IndEnth

Hey guys, how do you all know when decisions are likely to come out/have just been released? Some secret results page I don't know about? FIY: I had an interview with UCSB and was recommended for admission, and will have an interview with Emory next week.

Many thanks, alphazeta! Glad to hear that my German degrees will probably not disadvantage me too much. And I'll incorporate the rest!

Thanks, cooperstreet! Out of curiosity, where did you end up studying?

Thank you, J_Phil!

Hi everyone, I'm applying for comparative politics with a regional focus on South Asia and a topical focus on human rights, communal politics, religion and non-state violence. As I have a rather unusual profile, I'm struggling a bit with getting my SoP in order. So, here's my story, followed by a list of questions: I'm a German national holding no US degrees. I have a BA in journalism and a BS in economics from Germany, and an MA in political science from India. I graduated from my MA program in 2012. My research and teaching experience are very limited (one thesis, one book chapter, guest lectures in Mumbai). I lived in India for 4 years (2 to study, 2 to work as a journalist); I know Hindi and have grassroots volunteer experience. I've been freelancing as an academic editor for an international agency for years. I'm currently working as an editor with an international newspaper in Europe. So, here are my questions: How could I sell the journalism part well? I know it doesn't make up for research experience, but it's all I got, so... How helpful might the academic editing experience be? I know that I don't write and research myself, but I'm totally reviewing, editing, proofing, formatting etc others' papers and thus am an expert in how to structure and write a research paper by now. Do I have to explain that there's a gap of 4 years between finishing my MA and starting my PhD? I have degrees in three different fields - should I explain that? Or only focus on the relevant ones (economics and politics)? Living in India as such of course has prepared me well for field research there, but are universities interested in these non-academic life skills? How much of a disadvantage will me not holding any US degrees be, and is there anything I can do to mitigate that effect? Thanks to everyone, and good luck to all those who are applying this year as well!

I would be up for that! As I'm very new to this (and have been out of the academic loop for a couple of years, graduated in 2012) I wouldn't mind getting someone else's input too.

Hey guys, woah, I'm so glad to hear that not everyone is already done with their SoP and just chillin' while I'm still totally struggling! I started this process so early - or at least so I thought - but now with less than four weeks to go I'm totally going nuts over the statement... Also, yes, my profile is a patch work ;) Profile: Undergrad: Journalism, Top journalism school in Germany Economics, University of Cologne, GPA 4.0 Graduate: PolSci, University of Mumbai, GPA 3.94 GRE: 166(v)/167(q)/5.5(a) TOEFL: 118 Applying for: Comparative politics, regional focus South Asia, 15 schools in the top 50

Hi guys, I'm in the process of applying to PhD programs in comparative politics and I could use some advise. I'm looking to do my PhD on South Asia, and am interested in human rights, communal violence/politics and non-state violence in particular. Now, I've got good undergrad and grad grades and some teaching experience, even though not a lot research experience. GRE went very well. But here's the thing: I have sort of an unusual profile, and am struggling to sell it well. I'm a German national with a BA in journalism and a BS in economics from Germany. I lived four years in India, did my MA in political science at Mumbai University and worked as a journalist. I know Hindi and have volunteered with grass roots organisations for years. I'm currently working as an editor with an international newspaper in Europe and freelancing as an academic editor with a US-based international agency. So as you can see, my profile is sort of all over the place. And I'm really struggling with incorporating this well in my SoP (and partly even in my letters of recommendation). I would really appreciate some guidance/advise from comparativists on a ) what top schools expect b ) whether or not to stress my experience as a journalist c ) how to exploit my four years of experience in India, even though I didn't do political science research d ) whether it will help to stress my background in economics e ) how much the academic editing might benefit me in my evaluation f ) just how much of a disadvantage it will be that I don't hold any US degrees Any help here is appreciated, really! I know that I'm also sort of late with this, but I only just now found the Grad Cafe! I don't know how I missed this before. Have been working on my applications for months... Thanks a lot to everyone!