Return to Political Economy Program
Home Page
Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the
Program
************************************
HOW DO I APPLY TO THE PROGRAM?
************************************
1. You can find the graduate brochures for the Politics Department,
the Economics Department, and Woodrow Wilson School (WWS) on the
web. Applicants to the political economy program must file a standard
application to one, but not more than one, of these three academic
units.
See:
2. The Graduate School web page has general information
about admission to the Grad School along with an email form that
can be used to request application forms. See:
Graduate School Office
3. Application materials must be submitted to the Graduate School,
which does the preliminary processing. Materials are then sent
by the Graduate School to the appropriate department for evaluation.
Regardless of which academic unit you apply to, be sure to indicate
on your application that POLITICAL ECONOMY is the field you wish
to pursue.
4. There is only one round of application and admission each year,
and you must start the program in the Fall semester (i.e., there
is
no possibility of starting the program in the Spring semester).
Go to the official Graduate School details about deadlines.
We inform applicants about their admission around the middle of March.
*******************************
IS FINANCIAL AID AVAILABLE?
*******************************
Financial aid is available to cover some or all of graduate tuition,
as well as stipends for living expenses. The amount of financial
aid is determined on the basis of merit and need. To apply for
financial aid you must complete the appropriate forms and submit
them with your admissions material to the Graduate School.
You are also encouraged to apply for outside fellowships such
as those awarded by the National Science Foundation (for U.S.
citizens) or the Social Science and Humanities Research Council
(for Canadians). These require application directly to the granting
agencies.
In addition to fellowships, students can earn money as teaching
or research assistants. Besides providing extra income, these
assistantships can be an important part of graduate training.
Working as a teaching or research assistant is subject to the
rules and procedures of the department in which you enroll. Some
fellowships may require that you do some work as a teaching assistant
as a condition of the fellowship.
***********************************************
IS THE PROGRAM QUANTITATIVELY ORIENTED?
***********************************************
Yes, the methodological emphasis is quantitative. If you
enter
the Political Economy Program via Economics, then you would
face
essentially the same requirements as any other Economics
doctoral
student. Similarly, if you enter via Politics, you would
face the
general requirements of that department. In each case,
you would also
follow the requirements specific to the Political
Economy
program. The track via Politics is somewhat less demanding than
Economics
in its quantitative emphasis, but significantly more
quantitatively oriented than the usual doctoral program in political
science. The WWS track has more of
a public-policy focus, though
again with a quantitative orientation.
Regardless of how you enter the Political Economy Program, it
is
important to have some basic math background: multivariate calculus
and basic matrix algebra, as well as familiarity with probability
and
statistics at least at the introductory level. Without this
background, you will not be able to handle the material in many of the
courses required for completion of the program.
***********************************************************************
DOES THE PROGRAM HAVE ANY PARTICULAR SUBSTANTIVE EMPHASIS?
***********************************************************************
The Program is designed to allow students a broad range of possible
substantive areas: both micro- and macro-political economy as
well as domestic, comparative, and international political economy
are available topic areas. Some students may wish to pursue purely
theoretical approaches, while others may conduct empirical research
or a blend of theoretical and empirical investigation.
*************************************************
WHAT IS THE PROGRAM'S PLACEMENT RECORD?
*************************************************
The program is fairly new, so there is a relatively short record
of placement for the program per se. Students associated with the
program now hold positions at the following institutions: London
School of Economics (Econ. Dept., two people); World Bank;
International Monetary Fund; University of Rochester
(Pol. Sci. Dept.); IBEI Barcelona; Institute of Political Science at the Academia Sinica
(Taipei); Stockholm University (Econ. Dept.); Hebrew University
(Econ. Dept.). More generally, the placement record of the Economics
and Politics department has been excellent, as has that of the
Woodrow Wilson School. Economics and Politics graduates tend to go
mostly (though not exclusively) toward teaching positions. Wilson
School doctorates are more evenly split between teaching and
non-academic jobs.
********************************
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET IN?
********************************
Applicants are required to take the verbal and math GREs and to
provide samples of written work. There are no hard-and-fast rules on
GRE scores or GPAs. Successful applicants
to the doctoral programs of
Politics, Economics, or WWS have typically
been in the
top decile on math and verbal GREs. We
look especially carefully for
evidence of ability to do serious,
original research.