MastersHoping

No one knows anything about the visas? :(

I had a question about visas: So Fulbright assists you in applying to visas, but what kind of visa would you be applying for? For example, in South Korea an E-2 visa is "foreign language instructor." Would that be the one we'd be applying for? If so, that would be super awesome because those kinds of visas have an easier time getting upgraded to an F-2 visa (permanent residence).

Did they suggest you retake it because the quant wasn't high enough? Or were both low enough to retake? I mean, I know it's always advisable to do the best you can, but if you got, say, 163 V and 161 Q the first time, what that have been fine? I got 163 v, 162 q, and 5.0 w, and no one's ever told me they were low to the point where I should consider retaking (Which I don't really want to do, especially since I'm not sure I'll do better). Congrats on 170 btw

LisaBird, are you going to learn the Laotian language (unless you've already learned it)? What got you so interested in SE Asia? I was considering applying to Indonesia too but realized I love South Korea too much and definitely want to go there. XD

I see, in that case, I suppose I was mistaken in what constitutes proofreading or editing.

Lol wow I can't believe you actually went to Georgetown and UChicago's site to find that info! I think we might be having a misunderstanding on what we mean by proofreading/editing. What I'm talking about is that the two of you (student and tutor) sit down at the cubicle together, read the paper together, and the tutor making suggestions on what to change, content of paper, etc. Here at Georgetown, for example, I've had the tutors help me with everything as general as the overall content of the paper to something as specific as which word would be a better word choice. That's what I was talking about when I said "directly".

I'm not sure what the writing centers at your university were like, but at both University of Chicago (where I did undergrad) and Georgetown University (where I'm at now), the writing tutors all directly proofread and helped edit your papers. You were also allowed to go to them before you finished your paper so they could help you with the writing process, but generally they were the most helpful when you presented them your finished papers. I know that these are just two examples/anecdotal evidence, and I do not have any way of conducting a systematic study on various universities' writing centers, but these are two very well-known and reputable universities and I would be surprised if they were the only two universities where the writing center helped you directly edit or proofread works. Even my high school writing center provided this kind of direct service.

I think you'll have to get this cleared with the individual school/department/instructor. Intuitively, though, I do not think this would qualify as "cheating." There is a writing center at my university, for example, where the staff are paid to help you proofread your papers, edit for grammar, edit for structure and style, etc. If you pay a professional editor for this service, it is the exact same thing - the only difference being who is paying the editor (the university vs. yourself privately). So in my opinion, if a professor lets you use the school's writing center, I do not see how they could reasonably claim you are cheating by doing the same thing but on your own. On a practical level, though, I don't see how you can possibly even get "caught" using this editing service. Aside from whether or not it constitutes cheating (which in my opinion it is not, but clarify it with your instructor), how would anyone even know? Not like professors know when I use the writing center for my essays. Heck, I even use the writing center for my admissions essays!

I would definitely just call and/or email the dept and tell them to look out for it. One of my official transcripts read "unofficial" on it when I scanned it. I attached no notes or explanations or anything and it went fine. Not quite the same as void, I guess, but similar situation.

Haha I guess you two are right, I was probably just being a little paranoid. I imagine it would be very difficult, cumbersome, and pretty pointless for them to REREAD all 100 applications (or however many there are), and even if they do, they likely won't be checking it to see if you incorporated every piece of advice they gave, which is, by all accounts, subjective anyway. I applied to a grant with a relatively high number of awardees, so fingers crossed! Hopefully my school endorses me highly and I hope my second time applying goes better than the first.

THANK YOU! Just submitted my application.

Thank you guys! And yes I was born in Canada. Very helpful, and I should definitely get to applying for that passport soon. I don't have access to my birth certificate though and don't know where to get one... argh. Oh well. Even though I've been gone from Canada for 10 years, I still have this love/nationalistic pride toward it. I guess it's kind of like how you will always love your mother. So it would be nice to be back XD

Hello, I am considering applying to some Canadian universities for Ph.D programs. I am a Canadian citizen, however for over 10 years I've lived in the United States, including high school, college, and my master's. My Canadian passport is expired - I am using an American one (dual citizenship). Further complicating matters is that I had a legal name change in the States that has not been reflected in any of my Canadian documents. Canadian universities take in a lot more domestic applicants than they do international. I would like to apply as a Canadian, however, am I eligible to apply as a domestic student? Despite having virtually no valid documents to say I'm Canadian (other than my expired passport), having all my secondary/tertiary education in the States, and the legal name change situation? Thanks!

Hi guys need some advice, I had my internal interview with the Fulbright committee at my university. I used a lot of their feedback to revise my statements, however, I didn't fully agree with all of their input, and for some of the other input that I did agree with, I couldn't figure out a way to change it effectively. Basically, I didn't use all of the committee's advice when I edited and resubmitted my essay for the first time. My question is, is this going to count against me? Will my university give me a lower rating or poorer endorsement than it would have otherwise? I'd hate to lose out on the Fulbright on my second attempt applying because I didn't take all of the committee's advice - although of course I did take a lot of it or at least a substantial amount. The committee also said I was in good shape for the Fulbright (based on my statements and interview) and the changes were for the most part minor. HELP

Given what you've said here, it seems to me that you will have a very strong application! As for why not Northwestern and Chicago, why, they are my top two choices and I wouldn't want to be compared against you, of course XD But on a more serious note, I went to UChicago for undergrad although I was not in the poli sci department. It seems to me that much of their program is super duper cerebral/intellectual/on the brainy side of things and less quantitative (think philosophy type stuff). Even though you were a philosophy major, it doesn't seem to be what you're interested in doing for your Ph.D. Same goes for NU... I think. Take my school suggestions with a grain of salt, though. The other things I mentioned to you I feel very confident about, i.e. focus on your writing sample, but less so for school choices.

