Arandlas

Thanks for the candid replies guys. So you don't think I can point at my A grade in Statstics from Masters LSE as susbtantial enough proof of potential then? Basically I don't have enough time to retake as I need to be doing my statements during the next week rather than revising for GRE again. Also do you perhaps know any courses that are less Quant orientated/half and half Quant and Qual?

Oh also had a study year abroad in Cairo 2011-12 (I've heard languages don't make much difference though?)

Hello all! Long-time lurker, first time poster here. I have just finished my Master's degree and am applying for fall 2016 admission to a PhD program in Political Science. The crux of my concern is my low GRE Quant score and whether I can offset it with the other parts of my application for entrance to a top 15 (-ish, I know how subjective this is!) American uni. I have heard that quant is taken a lot more seriously in the US and I am ambivilent at the moment towards it personally. I know I can do it (evidenced by my LSE Quant class grade below), but the GRE Q score doesn't look good, caused largely by me panicking under time constraints and the pressure of knowing I only had one shot at it this application year due to only recently finishing my Master's (i.e. I don't have time to retake this year). Research-wise I am open to both Qualitative and Quant so any advice on less quant-heavy courses would be apreciated too! Profile: Type of Undergrad Institution: Exeter University, UK (2015 QS ranking 51-100 in politics & international studies) Major: Arabic and Middle East Studies (half languages, half Area Studies/interdisciplinary stuff like Politics, IR, Theology, History, law, etc). GPA: 68% (3.67/4 as calculated by WES though I think it is more like 3.8 from more accurate sources) Type of Grad Institution: London School of Economics and Political Science, UK (2015 QS ranking #4 in politics & international studies) Major: Conflict Studies, quite a theoretical degree but I did do one module of Intro to Quant Stats which taught me basic SPSS and I earned 68% in (70% is a 4.0 GPA) GPA: Distinction (4.00/4 as calculated by WES) GRE: v162 q150 aw unknown at the moment, though I feel it went somewhere from fine-very good Letter of Recommendation: Four avarage/strong letters (they're all keen but have no idea who will be able to write what admissions want) , one from my Undergrad's thesis supervisor, two from undergrad lecturers who taught me, one from a Chaired Professor at LSE who taught me. Research/related experience: Undergrad Thesis, 80% (70% is a 4.0 by conversion) and Master's Thesis 70%. Recently began working part-time at E-IR an online open-source IR journal as an associate editor (unpaid) and might be placed soon to work on the board revieiwing their first IR textbook. I am looking for local research oppotunities with professors though it is a struggle to find in the UK. Teaching Experience: I have taught English as a Foreign language abroad briefly but for the past 4 years at a prestigious Oxford Summer chool, might be able to teach IR there this year now I have a Master's. Also worked as a Special Needs Teaching Assistant for a year during my gap year at a local school. Research Interests: International Relations, Comparative Politics, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Publication: Submitted undergraad thesis to E-IR (prior to being employed) which I believe might be published. Master's published on LSE's internal servers only.