Publishing, research experience etc...?

[listed]

So, hopefully this isn't too "stupid" of a question... I plan to speak with some profs about this sometime soon, but, as Canadian, I was hoping to get an "American" perspective here as well. 

 

I was just wondering, how does an undergraduate or M.A student get published? 

 

I'm currently finishing up my undergrad... I'll be starting my M.A in political science (at a Canadian university) in the Fall. I figured I should probably start looking into strengthening my portofolio in the chance that I so choose to further graduate study at the PhD level. My decision to apply to M.A programs was a very last minute one so I've only recently started to really consider these things (research experience, publications etc.)

 

Are M.A students afforded more "opportunities" to publish or is this something that usually comes with working closely alongside a professor as a research assistant? I have one publication in an undergraduate academic journal, but I don't think that will count for anything when applying to PhD programs... 

 

Also, how do people usually go about getting a postion as a research assistant? Is it just a matter of approaching professors and asking them directly? From lurking the forums its seems like almost all undergraduate students in the States who apply to grad programs have some experience working as a research assistant, whereas in Canadian universities it's not as common? (I may be totally wrong on this)

 

Additionally, how important is it to take coursework in stats and quant methods? I've literally only taken calculus in first year... and from my understanding, a one-year pols M.A program at, for example, the University of Toronto, only requires one half-year course in methods. 

 

Moreover, is it feasible for an M.A student from, say, UofT or UBC to get into a top (10?) ranking political science PhD program in the U.S? 

 

I apologize for how long this is!!! Thank you in advance! 

Edited March 12, 2015 by listed

[victorydance]

Feasibility of getting into a top 10 Ph.D. program from a Canadian MA program: yes if you are a strong applicant.

 

Likelihood of getting something published, in a reputable polisci journal, as an undergrad or MA student: fairly low, even for MA students. In political science we don't have the advantage of working in a lab and getting published as a co-author on a project. The really only time, unless you are an all-star student, pre-doctoral students get published is as a co-author with a professor. This does happen but it's not incredibly common either. Some people get published on solo works or with other graduate students but this is even rarer than with a professor.

 

To get an RA position in Canada isn't really that much different than any university in the US. The biggest difference is usually R1 universities in the US have more funding and bigger faculties so the research opportunities are greater. That's it. I had one at a Canadian university over a summer as an undergrad, but it was at a top 2 university in the country.

 

You want to do a few things: one, get in classes with professors who have similar research interests. Secondly, go to their office hours a lot (with intelligent and useful questions to ask) and do well in their classes. Look for assistant professors (because they are pushing more research out to get tenure) or profs who are extremely productive research wise because these are the people who hire RAs. You can also poke around the faculty to see who hires the most RAs, there are always one or two profs who do big projects or commonly hire undergrads or junior grad students as RAs. Once the prof gets to know you and you prove somehow you are a promising and interested student begin to ask them about their research and/or ask if you can get involved in some way. Other methods to get to know profs better are independent research courses and/or honours theses/masters theses. 

 

And yes, you should take some methods classes because it shows your aptitude for this type of study to admission committees. I suggest doing at least a year sequence of quant methods in the political science department, anything more than this is bonus. Of course there are other options such as more traditional math or statistics courses or courses from other departments (econometrics for example). 

Edited March 12, 2015 by victorydance

[listed]

Feasibility of getting into a top 10 Ph.D. program from a Canadian MA program: yes if you are a strong applicant.

 

Likelihood of getting something published, in a reputable polisci journal, as an undergrad or MA student: fairly low, even for MA students. In political science we don't have the advantage of working in a lab and getting published as a co-author on a project. The really only time, unless you are an all-star student, pre-doctoral students get published is as a co-author with a professor. This does happen but it's not incredibly common either. Some people get published on solo works or with other graduate students but this is even rarer than with a professor.

 

To get an RA position in Canada isn't really that much different than any university in the US. The biggest difference is usually R1 universities in the US have more funding and bigger faculties so the research opportunities are greater. That's it. I had one at a Canadian university over a summer as an undergrad, but it was at a top 2 university in the country.

 

You want to do a few things: one, get in classes with professors who have similar research interests. Secondly, go to their office hours a lot (with intelligent and useful questions to ask) and do well in their classes. Look for assistant professors (because they are pushing more research out to get tenure) or profs who are extremely productive research wise because these are the people who hire RAs. You can also poke around the faculty to see who hires the most RAs, there are always one or two profs who do big projects or commonly hire undergrads or junior grad students as RAs. Once the prof gets to know you and you prove somehow you are a promising and interested student begin to ask them about their research and/or ask if you can get involved in some way. Other methods to get to know profs better are independent research courses and/or honours theses/masters theses. 

 

And yes, you should take some methods classes because it shows your aptitude for this type of study to admission committees. I suggest doing at least a year sequence of quant methods in the political science department, anything more than this is bonus. Of course there are other options such as more traditional math or statistics courses or courses from other departments (econometrics for example). 

 

Thanks so much for your response victorydance. That was very helpful/informative.

[irfannooruddin]

I second everything @victorydance said above. 

 

I'd add only that you shouldn't discount your publication in an undergraduate journal. It will be a good sign to admissions committees that you understand that publishing is what this game is about and that you are capable of following a research project all the way through to publication. 

 

Best of luck.

[listed]

I second everything @victorydance said above. 

 

I'd add only that you shouldn't discount your publication in an undergraduate journal. It will be a good sign to admissions committees that you understand that publishing is what this game is about and that you are capable of following a research project all the way through to publication. 

 

Best of luck.

 

Thank you .

 

I've read/heard that for M.A students applying to PhD programs (in the U.S) having a publication under your belt is more a requirement than a plus to your application? In other words, if you're applying with an M.A opposed to just an undergraduate degree, you're more or less expected to have published something to be considered a serious candidate? 

 

Does anyone know if this true? 

[victorydance]

No, it is not true. 

[PrincipalAgent]

Publications for anyone coming into grad school are definitely not a must (though they DEFINITELY help). I would, however, look into writing a Masters Thesis if you have the option. That will send the right signals that you're interested in research and you can potentially have your thesis turn into a journal article so the returns are pretty high to writing a thesis if you are serious about going down the PhD path. 

[irfannooruddin]

Publications for anyone coming into grad school are definitely not a must (though they DEFINITELY help). I would, however, look into writing a Masters Thesis if you have the option. That will send the right signals that you're interested in research and you can potentially have your thesis turn into a journal article so the returns are pretty high to writing a thesis if you are serious about going down the PhD path. 

 

+1