[Profiles and Results, SOPs, and Advice (Fall 2015)]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 50 LAC
Major(s)/Minor(s): Unrelated field
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: Top 5 Law School
Grad GPA: No grades (roughly middle of class)
GRE: 170 V / 165 Q / 6.0 AW
Any Special Courses: Multiple graduate level poli sci and econ courses
Letters of Recommendation: one economics professor, one poli sci professor, one law professor; all fairly prominent; multiple courses under each
Research Experience: Senior thesis, multiple (4+) theses in law school.  All qualitative, which may have hurt the application
Teaching Experience: N/a
Subfield/Research Interests: American, theory
Other: N/a

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$): One top 10, one top 15 (both fully funded)
Waitlists: N/A
Rejections: Six (all top 10)
Pending: N/A
Going to: Undecided

 

LESSONS LEARNED: I really didn't see much order behind my application cycle.  I was rejected by every school to which I thought I had a great fit and was accepted by two good programs which did not seem to fit my research interests well (limited overlap in both subfield and methodology to what I expressed in SoP).  I am very happy with the options I have, but either will involve significantly modifying my research program away from what I expected in order to match departmental strengths and faculty interests.

 

I suppose the lesson would be to apply broadly to places you would attend if admitted, even if you think the fit is poor.  The admissions committee might see things otherwise.  If I had applied only to places I thought were a good 'fit,' I would not have been admitted anywhere (although I did not apply outside the T15).  I was also migrating over from a related field which approached many of the same issues, but from a different direction and with different terminology.  My inability to 'translate' into polisci-talk may have hurt my perceived preparedness for graduate study in the field.

 

SOP: Not sharing full text.  Outlined in roughly a half page each two of my best research projects in graduate school and how I hoped to expand them into a research program during my PhD.  Named 3-4 professors per school whose research seemed to substantively overlap and discussed the level of overlap.