Haeralis

According to the user submitted survey results, Baylor had two interviews on January 15th. That has me thinking that my chances of admittance are non-existent, since I did not receive any requests from them for an interview. Is it safe to assume that my chances at Baylor are pretty much null?

I cannot believe that I still haven't heard a peep from Georgetown. They told me two weeks ago that they'd send out decisions by no later than Friday the 23rd, which was last week! At this point, I've decided to assume a rejection and accept my tuition waived M.A. offer which is giving me a paid research assistantship. I'm glad that I at least got that one offer, since the bulk of my Ph.D. applications didn't pan out successfully. Hopefully with the M.A. and two years of research experience, my chances will be improved next time around. Good luck to those of you still waiting =)

I called Georgetown on Wednesday or Thursday and they told me that they expect to send out acceptances / rejections by no later than Friday the 23rd.

PROFILE: Prospective Emphasis: Political Theory Type of Undergrad Institution: Evangelical Christian University Major(s)/Minor(s): Government, Minor in History Undergrad GPA: 3.73 GRE: 161V (88th), 151Q (43rd), 6.0 AW (99th) Letters of Recommendation: Three very good letters from professors who have confidence in my ability to excel in graduate school. I spent a lot of time with all three of them in undergraduate and, thus far, their letters have helped me receive a lot of different honors and fellowships. Research Experience: Basically none other than my publications and conference presentations. I had two non-academic political internships which had very minor research involved, but nothing useful to my application. Teaching Experience: Writing Tutor for about a year in college Subfield/Research Interests: Religion and politics, American political thought Publications: Recent "Revise and Resubmit" from the peer-reviewed journal American Political Thought, three essays in an online journal of political philosophy, an essay being considered for publication as a chapter in an edited volume. Academic Conferences: Three academic conferences Honors, Awards, Fellowships: 1st place prize in my university's annual research conference, Dean's List, John Jay Fellowship, Acton Institute Fellowship, Koch Fellowship, Institute for Humane Studies Conference and Research Grant. Writing Sample: My undergraduate thesis on Calvin Coolidge's political thought. This is the essay that won first place in the aforementioned conference and received the "Revise and Resubmit" from APT. Organizations: President of the Political Science Honors Society (Pi Sigma Alpha) for two years, member of my university's student government 

 Lessons Learned: Have a fallback option. I applied to X precisely because I thought that if I got refused from every other place that I applied, I may still get into their program because my research interests greatly align with their faculty. I was right. Sounds obvious, but make sure that your application has as few drawbacks as is absolutely possible. I think that my application had a few high-points (amazing LORs, good writing sample, publications, tutoring experience, perfect 6.0 writing GRE score, 3.95 Junior / Senior GPA) but these were greatly undermined by some mediocre or bad elements (okay but not great 3.73 cGPA, no experience as a research assistant, terrible 151 Quant GRE score). I only gave myself enough time to take the GRE once with a month of studying and if I could do things over again, I'd have liked more time to get a much better score. I thought that, even with my limited research experience and my bad GRE Quant score, I'd have a decent shot of acceptance at good programs due to my application's high points, but I was wrong. I wasted two summers interning for political outlets and this experience was useless as far as my graduate applications were concerned. I wish that I'd have interned for more academically-minded institutions and built my research experience during this time instead of amassing experience with institutions devoted to political activism and campaigning. Granted, it was this experience which confirmed to me that I absolutely did not want to spend my life doing this kind of work, but still, I wish I'd have had more useful experience prior to applying to grad school. Out of the many jobs that I've had, I think that the only one which helped my application at all was my job as an academic writing tutor. I wish that I'd have applied to more mid-ranked programs. None of my applications were Ivy League, but they were still heavily weighted towards the top 30 graduate programs for political science. If I had applied to more places like Florida, I may have had many more options at this point in time. Be realistic, not idealistic. I was thinking of applying to Yale and Princeton just in case but that would have been an enormous waste of time and money. There would have been no way that I'd have gotten in. I think that having one or two long-shot schools is okay (I definitely didn't expect to get in to WashU, it was a long-shot application) but don't waste a lot of resources on them when you could be applying to programs that are actually in reach.

Thank you guys for the words of encouragement! I was offered a position in a fully funded M.A. program with a paid research assistantship, so I may just have to take that instead and hope to get into a better Ph.D. program afterwards. Still, I'd much prefer to go straight into a Ph.D. program at Notre Dame, UNC, or Georgetown.

