jazzrap

Okay, I hope not. BTW, are you applying this year? What's your background? Just curious...

My parents agree to pay, so I have an additional question: if they don't fund any international students, will they just reject international students given that they probably will have to decline the offer anyways? If that is the case, then I need to deal with this collateral damage.

Thanks!! Recently I visited the website of Michigan's general administrative unit of graduate admission to which the graduate program in political science is answerable, and it says that my situation entitles me to TOEFL exemption.

Thanks

I am an international student studying as an undergrad (now junior) in an university in the US. I saw this on the UCSD office of graduate studies website (http://ogs.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/graduate-admissions/guidelines-and-procedures/application-procedures/international-applicant-reqs/english-proficiency.html): "Demonstrated proficiency in the English language is required for all international applicants whose native language is not English and who have not studied for one uninterrupted year at a university-level institution in a country where English is the official language." So I believe my English is fluent, but still I am kind of confused with the meaning of this sentence. Can any native language speakers here tell me if I still need to take the English tests like TOEFL and IELTS? Here is Michigan's requirement. Note that the grammar is kind of different (and vs. or). I am also confused. " All applicants whose native language is not English or who have not received an undergraduate degree from an institution where English is the exclusive medium of instruction are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). "

I am willing to do some quantitative works in the future. Does the program provide rigorous method training? If not, is the program good in general in terms of admittance into doctoral programs at top US institutions? The problem is that the program requires TOEFL score even for international students who are studying in the US. TOEFL is not a headache for me, but it still takes time and money to register and re-prepare.

Thanks for the advice. Could you please recommend some good academic MA programs?? I have been looking for information for US programs, but did not know much about programs in Canada.

First, big big congrats on getting accepted!! Second, I feel that you made a good decision. My advisor, a comparativist whose work is often cited by IR specialists, told me that if I wanted to really do IR, I should go to CIR.

Most of the elite institutions are quant heavy. If you don't want to get into quant heavy programs, try Chicago. By no means I am saying that Chicago does not take quant seriously. It is just that comparatively, the program is a little less quant than places such as Stanford, Michigan, Princeton, and MIT.

750

I feel that if you want to go quanti, you have to demonstrate your math skills with a few courses on the transcript. If you have not taken many high level quanti classes, then you should really go for more than 7550 in GRE for math.

Hello Everyone, I am an international student studying as an undergrad in US. I am POLS major and deeply interested in CP. I look to apply everywhere Here's my strategy: if a 1st tier program has a terminal MA in Political Science or Method, I will go for that. If not, I will go for Ph. D. What do you guys think? Also, I have two weaknesses. I have a GPA lower than 3.7, though my major GPA is almost 3.9. I do not have a fancy quanti profile. Anyone with similar background?

Thanks!!

Hi Guys, I notice that for job interview, your resume usually needs to be limited to one page. Is this true for applying for Ph. D programs in Political Science?? For University of Washington, the requirement says "500 KB maximum", meaning that you basically can write as long as you can for your resume. But does the Adcom bother to read a, say, three-page resume? At this point, I cannot access to every program's resume information. I have to actually "start" the application process to see the details, but the Fall 2013 cycle in UCSD, for example, has not officially started yet. Any ideas??

Guys, So my GRE appointment is in September and I am going to apply in the 13-14 cycle. Is it too late??

Well, I cannot tell you my topic because I do not have one yet. I m not even a Junior. It is just that last semester I decided to switch out of the business school to do what I really like to do (academic career), so I started messing around in this website just to get an idea of what is like. I know I want to do IR with a little bit emphasis on China, but that's it. But good luck on your thesis.

