas of strength in the programs I apply to. I'm looking at a slightly different list of schools this year, since I worked out some better programs to apply to after I'd finished applying last cycle. My grades from my time in school are just okay (I'm seriously impressed by all you folks!), and while my GRE scores are respectable, there's plenty of room for improvement.

 

So, best of luck to everyone this year, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all around the boards.

Edited June 13, 2014 by cupofnimbus

[Poli92]

In.  Anyone have any advice for the below 4 questions (cross-posted elsewhere) on my candidacy?

__________________________________

 

Undergraduate in Political Science from middle-tier university with MPP from elite British university applying for PhD in Comparative Politics/Political Economy for 2015. Nearly all post-grad work was in Economics, Statistics, or Government departments, effectively giving me an MSc in quantitative social research methods plus an MSc Public Policy.

 

(1) How should I treat poor performance in my 1st year of undergrad in my SOP/CV? My overall GPA was 3.5 but was 3.70 over my last 2 years.  Additionally, my overall Political Science GPA was 3.59, but exhibited a massively upward trend: excluding my 1st year it was 3.74, with a 3.71 over the last 2 years.

 

(2) Do I opt for 4 letters or drop a strong letter from a academic in sociology and pick up an okay one from someone in comparative? I have 3 amazing letters but only 2 of them are from political scientists and none are in my subfield.  The 3rd is a tenured sociologist.  I can get a good-but-not-amazing letter from an assistant professor who is a rising star in my field of interest but not tenured because VERY young.  

 

(3) Would I be competitive in any of the following tiers (see qualifications below)?

Tier 1: Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale

Tier 2: Columbia, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan

Tier 3: UCLA, WUSTL, NYU, Duke

Tier 4: Wisconsin, UNC, Cornell

Tier 5: Rochester, Northwestern, Texas, Minnesota

 

(4) Is it appropriate to list non-academic publications in my CV (i.e. published NYTimes Op-Ed or many short WSJ letters to the editor)?

_________________________________________

 

UGrad GPA: Overall: 3.50 / Last 2 Years: 3.70

UGrad Political Science GPA: Overall: 3.59 / Last Year: 3.92 / Last 2 Years: 3.71 / All Years But 1st: 3.74

MPA (Public Policy) GPA: ~3.65-3.67 (Graduating from British system with a 70 average [4.0] but largely because I have marks in the 80s and 1 mark of 59). 

GRE: 168 Quantitative, 168 Qualitative

Graduate-level statistics coursework: econometrics, statistical computing, simulation methods

Mathematics: Completed through Calculus II

 

Research Experience: 1 RAship in economic research center at elite university, 1 RAship on interdisciplinary project across politics and social policy department at elite university, 1 year as government health policy researcher, 3 policy research internships in think tanks. 

 

Accomplishments: Won Best Paper Award at international public policy conference, 4 small merit-based scholarships and awards ($250  to $5,000) from non-profits and academic centers to attend invite-only seminars/conferences.

 

Publications: Nothing peer-reviewed. Wrote a large technical report for a government department (can't share report, but can acknowledge I wrote it and my name is on it) and MA thesis in comparative politics (serving as writing sample). Submitting a research note to AJPS next month... Many letters (and an op-ed) in newspapers like New York Times.

 

Presentations: Have made formal presentations of my research at graduate student conferences, undergraduate conference, and before UK government, and international organizations (OECD).

 

Letters: 4 letters by young elite university faculty under 40, 3 good and 1 likely generic but from comparative politics:

-1 from well-known, tenured methodologist jointly in politics and statistics departments

-1 from tenured formal political theorist, not particularly well-known outside of the field I am applying to

-1 from non-tenured comparative politics faculty who is seen as a rising star in the field (very young)

-1 from tenured professor jointly in sociology department

 

Affiliations: Member of PhD comparative politics research seminar, APSA, university-wide faculty interdisciplinary research group

 

Research Interests: Broadly, political participation and comparative political economy.  Specifically: Class-based inequality of political participation, electoral turnout in hybrid regimes, redistribution in new democracies, political determinants of state fiscal capacity.

