ArchieLi

I'm sending off to 14, all US ones.

In UK and Australia, finishing a political science PhD in four years is fairly possible: you take less coursework prior to conducting independent research than US PhD students do.

Thank you very much! I have contacted those schools and they did ask me to submit vocational school transcripts, guess I'd better do so.

Figured I should give this post a bump. As I'm nearly finished with my applications, I noticed almost all schools I apply for asked for transcripts from colleges where I "received degree". I earned not degrees but certificates from my vocational school, so I'm quite confused here. My undergraduate transcript specifies that I received 1 year credit from vocational school. Would it be regarded as dishonest if I don't submit my vocational school grade?

You can submit your application first then have your latest GRE score reported to schools you are applying for within two weeks after the deadlines. Double check this with the grad admissions.

Thank you for your reply! Now I'm a bit more confident!

Greetings everyone. I have just finished my master degree and applying for fall 2016 admission. My advantage is my political science background - I majored in politics and International Relations in my bachelor and master degree, and I have conducted an independent research on policy analysis as my master's thesis and received a decent grade. My biggest concern is that as I went to a vocational school before university and received some credits, I finished my bachelor degree in only two years (16 courses) and got relatively less training than other applicants. My GRE Verbal and Analytical Writing score is also a weakness (English is my second language). Also,I earned both my bachelor and master degree in Australia, whose stringent grading policy might place me a disadvantage, and I don't entirely trust WES GPA calculator. I'm just wondering what my chances are for getting into first class US political science programs, or should primarily focus on second or lower tiers. Profile: Type of Undergrad Institution: La Trobe University (2015 QS ranking 151-200 in politics & international studies) Major: Politics GPA: 71.8% (3.82/4 as calculated by WES) Type of Grad Institution: Australian National University (2015 QS ranking #7 in politics & international studies) GPA: 75.3% (4.00/4 as calculated by WES) GRE: v160 q168 aw4 Letter of Recommendation: Three strong letters, one from my master's thesis supervisor, two from master coursework senior lectures. Research experience: a 15,000 words master's thesis on policy analysis, received 77%. Teaching Experience: N/A Research Interests: International Relations, Comparative Politics, with a focus on China. Publication: N/A

Thank you for your response! Guess I'd have to follow the instructions and submit these transcripts. But I'm less worried now.

Hello, Before I went to university, I studied at a vocational school for four semesters. I did not fail any course and received two diplomas, but the grade look bad. I received 1 year credits from these two diplomas when enrolling in university. I did quite ok with my bachelor and master degree and my GPAs was 3.82 and 4 respectively, calculated by WES. My question is, as I'm afraid that the grade of my vocational school is going to be a significant shortcoming in my PhD application, what would happen if I don't submit the transcript? Now I can 1) submit neither my transcript nor the diploma; 2) submit my diploma but not transcript and 3) submit both. I received all the diplomas and degrees in Australia. Thanks.

Hello all, I wonder if I should include my grade/GPA in my CV (not Resume), or just indicate the class of degree I received? Thank you

Thank you so much for your response! I didn't realize how important it was to make this process easier for the letter writers. I'll follow your suggestion and make a summary of the schools I plan to apply to. And yes 18 grad schools sounds more than a student would normally apply to, but I did find the programs of these schools related to my research interest - at least not in a far-fetched way, and I was advised more than once by US professors to apply widely. Thank you again!

Hello all, I have been advised to apply widely as I thrive for my PhD program and I plan to apply for about 15-18 programs. My question is, as I only have three professors writing me LOR, would they feel annoyed as they will be contact that many times and somehow become less willing to help?

bump

Thanks heaps for your reply! Yes I have tried the calculator of Foreign Credits as well, it converted my undergrad grade to 3.38 whereas WES converted it to 3.81, which made me incline to choose WES to do the job... Foreign Credits also converted my master grade 0.09 points lower than WES did. Which online GPA converting services have you tried, may I ask? Emailing graduate schools with my grades do sound like a good idea. I was concerned the US grade inflation was going to make my grade look less competitive, but it didn't seem to bother you. I'm going to contact the grad schools now. Thank you again!

