Methods and skills
Queens College already teaches solid research methods in PSCI 200 and in intro statistics courses like PSYCH 107 and DATA 205. Several teach R, including DATA 205, DATA 306, DATA 333 and Professor Earl Asberry's section of PSCI 200. If you want advanced training, the funded summer research programs like RBSI and MIT MSRP teach graduate-level methods. They are just as good as a summer internship, if not better, and some pay more. Outside class, you already have free access to LinkedIn Learning.
Free self-study, in order
- Khan Academy, Statistics and probabilityA free online course with short videos and practice problems. Start here if you have never taken statistics.
- OpenIntro StatisticsProbability, inference and regression from scratch (free PDF).
- R for Data ScienceCleaning, plotting and summarizing data in R.
- MIT 17.801, Political Science Scope and MethodsHow political scientists design research.
- Blackwell, A User's Guide to Statistical Inference and RegressionRegression, done carefully. Read it once you have learned the basics of statistics.
- Research Design in the Social Sciences and Causal Inference: The RemixCausal inference, once regression feels comfortable.
Learning outside class
LinkedIn Learning
Video courses in Excel, SQL, Python, R, Tableau, public speaking and writing. Go to linkedin.com/learning, click Sign in, and use your CUNY Login (your CUNYfirst username and password). Add finished certificates to your LinkedIn profile.
ICPSR Summer Program
Open to undergrads. 2026 general session: $2,725 at member schools, $4,975 otherwise. Queens College is an ICPSR member, so you get the member rate. Registration for 2027 opens in February. Scholarships reopen December 2026.
Essex Summer School
Data analysis courses charged per course. Confirm undergraduate eligibility with the school.
A clean replication of a published table in R is a strong line on a PhD or predoc application.