 

Here goes... (this is all to be taken with a grain of salt) 

 

1) People have gotten into top tier programs with less than a 3.5. I would worry less about addressing this in your SOP as it is would risk coming across as making excuses and, given the upward trend that will show in your transcript, it doesn't really seem like something that you should spend valuable space justifying when you could be talking up other aspects of your application. 

 

2) I would go with the thee amazing letters. If you are trying for that fourth letter because of the prestige of the writer rather than his/her position to write you an excellent, personal letter, at best it will likely not send that strongly positive of a signal about your capabilities and at worst it may blow up in your face because an adcom could see right through it. 

 

3) With your credentials I don't think that you'll be an immediate rejection at any school. As far as making it to the end of the cuts, nobody knows for sure.

 

4) I would say no on things like op-eds (I have rarely seen them in a cv, doesn't mean it isn't done). The government report, however, might be worth mentioning, but I would probably put that more in a "professional experience" section of my cv than in a "publications" section.  

 

Additionally, you may want to sift through the Faculty Perspectives thread for more in depth and experienced responses to questions similar to yours. 

 

Hope this was useful. 

[cooperstreet]

 How should I treat poor performance in my 1st year of undergrad in my SOP/CV

 

In.  Anyone have any advice for the below 4 questions (cross-posted elsewhere) on my candidacy?

__________________________________
 

Undergraduate in Political Science from middle-tier university with MPP from elite British university applying for PhD in Comparative Politics/Political Economy for 2015. Nearly all post-grad work was in Economics, Statistics, or Government departments, effectively giving me an MSc in quantitative social research methods plus an MSc Public Policy.

 

(1) How should I treat poor performance in my 1st year of undergrad in my SOP/CV? My overall GPA was 3.5 but was 3.70 over my last 2 years.  Additionally, my overall Political Science GPA was 3.59, but exhibited a massively upward trend: excluding my 1st year it was 3.74, with a 3.71 over the last 2 years.

 

(2) Do I opt for 4 letters or drop a strong letter from a academic in sociology and pick up an okay one from someone in comparative? I have 3 amazing letters but only 2 of them are from political scientists and none are in my subfield.  The 3rd is a tenured sociologist.  I can get a good-but-not-amazing letter from an assistant professor who is a rising star in my field of interest but not tenured because VERY young.  

 

(3) Would I be competitive in any of the following tiers (see qualifications below)?

Tier 1: Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale

Tier 2: Columbia, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan

Tier 3: UCLA, WUSTL, NYU, Duke

Tier 4: Wisconsin, UNC, Cornell

Tier 5: Rochester, Northwestern, Texas, Minnesota

 

(4) Is it appropriate to list non-academic publications in my CV (i.e. published NYTimes Op-Ed or many short WSJ letters to the editor)?

_________________________________________

 

 

1) Ignore it.

 

2) my guess is do 3 letters. they dont need to be in your subfield.

 

3) Sure. But you need to educate yourself on tiers . Rochester tier 5?

 

4) Sure.

[catchermiscount]

 How should I treat poor performance in my 1st year of undergrad in my SOP/CV

 

 

1) Ignore it.

 

2) my guess is do 3 letters. they dont need to be in your subfield.

 

3) Sure. But you need to educate yourself on tiers . Rochester tier 5?

 

4) Sure.

 

I was deeply saddened.

[cupofnimbus]

What's the conventional wisdom on reaching out to POIs? Should I come armed with questions about the program, about their research, and a little bit of information about myself as a potential applicant? I didn't speak to any at all last year, and I'm not sure how much that helped or hurt.

[AuldReekie]

What's the conventional wisdom on reaching out to POIs? Should I come armed with questions about the program, about their research, and a little bit of information about myself as a potential applicant? I didn't speak to any at all last year, and I'm not sure how much that helped or hurt.

