machiavelli

Thank you very much for your thoughts. I would appreciate, if anyone would like to share any other opinion.

Thank you very much, I am sorry for the confusion in the beginning.

As I said in the beginning, I am not quite sure, what my goal is, which puts me into greater difficulty. If I were to stay in academia, my minimum goal would be to be employed as a professor in a good European university. The reason I opened this thread is to ask whether to go to Public Policy PhD at Rand and then apply to places like World Bank is a better shot than to go to Boston University Pol. Sci. and then apply to different departments as a professor.

I know, but unfortunately, the job prospects for public policy programs are not that great. So, in the application process, as you said, I went through many programs and looked for political science faculty who work on renewable energy and/or environmental politics. Thanks for the advice.

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I am interested in energy, particularly renewable energy and I am writing my thesis on a case study dealing with renewable energy. This corresponds to comparative politics, international relations within political science. I am very well aware of the tracks within political science programs. In terms of my interests, I am much more flexible methodologically compared to my areas of interest. Unfortunately, there are not many departments focusing on renewable energy in the US. Only for this reason, both universities are very good fits for me. I know the differences between courses, methods, analytical rigor etc. very well. I also know the programs very well.

You are right, but it is hard to find people with my research interests in every program due to their nature. Not methodologically, but subject-wise both programs are very good fits for me.

I did not include that as both programs perfectly fit my research interests. And I perfectly understand what a PhD is, as I am currently in a research Master's program.

Dear all, I am a foreign student from Europe who went to college in the US. I majored in International Studies, Economics, Mathematics as an undergrad at a top-30 US university. I am currently getting a Master's degree in International Relations from a European University. In this admissions cycle, I applied to two public policy PhD programs and twelve political science PhD programs. I have been accepted by two schools (Public Policy PhD program in RAND Graduate School and Political Science PhD program at Boston University). I have also been waitlisted by the University of Michigan (Political Science Department). I will also possibly be accepted by the University of Mannheim (Political Science Department). I wanted to ask which program would be the best choice for me according to your opinion. I am not quite sure whether teaching at a university is quite right for me. I like the school environment, but I am also an income-motivated person. Comparably, I am also a little worried about the competition to get into a well-regarded university after PhD. If I were to stay in academia, my minimum goal would be to be employed in a good European university. According to the rankings (US News and others), Boston University is ranked as the 62th program in Political Science in the US, whereas RAND Graduate School is not included in the ranking system (possibly due to its unique structure with on-the-job training. On the other hand, Mannheim is regarded to be one of the best political science departments in Europe.) I searched for the placements of universities and was able to find those of RAND and Boston University. RAND has relatively strong placements in private sector and NGOs (including World Bank). The placements of Boston University are relatively weak (only two schools in top-100 in the last ten-fifteen years with many people going to much lower ranked schools to work as a professor after they finish the program). I believe that Mannheim would only lead to good options in Europe. University of Michigan is very strong in Political Science, but I am wait-listed and I believe that the chances to get in are slim. I know that I am comparing apples with oranges, but if you were in my position, which program would you choose? Very best, Machiavelli

Which one would you take, I don't have time to take both. It's for PhD in Economics. Advanced Calculus: Infinite series: convergence tests, power series, and Fourier series. Improper integrals: convergence tests, the gamma function, Fourier and Laplace transforms. Complex numbers. Differential Equations: First-order differential equations, linear equations, homogeneous and non-homogeneous, series solutions, the Laplace transform, systems of first-order linear equations, boundary value problems, Fourier series. I took real analysis, probability, and statistics before. My real analysis class covered this: introduction to metric space topology, continuity, derivatives, and Riemann and Lebesgue integrals Thanks. Machiavelli

I had a Statistics class in the Economics Department and Econometrics. I will still be able to take another Statistics class if I write an Honor's Thesis, but I will have to forego Intro. to Topology and Advanced Calculus (or 2 Math classes).

No, my thesis is going to be in Economics. Thanks for your answer averageall.

Hi guys, I am a junior in college and majoring in Economics and International Studies and with minors in Computer Science and Mathematics. I am going to apply for PhD in Economics this coming fall. In Econ and Math, I have almost perfect GPAs. I am willing to write an Honor's Thesis in Economics next year. My profile: Econ Courses: Principles of Microeconomics, Global Economy, Statistics for Economic Analysis, Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Political Economy of the Third World, Public Finance, Econometrics, Advanced Microeconomics I*, Advanced Microeconomics II* Math courses: Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Probability*, Intro to Real Analysis I*, Intro to Real Analysis II*, Intro to Topology*, Mathematical Statistics*, Advanced Calculus* * : the classes I will/could take in my senior year. --Math classes in bold are the classes that I want to take if I write an Honor's Thesis. My questions: 1) As I mentioned, I am considering doing an Honor's Thesis in Economics next year (which takes 2 classes - one semester each). However, I am not sure if I will benefit from this more than I could benefit from taking two additional Math courses (such as Intro. to Topology and Mathematical Statistics/Advanced Calculus). I think Honor's Thesis might give me good preparation for graduate school, but I cannot be sure. What opinions do you guys have on that? 2) Do you think that taking more Math classes in the fall is a better alternative to Honor's Thesis in Economics (I need to take one less Math class in the fall if I choose to do an Honor's Thesis)? 3) -a repeated and related question- Do you guys think that my Math preparation is fine? 4) Do you think it would be a good idea to take any other high level Econ courses as an alternative, like Advanced Macroeconomics or Development? (My current interest is in Microeconomics and I won't have time to do that if I do the Honor's Thesis and take the Mathematics classes in bold that I mentioned above) 5) I feel that taking an additional Mathematical Statistics class wouldn't teach me as much as taking a class in a different subject. Do you guys agree on that? Thank you all for your answers and your time.