PoliSci 2007-2008 Cycle

[farty14]

Starting a thread. Feel free to post info on schools as well as where you are applying.

[flyingwalrus]

I've applied to:

UC San Diego

Berkeley

Stanford

Texas-Austin

Texas A&M

Wisconsin-Madison

Illinois-Urbana Champaign

WUSTL

Duke

UNC-Chapel Hill

Fields: American politics and methods.

Concentrations: Behavior, campaigns and elections, parties, and political communication (specifically negative campaigning).

[farty14]

I guess I should reply to my own post.

Applied:

Princeton

Berkeley

Yale

Penn

WUSTL

Michigan

Emory

Duke

Chicago

Texas - Austin

Field: American

Subfield: Public Law

[flyingwalrus]

Glad to see I'm not the only one to apply to far too many programs.

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

I might just win the "applied to too many schools" contest with 15 lol.

Princeton

Penn

Florida State

Penn State

WUSTL

Emory

UMass

Delaware

UVA

UNC

Maryland

Vanderbilt

Miami (OH)

Ohio State

Notre Dame

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add this:

Fields: American Politics, Public Policy, Quantitative Methods

Specific Interest: Non-Governmental Organizations, Lobbyists, and Non-Profits/Faith Based service organizations

[farty14]

Does Miami of Ohio have a Ph.D. program? If so, really?!

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

Does Miami of Ohio have a Ph.D. program? If so, really?!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what is known as a safe school, but one after which it is still possible to get a job.

[flyingwalrus]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what is known as a safe school, but one after which it is still possible to get a job.

Indeed. Illinois and Texas are my safeties, although the latter may end up being a pretty good choice if a particular professor ends up there.

[farty14]

Indeed. Illinois and Texas are my safeties, although the latter may end up being a pretty good choice if a particular professor ends up there.

Texas is your safety? I was under the impression that Texas has a very strong and competitive program. Also, I'm still in disbelief that Miami of Ohio has a Ph.D. program.

[flyingwalrus]

Texas is your safety? I was under the impression that Texas has a very strong and competitive program. Also, I'm still in disbelief that Miami of Ohio has a Ph.D. program.

Texas is a safety for me. No sure bet, but my recommenders and I are fairly confident that I'll get in. There's no guarantee, of course, but it seems pretty likely. Texas has some pretty good faculty members, but I was somewhat underwhelmed by their placement record. It's not bad, just not as good as I thought before. Their grad coordinator will send it to you if you ask.

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

Texas is your safety? I was under the impression that Texas has a very strong and competitive program. Also, I'm still in disbelief that Miami of Ohio has a Ph.D. program.

While the name "Miami" still conjures images of Florida, rather than Ohio, don't underestimate the quality of the university. That's one of the interesting things about the transition that's going on right now in Political Science. Over the last ten years or so, there has been an increasing emphasis on game theory and empirical methods. The schools that are embracing this, publishing and teaching those methods to their grad students, and requiring a math background in their admits are taking a major step up. Meanwhile, traditional powerhouse programs that aren't adapting quickly are having more and more trouble placing their PhD's in academia. If you look at rankings in placement, you'd be surprised how many of the ivy's don't even make the top 20. Until I started researching various programs, I vastly underestimated Florida State. But not only do they have amazing facilities, very friendly faculty, and a winter climate you can't beat lol; they also have an excellent placement record.

It would be interesting to see if there's a correlation between quantitative focus of a program and that program's placement record.

[farty14]

While the name "Miami" still conjures images of Florida, rather than Ohio, don't underestimate the quality of the university. That's one of the interesting things about the transition that's going on right now in Political Science. Over the last ten years or so, there has been an increasing emphasis on game theory and empirical methods. The schools that are embracing this, publishing and teaching those methods to their grad students, and requiring a math background in their admits are taking a major step up. Meanwhile, traditional powerhouse programs that aren't adapting quickly are having more and more trouble placing their PhD's in academia. If you look at rankings in placement, you'd be surprised how many of the ivy's don't even make the top 20. Until I started researching various programs, I vastly underestimated Florida State. But not only do they have amazing facilities, very friendly faculty, and a winter climate you can't beat lol; they also have an excellent placement record.

It would be interesting to see if there's a correlation between quantitative focus of a program and that program's placement record.

That may be true, but I'm still surprised. I don't think of Miami as a national university by any stretch. What rankings are you looking at, exactly? Most Ivys are in the top 20 or so.

[flyingwalrus]

I can't speak for Miami, but Florida looks to be a pretty decent program. They certainly appear weak in behavior, but their placement record is on par with some of the more prestigious programs.

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

What rankings are you looking at, exactly? Most Ivys are in the top 20 or so.

I'm gonna have to take back what I said about the Ivy's and placement. My info was based on rankings presented to me by a professor at a recruiting event, but now that I'm searching online, I can't find them. The rankings that I do find online, however, are curiously inconsistent and significantly contradict what I was given. Econ rankings have some level of variation, but nothing like what I'm seeing in Poli Sci departments.

