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I see that folks are getting PhD acceptances — Congratulations! It is still very early in the season, best of luck to those waiting.
I was a #firstgen international student who didn’t know how to evaluate US PhD (political science) offers. Below are a few things I wish I knew:
I was a #firstgen international student who didn’t know how to evaluate US PhD (political science) offers. Below are a few things I wish I knew:
1) The advice I got was to “go to the best school.” While there’s some truth to it, it’s not always helpful. Sometimes the no. 25 ranked school might be a better fit for you than no. 19. No. 8 won’t confer any meaningful diff in “prestige” than no. 3. DON’T fixate on rankings.
2) See if grad students look happy & supported. Ofc, beware of selection effects — those who show up at recruitment Zoom events tend to be the happier ones in more stable phases of grad school!
I would ask about subfield & center workshops (are they well-attended, by who, freq),
I would ask about subfield & center workshops (are they well-attended, by who, freq),
departmental student orgs (do they exist, what do they care or talk about), and if people collaborate (if you’re a social person, do people hang out). A collegial envt w/ good folks will make your research better, help you overcome setbacks, & make grad sch much more pleasant.
2a) Will you have adequate financial support? Do current students worry about funding? It’d be much harder to focus on work if your prog doesn’t provide a stipend throughout your attendance. Ask about time-to-degree, most progs take more than 5 yrs to finish: Are people funded?
Chances are that you don’t stop paying rent over summer. Are there opportunities for summer funding through research assistantships? Teaching? Or just part of the standard package?
If you must compare stipends, don’t overlook cost of living differences, which can be substantial.
If you must compare stipends, don’t overlook cost of living differences, which can be substantial.
2b) Research support. This is especially important if you do field or survey work. For ref, in my (relatively well-resourced) public university, we have grant competitions for research $ ranging from 2k to 10k. Internal sources of funding are particularly key for non-US citizens!
During recruitment, a faculty member told me about research$. I didn’t think much of it, little did I know I wouldn’t be able to write the dissertation I wrote w/o it. Ask about it, & if you want, look at CVs of students at respective schs to get a sense of the support available.
2c) Conference funding. If you don’t do research that require $, it is still a good idea to ask how frequently do grad students present at conferences and if they have to pay out of pocket for those (how much). Might not be important during your 1-3 years, but helpful year 4+.
3) Check the dept’s placement record. But the quality of support students receive likely varies a ton within depts, so also look at your potential advisors’ list of students. Did they have none or like 30 in the last 5 years? Think abt the reasons for that and its implications.
Might not be appropriate to put a lot of weight on placement records of individual faculty due to the stochastic nature of the job market. More useful to talk to their students, if possible. For the record, I didn’t do any of 3), but I lucked out & had the absolute best advisors.
4) Lastly, the political science department at Michigan is great. #goblue
