Lanford - I know a handful of people who weren't completely satisfied with their supervisors, but I know of many more (including myself) who have only positive things to say about the quality of advising and the availability of faculty who I don't work with to chat and read things over. A lot of it comes down to individual relationships between advisors and students, and I certainly wouldn't dismiss "the Oxford route" out of hand.
What to expect in Oxford (DPhil)
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Terry:
Which Oxford DPhils have TT jobs in the US?
Out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search. So here are some recent (post-2005) examples:
J P Goode (Oklahoma)
A March (Yale)
O Sanchez (TSU)
J M Waddell (UNLV)
A Delano (The New School)These are excellent placements.
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Terry:
Which Oxford DPhils have TT jobs in the US?
Out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search. So here are some recent (post-2005) examples:
J P Goode (Oklahoma)
A March (Yale)
O Sanchez (TSU)
J M Waddell (UNLV)
A Delano (The New School)
These are excellent placements.Except Yale. It's really not that good.
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^ Not true at all.
Expect the best time of your life (certainly intellectually) IF you have genuine interest in your topic and are highly motivated to do your research. (You will be on a long leash, with hardly anyone looking over your shoulder.) The DPIR is huge and first-rate, its members are not nearly as stunted by mainstream IR orthodoxy as in the States, the libraries around Oxford are a researcher's dream, and the town is simply beautiful - even if touristy and expensive.
Speaking from own experience - got my DPhil there a few years ago. (Now in a U.S.-based TT job, first book done.)
CONGRATULATIONS!That's good to hear, but I think the ir side is better in terms of supervisory input than the pol sci side.
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Not for Yanks, no. If PSR is anything to go by, it seems American PhD students demand handholding, "training" (WTF?) and then the university going all out to obtain them a job, otherwise their "placement" (again, WTF?) is poor.
" You will be on a long leash, with hardly anyone looking over your shoulder. "
Is this a good thing, tho? -
Not for Yanks, no. If PSR is anything to go by, it seems American PhD students demand handholding, "training" (WTF?) and then the university going all out to obtain them a job, otherwise their "placement" (again, WTF?) is poor.
" You will be on a long leash, with hardly anyone looking over your shoulder. "
Is this a good thing, tho?Training/prep for the job market is important, due attention to letter-writing, strategic-high level advice, coursework, in depth discussion of research methods in seminar/lunches/brown bags; regular supervision; full funding, all this is expected by top prospective PhD candidates. What the IR person described about a "long leash" sounds like a euphemism for "doing nothing for the student" at DPIR.
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Yes, it's an empirical regularity caused mainly by reputation rather than by departmental action. Placement efforts might help at the margins, particularly for lower-ranked programs, but is not decisive. My advisor used to say that placement is 90% structure and 10% agency.
Some schools definitely do better than others in terms of placement - being at a school that places well is a help. Its an empirical regularity.
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For TT, the Oxford DPhil works better in the EU than the US, as it is less rigorous and frequently those degrees are unfunded/bought.
What % of DPhil at DPIR are fully funded?
Hard to get exact numbers. Consider there are approximately 35-40 DPhils per year between IR and PS. Nuffield will take about 12 of those. ESRC funds I think 5-7 per year and Clarendon funds 2-4 (important to note, most of those will be MPhil-DPhil students who get 4 years of funding). There's 1 AHRC studentship. Then it's down to random scholarships at St Antony's, Univ, or any of the others. I'd assume that's a total of about 5 more. Then there's the studentship awards, which will cover lots of ESRC/Clarendon/AHRC people who have run out of funding and then maybe a couple extra DPhils fully. Even if you take the max of all those numbers, there will still be a 5-10 unfunded students. I think I'm probably overestimating available funding, too. Some of Nuffield will be Clarendon/ESRC/AHRC and some other scholarships will go unfilled because they're too specific or only get filled once every three years or so.
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For TT, the Oxford DPhil works better in the EU than the US, as it is less rigorous and frequently those degrees are unfunded/bought.
What % of DPhil at DPIR are fully funded?Hard to get exact numbers. Consider there are approximately 35-40 DPhils per year between IR and PS. Nuffield will take about 12 of those. ESRC funds I think 5-7 per year and Clarendon funds 2-4 (important to note, most of those will be MPhil-DPhil students who get 4 years of funding). There's 1 AHRC studentship. Then it's down to random scholarships at St Antony's, Univ, or any of the others. I'd assume that's a total of about 5 more. Then there's the studentship awards, which will cover lots of ESRC/Clarendon/AHRC people who have run out of funding and then maybe a couple extra DPhils fully. Even if you take the max of all those numbers, there will still be a 5-10 unfunded students. I think I'm probably overestimating available funding, too. Some of Nuffield will be Clarendon/ESRC/AHRC and some other scholarships will go unfilled because they're too specific or only get filled once every three years or so.
But most of the ESRC ones (etc) included in the 12 at Nuffield?
And I think the ESRC numbers been cut from that level. -
Not expecting much in terms of real advice from this place, but I have offers from Oxford and two US non-CHYMPS top-10s for PhDs. Would be working with top-quality academics at any and the Oxford one is actually the most famous/influential.
Am I insane for even considering Oxford?