I'm a political science major (as my uncreative username indicates) and about halfway finished with my undergraduate degree. I also am minoring in one of the humanities. I was wondering what I should do right now to make my application look more appealing to PhD programs (also in political science, probably American). Here's what I have so far that I feel is actually relevant (leaving out basic memberships of random student organizations):
-4.0 GPA (overall and within major)
-Research experience, but not published...just one project
-President of a minor student org on campus
-Model UN
No WE or internships, though I think I will try for an internship my senior year. I also only have about 20 hours of volunteer work, if that, so how important is it to have done a lot of volunteer work during undergrad?
I know I can get great LORs from prominent faculty, and I assume I'll do well on the GRE and write a decent SOP. I may or may not take a year (or two) off after I get my BA in order to get some money saved.
What else should I be doing to enhance my resume? How lacking is the one I currently have? I'm aiming for good to great schools, even though my undergrad institution isn't.