Syas

I know it is a bit early, but I began checking my e-mails to see whether I received any results.

Happy holidays! The PhD Movie 2 was recently made available to stream online. It would be good to watch it as we wait for the results!

I have applied to nine schools so far, and I have at least four more to go. The application process is as tiring as writing a thesis.

I agree with Determinedandnervous. It could be the deal breaker if the committee is choosing between two candidates with equal qualifications.

To my understanding you should avoid personalizing your SOP such as talking about your experiences and focus purely on your academics, particularly focus on explaining what kind of research you have done, and what kind of research ideas you have in your mind.

Hello All, The University of Michigan's diversity statement question differs from generic diversity statement questions, as it asks how have our background and life experiences motivated our decision to pursue a degree at the University of Michigan rather than how our background and life experiences will enrich the diversity of the university. My advisor told me that many people utilize their generic diversity statements which are about how their background will have positive impact on the diversity of the university for applying to the University of Michigan. I was wondering whether you think it would be wise to put a generic diversity statement for applying to the University of Michigan.

My advisor advised me to mention my writing sample in my SOP, so I talked about my writing sample just after the introduction section to describe my main areas of interests. The nice thing about writing sample is that it gives the opportunity to describe your research interests in debth.

I would say try to retake it if you can financially afford it. Given that you have done much better than 153 in your practice tests shows that you can improve your score.

I am also applying to about 15 programs. 3 are in top ten, about 7-8 are between 10 and 30, about 5-6 are mid-tier schools. Anybody writing optional diversity statements? I am debating whether I should write one or not.

Hey everyone! I am also new to this forum. As a current MA student in Political Science at one of the top universities in Turkey, I will be applying to the PhD programs in the United States. MA GPA: 3.84 GRE Scores: 162Q/158V/5W, TOEFL score:111. Undergrad GPA: 3.58. In undergrad graduated from Honors College of my university with double majors in econ, IR. Research experience: 2.5 years, teaching experience: 3 years. One conference presentation, and (hopefully) one co-authored paper by the time of application. Strengths: Research experience, background in statistical analysis, very strong recommendations Weaknesses: GRE scores. Most of the top programs have average 165 Verbal scores. I am hoping that admission committee will take into consideration the fact that English is my second language. Also, my math score does not really stand out. In addition, although my institution is very well known in Turkey, it is ranked between 250-300 in the world. Will be going into the field of Comparative Politics. Top choices: Princeton, Columbia, U of W St Louis, University of Michigan, Northwestern. I know these are super difficult to get into, but I will try! Good luck!