Applying for a PhD in Political Science
Dan Nexon often gets asked by prospective candidates how they might improve their chances at getting into a PhD program in political science.
Dan Nexon often gets asked by prospective candidates how they might improve their chances at getting into a PhD program in political science. Despite thinking of himself as a “nice person,” he gives them detailed advice on how to do just that rather than trying to talk them out of it. Bastard.
My favorite piece of advice in the piece: ”Do you notice a pattern here? Good. If you don’t, stop reading. Graduate school is not for you.”
Looks likes some good advice.
Other piece of advice: do NOT take the GRE the same day you take any other exam necessary for grad school unless you are an absolute masochist. (Speaking from painful experience.)
(Oh, and if you find yourself falling asleep during the LSAT out of boredom, law school is probably a bad idea.)
The second time I took the LSAT, it was after having had to run 1.5 miles for phys-ed. There’s only one thing worse than having to leave during the very timed exam to make restroom breaks because you drank too much water after running a mile and a half.
That would be the one worse thing. The first time I took the LSAT, I had an overnight job. Most of the time, on Tuesday nights, I could actually get some sleep. Not that night. I was falling asleep throughout the exam the next day. Not out of boredom, though. I checked that box that allowed me to have the exam not be graded.
As the percentage of the population that has a bachelors degree does up the value of an undergraduate degree is going down. That means that more people will be applying to graduate school and finding out that the same rules apply: that the game is rigged for the Ivy League and Ivy like graduates and everyone else is picking up the leftovers.
The real questions for the economy is how can people pay off educational debts, high taxes, and save for rentirement when they will be entering the work force at a more advanced age and will be forced into retirement well before being eligible for social security.