ARealDowner

I'm basically on the other end of that spectrum, which worries me some...my research interests are not incredibly defined, and I wish they were more so, for the purposes of determining fit and being able to discuss it in more depth in my SOP. Being an American Politics guy, I know specifically I want to work with legislatures, either Congress or the state legislatures, and am interested in topics such as polarization and the effects of religious identification, but I don't know if there's a neat way to package all of that into one coherent aim, much less discuss what a potential dissertation might look like. Are all of you drafting SOPs actually posing research questions in yours? Is this a necessity? As far as the rest of prep goes, just putting in a lot of work on my research honors project and studying for the GRE still. I'm not taking mine till mid-October, which means I probably won't get to retake before I apply, but I'm very happy with how the studying's going. Just got double 169s on the last practice test I took, and I'm continuing to work on areas I feel still need focus, so I'm feeling good about that right now!

Hello everyone! I introduced myself on this forum a ways back, but I thought I'd put myself in this thread, since this will be my first (ideally also my last) cycle. I'm in my senior year of my undergrad at a small liberal arts college, and I want to pursue a doctorate in American politics, specifically, legislative studies (both Congressional and state). Right now I have a 3.66 GPA, though my Poli-Sci GPA is 3.81, and I haven't gotten anything lower than an A since first semester sophomore year. I have yet to take my GREs, though judging from practice tests taken on Magoosh and other sites should be somewhere in the range of 165+ for Verbal, around 160 for Quantitative. This summer I won a fellowship and was able to work on an original research paper on polarization and gridlock in state legislatures, which I'm continuing throughout this year to expand and polish for research honors. I'm also quite interested in the ways religion affects political actors, and did some original research my sophomore year for a class concerning the voting behavior of Catholic members of Congress. In addition, I have internship experience in Illinois state government and the Scottish Parliament (I definitely have sympathy for you, RLemkin). My top schools I'm looking at right now include Duke, University of Chicago, and Notre Dame (mostly for the poli-sci/religion connection some of their people have), though I have a much longer list of possibilities I'm evaluating. Hope I haven't been too long winded!

Hello there! I'm an undergraduate student planning on taking the GRE next fall, currently using one of the Magoosh 6 Month GRE study plans. Part of the plan involves writing practice AWA essays from time to time, and ideally giving them to someone to look over, suggest improvements/weak points, and giving a rough grade using the rubric. I was wondering if anyone on this forum (possibly also on a Magoosh or similar study plan) would be willing to "partner up" for a while and swap essays with each other occasionally, maybe every couple weeks or so. If anyone would be interested, just message me and we can talk.

I'm noticing a common trend here - beef up on the math courses while I still can. I'll definitely try to fit in a couple calculus and linear algebra classes with my last two semesters. Now, as it looks like most applications are due mid-December, am I correct in assuming the grades you get in classes 1st semester (and obviously 2nd as well) my senior year won't have an effect on the admissions decision? I only ask because I'm guessing I can take these math classes, I'll probably be able to fit in one a semester, but I won't have much to show for them other than letting a school know in my SOP that I'd currently be in a class and/or taking one the following semester. Is that just the best I'll be able to do at this point?

Hello! I'm a Junior political science and English writing double major from a small regional liberal arts college with a good reputation, who only recently decided that he wants to pursue a career in academia (previously I wanted to be a political journalist, but research I did in the course of my undergrad and a good professor made me consider getting a doctorate in political science). I wanted to get an idea for what types of programs I should be aiming for, as well as get some advice on anything I can be doing to bolster my chances. What will likely be the weakest part of my application is my GPA. I didn't do nearly as well as I could have my first year, not thinking I was going on to postgraduate education (something I'm shooting myself for now). After this semester I should have a 3.62, and a 3.84 in Political Science. Since second semester of my sophomore year I have gotten nothing but 4.0's. I am planning on taking my GRE's next fall, and have started studying for them already. I feel fairly confident I will do well in them - I got a 35 on my ACT and a 2280 on my SAT, and those were both first time, no studying. My quant might be a little lower, as I haven't taken a math class (not counting statistics) in a while, but I'm focusing specifically on that in studying and am taking a finite math class at a community college this summer. As far as my research background goes, I have done minor papers in previous classes, and have won a fellowship for this summer. I will be spending the summer doing a research project on the effect of polarization on state legislatures, and hope to publish the finished product in an undergraduate journal. I also have a senior seminar project I will be working on next semester with a different professor, which I can extend through my final semester of my senior year to graduate with honors. (I'm also going to be working on a senior seminar for my English writing major too, on the off chance that makes a difference). I feel confident I can get three robust LOR from political science professors. I want to go into American politics. I'm not completely settled on what specifically I'd like to be doing (and I'm trying to read more current political science articles to gain more clarity on that), but ideally I'd like to focus on the ways political institutions function and the ways that they can shape (and be shaped by) members' preferences. In particular, I'd like to do some work similar to what Congressional scholars like Mayhew, Aldrich and Rohde, etc. have done with Congress on the state level. The only other things I can think to add are that I spent a semester interning in the Scottish Parliament, and had an internship in state government before that, and as far as languages go, I have an intermediate proficiency in French (something I feel could be bulked up pretty easily with a community college course or the like). I would greatly appreciate any feedback on what types of programs I should be looking into with this sort of background - ideally I'd like to go to a top 25 political science school with a good American Politics program and some sort of funding package. Is this realistic, particularly with my GPA? Is there anything I can be doing to make myself a stronger candidate? I really would love doing research and teaching political science at a university, and hope to gain an inkling of an idea how realistic that dream is.