Hi all! I'm a newbie here and I'm applying for comparative politics PhD programs now.
I kinda freaked out when some of my friends suggested me to apply for a couple more programs with lower rankings. So I think maybe I can get some advice here
Here are my stats:
International student
Research interest: Civil society activism in China, maybe some comparative studies between China and some other authoritarian state
Undergrad: Government, Top 2 university in China (Best in political science, I guess)
Undergrad GPA: let's say 84/100, or 3.41 (GPA calculation method is kinda different), no so good.
MPhil: Political Science, Top 2 university in Hong Kong
MPhil GPA: 3.87
GRE: V157, Q170,AW4.5 (not a native speaker of English)
Research method: I'm not super quantitative, but ok with SPSS, STATA and stuff
Experience: part time research job at some LGBT and women NGOs
No publication
Language: Mandarin Chinese, English, some Korean
I plan to apply for programs in MIT, Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell, Notre Dame, and Maryland. Do I have a shot at these programs, or should I find some programs with lower rankings to replace them?
Thank you so much : )