 

I've been thinking about this too. Broadly I'm thinking I will only do so if I have a good reason, most likely to confirm their current research agenda or such like.  I'm not worried about making sure each and every faculty member is advising/staying since I'll only apply to places with at least 2-3 potential advisers. 

 

Although I have emailed the odd professor or two during my undergraduate for what I now appreciate as rather frivolous matters and received some really nice responses.So maybe?  On the other hand I'm still waiting for a DGS to reply to an email from over two months ago . 

[Ella Simmons]

These tiers are way out of whack.  All the cool kids are going to Berkeley and avoiding Yale.

 

(3) Would I be competitive in any of the following tiers (see qualifications below)?

Tier 1: Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale

Tier 2: Columbia, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan

Tier 3: UCLA, WUSTL, NYU, Duke

Tier 4: Wisconsin, UNC, Cornell

Tier 5: Rochester, Northwestern, Texas, Minnesota

[Phdforme]

These tiers are way out of whack.  All the cool kids are going to Berkeley and avoiding Yale.

Why is that?

[steedyue]

Why is that?

Exodus of senior faculties. Esp. Thad Dunning to Berkeley.

[Aliriza]

Hi everyone I've already posted this in NELC/Middle East part. I'm planning to apply for Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science programs. Currently Studying in a distinguished Turkish universty in the field.

Current UG Year: Senior

Majors: Political Science and History( Double major)

GPA: 3.4

work experience: 2 yeras as interpreter for a human rights organization

Languages: Azerbaijani,Farsi,Turkish,English and intermediate knowledge of Arabic and also Ottoman Turkish and Cyrilic Azerbaijani

TA: Persian1 and 2 next year

Interest areas : Comparative politics ,Nationalism, Ethnic conflicts, Modern Iran and Turkey,South Caucasus

 

didn't  exactly decide where to apply but will go for different programs as much as possible

[catchermiscount]

What's the conventional wisdom on reaching out to POIs? Should I come armed with questions about the program, about their research, and a little bit of information about myself as a potential applicant? I didn't speak to any at all last year, and I'm not sure how much that helped or hurt.

 

There many not be a conventional wisdom.  I contacted the professor that ended up being my committee chair, but he's adamant that contacting faculty is at best futile and at worst annoying.  If it does matter, it's at the margins.

[cooperstreet]

Hi everyone I've already posted this in NELC/Middle East part. I'm planning to apply for Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science programs. Currently Studying in a distinguished Turkish universty in the field.

Current UG Year: Senior

Majors: Political Science and History( Double major)

GPA: 3.4

work experience: 2 yeras as interpreter for a human rights organization

Languages: Azerbaijani,Farsi,Turkish,English and intermediate knowledge of Arabic and also Ottoman Turkish and Cyrilic Azerbaijani

TA: Persian1 and 2 next year

Interest areas : Comparative politics ,Nationalism, Ethnic conflicts, Modern Iran and Turkey,South Caucasus

 

didn't  exactly decide where to apply but will go for different programs as much as possible

Michigan? University of Washington?

[cupofnimbus]

There many not be a conventional wisdom.  I contacted the professor that ended up being my committee chair, but he's adamant that contacting faculty is at best futile and at worst annoying.  If it does matter, it's at the margins.

 

This is exactly the reason I didn't reach out to anyone last year. On one hand, it's good to hear that my instincts were correct, but on the other, if this board is any indication, it's common enough. Thanks!

[Aliriza]

Michigan? University of Washington?

Thanks! added to my list

[cooperstreet]

Someone from CP should chime in too see how regional specialities work in admissions. My hunch is that you're going to have to find a CP scholar who focuses on Turkey. I think that would be pretty hard to come by .

