TakeMyCoffeeBlack
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Posts posted by TakeMyCoffeeBlack
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"The graduate grading scale in use at UNC-Chapel Hill is unique in that it cannot be converted to the more traditional ABC grading scale. Graduate students do not carry a numerical GPA."
Well, that's not helpful. I think you're best bet is to have an LOR explain the grading system as best as possible (highlighting your Hs).
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I think your credentials are fine. When you send your GRE scores, you might even include both (there's an option for it). At best, they take the highest from both scores to make a "high report card," at worst they look at it all and see your verbal is between 162 and 165, and your Q between 157 an 160.
As for starting now or waiting, that's up to you. Are you ready to move on to the next academic endeavor, or do you need a break and different experiences?
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First step is absolutely to get in contact with the program. Ask specifically about what they might suggest.
In the meantime, start thinking: do you have any professional contacts? Maybe even a teacher friend, or business owner, etc. who can speak to your personality and capabilities? And in that case, you can ask them to talk about specific things, like your online courses and A grades.
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I'd definitely be interested in participating in something like that, but at the same time, that's a pretty significant time commitment, no? Hey, are you willing to divulge how you process applications, i.e. do you read them all entirely, or do you have your own kind of minimum standards warranting a closer look at the SOP and writing sample?
- ajaxp91 and gradcafe26
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From the poli sci perspective, I think as long as you frame your experience positively (and maybe you took the terminal master's so that you could work with other professors), it shouldn't be an issue. Besides the exams, were you successful in the program?
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I do believe that if a man and a woman are equal in stats in a STEM field then they're more apt to take the female applicant. I dont think that's right. However, no one said life was fair. I come from theater where people are constantly denied work based on traits that have nothing to do with ability.
It's not that I don't sympathize with the opinion, but if all else is truly equal, why not make a decision in the pursuit of overcoming institutional oppression? It's not as though a less qualified woman is being chosen over a more qualified man in the scenario you propose.
- juilletmercredi, obaka, heyo and 2 others
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5
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I know it's different for domestic applicants, but FYI from a domestic, I indicated that I could only accept with funding (and had no external funding) when asked.
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I didn't put any effort into the GRE, which hurt me in the Quant. And then I never found the money to take it again. That said, take it sooner than later so that you have time to retake it if you need to. Keep in mind that it costs a lot.
I'm on round 2. I had okay successes last year. I learned from the school that accepted me without funding that it was my GRE that made me less competitive for funding. That said, there were other things that could have been better. Namely, my SOP (here's where you have incredible control, and that's why it's often emphasized). I organized it last year like so (5 paragraphs, let's split that into easy 20% segments):
Par 1: Why I'm interested in what I'm interested in (without emphasizing what I'm interested in)
Par 2: Past research
Par 3: Research interests (but not entirely clear)
Par 4: Profs at school (and generic sucking up)
Par 5: Other resources at school and generic conclusion
Or:
40% past
40% generic sucking up
20% research interests (but more like 15% because it's rather fuzzy)
Now, it wasn't awful, but there's certainly a lot of room for improvement there. For one, it took me to the third paragraph to get to my grad school intentions. When I finally did, I didn't do so clearly, demonstrating that I had a clear idea of research or methods. Also, "fit" cannot be demonstrated only by the "fit paragraph". This time around, I've limited that paragraph to - say - 20%, but I'm expecting the rest of my statement to demonstrate fit without explicitly pointing it out. This time I took a decidedly different route:
Par 1: Research interests/academic goals
Par 2: Significant past research
Par 3: Current research and related academic activities
Par 4: Significant past academic activities (conferences, TA jobs, etc.)
Par 5: Fit, clearly identifying substance, theory and methods vis-a-vis the faculty
So suddenly, it's become more like 50% research interests and research experience, 30% academic experience, and 20% fit. Everyone will take a different approach to the SOP, but I'm confident I've presented myself in a much more positive light this time.
Not a lot changed otherwise (besides pretty extensive research and a fellowship abroad), but I did bring another LOR on board (I only had one political scientist last time). I realized that although my two LORs from the humanities know me extremely well and although I have a great relationship with them, they can speak only to a certain extent to my abilities as a political scientist. Where I could have four recommendations this year, I had four. And where I could have three, I had two political scientists and an adviser from the humanities (who has supervised research projects, my time abroad and my language acquisition).
TheGnome is right on that you have to focus on every part of your application, especially knowing that every school will emphasize different parts more than others. For some, GRE/GPA might be very important (though I'd imagine this becomes pretty redundant when you've got 100 4.0s), for others the SOP, and still others the LORs. Make sure they're all as refined/positive as possible (within your power, of course).
Only time will tell if my changes make a difference, but I'm hopeful! Good luck!
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Although I'm guessing, the second one plays a much bigger role in the whole setting, as I generally am much more comfortable with any sorts of social interactions in my own culture.
I know what you mean... I'm now on (cumulative) month 7 in Germany, and I got a haircut for the first time ever here (the last time, I waited until I was in Ireland). I mean, how do you even describe a haircut in your native language (in my case, English)? So I found a photo on fb to show the man...which turned out to be good, since his German was more broken than mine (and he spoke Turkish almost exclusively).
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Although I prefer texts or e-mails as well, I always answer my phone for some bizarre reason. Call it curiosity.