I would appreciate any feedback on my SOP for an application to a political science Ph.D. program. I edited out the names (school, professor) but hopefully it will still flow nicely. Please let me know what you think, I'm especially curious if you feel my description of prospective research project is too vague. Additionally if you would like any feedback on your SOP please send me in a private message or post to this topic. Statement of Purpose Long been preparing to step into academia of international relations, I have achieved my Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and Master of International Relations (with Honors). While accomplishing these two degrees, besides familiarizing myself with essential knowledge in this area, I also became acquainted with conducting independent research by doing my master thesis. I strongly believe it is a timely decision to strive for a doctoral degree. In lieu of a formal introduction of my research interests and aspirations I offer a summary of my master thesis, which is entitled “X”. As indicated by the title, this project engages with the immediate debate over whether Beijing’s hardening diplomatic posture represented a significant change in China’s policy towards North Korea, after the latter conducted its third nuclear test. By juxtaposing audience cost theory with China’s domestic situation at the time, I forged an intriguing but underemphasized approach to understand this puzzle. My argument is that a clear causal connection between attitudinal change and policy cannot be made on the grounds that Chinese foreign policy statements were strongly influenced by domestic public opinion rather than a shift in strategic interests. In brief, my research tempts to identify Chinese intentions and use it to explain China’s seemingly paradoxical rhetoric and policy toward North Korea. This first venture into serious political analysis has affirmed my passion for analyzing China’s foreign-policy strategy in Northeast Asia; and it has given me the confidence to apply neoclassical realism theory in this process, in regard to study the perennial problem of clearly identifying Chinese intentions. Continuing along these avenues of research in Ph.D. program, I would like to use my thesis as the basis for a future dissertation. Though I remain wary about committing myself prematurely to a specific topic of research, I am also eager to study China’s future Asia and the Pacific strategy under the influence of its ongoing internal political and economic transition. Indeed, many of the conclusions reached in the thesis, such as my claim that China’s strategy interest and regional policy in Northeast Asia will remain consistent for a long period of time, serve as starting points for future research and study. On a more basic level, doing this project not only gave me the chance to make my modest intellectual contribution, but also gave me the chance to get better accustomed with the essential of political analysis. Longing for identify Beijing’s intention behind its attitudinal shift, I navigated the sea of primary and secondary sources, from the end of the Cold War to present, in pursuit of identifying if multiple perspectives of China’s regional strategic interest have changed. As my analysis indicated such change did not occur, I then turned my focus to Chinese domestic situation and judiciously utilized audience cost theory. From deciphering esoteric intention behind political behavior to developing an awareness of the importance of time and funds, I experienced the mundane realities of research that inevitably stunt the political scientist’s aspirations, and thus had myself better prepared. The project I wish to pursue in the doctoral program, as I mentioned above, is to study how is the interplay of international and domestic politics, or the ‘two-level game’, influences China’s political behavior in Northeast Asia. On international level, my research would primarily concern the impact of the bilateral relations between China and US, Japan and both Koreas, the US-Japan-Korea strategic triangle and the overarching US ‘Pivot to Asia’ strategy. On domestic level, my research would focus on the impact of China’s ongoing political and economic evolution under the present administration, as well as the increasing influence of public opinion. These are the themes and issues I would focus along doing both my coursework and research. I should also stress that at the heart of my specific research concentration lies a more general interest in the evolving political landscape in Asia and the Pacific. To date, my knowledge of strategic rivalry, international political economy and foreign policy making in this region has been informed and sustained by an array of relative courses. My personal penchant for this area stems largely, I believe, from my training in policy observation and analysis. Also of crucial importance to a professional career accessing and analyzing data is my fluency in Chinese. University S’s political science program looms large in my mind, largely because of its outstanding faculty and the program it provides. I was thrilled to learn that Professors A, B and C taught at University S. Professor A articles on North Korea and Northeast Asia have provided important inspirations on my previous and prospective research, especially his coauthored article, “Y”, which comprehensively introduced me why engagement, rather than sanction, is more likely to elicit North Korea’s cooperative behavior. Together, Professor A’s cutting edge research, B’s knowledge on Chinese military and Professor C’s expertise on politics of Chinese Communist Party would make my experience at University S a challenging and enjoyable one. In addition, University S provides an ideal climate for me to develop my multi-subfields interests of political science. In my own quest for a suitable graduate program, I was thrilled to find that University S offers an interdisciplinary doctoral program in political science and international affairs. My research interest, regional focus and my academic training, as I mentioned previously, all fit closely with this program. The comprehensive subfields options of University S’s graduate program would broaden and enrich my research as well as my general knowledge of these particular aspects.