livia

Another Maryland admit here. I'm doing IR, with comparative as the most likely second field. Maryland's professors drew me in too, though more from the IR/theory side. I'm not particularly inclined toward quantitative, but after visiting Maryland a couple weeks ago, I would say that their quantitative approach is a strong shaping force for the department. Also noticed while I was there that a lot of the faculty address political conflict from various angles, and some of their strongest quantitative research seems to center around it--in case that fits in with your interest in racial/ID/ethnic politics. You've probably researched this already, though. My stats aren't too competitive, actually. UG GPA: 3.3 Major GPA (IR): 3.5 GRE Verbal: 680 Gre Quant: 660 GRE Writing: 5.5 I went to a reasonable but not elite research university, and worked as an RA in the political science department there for two years; so that may have helped my numbers. Got a few articles/papers in undergrad journals, but nothing notable. Some foreign language skills, some international experience (though that probably only helps for IR if at all). Best of luck!