I'm currently an undergraduate (living in Australia) with two years left and am planning to apply for a PhD in Political Science at Vanderbilt University immediately after graduating. Is Vanderbilt considered a top-tier university or a middle-of-the-road one? Would they expect a few journal publications to distinguish yourself from the pack? What sort of GRE score would I need? On their website it says "average at least 625 on the verbal and mathematics components", but that seems low. If I'm not good at math, should I apply for a PhD in Philosophy instead? Because it seems that statistics is an integral component of politics now.
And if anyone knows what kind of GRE score I'd need for Duke University that'd also be helpful.
where are you in straya?
Melbourne, why?
The requirements for foreign students are usually higher than for American students, so make sure you look the correct requirements.
To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process. Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!" Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."
Sukrit Sabhlok: If I'm not good at math, should I apply for a PhD in Philosophy instead?
If I'm not good at math, should I apply for a PhD in Philosophy instead?
The applicant pool for philosophy PhDs has better math scores, actually, so that's probably not a great idea.
Good philosophy programs are insanely competitive.
I emailed Walter Block and he suggested I do philosophy rather than political science or economics because my strengths lie in qualitative rather than quantitative analysis.
But one of my main interests is International Relations. So I'm undecided which would be better: philosophy or IR? I suppose philosophy would be more valuable from a libertarian point of view, as it would allow me to directly address the Austro-Libertarian ideology. Another option is History, which is of course, merely "philosophy by example".
Are you trying to be an infiltrator or what? Probably all of these subjects are terrible career choices if you are not a prostitute on a leash.
Since we're talking about graduate school.
I'm interested in pursing a PHD in economics at GMU. I currently have a 3.90 gpa, and haven't taken the GRE's. How important is the GRE? How high should I score with my GPA? When I ask my professors they direct me towards more 'mainstream liberal' programs, never really answering my question.
"If we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion."
It's just fuckin pathetic to see math as a requirement for political science. fuckin fuckin pathetic!
GRE for top schools like Duke typically lie above 780 on the quant section.
Even if you look at North Carolina State University, which is only a few miles from Duke but much lower down the academic ladder (though actually still prob a respectable top 50 school), you're looking at needing a high quant GPA. Average for funded students there is something like a 770.
Not to advertise for other forums, but if you check out Test Magic, you will find plenty of future econ grad students fretting over what it takes to get into which schools (including myself :P).
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine - Elvis Presley
Pining for the days when you could just make stuff up instead of analyzing statistics in a rigorous way?
Are you kidding me? They don't call it a "comeback" because you leave the thread for 2 years and then come back to it.
If it took him two years to come up with that, it's no wonder the econometricians haven't brought about a technocratic utopia yet.
Anything below a 740 is likely not to be considered.