hello everyone,
In the past application cycle, I applied to more than 10 American schools, from top 10 to 50+, for PhDs with intended field in comparative politics (Chinese politics in particular). My goal was to get into a fully funded top 50 programme. Unfortunately however, I ended up having merely one admission from a safe school (50+) without funding. I was wondering if anyone could kindly have a look at my background and tell me what problems I may have. Any comments would be appreciated.
BA & MA: I’m a Chinese national, but had both degrees in the UK. The undergrad is a top 10 institution where I studied history & politics, with a focus on IR & country politics. I read politics again at the MA level in an institution whose East Asian programme is among UK’s top 3. I had courses on Chinese foreign policy, law, human rights & economics.
GPA: both scored 68 on average (2.1), with most essays marked as distinctions.
Recommendation letters: two very well-known professors on Chinese law & economics who also happened to know me well, and a Chinese politics professor (also my supervisor) for whom I had been working as a research assistant
Writing samples: all about Chinese politics written as term papers at the MA level, highly qualitative
GRE: V: 720, Q: 770, A: 4.5
Research interests: elite politics, authoritarian resilience, and prospects for democratisation in China. One intended project is on political reform in the 1980s.
Conferences & papers: I had presentations at several conferences in the UK & US, all of which were about Chinese politics. I will co-author an article on Chinese foreign policy early next year.
Questions:
1. does the fact that a large number of applicants applied this year whereas fewer slots were available have anything to do with my apps result?
2. which aspect(s) of my qualification are the weakest that I need to improve significantly to get into a top school?
3. Shall I do another MA in a top American institution first? To gain some quantitative method training in political science perhaps?
Thank you very much in advance.
t.hobbes
