I am a recently graduated master's student planning on studying international relations and environmental politics. This cycle I applied to but was rejected from four top-20 IR schools (TRIPS survey), Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins. My master's was in environmental policy from the University of Oxford, I graduated with distinction and my thesis won the top prize in my course. My GRE scores were V 170, Q 160, and AW 5.5.
I've talked to a few poli. sci. PhDs, and they said that applying to top schools means that many acceptable applicants are rejected. Next cycle, I am planning to apply to many more schools, but I have one general question:
My undergrad was in Economics, my master's was in the School of Geography and the Environment at Oxford. Does my lack of a political science background make applying to top schools unrealistic? Should i be focusing my energies elsewhere?
Thanks!
