Length of POLS Doctoral Program

[William99]

I see a lot of ambiguous references about the length of a doctoral program (3-7 years).  I have a friend who powered through a PhD at UNC in three years (ambitious military officer) and she said that many grad students lack the work ethic to focus and get it done. Also, some schools will accept transfer credit of your masters degree work for half of their course work, for example. What are some realistic expectations as far as getting a PhD in Political Science or Public Policy done in three years if I have some transferable credit? 

[cooperstreet]

I see a lot of ambiguous references about the length of a doctoral program (3-7 years).  I have a friend who powered through a PhD at UNC in three years (ambitious military officer) and she said that many grad students lack the work ethic to focus and get it done. 

 

She's in an entirely different circumstance, because if she is a military officer, the standards are much lower. She doesn't need to bust her ass to write a disseratation that is going to get published and land her a TT job at an R1. She just needs to get out and graduate so she can be a military officer with a PhD.

 

3 years is unheard of, 4 years is very rare, and 5-6 years is the norm.

[victorydance]

On average you are looking at 5-7 years. It also depends on the discipline, for example comparative politics seems to take a bit longer because of the fieldwork component. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by victorydance

[AmericanQuant]

The military folks do it in 3 years by lots of hard work and throwing all of their energy into their dissertation.  Other PhD students do more RA work, take more classes, and are more likely to write articles with other grad students or their advisors.  The military folks do a better job of getting a PhD and moving on to their next assignment, other grad students (sometimes) do a better job putting together a research program and a portfolio for a tenure-track job.  All depends on what your goals are after finishing.

 

Anytime I've floated the idea of taking less than 5 years, I've been encouraged to take the "extra" year to improve my dissertation, write some articles, and "tech up."  

[cooperstreet]

I don't know of any  poli sci phd program that doesn't have TA or RA requirements.

[polisci12345]

Quite a few departments (such as my own) have no TA or RA requirements, but if you don't do either, you won't get paid. If you are funded from something outside (such as the military), you can forgo the department money and not have to spend time doing any TA or RA work.

[zephyri]

5-7 years is the average in my Ph.D. program, but our dept only gives students funding for 5 years.  We also have direct-admit into the Ph.D. program, making it possible to enter w/o a MA.  I didn't have a MA, and am set to finish in 5-6 years from my start date.  I would say finishing a Ph.D. (entering with a MA) is only possible if you have hammered it out with your school ahead of time that they will transfer most, if not all of your MA credits.  Many schools won't do this.  There's also the question of taking comprehensive exams, which tend to be written by profs at the Ph.D. program- who will give you essay questions about topics/classes they taught, not necessarily those you learned about in your MA.