Got very bad news from the University of Florida today. I didn't even want to go there that much, but they aren't even top 50 and I didn't get in, so I don't see how there is any way for me to get into the final schools that I am waiting for: UNC, Notre Dame, and Georgetown.

Just got a notification from Duke that the decision was available. I checked the decision and it was a rejection. To be honest, I can't say I'm devastated. It had the least appealing faculty to me out of all of the schools that I applied for, and it was definitely my long-shot program. The best things about it were the name and location, to me. Congratulations to people who received good news from Duke today. My main concern with this news today is simply that it may set a bad trend as the rest of my application decisions begin to come out. I did receive an admittance offer from my fallback school, so I have at least one potential program waiting for me, but I hope that I have options when it is all said and done.

PROFILE: Prospective Emphasis: Political Theory Type of Undergrad Institution: Private evangelical university Major(s)/Minor(s): Government, Minor in History Undergrad GPA: 3.73 GRE: 161V (88th), 151Q (43rd), 6.0 AW (99th) Letters of Recommendation: Three very good letters from respected professors who have faith in my ability to excel in graduate school. So far, their letters have proven to be decisive factors in my admittance to prestigious fellowships so I know that they will be one of the stronger parts of my application. Research Experience: Two non-academic internships in which I conducted research. Not optimal research experience for a prospective applicant. Teaching Experience: Writing Tutor for about a year in college Subfield/Research Interests: Religion and politics, the American political tradition, classical political philosophy. Publications: Recent "Revise and Resubmit" from the peer-reviewed journal American Political Thought, 2 essays in an online journal of political philosophy, an essay being considered for publication as a chapter in an edited volume. Academic Conferences: Three academic presentations Honors, Awards, Fellowships: 1st place prize in my university's annual research conference, Dean's List, John Jay Fellowship, Acton Institute Fellowship, Koch Fellowship, Institute for Humane Studies Conference and Research Grant. Writing Sample: My undergraduate thesis on Calvin Coolidge's political thought, it is the one that won first place in the aforementioned conference and received the "Revise and Resubmit" from APT Organizations: President of the Political Science Honors Society (Pi Sigma Alpha) for two years, member of my university's student government 

 RESULTS: Acceptances: Waitlists: Rejections: Pending: Going to:

Most of the schools that I am applying for want at least a 4.5 or a 5.0 in Analytical Writing, so it definitely won't work against me. They bother to specify their desired AW score, so I guess they care at least a little. As for my technique during the test, I mostly just followed the rules for style, clarity and flow that I tutored people on at my school's Writing Center, and I applied it to the standard five-paragraph essay. You have to make sure that what you write sounds interesting, so I utilized quotes from history. I discussed the Founding Era debate between Hamilton / Jefferson in the introduction while utilizing their own quotes to make it clear that this issue has been prevalent for most of American history, and I then took a clear stand against the statement. I'd definitely recommend using direct quotes if you can remember any that apply since it demonstrates an acute awareness of the subject matter. Also, you have to address why it is that someone would feel the opposite way and debunk their position. Obviously, a cogent organizational structure goes a long ways. Make use of topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph, and use conclusion sentences which set you up to naturally transition into the next paragraph. I don't have any recommendations for the argumentative essay that you probably haven't heard already. I felt like I got a particularly easy argument to tear apart. In the moment, I guess you just have to see the logical problems and glaring holes in the passages.

This morning, I got my official GRE score report back. The scaled verbal and mathematics score didn't change at all; I retained the 151Q (43rd percentile) and 161V (88th percentile) which I had expected to receive. Much to my surprise, however, my analytical writing section came back and it was not just good--it was perfect 6.0 (99th percentile). As these scores suggest, I am applying to a writing heavy program in political theory. Before I took the test, I heard that the AW section is actually the least important to admissions committees. Is this true, or could my AW score set me apart in an important way?