I have a weird introverted fear of phone calls - but less from unknown numbers, and more from close friends. That is, I'm happy to answer short, cordial, professional calls. But I really need to be mentally prepared for long, friendly conversations... It drives my girlfriend crazy when I don't answer for friends or family (I always answer for her, of course, because... you know, hell on earth and all).
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So continuing to screen calls would be no problem...but you should probably start memorizing relevant area codes.
This. Is. An. Awful. Idea.
I remember getting calls from odd phone numbers during classes or meetings, and under the table I'd look up the area codes, and if it could be one of the universities to which I had applied, I'd commence panicking until I could check my voicemail (which was usually a pre-recorded loan something or other haha).
In any case, I highly doubt I will be getting phone calls, being across the ocean and all. If I do, I will be very surprised (especially since only about five people in this entire country have my phone number, aka I don't often receive phone calls).
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Still haven't turned in yet
You've got time! I asked about late recommendations, and they said they will accept them past tomorrow but are beginning review on Monday.
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Just an FYI for fellow Northwestern applicants, they begin their review on Monday.
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Oy, may be adding one more school at the "last" minute (it's not due til Jan. 1, but I'll likely get it in this week). Man, I thought I had moved on to the waiting stress...
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This is true. I hid the comment and will hide the others. guess its just the stress
Did your name just change? Haha... That all said, your information is somewhat useful. Those are all important things to consider. Just because a university accepted you, doesn't mean you'll actually fit well in the department.
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They would remember that you were a person who agreed to come but pulled out when something better came along…and maybe would be wary that you'd be willing to do it again.
They're academics, they understand how competitive everything is, and they know that there's a higher risk with American students than European students. Chances are, the people making hiring decisions in 6-7 years will be entirely different people than those making admissions decisions right now - and never having met her/him, they likely won't remember.
I say this all with experience after I was accepted to a program last year and 1.) I had to defer to take a fellowship abroad and 2.) I asked about the ethics of applying elsewhere despite having accepted a deferral. This is an extremely important decision to make, and schools know this. They have contingency plans. So should students. This type of logic would suggest that it's unethical for a student to decide they don't really fit in a certain department and apply elsewhere for a transfer. Why can't a student make that decision before matriculating? If anything, that saves the department time, money and resources in comparison to a transfer.
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Thank you all! I am going to wait a little to see whats gonna happen. The deposit is just..ridiculously expensive. It is 1500 pounds!! like more than $2000.....
I was going to say, you certainly can accept an offer and reject it later (they have back up lists if you have to decline later - they plan for that). The thing you put on the line is your money.
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Just to add, it's also an issue of "shared governance" at universities. Just like in governments, there's a legitimacy issue in universities. If professors don't feel like they're part of administrative decisions, and if students don't feel that they're represented, then a lot of people's satisfaction shoots downward. This is a huge issue at my alma mater right now.
I believe there's even a few of those types of grads on the forums here.
My guess would be because they can offer an honest evaluation of the program from a student's perspective and help to determine whether the candidates would also fit in the department inclusive of the students (attrition is probably less of a problem when the students have an agreeable cohort/department at large).
During my search to see if anyone has actually written an article on this, I ran across an article by a Political Scientist on admissions (no, not the Gary King one) and according to this article there are graduate students on the admissions committee. I realize that they play a very small role in admissions, but why even have them on the committee?
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During my search to see if anyone has actually written an article on this, I ran across an article by a Political Scientist on admissions (no, not the Gary King one) and according to this article there are graduate students on the admissions committee. I realize that they play a very small role in admissions, but why even have them on the committee?
I believe there's even a few of those types of grads on the forums here.
My guess would be because they can offer an honest evaluation of the program from a student's perspective and help to determine whether the candidates would also fit in the department inclusive of the students (attrition is probably less of a problem when the students have an agreeable cohort/department at large).
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There's no way to skip uploading the scores? Why don't you e-mail the program and ask if there's a way you can exclude them?
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I can't speak to the visa situation, but you don't need the universities permission to apply elsewhere.
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Just curious, did anyone attempt to calculate the likelihood of getting into at least one school out of the total list? If so how?
Another issue (just remembered), is that if all schools use the same criteria, it's likely that many of the same people will get offers across the board. That reduces the probability of everyone else getting an offer. So it's dependent not only on how many applications each school gets, but also on how widely the top candidates apply.
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I just got word from 1 of the 2 schools in question. The admin said that as long as you self-report, they will accept the scores as long as the certified scores come in before the final admissions decisions are made! Now the question is, will I have the AWA in time... we'll have to wait and see! I will call ETS tomorrow and hopefully get that same ETS customer service rep that helped you out. I will let everyone know what they say in case anyone is struggling with the same issues.
I asked this of a school to which I'm re-applying. The grad program director told me that the Uni should still have my scores, but it doesn't matter because they don't need to see an official report until they're offering me a spot.
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Thought on program size - from what I've seen, the size of the program may (or at least should) relate to available funding. Based on this, some public universities - such as UNC - have relatively small classes and fully fund everyone. Some private universities have larger, fully funded classes. Of course, schools that accept without funding don't necessarily have the same limiting factors.
And then there are those universities that aren't good enough (say, top 10) to offer everyone funding, but are prestigious enough that they still get ridiculous numbers of apps and only offer funding to about 50% of the incoming class.
Welcome to the 2013-2014 Cycle
in Political Science Forum
Posted
Wishing everyone heartfelt luck as we approach the second "major" deadline!