UCLA PhD Political Science

[amripley]

I'm a prospective applicant to the PhD program in the Department of Political Science at UCLA. My focus is in the IPE arena, and I'm interested in working with Michael Ross (amongst others). I'd like to hear from a current student or recent graduate of the program about funding opportunities (is the program fully funded? is there competition for funding between students? I've heard differing reports on this, and the truth isn't immediately clear from UCLA's website...), RA, TA, and fellowship opportunities within the Department, student engagement with faculty, and perceptions of faculty overall. Is the general feeling that PhD students are well supported throughout their time at UCLA? Side-comments about living in West LA are also appreciated!

[davet73]

UCLA is my program of choice, so I am interested in hearing the responses. However, my focus is on voting behavior and the impact of media (so I am looking to work with Vavreck or Zaller). 

[RCtheSS]

One of my friends (also a GradCafe user) was admitted to the UCLA PhD program this application cycle. They offered my friend no guaranteed first-year funding. That was pretty troubling information to hear from a department.

[davet73]

No kidding, especially from a Top 10 program!!!

[alphazeta]

There's a wealth of information in the Department's self review: http://www.senate.ucla.edu/programreview/documents/SelfReview_003.pdf  

[amripley]

As per their 2014 Senate Review, "

Starting with the entering class of 2013-14, we now provide commitments of full funding for five years as well as two (or three) summers to all admitted students. The rationale behind this is that it is no longer realistic to recruit students without funding, if we are to continue to be competitive with peer institutions. While it has always been the case that our program does not successfully

compete in attracting graduate students who are admitted to the country’s very top departments (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc.), the institutions which with we regularly compete effectively for students (MIT, NYU, Duke, etc.) now offer full funding to all admitted students. Not moving to an equivalent model would have reduced our competitiveness and eroded our ability to attract the best students."

 

So, what's the truth?

[amripley]

Now that the forums are heating up again, does anyone have more to say on this?

[resDQ]

57 minutes ago, amripley said:

Now that the forums are heating up again, does anyone have more to say on this?

I would like to know more as well. Seems odd that there is no funding for the first year. Usually have to worry about funding after the first few years.