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In the native language. I also wrote a more formal letter of introduction with a project summary in that language (had a native speaker with knowledge of the topic look over it for me). The only time I wrote to someone in English was when I emailed the U.S. embassy in that country for possible contacts and when I emailed a couple of other Fulbright recipients (who were VERY helpful) in-country for info. So basically, target language unless I was writing to Americans.

The above advice is good, so I'll just share my recent experience. I'm 30, and I was accepted to three good (and good fit) schools, but none were elite (top 50-ish). I did get full funding at all. The most important thing is to articulate in your SOP why you want to get your PhD. I briefly mentioned my previous career and what skills would add to my success in grad school, but it was a minor part. I just got back from a school visit, and the department was VERY encouraging to me. One professor explained that they liked my application because I was very clear about what I wanted to study, stemming in no small part, I believe, from the fact that I had not been in school for a while and had time to think about why I wanted to give up decent pay and go back to school. Another professor mentioned that I was right to see a PhD program as somewhat of a career training program rather than an end in itself. As far as recommendation letters, I emailed the professors, asked if they would STRONGLY recommend me, and offered to send them my transcripts from their school, a paper from their class, my CV, a draft of my SOP, and any other materials they would need. While I wish that I would have been able to start my PhD a few years ago, there are positive aspects to being slightly older. A big one: barring unforeseen circumstances, I plan on finishing as soon as possible rather than extending my TA-ship for 7, 8, 9 years because I know what real(ish) money is. I'm really happy with my results this year, and my campus visit was also a good ego boost. PM me if you'd like more info. Best of luck!

As a bonus, your friends will think you're really smart if you return to school after having been out a few years. I'm in an unrelated field to political science/politics/policy, so when people learn that I'm getting paid to go to back school, they're totally impressed. (This will help counteract the dumb feeling I know I'll have when I start because I'm not as recently steeped in the discipline as fresh-out-of-undergrad students.) One other point: Working for a few years before not only helped me get in, I think, I'm also considering it a hedge against what might happen if I'm not finding a position after the degree. I always have my other "career" that I can do to make ends meet, even if I'm not thrilled about it. And to the topic of the thread: Before I applied, I had three fall-back plans, just in case grad school didn't work out. I know it's harder when you're just coming out of undergrad (trust me, I know), but it makes the disappointment easier when you've already looked into teaching English abroad or helping your grandpa sell his antique tools on ebay. (And it's funny, I'm working on a promotion at my current job that would make me much happier here--too bad I'm only staying 6 more months.) I knew if I didn't get in, I'd be sad, but something would be in the works to fulfill my life. I'll be a bossy know-it-all no matter what my job is.

Thanks for the distraction! I will not mock anyone's choices here ... except who selected "too young to vote"? Whoever you are, you must be a bright kid. (And then I hope you will not be in my program because I will feel like I have more grey hairs than I really do.)

One year I looked into working for National Parks during the summer; my mom said she did it in the '70s (knee socks and brown shorts!), and a college friend worked at Mount Rushmore, I think. This was 10-ish years ago, so maybe the jobs have changed, but unless you have a skill, it's usually distributing maps, working the gift shop, being friendly.

Thanks to both of you! I've been looking around for these to help justify my nascent decision ... want to make sure I'm not deciding based solely off personal life but also on actual facts. Now if I would just hear about funding ...

USC concerns me. I've seen two acceptances in the results forum, but they were spread apart by a week or so. That's been my favorite program since I started thinking about a PhD, and my campus visit last fall was encouraging. We'll see, I guess. And in other, non-Harvard news, I received a phone call yesterday (Saturday) from a professor at Arizona gauging my interest in their program still. He said their committee is meeting this upcoming week, so we'd likely find out late in the week.

Yes, I think two of us claimed acceptances to UMass yesterday. It was a personalized email.

Congrats! The first acceptance is the best feeling. I'm in at UMass as well with the same offer and nomination for a university fellowship. I was cool with my first acceptance (especially since I already live nearby), but this unexpected one is throwing me. You mean I get to/have to make a decision? In the end, I may label a couple of Dentabones and let my dog decide. (I'm not diminishing this--I really have a hard time with decisions, even obvious ones.)

