LePaul

Hi. I applied for a PhD in political science (theory, political philosophy) to 11 schools, and have received 8 rejections in total so far. At this point, I am more discouraged than I ever was before. Foolishly, I cannot see myself pursuing any other career path. What keeps me up at night are the records of my past mistakes. I graduated magna cum laude with a 4.0/4.3 undergrad GPA. However, I had some major personal issues during my MA program in political science that have completely ruined my MA GPA. I know that excuses are rarely ever tolerated in this line of work, and I was most definitely not tolerated by my MA school and department, which is notorious for its high standards. But my personal issues at this time in my life were so bad to the degree that I seriously even considered suicide. I was barely able to concentrate on my studies, and I was lucky to have graduated considering the circumstances. Over the last five six years, I daresay that I have mostly recovered, with a more fortified conviction to pursue a career in this field than before. But the damage has been done. I finished my MA with a 3.4/4.3 in my MA GPA. Past records cannot be revised or improved upon, like GREs and SOPs. Assuming that I do all that is in my power to improve all that can feasibly be improved in my application, do you think that I can still be accepted to a competitive PhD program in spite of my terrible MA records? Or is it so terrible and permanent that I should forcefully consider halting my academic career? One thing that has kept me going is my MA supervising professor, who has encouraged me to continue pursuing my academic career in spite of my shortcomings. Even after my graduation I have maintained hours-long weekly correspondence with him via Zoom for the past year while preparing for my applications, where he has signaled that my research interests and writing was on par. He has written me recommenation letters that I presume must have acknowledged my shortcomings during my MA, but also highlighted the extra lengths I have gone to prove my suitability for a PhD program. I am willing to do whatever that is necessary, no matter how long it takes in order to continue my career in this field. What are my chances, and what more can I do to succeed in being accepted? (should I maybe pursue another MA instead?) Is the damage too severe, and should I give up at this point?