silver_lining

Do professors really have that much time (that is if you didn't bluntly state your name, GRE scores, or where you were admitted)? Aside from the more professional ones on this site, I think it is a bit rude to attempt to link applications. Unless, of course, it is apparent that there is a crazy person among us.

I would stop emailing faculty if you have not truly picked a topic area. You have a little over 5 months to do research. My suggestion is to see if there are articles you like and google the author names to see where they teach. Here is what you should do: 1) First find schools that are interested in your broader research area. For example, what about Russia are you interested in? Is it security? If so, look at schools that are good with security. 2) Do research to see where those who specialize in Russia are at. I would recommend not only applying to schools that specialize in Russia, but also your broader interests. Just make sure to tie it all together in your SOP. This is what I am doing, but my research interests are more niche than "Russia." Of course, don't blame me if you don't get your desired acceptance results. Apply widely!

Admissions are competitive, so you should consider applying to more schools in addition to the 5 you have listed here! Each admissions committee is different, so it would be impossible to say if they would like your stats/background or not, but I think it is worth a shot.

Without going into detail about my thesis, I'm in the situation where my thesis allowed me to find a really exciting new topic (I think it is exciting....), so my original plan was to use that thesis then explain in my SOP how doing that work led me to my new topic. There will be a connection between my old and new topic, which will be discussed in my SOP (I've also taken relevant courses that supports my new topic and I have written seminar papers on the broader issue). I'm just not sure if that will suffice. I really can't stick with my thesis topic as only 2 people in the US would actually be interested in it and both just graduated (when I said "niche" I really meant it).

This may be an odd question, but for the SOP, is it acceptable to pose a question in an area that has received very little attention academically (however, I am sure that many people would be interested in it)? Also, would it be going overboard if I included charts and such?