I went to the APSA website: http://www.apsanet.org/content_6947.cfm Then I customized a spreadsheet with my primary fields, subfields, and special interests, as well as city, funding, and other notes. Then I had a drop down menu next to each with Yes/No/Maybe. I visited every website (seriously, every one)--some are easy to say yes or no to. Then with all the maybes, I checked program descriptions and faculty bios if they had all or most of what I wanted to study and narrowed them down further. Lots of winnowing, but I ended up with an okay list. Additionally, for books or articles that were particularly interesting or influential, I looked at the authors'/editors' bios to also help me find if I overlooked a school. I think I added one to my list this way. Here's an example of a VERY detailed spreadsheet: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mooreks/downloads.html I didn't go this detailed, but it is a good example.

I did IR at Bristol a few years ago and loved it. I thought about staying another year but ran out of money.

I'm going to assume you're male. Heh. I ran a half marathon this weekend, which was an excellent distraction. For a few days, I was stressed about finishing that rather than grad school. Now I'm thinking about a 50-mile bike ride in Baja in April. My friend told me her rear was sore, but the fish tacos and beer at the end were totally worth it. Oh, wait, summer plans? Work at my full-time job until two days before I go and pick up as much freelance work as possible to steel myself for the oncoming poverty. Also, I'm starting to panic that I've forgotten all of the literature in my several years out of school, so I'll be boning up on the basics. Pulling out my MSc books and reading the tables of contents and introductions. Maybe take a summer Spanish class. Or maybe I'll just enjoy the beach with a book over my face.

That's amazing that they reached out to you both! I have no advice, really, just congratulations! Watch it with this, though. Some of us will be starting our PhDs at 30 or 31.

Some things to think about for you: -I have read on some schools' pages that there is time in residence (or whatever it is called) required. This may vary. Some schools also offer reciprocal relationships with other schools, but that's on an individual school basis. -If you do take summers or semesters off or defer, think about both financial and opportunity costs. You might lose out on a fellowship or assistantship. And the longer it takes for you to finish your PhD, the longer you will be living as a grad student and delaying your career. -Depending on where your girlfriend is posted, you might not be able to go. Usually FSOs (I'm assuming this is what her interview is for) have to serve in a hardship post early in their careers where family cannot accompany them. If you were to accompany her, you'd have to be married. Even if you were married, you might not be able to go where she is. And even if you were married and could go, there might not be a university around for you to study at. Those are just brief thoughts, but you may always be able to explore your options and work together. It might be okay with you to take longer as a grad student. Or you might be able to spend only one year apart because you both find great places to study/work. But make sure you know about the life of an FSO (move every 2 years, sometimes to unsavory places), because if you are married, her career will definitely affect your career prospects, even when you do have your PhD. Think about what you want in 10 years, not just in 1-2. (I'm not being unsympathetic, but the FSO question is one I had to tackle a few years ago and wanted to look at starkly. I'm now also examining a long-distance thing, too, so I really feel you.)

Subfield: IR Interests: Gender, IR theory, peace studies, security, role of organizations in these

English (writing emphasis) and Peace Studies. With the latter, I took a lot of IR courses, but I also took a bunch of other social science courses. Very interdisciplinary (read: I got to take all the classes I wanted and none of the ones I didn't).

You guys are all so cute! This is my favorite thread because it's a reminder that everyone is so fallible, even in their strongest moments. Anyway, my biggest negative is that I screwed around in my master's program (yep, I didn't rebel until I was 23, rather than 18 or 21). I passed, but just barely. I'm hoping the schools don't bother to convert UK grades. Doesn't bode well for the "growth" argument. I'm also hoping that the intervening 7 years with no relevant happenings are also ignored. Hm, how about they just accept me on trust and my $75 alone? If I am fortunate enough to be accepted, my biggest weakness is that I will be playing catch up. Because I had an interdisciplinary major, I took none of the background courses usually required in my field. I'll be spending the summer with an American government textbook at the very least.

