Academicians who major in political science are well equipped with knowledge on governance, politics, history and human relations.
If you have a degree in political science, your number one prospect for a fruitful career is teaching in a university.
You may also work in government agencies or you may set up your own organization that specializes in giving services related to political education or public governance.
Whichever line of work you wish to focus on, with relation to your profession, a PhD degree is a plus factor for your success.
These days, a PhD diploma is in fact a requirement in order to attain more credibility and authority.
If you want to pursue a PhD in political science, here are useful suggestions to ponder:
- Needless to say, you need to earn first your college and Master’s degrees in Political Science. Make sure your grades are competitive enough for you to qualify in doctorate schools. Some graduate schools are very particular with the figures in your transcript of records.
- Log on at the American Political Science Association’s website to get information about their offerings on PhD degrees. Browse on the site and look for recommendations, study grants and other pertinent information. You may ask the help of people such as political science professors in your area, specifically those who have already attained their PhD’s.
- Sign up in university sites such as the Princeton Review website. Once logged on, you will find in this site various offerings for PhD degrees. You may not necessarily enroll in this university, but just by studying the offers and curricula, you will already have an idea about the best options you can make in pursuing a PhD degree.
- Visit the website of Educational Testing Service and apply to take the Graduate Record Exam. Most graduate schools require that applicants for admission should take this examination. It may not be indicated whether you passed or failed the examination, but your scores are indicative of your ability to hurdle graduate school. Hence it is upon the discretion of the college or university whether to admit you or not based on your Graduate Record Exam rating. Therefore you need to make good in this examination. To prepare you in taking the exam you need to download the GRE at ETS materials and guides.
- Avoid applying at every school you get to encounter. Remember that there are application fees, transcript fees and processing fees to be paid so make sure you limit your choices of school. To do this, pick the ones that are near your area and those which offer flexible grants. Include of course as criterion for your choice, the quality of education offered in said schools.
- To make your application more manageable, choose only three schools from your original list. Complete all the requirements needed and submit to these schools, then wait for results. If you qualify in all three, choose the best university that offers the best PhD education among them all.
- Upon admission, proceed in enrolling. Some schools allow online enrolment. But if it is your first time to enroll, it is advisable that you do it on-campus to acquaint yourself with the school’s system.
- Formulate early on, about your thesis dissertation topic. It is never too early to decide on this matter. Dissertations take a long time, hence you should be ready and prepared from the beginning so you can maximize use of your limited time in graduate school.
Earning a PhD in political science has no definite time frame. Normally it may take you two to three years to finish the course.
However it all depends on your progress with your thesis dissertation. Good luck and make good!