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PhD Political Science
| navy sex offender | 09/07/06 |
| Sapphire stirring mediation gay wizard | 09/07/06 |
| navy sex offender | 09/08/06 |
| Sapphire stirring mediation gay wizard | 09/09/06 |
| aquamarine provocative hunting ground library | 10/15/06 |
| buck-toothed preventive strike | 09/27/06 |
| navy sex offender | 09/27/06 |
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Date: September 7th, 2006 12:53 AM Author: navy sex offender Hi all,
I'm considering making the switch from an Economics PhD program to Political Science, but would like some feedback concerning my options. About me:
- Top 50-ish LAC undergrad (Econ and Poli Sci), Honors on Senior Thesis, Research Fellowships to do international work, etc etc. 3.85 overall GPA
- Top 30 Econ MA (to be completed this year), 3.8 GPA through first year classes, and should have good LORs as I've been near or at the top of my cohort
- GRE: 780Q, 600V, 6.0 AWA
I'll be taking one grad level IR class this fall in hopes of getting a non-econ LOR, though the rest will be econ. My research interests are varied, but primarily involve the political economy of developing nations, particularly the endogenous relationships between corruption, inequality and civil conflict. In any case, I still love economics but would like to explore some of the methodological tools available in political science, hence the switch. I would prefer not to stay at my current school as their area focus is SE Asia, where my interests lie elsewhere (Africa primarily).
Obviously I have sort of an odd profile for a PhD in Poli Sci, especially with such a low verbal score, but a better math background. Is shooting for top 5 - 10 type schools unreasonable? Do some programs look for more math oriented people where I could get away with my lower verbal score? Or am I better off staying at my current school and trying to work out some sort of duel Econ-Poli Sci degree?
Thanks! |
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Date: September 7th, 2006 4:10 PM Author: Sapphire stirring mediation gay wizard I was in a somewhat similar boat -- I got into an econ PhD, but I then went and reapplied to poli sci PhD (which I ultimately enrolled in, although dropped after a year). If I were you though, I would finish the econ PhD. Econ PhDs place infinitely better in academia and especially so in industry. You can teach in a poli sci department with an econ degree, but not vice versa. I guess you are in the 20-30 range, which is borderline, but even the 5-10 range in poli sci I wouldn't say would give you better options afterwards. Econ PhD is also much quicker to finish in most cases. Hardly any classes will transfer. If I were you, I would stay put. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=485348&forum_id=3#6573498) |
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Date: September 8th, 2006 7:23 PM Author: navy sex offender Interesting...if you don't mind my asking, why did you drop from the poli sci program?
Also, do you have any sense of how Econ PhDs make the transition to a poli sci department? Would they have a political science background or just do cross-disciplinary research on their own? At this point, I'm open to any suggestions on how to proceed. I'm not committed to any one program or approach, but would just like an opportunity to do research I consider interesting and valuable, preferably using a multi-disciplinary approach.
Anyone else have a comment or suggestion? |
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Date: September 9th, 2006 5:58 AM Author: Sapphire stirring mediation gay wizard I dropped it because I get bored easily, and spending 6+ years in one city, researching some topic no one gives a damn about (and researching = reading 1000 pages a week and typing the dissertation for 3+ years) simply didn't seem as being the most interesting way to spend my 20s. I have no strong desire to be a prof, and the only positions I would even consider are ones in NYC, DC, or maybe some other large international city. How do they make the transition? Pretty easily. They obviously don't teach political theory classes. They teach mostly in the quantitative methods department (e.g., game theory) or political economy classes. Point is, econ PhDs can teach in econ departments, business schools, poli sci departments, and maybe even some of the other social sciences (I simply haven't checked out sociology, anthro, etc). Poli sci are stuck in poli sci or history maybe. Both econ and poli sci can teach in IR schools. Econ PhDs can also go into banking, like financial engineering, so their market value is far far higher. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=485348&forum_id=3#6583793) |
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Date: October 15th, 2006 2:22 AM Author: aquamarine provocative hunting ground library I'm in a top-N political science phd program. My sense is that the econ job market is much better, so if you can get in and cut it in a top econ phd program, you'll be better positioned. Also, if you want to work in poli sci, that's not impossible with econ degree and cross-disciplinary research. Most poli sci programs are intellectual whores: they'll appoint people out of econ, philosophy, whatever, if their work touches on politics. My department probably has 10 professors with non-poli sci phds.
Also, I wouldn't worry about that verbal gre score, or for that matter your chances anywhere. The best poli sci departments, especially the more quantitatively-oriented ones (Michigan, Stanford, Rochester, etc.) really love math people.
Double-also, the "methodological tools available in political science" are basically the same as in economics: stats (a.k.a. econometrics) and formal modeling. |
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Date: September 27th, 2006 9:18 AM Author: buck-toothed preventive strike Did you apply specifically for a MA program in Econ or will you be getting the MA as you reach a certain portion of the Ph.D program? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=485348&forum_id=3#6684201) |
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Date: September 27th, 2006 3:04 PM Author: navy sex offender As part of a PhD sequence. So, I completed the standard PhD first year course work and passed my core exams.
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