We invite applications broadly from prospective students with a diversity of backgrounds and interests. UC Santa Barbara and the Department of Political Science are deeply committed to a diverse graduate student body and to developing the scholarship, leadership, and professionalism of graduate students from all backgrounds, including underrepresented minorities, first generation students, students who identify as LGBTQ, women, veterans, disabled students, and other students from non-traditional backgrounds.  Read about diversity in our program and at UC Santa Barbara here. We admit applicants coming directly from undergraduate study, those with some work experience, and those with a master's degree or other post-graduate training.

Our Ph.D. program combines rigorous training in research methods, breadth of coursework across the discipline, and flexibility through a comparatively large set of options for qualifying fields. We offer training and qualification in traditional areas of the discipline, namely American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory. We also offer training and qualification in Environmental Politics, the Politics of Identity, and in special cases another subfield. We additionally offer several Ph.D. emphases, such as Black Studies, Feminist Studies, and Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences.

Applying to the Political Science Department at UCSB

We employ a holistic approach to reviewing graduate applications.  We consider all relevant aspects of applicants’ backgrounds and preparation for doctoral studies, without assigning a fixed weight to any particular aspect. We assess applicants in five areas:

• Academic Preparation (grades, academic honors or awards, relevant undergraduate degree, relevant language skills, advanced degree, type of undergraduate institution)
• Research Experience (experience with original research outside of the classroom, relevant technical skills, clarity about research interests)
• Perseverance (success at overcoming obstacles, especially on-going or persistent ones, long-range drive to accomplish goals beyond the PhD)
• Leadership and Outreach (involvement and leadership in academic or extramural groups, engagement with diversity, equity, and inclusion, experiences with overcoming systematic challenges or potential to serve as exemplar to others)
• Self-Knowledge (understanding of strengths and weaknesses, efforts at self-development, positive attitude about completing goals, identification of a support network including professional mentors) 

Applicants should address these areas in their written application materials. Letters of recommendation should also address these aspects of the applicant’s background and experiences.