Hey all I’m a rising undergrad senior who’s been lurking on the forum for a while. I’m a little overwhelmed with the process and was hoping to get a sober appraisal of my odds and more importantly, some actions points for going into my senior year.
Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 30 Liberal Arts
Major(s)/Minor(s): Public Policy & Business Analytics double with a concentration in Data Science
Undergrad GPA: 3.60
GRE: Taking in mid July, I’m in my 5th week of studying and getting high 320’s (169V, 159Q) on diagnostics
Any Special Courses: Some data science and advanced econometrics
Letters of Recommendation: One from thesis advisor, unclear on others
Research Experience: Honors thesis in the works, working with advisor who is relatively well known in the subfield
Subfield/Research Interests: American Politics/ Legislative Theory
Obviously I have a low GPA but I think I can put up some good numbers on the GRE.
I have a few broad questions:
What should I be doing to “pimp out” my thesis. Should I be trying to get published/look at awards? (Obviously easier said than done)
Should I even bother applying for the next cycle? My thesis won’t be done by December and I won’t have Spring 2019 grades which will hopefully be raising my GPA
What range of schools should I be looking at?
I need to get some additional recommenders. I’ve seen advice on here along the lines of “just ask to be an RA for free” but I don’t think there’s much opportunity for that at my school. Should I cold call professors to ask to work with them? I haven’t cultivated many good contacts in my dept. other than my thesis advisor.
If you’re still reading this, thank you. I’d appreciate any thoughts you have. I haven’t gotten to talk to many mentors at school so it’s extremely helpful.