After You Apply

What happens to your application after submission?

After the application deadline has passed, the Graduate Committee of the Department of Political Science will review your application alongside all other applications for our graduate programs.

Since our department receives a large number of applications each year and takes great care in the review process, this review will take some time. At the very earliest, you might hear back from us a month after the application deadline.

MA Program

If your application for our MA program is successful, you will receive an offer of admission. This offer will at any rate include a guaranteed position as teaching assistant in two separate semesters, worth around $6,000 each. It may also include other scholarships, stipends, TA positions, or positions as research assistant.

The precise amount of funding depends on a variety of factors, including the amount of funding our department has at its disposal, the overall quality of the pool of applications, and the competitiveness of your application.

PhD Program

If your application for our PhD program is competitive, the graduate coordinator will invite you for a short interview, in which you will be asked about your research proposal and your motivations to apply to our doctoral program.

After the interview, the Graduate Committee will deliberate again on your application. If your application is successful, you will receive an offer of admission. This offer will at any rate include a guaranteed position as teaching assistant in two semesters per academic year, worth around $6,000 each, for four academic years.

It may also include other scholarships, stipends, TA positions, positions as research assistant, or possibilities to serve as Graduate Teaching Fellow during later years in the program.

International students with an admission average of at least an A- will also be eligible for the International Doctoral Tuition Award, which covers the gap between domestic and international tuition fees for four years (conditional on full-time registration and satisfactory progress through the program).

The precise amount of funding depends on a variety of factors, including the amount of funding our department has at its disposal, the overall quality of the pool of applications, and the competitiveness of your application.

Unsuccessful Applications

If your application is unsuccessful, you will be notified by email after all admission offers have been processed.

External Funding

We strongly encourage all applicants to apply for external funding (in particular government-funded awards) before applying to our graduate programs. Success in those funding competitions will increase your chances of admission and improve your financial standing while in the program.