[farty14]

I'm gonna have to take back what I said about the Ivy's and placement. My info was based on rankings presented to me by a professor at a recruiting event, but now that I'm searching online, I can't find them. The rankings that I do find online, however, are curiously inconsistent and significantly contradict what I was given. Econ rankings have some level of variation, but nothing like what I'm seeing in Poli Sci departments.

Maybe that professor was trying to recruit you?

[flyingwalrus]

Rankings are nebulous. They may give you a ballpark estimate or they may be valueless. All that really matters is whether or not a school has good faculty who match up with your interests and a solid placement record.

[flyingwalrus]

Here's a non-US News ranking.

http://www.politicalstudies.org/pdf/psr/hix.pdf

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

I suppose I should probably mention that I know for a fact that professors monitor forums like this during the admissions process, so be careful just how much and what you say about yourselves and the programs to which you are applying. When I started the grad program I was in last year, one of my professors asked me if I was (insert name I used to use on testmagic a couple of years ago).

[farty14]

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/polisciapps/

Check out this group. It will enable applicants to graduate programs in political science to organization their application information and discuss the application process in a more coherent way.

[neonmeatte]

Applied for a Comparative Politics program in the following...

Top choices:

Berkeley

NYU

UCLA

Second choices:

UCSD

Rutgers

Fall Backs:

UF

CUNY

UW

[Canadianpolsci]

Hi fellow polsci applicants. Just wanted your feeback and to share:

MY INFO:

BA University of Toronto (Political Science, emphasis on theory, also studied classical Greek, German) UGPA: 3.87

MA Hebrew University of Jerusalem (focus on medieval and early modern political philosophy; granted by department of religious studies, a Hebrew Univ. department that has a better reputation internationally than political science) GPA: 3.99

GRE: verbal 700 (97%) math 710 (74%) writing 6/6

One published article in a journal in my field. A number of undergraduate and graduate awards.

2 letters from senior political theorists at Toronto. 2 letters from Israeli professors (1 pol. theorist, one professor of religious thought).

Applying to study political theory at:

Harvard

Yale

Duke

Princeton

Georgetown

Columbia

What are my chances at each school? What kind of reputation does the Unversity of Toronto have among Americans? How hard is Columbia to get into for political theory specifically?

[Minnesotan]

Hi fellow polsci applicants. Just wanted your feeback and to share:

MY INFO:

BA University of Toronto (Political Science, emphasis on theory, also studied classical Greek, German) UGPA: 3.87

MA Hebrew University of Jerusalem (focus on medieval and early modern political philosophy; granted by department of religious studies, a Hebrew Univ. department that has a better reputation internationally than political science) GPA: 3.99

GRE: verbal 700 (97%) math 710 (74%) writing 6/6

One published article in a journal in my field. A number of undergraduate and graduate awards.

2 letters from senior political theorists at Toronto. 2 letters from Israeli professors (1 pol. theorist, one professor of religious thought).

Applying to study political theory at:

Harvard

Yale

Duke

Princeton

Georgetown

Columbia

What are my chances at each school? What kind of reputation does the Unversity of Toronto have among Americans? How hard is Columbia to get into for political theory specifically?

Please don't cut/paste spam. Most people who read these forums page through most of the threads, so everyone will see your question if you put it in one general area, like "Applications."

Thanks,

The Forum Slaves

[flyingwalrus]

Hi fellow polsci applicants. Just wanted your feeback and to share:

MY INFO:

BA University of Toronto (Political Science, emphasis on theory, also studied classical Greek, German) UGPA: 3.87

MA Hebrew University of Jerusalem (focus on medieval and early modern political philosophy; granted by department of religious studies, a Hebrew Univ. department that has a better reputation internationally than political science) GPA: 3.99

GRE: verbal 700 (97%) math 710 (74%) writing 6/6

One published article in a journal in my field. A number of undergraduate and graduate awards.

2 letters from senior political theorists at Toronto. 2 letters from Israeli professors (1 pol. theorist, one professor of religious thought).

Applying to study political theory at:

Harvard

Yale

Duke

Princeton

Georgetown

Columbia

What are my chances at each school? What kind of reputation does the Unversity of Toronto have among Americans? How hard is Columbia to get into for political theory specifically?

Assuming there are faculty at those schools whose interests match your own and your statement of purpose and/or writing sample is strong, I imagine you'll be fairly competative. You've got great scores.

[peppermint]

Hi everyone.

I'm going crazy waiting on results- considering that it's only mid-January, this is not a good sign. I applied to 3 Ph.D. programs, but only one in political science- Emory. I've seen on Grad Cafe and Yuster that some people in past years were notified from Emory in mid January! And that many people received rejections in early February. This seems really early. Do you think they'll notify people that early this year? Also, I've seen some people list acceptances from Emory in January, but other people were listing interviews then. Anyone know what their interview policy is?

Thanks, and good luck to everyone!