Okee dokee, here's my annoyance of the day. Today (01/15) is my deadline for UMass Amherst.* I applied a few weeks ago and kept checking my status link to ensure the letters were in on time. Yesterday I sent an email reminder to two profs (the with-it ones) who had not submitted yet, and they both replied they never received a link to do so. So I went back into the Spire program to resend it to them, and there's no way I can do it. I called the Graduate Admissions Office, and the very nice woman asked for my ID number and said she would resend them for me. But wouldn't it just be easier to develop the system so that I could resend it myself rather than wasting their time? Whoever mentioned developing an application program for universities, if you ever do, I will seriously join you! I currently do some corporate website testing, and the 2001-era, lack-of-foresight programming for these apps is driving me bonkers! *Yes, today. Not February 1, like the department website said until mid-November, after I had prepared all the scheduling materials for myself and my LOR writers. This is not the only school that has changed or had not consistent deadlines on their department pages well into application season (*cough* Northwestern).

I received an email on 01/04 from the grad program assistant at Minnesota stating my application is complete. I then got another email from the system the next day saying that it was forwarded to the department for review. But other than online status checkers (which I check when I get home from work every day--just in case!), I've not received any other emails.

Ha! That's what my family says about me, too! (Yoga and leaving my 20s have helped me with this, but I digress.) I'm not doing this particular essay, but I have written similar ones with no specific prompt. I also don't have transformative experiences, but I tried to think about the little things that I did growing up and what they might say about me. I grew up very normal in a very rural area (but still a townie) and now live in a large coastal city. One of my favorite things to do with my friends is to describe how my grandma butchered chickens. It's funny because they're grossed out and because they don't think at all how meat comes from an actual animal. So I think about how being exposed to rural life might have influenced me growing up. Another personal example for me is musical training. I studied music for many years and through college, but I'm just adequate. My life never really revolved around it, I didn't consider making it a career, but I kept taking lessons because I liked it. I might talk about what the discipline of musical training did or how it was great to get out of my head. Or how it's great to have one thing to not be competitive about because I'm competitive about everything else. If you went to a different country and had to briefly describe yourself and your background to a real hottie that you wanted to impress, what would you say? Then when you have a few examples, think about what they reveal about you. Then leave the room. Come back in a few hours, and you'll probably think of more things. You don't say how long it needs to be, but with two or three examples, some reflection on each, and tying them all together, you should be fine. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi all, I've been planning on applying for a PhD for a few years, but this is finally the year! My subfield is IR. I'm not applying to super top-tier programs because of fit and probably because of confidence as well. After several years of only occasionally dipping into IR, it's more difficult to think and write academically. I give myself a 50-50 chance.

I had absolutely the same problem. But I decided to look at it like this was MY way of presenting information in bullet form. Yes, I have transcripts for my courses, my application already talks about my degree, I mentioned my master's dissertation and my internships in my SOP, but this is one place to get it all together and display it how I wanted. I also didn't have anything published, but I did want to show that I didn't just sit around; I was involved, even if I didn't have the opportunity for lots of research. I added the $600 scholarship I got because of a research paper, along with being on the Dean's list and some other info, under the header "Honors and Research." I also added coursework classified by subfield (since my major was interdisciplinary), so it would be easier to recognize what qualifies me for the PhD. Make your CV work for you. Even if you don't have major accomplishments, you must have something. Intentionally combine headers, add headers, leave off some headers. Smooth over the weaknesses by highlighting the positives. I don't think the adcomms are looking to be impressed by your CV; I think they're just looking for all your important stuff in one place, looking to see what you highlight. It's an overview of who you are.

I did, but what do I know? Basically, I didn't have a ton of research or special "things," but I did have good grades, so I decided to point it out again in my CV. I also mentioned in my CV that I graduated summa cum laude, which (at least in my school) is just about grades as well. Need to hammer that home to make up for weaknesses.

Hi, I'd be willing to blog if there's still room. I'm applying for a PhD in political science after 6 years in an unrelated position. Also, I'm feeling pretty inspirational right now

Both you and the OP can send me yours, as long as you'd be willing to take a look at mine. (Bonus for you: I'm a professional editor, just can't seem to write about myself very well.)