PoliSci PhD Program Ranking

[stonehouse]

Hi there.

 

I'm applying several PhD programs in political science and was wondering 

which ranking system is most frequently referred and regarded definitive in this field.

 

I've chosen some programs and want to add more diversity in my application portfolio 

but none of US News Ranking, ARWU, THE, QS seem to be perfectly reliable.

Edited November 3, 2017 by stonehouse

[dagnabbit]

The US News rankings are generally the ones that people are referring to when a department's rank is mentioned. However, there are a lot of different rankings out there that measure different things: the NRC rankings measure programs on several different metrics, there's a list of rankings by placement quality out there somewhere, and so on and so forth. I would encourage you to think less about rank and more about placement - would you be happy in the type of job that (average, not outlier) graduates of this department tend to get? If not, you shouldn't apply regardless of rank.