A phd political science degree is designed for individuals that wish to contribute to the understanding of political phenomena and who are capable of significant research that adds to the current knowledge base in this field of study. Graduates holding a phd political science degree are prepared for careers in academia, government agencies, non profit organizations, and the private sector. These may examine local political systems as well as international political systems.

Candidates pursuing a phd political science are required to complete extensive research and a dissertation or thesis, which then must be defended in front of a panel of experts in the field. Some phd political science programs may also require coursework, teaching, and seminars. Take a look through the program options below and find the university for you! daniel w. Drezner is professor of international politics at the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university and a senior editor at the national interest. Prior to fletcher, he taught at the university of chicago and the university of colorado at boulder.

Drezner has received fellowships from the german marshall fund of the united states, the council on foreign relations, and harvard university. He has previously held positions with civic education project, the rand corporation, and the treasury department. For foreign policy professionals, i got a reasonable query from caitlin fitzgerald: if getting a ph.d. Is so great, how does one get accepted into a doctoral program in political science? this is a good question. despite all of the warnings being proffered about the stultifying nature of graduate school and the horrible, very bad, not so great quality of the academic job market, competition to get into top tier grad schools is still quite high. so, how do you get in? as someone who got accepted into a very competitive ph.d. Program in ~~boston~~ san francisco well, not in san francisco, but nearby no, not santa clara ok, thats enough!!ed. And as someone who has sat in on more than his fair share of admissions committees, i can proffer some useful tips. im going to do this in two parts: first, what undergraduates should do, and then what post baccalaureate types should do. im starting with the undergraduates because ~~its not too late for them~~ its at the college level when an individual applicant can lay the necessary groundwork for a strong application. Before i jump into the five dos and donts, let me remind you of something: in good ph.d.

Gives an admissions committee a valid excuse to ding you. so if youre really interested, you have to make sure that every facet of your application is up to par. With that out of the way, here are the five dos and five donts for undergraduates applying to political science ph.d. Programs in either international relations or comparative politics: the five dos. 1. read some actual political science. this might sound obvious, but a lot of undergraduate programs in political science particularly in the first few years will have syllabi larded with weird textbooks and foreign affairs articles. and thats ok for undergrads but if youre thinking of getting a ph.d. And youre not terribly familiar with either international organization or the american political science review. Youre in for a world of hurt. read the journals to get a sense of a what its like to write in political sciencese b not sound like an idiot when you write your application and c make sure, one last time, that this is really what you want to do for the next six years. Programs want to be sure that you will have the intellectual chops to do real research and real writing. the best opportunity youll have to do that as an undergrad is your b.a.

Program, thats a red flag. why didnt you write one? if you cant handle that, how could you handle a dissertaton? so write a thesis whether its required or not and make sure its good. 3. get comfortable with math. even if youre aspiring to do pure political theory or qualitative work, youre going to have to take classes in methodology, game theory and econometrics in graduate school. oh, and by the way, with the arrival of big data. Even areas of research that used to be qualitative are becoming quantitative. the less innumerate you are, the less these courses will seem like a foreign language. at a minimum, make sure you have familiarity with intermediate level statistics and multivariate calculus. linear algebra is nice too.

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4. go abroad and learn a language. experience is not weighted all that heavily in grad school applications. overseas experience is an exception, particularly if you want to specialize in an area or region of the globe. learning a language pertinent to that region or area will help as well. exploit study abroad programs as a way to signal that youll be up for the rigors of field work. 5. get rich. ready for some real keeping? if you can fund your own ticket for graduate school, the admissions standards are not nearly so high. whether you inherit family wealth, win an nsf fellowship. Or finally make sure that nigerian e mailer comes through, having no need for fellowship support makes you a freebie to most programs. At that point, the equation changes from is this candidate among the best? to is this candidate above the bar? the latter is much easier to clear than the former. Programs at length. your mileage may vary, but speaking personally, im at the point where i get so many of these emails that i ignore all of them. all. of. them. why? because professors are not stupid we know youre sending these out en masse. We dont know whether you really have the chops to get a degree, and because we dont make decisions like this because of e mails. i wont deny that this tactic might work once in a blue moon, but its been so played out that most profs eyes glaze over a these missives. Will allow you to change the world. backstory matters in explaining why youre interested in doing what youre doing, but dont kid yourself unless youre a survivor of an ethnic cleansing, your personal narrative at 21 is just not that interesting. side note: if you are the survivor of an ethnic cleansing, hey, go to town in your statement.

5. take on debt. lets say you work really hard and get accepted to a top tier program, but without the fellowship support that you need because silly you! youre not rich. you night start thinking, sure, ill have to take on some debt, but its a great program and therefore worth it. wrong! first of all, its not like youre going to be raking in the bucks as a post grad even a small amount of debt can be financially debilitating. second, not getting a fellowship is a powerful signal of lukewarm interest on the part of the school, so youd already be starting with a strike against you. unless youre rich, only attend traditional ph.d. Part ii what to do if youve been out of college for a while and want to apply to get a ph.d.

Professors am i missing anything? any more advice to proffer? twitter facebook google + reddit the department of sociology and political science offers a first class phd programme which prepares the candidates for careers within research and teaching in leading educational institutions, and for careers where a high level of competence and analytical skills are required. Phd candidates in political science at ntnu are given the opportunity to be at the forefront in this field of research, with regard to both theory and methods. The candidates will learn to independently appraise the adequacy and application of various methods and processes in research and scientific development projects.