Long time listener, first time caller here. I was recently admitted to what, in effect, is my "dream school," and I think I might have something to offer with regards to the recent conversation here. This is solely based on my personal experience, so take it for what it's worth.
I did my undergraduate at a school known much less for its academic achievements than its athletics, whose political science faculty frankly had very little to offer for a student seriously interested in following an academic path. [This is not meant as a discredit to them, it's just a matter of fact that most are A.) Simply more focused on and thus able to prepare students for non-academic careers and/or B.) Effectively disconnected from the workings of contemporary political science, not simply in a 'research' sense but even or especially in the social sense of what the job market is like, and such. And, from what I understand, this is likely to be the case at places that aren't R1s or elite LACs.] Accordingly, unbeknownst to me at the time, I ended up graduating with a degree in political science, but with very little idea of what "political science" actually is, let alone what is to expect from pursuing a path in the field.
At the same time, I did know that I didn't want to go back to school or 'get a real job' immediately after graduation, but instead spend some time traveling and living abroad. As it turned out, I believe this is what has made all the difference. For not only did it allow me - A.) To master one foreign language as well as dabble in a couple of others B.) Explore career options other than academia (in my case, teaching English) C.) To gain additional perspective from being immersed in other cultures and societies - It also allowed me the time and space to get a much better idea of what political science actually is, by reading lots and lots of books, journal articles, blogs, etc., and figure out that this is actually what I want to do.
Thus, when I came to write my SOP, (which FWIW I think is ultimately the single biggest thing you have control over that you can use to set yourself apart from the hundreds of other candidates), I could use all of this to my advantage. I shudder to think about what my chances would have been had I gone through this whole process during or even immediately after my undergraduate! Ironically, when it actually came time to submit my final SOP drafts, I actually ended up taking out almost all reference to my experiences abroad, BUT, without this time and experience I would not have been able to coherently construct a set of research interests, let alone identify people I could see myself working with. That said, (and this too is critical) I kept in good touch with the faculty I knew could write my LORs, and let them speak to what I was doing down here.
One last thing: I'm not by any means saying that you need to do exactly what I did, by going abroad or even finding a think tank job or what-have-you. What I do think is important is gaining some kind of additional perspective outside the classroom. Even if you just take some time to bus tables and use your library card, that can end up making a huge difference in whatever you do end up deciding to do.
