First Year Student Information

Welcome to the program!

We are very excited you’re joining us this fall! We hope that your transition to the PhD program and moving to Minnesota is a smooth one. 

Next Steps

Financial Certification Form for International Students on F-1 Visa

F-1 Visa students will find a link to the Financial Certification form in their Graduate School admission letter, which needs to be completed to obtain the I-20. Once completed, the Graduate School issues the I-20. Note: for the purposes of the Financial certification form, your first year fellowship stipend is equivalent to a 50% Teaching Assistantship and includes health insurance and tuition.

International Student Information

Most of the next steps for international students are available on the Graduate School's website (Visas, I-20, etc).

International graduate students will become familiar with the International Student Scholars Office and their International Student Pre-Arrival Guide provides a wealth of information.

Arrival time: The rules state that international graduate students may arrive up to 30 days prior to the start date. Our payroll start date is 8/26/2024, however, students may want to attend our Math/Stats Camp which begins the week before.

Temporary housing is available for admitted international students. More information is on the University's temporary housing website.

Orientations

The Political Science Orientation date is to be determined. It will be several days during the week of August 28, 2024.

We expect you to complete GEAR1 before August 28.

GEAR 1 and GEAR+ (Graduate Education Resources)

These online tools provide an orientation to the University, Minnesota life, what it means to be a successful graduate student as well as further resources focusing on every phase of your academic and professional development.

Registration

Fall 2024 registration may be accomplished any time after July 1, but you will want to communicate with your advisor and the GPC before enrolling. All students must enroll no later than Monday, September 2, 2024, but enrolling by August 15, 2024 is preferred (classes begin Tuesday, September 3, 2024). Prior to enrolling for fall 2024, incoming first years should meet, via Zoom or in-person, with the GPC and their incoming advisors. The sooner these meetings occur, the sooner students can enroll. International student should review the ISSS website for registration information.

All Political Science PhD students will be given online permission to register for any 8xxx level Poli Sci courses - even if they appear to be closed (email [email protected] if a course you want to register for is closed). If you take courses outside the department, you may need to email the instructor for class permission to enroll or to see if they will hold a space for you in the class.

Faculty Advisers and Student Mentors

New students will be assigned their initial adviser in early summer; students should consult with their advisers about their initial course enrollment. First and second year students typically register for 9-14 credits.

Members of the Graduate Student Life Committee (GSLC) will assign you a student mentor sometime in early summer.

Graduate Student Health Insurance

The department provides first-year students on fellowship with health insurance through the Graduate Assistant Health Plan (GAPH). Our program will cover the costs for the plan (except the 5% you pay for the student's portion of the GAHP premium). Please let the GPC know if you will or will not enroll in the GAHP.

Graduate fellows are eligible for the GAHP since their stipend is equivalent to a 50% nine-month graduate assistantship, and the department agrees to pay the full departmental cost of coverage during the academic year. The GPC submits the Departmental Authorization form in August. Students must also enroll in the plan.

Fellowship Stipend

The fellowship payroll letters are sent out in August via UMN email. Until then, here are a few of the payroll details:

Appointment/fellowship dates for the academic year: 8/26/2024-5/25/2025. Your first paycheck is 9/18/2024 and you are paid biweekly. 

Make sure to sign up for Direct Deposit (on MyU) once you have established your checking account.

All Political Science fellowships are considered non-service awards and are subject to federal and state income taxes. The Office of Human Resources has further information on tax withholding and year-end reporting. 

Fellowships are generally subject to 14% tax withholding for non-resident aliens under the federal IRS rules. 

What about competitive departmental fellowships? Learn more about the department's competitive graduate research fellowships.

Living in Minnesota

Math-Stat Camp

Math-Stat Camp 2019 Sample Schedule

The Department of Political Science holds a Math and Statistics Refresher Course (Math-Stat Camp) before the start of the academic year. We anticipate knowing more about the 2024 schedule by May 15. If you think you may be interested before May 15 or have questions about this, please email [email protected].

Math-Stat Camp is optional, but students are encouraged to attend. Even if you do not anticipate using math and statistics in your research, it is nonetheless important that you know “the basics” so that you can be an intelligent consumer of the political science literature (indeed, most top departments hold similar “math camps” for their incoming Ph.D. students for this very reason).  Our goals are to provide students with a solid grounding toward achieving this basic “quantitative literacy,” and to prepare students who hope to pursue methods training for the courses they will encounter in our department.