[generativeIR]

Hey all,

 

I'll be applying this winter for PhD programs in political science/international relations.  I'm actually excited about getting applications together.  I graduated undergrad in May of 2013 and have taken this last year off to work off some of my debt.  I have a, possibly dumb, question.  How does a dual-major in undergrad weigh into applications.  I'm kind of thinking that it barely, if at all, matters since undergrad is basically a party where grade inflation makes sure that the drinks don't stop.  I had a pathetically bad start to undergrad and grad school was never on my mind until my senior year (cum gpa is not great, both majors are alright).  Most of my overachieving effort went into the papers I wrote.

 

I did a dual major in poltical science and philosophy and want to study IPE, grand strategy, intelligence, and the philosophy of social science (maybe even some cognitive science in there).  My goal, ultimately, is publishing as I would love a career studying things that interest me on a personal level.  I have several possible research avenues for various topics some with fairly specific questions, but I do not have access to resources required to do any serious personal research.  Which reminds me of another question.  Are there any people here who have contemplated "independent scholarship"?  I decided this last year that the badge of authority is probably a necessity.  I'm not tied to being a university professor for a career either (not tall enough), I'd be happy consulting, NGOing, or think tanking.

 

So far, I have begun drafting SOPs and LoR emails (kind of nervous about those as it has been a year since I have graduated) and will be scheduling for GRE in mid-July; Ohio State, Berkeley, IU, CUNY, and NYU comprise my list at the moment.

Edited June 24, 2014 by generativeIR

[victorydance]

Unless you double major in math/stats and sometime relevant, I don't think they really give a crap. 

[sylark]

Good luck everyone, if you are starting the application process in the summer...GREAT!

 

I started in October, not a good idea if you are busy working/school/senior thesis (probably worse for MA students applying to a PhD program.)

 

My top advice, especially to anyone with a borderline GRE score (310-320), lack of publishing/research experience, and/or GPA (3.0-3.5), is to apply to a variety of schools. I doubted that I'd be able to to get into a top 50 school, and as a result didn't apply to many. I am quite happy I did apply to my top choice school and was accepted; however, I could have applied to more top programs. I urge all of you to not sell yourselves short; it could have cost my education/career options if I hadn't applied to schools that I thought "I had no chance" of getting into. That said, rankings are not the most important factor in choosing a program or the quality of a progam; however, prestige, whether we like to think so or not, has a great deal of influence on job placement upon graduating. The point of listing this is to show, there are no "safety" programs. Especially with border-liners, some top schools will focus on certain factors more than other top programs - the same goes with lower ranked programs. Essentially, there is no distinct trend; an applicant can be accepted into a top 20 school and rejected at a sub-50 school. 

 

Apply, apply, apply. If you don't have the money, find funding as soon as possible. I saved up hundreds of dollars to finance applications, many applicants spend into the thousands, but it's a worthwhile investment to increase the number of applications sent off. Don't assume "you are not good enough" for any program, or that any program is a guarantee. Though, with my 315 GRE (160V/155Q) and some other weaker factors, I shouldn't have applied to all top 20 schools; rather, I could have picked out just a couple to apply. 

 

I applied to the following programs, ranked:

 

#25 (#17 in my subfield; below schools didn't rank.) Accepted Offer!  

#28 - Rejected

#40 - Rejected

#45 - Rejected

#48 - Accepted

#68 - Rejected

#76 - Accepted

 

I was accepted into my top choice program, and rejected by my bottom choice program (#68). Go figure!

 

Hope this helps other border-liners. 

[cooperstreet]

Ohio State, Berkeley, IU, CUNY, and NYU 

 

What kind of methods do you want to do? I'm guessing formal theory? CUNY is broke, btw.

[NX3763]

Hi all another 2014/15er joining the ranks.

 

I'm currently completing my MA, looking to study political communications / comparative politics for PhD. Currently working on my list of schools, I was going to apply last cycle but changed my mind at the last moment, glad I did though as my research interests have evolved and so had my list of schools!

 

Thinking of applying to about 7 schools (money is tight), but I know the more the better, should I stretch this out to 10? Anyone know any good polcomms places, looking to spread my applications across the tiers.