Last semester when I asked my IR professor about grad school, he said the most overrated resume builder is a Senior Thesis. He advised against doing it. The logic is simple: the PhD students take years to finish a work that is not guaranteed to be good, so there is no point to take a look at any writing sample by an undergrad who probably only takes one year with many classes going on to write it. He said that your research interest and your writing ability usually is best demonstrated in the SOI. So basically he told me that he often times simply ignored the writing sample. However, two weeks ago. I asked my CP professor how important a quantitative method course is at an undergraduate level, and other stuff regarding the importance of mathematical background. Toward the end of his answer, my professor added another comment: "Actually, the more important thing for grad school is a good Senior Thesis. In your Thesis is where your research interest can be demonstrated and through the Thesis they can see how good you are as a potential researcher." Both professors are pretty famous within their fields, and also both have been on admission committee. I do not think there should be a difference between IR and CP regarding the importance of Thesis and Writing Sample. I therefore conclude that personal views really vary in the admission committee. So, I think we should write our Thesis and do it well even it is time consuming. Just in case.

GopherGrad, I am sorry to read the post but glad to know that you sort of solved the problem at last. I could not be of much help because as a sophomore I did not have previous experience regarding the arduously long process of applying to these programs. But if you wanna learn Chinese (as you mentioned in the OP which I suppose is not entirely a joke??) feel free to shoot me whatever questions you may have. Anyways, glad to see that you solved this problem.

Thank you.

Thank you again for your comprehensive advice! I did actually consider doing a fifth year and maybe I will add a History major or expand my Asian Studies minor to a supplementary major. The reason why I am considering it is that another two semesters can further minimize the impact of this frustrating semester on my GPA. And thank you for pointing out that with this additional year maybe I can come up with a better work to be published in a better journal, or at least further strengthen the connections I have with the faculty members. I do not have any at all funding issues, so I might also do a master. If I am really determined for a fifth year, and then I will graduate with a better GPA so I will be confident enough to apply to phd directly. But if I still graduate with a GPA less than 3.7, I will just go to do a one year Master program. Or would you say it is a good idea to do a fifth year as an undergrad and then apply to the phd program at my own school so that I can take another year here and get out with a Master of Arts and then apply to top 20 phd programs??

Oh I forgot about your reply. Thank you too!!

Hey GopherGrad, thank you so much for the advice, now I feel better now and I really appreciate it!! Yes, I will just forget about the past and move on. Hope your application went well!! May I ask you another question tho?? Have you applied for any Master programs in case the super competitive schools turn you down or wait-list you so that you can strengthen yourself in a Master program and then apply once more for a competitive PHD program??

Is there any chance to approach the admission chair long before the application so that he/she may remember to look at my profile more thoroughly??

Thank you!! However, I just calculated from a realistic point of view: my GPA for the 8 semesters will be around 3.575 (assuming that I can have a three eight for every semester). This GPA is going to weed me out of any admission office, isn't it?? I really want the officers to look at my trend FIRST and then decide my future... sigh

Hi, I am an international student studying in a top 20 US university, now a sophomore, but still would like to hear advice concerning my political science phd application in the future. GPA is my single biggest concern. I m having a 3.6 but this semester's business classes are screwing me up (I was a business major but switched to Poli Sci because the latter is what I have always been passionate about). I am probably going to have a 3.2 overall GPA for my first three semesters. I notice that the GPA trend matters, but I am just SO afraid that the top 10 programs are going to just weed me out based on my overall GPA. Assuming that I can have 3.8 or 3.9 for the rest of my college life (a very reasonable chance, considering that I can be really good at what I like and I got A or A- for all the social sciences courses I have taken), and a very high GRE (possibly a perfect math given that all my friends back in China could get 800), can I be still eligible for a second round (survive the cut off)?? I am in an program where they let me work as a paid research assistant with a comparative politics professor for 2 years and write a thesis with him. I am also seeking to work on my research project with one of our school's best IR professor as my mentor on international relations in the Warring States. I am very sure that my individual work can be published in my university's political science journal (a peer-review journal mostly for undergraduates tho). I will get recommendation letters from these 2 professors, and I will make sure that my 3rd recommendation will be equally strong. I am Political Science and Economics double-major with Asian Studies minor. Chinese is my first language. I am seeking to do security studies concerning American Power in a more militarized Asia. I would just like to know if I am really screwed from the outset, or my GRE can make it up for me to survive the brutal cut off so that I still have a chance to make into the top 10. ANY help will be appreciated. Best, Jazzrap