Interpretivist

Was accepted to McGill last week (just an informal e-mail from the graduate coordinator with the portal being updated shortly after, no formal letter yet or anything) but since then haven't heard from any of the other Canadian places I've applied – like @polisci_galmy guess is that they should come this month, probably closer to the end?

Hi there, I'm Canadian and did my undergrad in politics at a Canadian university (would be roughly 'top five' in domestic rankings – not that rankings are all too significant here compared to the US/UK). I ended up going to the UK for my master's but was admitted to MA programs at Toronto, UBC, and McGill with SSHRC funding for each. To be honest, my impression is that Canadian MA admissions in political science aren't all too competitive to get into, and I think you'd be comparable to applicants at some decent programs - for what it's worth, my own undergrad had a reputable MA program in politics, and even then I knew of students coming in with a GPA similar to yours. Don't worry too much about extra-curriculars and work experience, as those don't seem to be really emphasized in the admissions process – you may be asked to submit a CV, but I'm not sure how closely they look at that, and your statement of purpose will otherwise be focused on your academic interests and objectives. Your internship experience sounds like more than enough either way. You should certainly submit your GRE scores if there's an option to do so (and I think certain programs like UBC require them for international applicants), and make sure to have a good writing sample, as these may help compensate for your low(er) GPA. If you were able to get higher grades in your upper-level courses, that would probably be seen positively as well – and I think Toronto asks for your upper-year GPA specifically on the application form. I imagine the fact you're coming from Michigan would get your file a decent look regardless, especially if you can get some good references from your professors there. The one thing to consider (and which I'm not sure I can comment on fully, if anyone else on here may know?) is that I'm aware that Canadian programs are sometimes limited in terms of the number of international applicants they can accept – basically, the Department will have a set amount of funding that it can allocate for tuition remission etc. and only a couple 'spots' are allocated for international applicants as a result (for which they'll have to be more competitive than your average domestic applicant). This may be more of an issue for programs that have guaranteed funding for admits (versus say, McGill and Toronto, where MA funding is more scarce in general), and it may also depend on the particular province and how they set international tuition fees – but perhaps someone else on here would have a better idea about those specifics. Speaking solely in terms of your academic qualifications, given your good GRE scores and the reputation of your undergraduate institution, I would still consider applying to Toronto/McGill/UBC – you'll be up against students with higher GPA's for sure, but your GRE (and Michigan references) might be able to put you on a better footing. Apart from those schools I'd maybe check out Queen's, York, and Ottawa depending on what your interests are – and if you're more interested in policy-oriented programs then it would be worth checking out NPSIA at Carleton, as well as the Munk School at Toronto. But if you're hoping to go back to the US after, it's worth applying to the 'top 3' even if you have doubts, given those departments are a bit more oriented towards American political science than the others in terms of methodological approaches and where they hire their faculty from, and in general they enjoy better name recognition internationally. Hopefully this helps somewhat, though I'm sure there's others on here who'll be more knowledgeable about Canadian programs – feel free to PM if you have any more questions about the admissions process nonetheless!

Does anyone know, for GRE scores, whether they'll be necessarily matched to our profile by the schools we've sent them to prior to submitting our application? I'd sent mine to the places I'm applying to a couple weeks back – most of the schools have updated my application on the portal to note that they've been received and confirmed, except for Northwestern and Cornell (both of which are using Apply Web). Not sure if this is something I should look into, if anyone might know – thanks!

Took the GRE for the first time today and ended up with 169V and 159Q as my unofficial scores. Verbal was a pleasant surprise, though with the quant section nerves got the best of me and I ended up blanking on some questions, running out of time and having to guess... I already have a second attempt booked for the end of this month (had figured I might need to take it twice as I haven't taken math apart from statistics since high school!), but I'm wondering whether it's worth spending the time and effort getting the quant score up versus working on other components of my PhD applications. For some context - I have a Canadian (T5 university but not as well known internationally) undergrad degree in politics (GPA would likely be 3.94-3.98 on the American scale depending on how you convert, departmental medalist) and a (T2) UK MPhil in politics, distinction on thesis and merit overall. Some undergrad summer research experience, undergrad and master's theses around 100 pages each. Intended sub-field is international relations (transitioning from comparative) with a minor in theory (though there's a couple departments where I'm considering applying to theory based on their orientation) and I tend toward the qualitative/interpretive side of things in terms of epistemology and methodology. Looking at programs in Canada and the US due to the better funding prospects than the UK/Europe - none of the so-called 'CHYMPS' as I don't really vibe with what they do there, but some of the lower ranked (say top 20-30?) departments where there's at least some people with a more critical bent. So now I'm trying to decide what to prioritize - I could continue to practice on timing and strategy to get the quant score up a few more points as I realize it could be higher for admissions in general, though at risk of taking away from the time I have left to work on my statement and writing sample, which had been back-burnered more than they should have while I was relearning geometry and combinatorics... Most of the schools I'm looking at have made it optional this year with the pandemic except my top choice (though they haven't updated their admissions page so not too sure what's happening there) and two of the Canadian schools I'm considering - though with the pandemic I'm prepared to potentially have to re-apply a year from now given cuts to incoming cohort sizes and some programs cancelling their 2021 intake altogether. Thoughts?