csantamir

Thanks for the advice. I’ll be honest and hope that my experience is a good fit for the department.

Thanks. I’m using Princeton now to review and seems to be going better. Cheers

Great feedback, thanks a lot! I can also mention how I disagreed with the diplomat who was justifying the decision to file the case because the only country that can enforce a ruling (US) has not yet ratified UNCLOS. I’ll look into all the angles you have suggested to frame that part of my SOP.

I'm trying to get my thesis published in a Wiley journal but will check out Monkey Cage. Thanks!

Thank you for your comment. If I may ask, where were you accepted? Did you address your age in your SOP? I’m fine with a job at a smaller state university, as long as I’m interested in the subject matter. Right now I work at a big multilateral institution but I hate my job.

Thanks for the advice. Maybe I didn’t express myself properly. I do have a very clear research interest (future balance of power in Asia) but I wanted to tweak it a bit to fit each department. Maybe it’s better, like you said, to come up with a good idea and hope they find it as interesting as I do.

Thanks a lot, this is very encouraging. What do you think my “cool factor” could be? I was hoping to mention what I learned about how diplomacy really works from the whole political process of the Philippines taking China to court over the South China Sea in an off-the-record briefing with diplomats when I was covering that beat as a journalist.

Thank you both for your comments. I have already decided to retake the test to improve my score. Regarding emailing profs, I would do so only to get a better idea of if my research interests are a good fit for the department or not. I do not expect any prof to weigh in on my application, especially if they don’t know me at all. Since I have several research interests and am quite flexible with the topic as long as it’s in IR and focused on Asia, I plan to tailor that part of my POS to each particular school. Thoughts?

Thanks

Hi Zereg, Thank you for your advice and encouragement. I will point that out in my SOP and tell my recommenders. I’ve already decided I’m retaking the test, probably in a couple of months after working harder on the math. I’m using the Princeton book now and it seems to work better for me than Magoosh. Do you think 160/155 will make the cutoff for UMD/UVA? Cheers

Thank you for being brutally honest. I appreciate it. You're right, I need to work harder on this.

Hi dagnabbit, Thank you for your feedback. I guess I should try again, and will check out Manhattan. It’s not what I want to write off quant completely, just keep it to a minimum. Cheers

Hi everyone, I took the GRE on Friday and got a dismal (unofficial) score: 159 V 143 Q I studied for two months, signed up for Magoosh, and really tried my best, but I’m almost 38 and haven’t done any math since my last year of high school almost 20 years ago. My undergrad GPA is more or less 3.2, graduate GPA 3.92. I have over a decade of experience working as a foreign correspondent and editor in Asia, and waiting to publish a paper on conflict management in the South China Sea in a peer-reviewed journal. I am not planning to apply to any of the top schools, but do you think I still have a chance at any school at all? I’ve considered retaking the test but I really doubt I’ll be able to improve my quant score that much. Please be brutally honest with your advice. Thank you! P.S. Applying to PhD programs to focus on IR (geopolitics, not much quant analysis needed)

Nice! So did you both have a good experience? Rutgers is my top pick along with UVA. I would like to get Simon Reich as my advisor to research China’s geopolitical grand strategy.

Thank you for the feedback. I’m fully aware of age discrimination for TT, but don’t mind being contractual for a few years and see where it goes. How did you express that you didn’t care about TT in your POS? The message that I want to convey is that as a former journalist, I can hopefully straddle both fields and through my writing make my research more accessible outside of the purely academic world.

Thank you for the feedback. It would be great to get TT but that’s not what I’m aiming for. I’m fine with any job that’s related to the discipline, whether it’s in academe, think tank or whatever is out there. I’ve been struggling for several years in a relatively lucrative job I don’t give two shits about, and willing to quit it if I get into any program. Bottom line, I’m quite flexible of what I’m willing to do after I graduate as long as it’s in the general field of PolSci/IR.

hehehe thanks

Thank you for your comment. In my case my wife is pretty independent and she travels a lot for work so that should be fine. We don’t have kids. Should I mention that in my POS? I can demonstrate commitment by showing that I was able to finish my online MA and graduated with honors in less than 18 months while working full-time. Cheers

Thank you for your comment. I do think my professional experience applies to my future research. I learned a lot about the geopolitics of Asia (Southeast Asia in particular) from my former job as a news correspondent in the region. I’ll try to play that up in the POS.

I have 10+ years experience working abroad as a regional correspondent and editor in Southeast Asia. Is that 'cool' enough?

Hi everyone, I’m new to grad cafe but have read a few posts by people asking about their chances of getting into certain PhD programs. In my case the problem is that’s I’m a bit older than most candidates (38 in October 2018) and was wondering whether I should even try applying. Undergrad GPA: 3.3ish (still waiting for my credential evaluation from Spanish undergrad, a bit low but was working full-time) Grad GPA: 3.92 (APUS, Honors, while working full-time) Taking GRE next month. Personal background: currently editorial consultant at multilateral institution in Southeast Asia, former news correspondent, 13 years in journalism/comms mainly in Asia Applying to: University of Virginia Rutgers Penn State Maryland Delaware SUNY Binghamton Umass My research interest is how China’s rise will affect the geopolitics of Asia, so kinda straddling IR & comparative. What do you think? Thanks! P.S. I hope to get my green card in November so I’ll be applying as a US permanent resident.