Political Science at New School?

[Guest NYC]

I just got a late acceptance to the New School... I had already decided on another school, but was just wondering if anyone knows anything about their program. They don't appear on anyone's rankings and I can't find much information on them other than their own PR material...

Thanks for the help.

[Guest bruno]

The political science dept. at the New School is extremely liberal. Very left-wing fringe people.

Some complaints about the department is that they use a large amount of adjuncts. However, the school does not have a very big endowment, and therefore gives very little financial aid to reduce its large tuition bill, so many students take classes one or two at a time while working. I was told there were very few RAs or TAs.

The dept. actually has a famous history, being the former academic home of Richard Heilbronner of the "Worldly Philosophers" fame. When I visited the admissions person when she was in the midwest, she said that all 5 of the poli sci Ph.D. graduates had teaching jobs lined up before they graduated, which would be a pretty good feat. In the east, the school is readily recognized in poli sci circles (kind of like Clark in geography; its one of the best, but if you weren't in that field you would not know about it). And it is in New York City, which means the night life and culture experience of the city would be world-class, and there is a booming economy meaning lots of available employment while you work on your degree and pay your tuition (which is something like $1500 a credit hour).

I was going to apply there, but I had to reduce my application numbers due to lack of funds; but a few weeks ago (after 4/15) I received an e-mail from the New School admissions officer that I had talked to a few months earlier, and she said that the poli sci dept. did not admit their usual amount of Ph.D. students so they would accept late applications, and she said my numbers were above the average of the entering new Ph.D. student so I would have no problem being admitted if I applied. However, I did already have an acceptance to another school with a TA and a supplementary university scholarship, so I declined, mostly because I did not want to add any more to my debt level. But I did think hard about it because the school is in New York City, which is a major attaction.

Hope that helps.

[Guest Grec]

If you are into critical theory it might be your thing. Nevertheless, and probably because of their approach, they do not have enough funds to support students. Most of the people have to work in order to support themselves throughout their `full-time' studies. Additionally, the department and the university in general is overcrowded. There are way too many students for every professor, and students do not get offices. Thus, most of the students end up going to the libraries at NYU or Columbia in order to study and find books.

Besides the location, the good thing about the New School is that you can take courses at NYU, Princeton, or Columbia; although of course, you have to pay for them.