Hello, I am currently studying for the GRE and I am intending to put in applications for doctoral programs this December to study political theory. Today, I substantially overhauled my CV since it had heretofore lumped most everything within a jumbled section entitled "Relevant Experience." I decided to organize it more clearly into more specific sections, and I am hoping that someone can provide me with some guidance as to what changes and / or omissions I should consider. I'm wondering whether the "Professional Experience" section should be removed. These may not relate to academia, but I am worried that not including it would make it look like I was unemployed for very long periods of time, indicating laziness. They also may demonstrate that I have gained communication skills which they may consider when they are dishing out teaching assistantships. One major question that I have involves the proper order of these sections. Is there a best proper order for each of the sections that I may be failing to meet, or does it not really matter? Also, is it better to include Dean's List within the "Education" or the "Honors" section? And do I need a "Research Interests" section? CV for Criticism.pdf

It seems bizarre to suggest that the political theory adhered to by a department would have no relevance to the study of political theory. As I said, I'm not worried about finding the right advisor. The impetus for the political ideology question, as a reminder, was a George Fox professor's statement that I should leave things off of my CV if it implies any affinity for conservatism. I wanted to find out whether or not I actually had to worry about an admissions panel throwing out my application simply because I interned for conservative advocacy groups. It seems to me that it is a legitimate concern, not unnecessarily dwelling on it. And no, I'm not particularly interested in going to an evangelical graduate school since I went to a respectable one for undergrad and I'd like to expand my horizon a bit and show that I studied at intellectually diverse places.

Obviously, I would not say to try to victimize myself and label them as oppressive postmodernists in a statement of purpose or something like that. Labeling academia as mostly postmodern, however, is fair-game in the political theory department. All of the theorists whom I have studied under so far who have completed PhD programs across the country have said that political theory is dominated by postmodernists. For the practical implications of "what that even means" it obviously has to do with the queer studies, radical feminist, and deep ecologist professors in political science who express views that are basically anathema to political conservatism. Despite appearances from this thread, I am convinced that I could get along with and have a cordial relationship studying under scholars who are not conservatives. As long as they are respectful, I could enjoy working with them though I obviously would not endorse all of the views that they express. I don't even endorse all of the views expressed by conservative scholars.

Thanks for the commentary and advice. As for your last question, it is possible that they may not, but I didn't technically work for Ben Carson himself; it was a non-partisan Super PAC which, though it didn't coordinate with Carson himself, worked to boost his chances in the primary. This was at the time that he was competing against Trump, not working for him. I think that you all are right that research and publication experience is far more pivotal, and on that note, I actually have some good things on my CV. I've published two papers in a respected online journal. Additionally, I presented at two research conferences on my Calvin Coolidge project, and that essay should be published very soon. This one is particularly important because it is my writing sample and in my statement of purpose I will emphasize my desire to write my dissertation on Coolidge, whose political theory has been heretofore ignored. I am presenting in early November at a Legacy of the Reformation Conference on the political changes encouraged by the Protestant Reformation, and that paper--likewise--should also be published. Additionally, I had a great job which (unlike the others) could be more likely to benefit my admissions chances. I was an academic writing tutor at my university, and I heard that jobs like that do improve your credentials and are also valuable when they choose Teacher's Assistants. I don't think that I'm a shoo-in, especially if I underperform on the GRE, but I am just worried that my prior jobs could be a liability and, in conjunction with my interest in Calvin Coolidge, indicate that I won't conform to the generally postmodern-leaning of the political science academic establishment.

I am currently in the preparation process to send in applications to Political Science PhD programs to specialize in Political Theory. I finished undergraduate with a 3.73 GPA (good, though not stellar), with my best performance being in those classes related to political philosophy and history. During undergrad, I sought to build my experience and credentials by working on internships with political organizations. I worked as an intern and events coordinator at a Super PAC devoted to Ben Carson's election, an intern at the National Right to Work Committee, and most recently at the Leadership Institute. I recently worked on a campaign job for a Republican gubernatorial candidate who is pretty moderate and, in my experience, not very offensive to liberal Democrats. The most important non-campaign job that I had was working as a Writing Tutor at my university. All of this is background to the question that I'd like to ask: would my obviously-conservative political orientation damage my prospects if the admissions committee consists of political liberals? In my statements of purpose, I will target scholars at universities whom are much closer to my orientation and explain why I would like to study with them. I always thought that anti-conservative bias in admissions committees was just a myth, but I met a respected scholar from George Fox University recently who recommended that I leave jobs off of my CV that may indicate to the admissions committee that I would be a more traditionalist conservative than they would prefer. Would it improve my chances to remove jobs such as the ones that I mentioned above from my CV? Or, would I be fine if I make sure that I explain why their department would benefit my goals and have scholars that I would love to study under?