Tarak

@ammar Thank you for your uplifting words. The application process in the US is really outright scary, a good reason to stay in the UK. :roll: Are you sure about the importance of research though? Reading many of the posts (and short CVs) posted here I got the impression that it is one of the things which make or break the application. (I will write the equivalent to an American Senior thesis, but it won't be finished before the application deadlines so I guess it wouldn't count much.) You are probably right about the quality of undergrad research experience but does that mean that the schools don't care about it? X month RA is written on your CV and that must make an impression of some kind. An undergrad researching/publishing anything... the idea would make my profs laugh quite hard. Completely unheard of in the UK as far as i know. (maybe I am just completely uninformed in this respect but I doubt it) But ok, that was enough bashing of my favourite rainy island (hey, I get an Honours degree after three years), the problem is that I have no idea how competitive I am. You said I would probably get in somewhere, but what should I be aiming for? I know that is difficult to gauge but I assume that people who have survived the process are at least slightly more knowledgable than I am at the moment. @superboy That is an interesting point I haven't considered so far. Another reason to do a Master focussed on research techniques before applying to US universities. My university doesn't offer much of that stuff on undergrad level, probably for the reasons you mentioned, they just don't believe in it (and its not as if free course choice would exist here in any meaningful way ). I must definitely look into that a bit more but in general I wouldn't mind doing very quantitative work.

Nobody else any advice? :|

Thank you very much for your answer. I am definitely looking into applying for a Master's instead. The writing sample should not be a problem either (I hope ). However, the questions is: Would it make any sense for me (considering my CV) to apply to PhD programs? I have read that they are extremely competitive and reading some CVs of prospective applicants who frequently have tons of research/work experience (at least that is my impression) I doubt that I would stand a chance. Anybody knows more?

I am currently considering studying in the US for a PhD but I have absolutely no idea what my chances are as most discussions about this topic are obviously focussed on American applicants. My (approximate) profile Currently studying undergrad political science at a top 10 British University. Expected Result: "First" (difficult to translate this into a GPA but it might be 3.8-4.0) No research experience (reading through this forum I have noticed that it seems to be much more common in the US to be involved in research as an undergrad) No internship/work experience related to political science (just some stuff outside my field) Not a British national and not a native speaker of English (Went to the UK after finishing high school in Germany, tried to be adventurous). I won't have any problems passing the TOEFL/IELTS but my results in the verbal section of the GRE would probably be weaker than those of native speakers, the quantitative section should be less of a problem. Spent a semester abroad at a Southeast-Asian university to broaden my horizon. Extracurricular activities related to Political Science. (President of the University's Model United Nations Society etc.) After this rather limited description, can anybody tell me where I stand or what I could expect? I have absolutely no idea and would be happy about any suggestions or pieces of information you might come up with. Don't fear being vague, everything helps.