cooperstreet

What's everyones math background? I've been out of undergrad almost 8 years, but I did get up to Calc II!

Porthos- If GW doesn't offer A- than that may be in your favor, at least that is my guess. Reputation of school matters too, and GW's is of course good.

It'll help, and it means you are familiar with the discipline. But it won't help much. Your biggest obstacle is that you have a 3.54 graduate GPA. What was your grad degree in and from where?

Merit Merit. Many programs will only admit people if they can fund them.

Why 4? I was told not to.

Does Delaware place people?

Josefmoore, Could you provide specifics? Thanks.

Yeah, you're telling me. I feel like I'm automatically out of the running because my quant percentile was revised down nearly 10 percentage points

That's infuriating. When I took the test my score was in the 73rd percentile. Now its in the 64th percentile, and nothing I did changed. bummer.

I took the GREs in 2009. I had a 750 V, 710 Q, and 5.5. In percentile terms, they were 99% V, 73% Q, and 93% AW. However, after 2011 the percentiles were revised. A 710Q in 2011 was around 68%!!!! Will this be taken into account by adcoms? what does everyone think?

I'm on the border of comparative and IR. Does anyone worry that the adcom will split their vote and you'll get lost in the shuffle because you are straddling to fields?

Where are you applying? What are your language skills? Thanks

Are you willing to pay? Then you have a good chance.

Low undergrad because of my first two years, so 3.1. Grad was 3.85, also As in a lot of language courses, which aren't glade inflated, and its a particularly hard language.

My quant score is 710. I'm applying to two programs in the top 10 in IR. Will that score seriously lessen my chances of getting accepted? I do, however, have a quantitatively rigorous BS degree, and did well in my quant heavy classes. That should offset the score, right? Gradcafe makes me think a 800/170 Q is the only way to get in.

I have 710Q and 750V, and I've been told I don't need to retake (still higher than average scores for those admitted into U Chicago Poli Sci). Plus GREs aren't terribly important.

How about this. I'm a continuing education student at one of the schools that I am applying to. Should I stop in during office hours to some of the profs that I want to work with?

Thanks. This is helpful.

From the FAQ at Columbia's Poli Sci website: I know this is discipline specific, but should we be contacting profs that we want to work with?

Hi all, I have a question about GRE scores for Poli Sci. When I took my GREs I was focusing more on my verbal. I scored a 710Q and a 750v, and 5.5 in the writing. Would it be worth taking them again or is my quantitative high enough and compensates by my verbal? I have a quant-heavy undergraduate degree (Econ) and am not applying to quantitatively heavy programs, although I intend to use some quantitative methods in my research. Thanks.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I was wondering how helpful having extensive foreigh language training will be in the applications process. I'm asking purely for selfish reasons: I'm advanced in Arabic, reading knowledge of French, and a year of Hebrew training.

Obviously it varies by subfield, but in general, how are foreign language skills viewed? Do most people have advanced training in one or two foreign languages when they apply? Would that set someone apart? Would having no foreign language training be a red flag, or the norm? Thanks.

The job prospects are better, I can do the math, a school that is in a great location for me has a number of political scientists that I would want to work with. My interests are in international relations between the US and the Middle East, particularly in how NGOs and states interact in the foreign policy field.

Thanks for the input. Since my undergraduate degree was in Econ, my transcript clearly shows that I can do the math, so I'm not worried about that. My a portion of my published work engages some IR literature (I argue against the utility of realism to account for a specific foreign policy decision). And I do have a recommendation letter writer who is a Political Scientist (I took 2 grad courses with her), but is a political theorist, not a quant or IR person. I think it may be in my interest to take a IR course this Fall before applying. Sound good?

I applied this cycle to Phd programs in history (US diplomatic history), but the results were not what I was hoping for. I am looking to apply next cycle for Phd programs in poli sci. What do I need to know? How's the job market? Especially the job market in IR? I have a BS in Economics and a MA in History, 4 years of Arabic, reading knowledge in French, and an article in a top journal on the international history of the Cold War. I've been prepping my application for history programs, but what kind of information do I need to prep my application specifically for Political Science Phd programs? Thanks.