For the ones who don't explicitly say a word limit, I think around 1,000 is generally acceptable. Double spaced that's around 2 - 3 pages.

What I am more concerned about is why so many professors seem to be refusing your request for a rec letter. In my experience, even profs who you've taken one class with and have done decently well in are willing to write a rec letter. Is there a reason you've been having so much difficulty? Do your profs think grad school may not be the best option for you at this time?

Two "weaknesses" you state, i.e. lack of poli sci classes and the fact that you have recs from economists are not, in my view, even weaknesses. You already have a few poli sci classes, and from the rest of your profile it seems to me that you are a very bright student so I would bet you did well in those, so that's a plus for you. Also, economics and poli sci are very close relatives, and in fact, if you were interested in doing political economy it might even be better that you had more econ relevant classes than poli sci. Furthermore, quant skills are more and more desirable in political science research. Judging by your coursework and GRE score, you clearly have that. As for your rec letters, I have no doubt that an economist would be able to properly assess your potential for political science, particularly if you're doing political economy. What's more important is that the letter writers know you well and can assess your potential for research. For your lack of publications, I wouldn't worry too much about it. While it's nice to have some under your belt before you apply, it's not necessary. In fact, doctoral programs are supposed to train you on how to write journal quality papers. I know plenty of people who didn't have a single publication and got into some nice schools. It's more important that your programs can assess your potential to do productive research in your intended field. I have a few minor publications (a non-academic book translation on a relevant topic, and some peer-reviewed articles albeit from very unprestigious journals, haha) but would give those up in a heartbeat - well maybe not the book translation, that i am very proud of - for your quant background, transcript, and GRE scores. That brings me to your writing sample. You say your writing sample isn't that good. If it's truly not that good, then this is, in my view, the biggest blemish for you. The writing sample is one of the most important aspects of your application, and through that adcomms gauge your writing ability and potential to do research. So my best suggestion for you is, out of all the components of your application that you've mentioned being a "weakness", spend the MOST time on your writing sample until you feel fully confident in it. As for school suggestions, double check on this, but I believe places like University of Rochester, Princeton, and Michigan are very good for quant/methodology. You mention fluency in Mandarin - are you planning to do anything about China in your studies? If so, I might suggest taking a look at places that also have strong Asian studies programs. Stanford, as you mentioned, sounds like a great fit for you in this case. I'd also maybe take a look at a bunch of the UCs, like UCLA and UC-Berkeley. Try Harvard and Columbia as well. Avoid Northwestern and UChicago. Again, double check on all my suggestions of schools just to be sure. But definitely spend time on your writing sample! Good luck to you. I'm applying to PhDs in poli sci as well right now

Hi Quyuan00! Thanks for offering to help, much appreciated! What are your research interests at Princeton? I am contemplating applying, although it seems that the EAS program is very heavily history and literature based and I'm very interested in political science although modern history, particularly political history, interest me quite a bit as well. Incidentally, I applied to the Yale MA program last year but wasn't accepted XD currently at a different MA Asian Studies program.

My final recommender submitted his reference!!! So I just turned in my application. Wish me luck

Interestingly enough, I went to UChicago for undergrad! I see from your profile you're in Illinois - are you at UChicago for your Poli Sci PhD?

Not that they won't matter, but I would imagine that most organizations care less about institutional prestige than TT jobs.

Bam. Powerful words right there! I'm going to guess that there are people from non-top programs who end up with perfectly successful careers in high schools, community college, liberal arts colleges, gov't agencies, nonprofit, etc. In fact, I would imagine that many of these places couldn't care less where you got your Ph.D from, like a nonprofit organization for example.

It sounds like a MOOC. MIT open courseware and Yale Online Courses have similar offerings.

My guess is that it won't totally make up for the poor performance in the class originally, but it can help mitigate somewhat. The reasons it won't totally help you recover: 1) Grad school material moves fast. I think they expect you to be able to digest the material the first time around. If you understand the material the second time with Coursera, it's not as good as getting a good grade in the original course. 2) Coursera courses are not as rigorous as traditional courses, at least in my experience. Which is not to say they're not good quality, just not as rigorous to pass. Grad school courses are tough and rigorous, and won't be as laid back as a Coursera class. 3) Even if you get a statement of accomplishment, it doesn't necessarily prove that you mastered the material. Although Coursera does offer a verified certificate. But, if you have the time and willingness, it'll still help you. If it's a class containing skills you absolutely need for your program, like if you were applying to an MBA program or something and need to know financial accounting to move on to more advanced topics (business is not my field so excuse me if I fudge something up, but you get the point), the coursera class can help with that. It can also show adcomms that you're serious about learning the material, that you're self-disciplined and a good self-learner. Ultimately, while it's best to do well the first time around, doing a class from Coursera can only help, in my opinion. Btw, it does come with a percentage grade. The grade is determined by how well you do on the quizzes.