Profile Evaluation for PhD in Political Science (Theory and IR Track)

[tmardoh1917]

I'm looking for some feedback on the possibilities of me getting into a PhD in PoliSci. I purposely did not apply to top 10-20-30-40 programs because they aren't a good fit for the work I'm interested in and I don't feel competitive enough. Like many of you the waiting game is killing me and I am so afraid I won't be accepted anywhere. Appreciate any insights! Thank you and good luck to everyone!

GRE 2nd time: 159 (V) - 155 (Q) - 5 (AWA)

GRE 1st time: 161 (V) - 138 (Q) - 4 (AWA) 

LORs: 3 LORs all from professors in my current Master program, extremely strong letters

Experience: 2 years RA, 2 research internships with an NGO and State Dept, 5 years work experience in non profit and grant writing (probably not super relevant)

Conferences: 4 conference presentations at different Latin American Studies associations - nothing in Political Science yet, 2 from Undergrad, 2 from Grad

Undergrad GPA: 3.77/4.00

Grad GPA: 3.82/4.00 

Undergrad Major: Political Science and Latin American Studies

Grad Major: International Relations done May 2019

Grad School: State University Ranked 70-80th (I had better offers but this was full funding + stipend!)

Aiming: UMass Amherst, New School, York, UC Santa Cruz, CUNY GC

Edited January 17, 2019 by tmardoh1917
forgot info

[Dwar]

If you don't mind my asking, what kind of work are you interested in doing?

[Pancho Villa]

If your SOP is strong (and CV and writing sample, if applicable), I imagine you're probably in good shape to get in somewhere. That said, because the process is so unpredictable from cycle to cycle at any particular school (maybe extra true for smaller programs), it's possible you'll get unlucky. If you find yourself in the position of trying again next year, I would suggest applying to more schools. Also, it's possible that your stats could land you in a ~15-40 ranked program, if it were an extra good fit, so if you go another round keep that in mind. If applying to few schools relates to cost, see if you can get some application fee waivers (see discussions on obtaining these elsewhere). Finally, don't discount your experience in nonprofits and grant writing. Don't overstate these either, of course, but nonprofit work could build your research skills and familiarity with important concepts and topics in politic, and grant writing experience can be a clear advantage since it often calls on/develops three important skills: research, writing, and fundraising. Oh, and don't show schools your first set of GRE Score, even for the purpose of showing improvement. Better they don't think you are capable of ever scoring in the 130s on Q, and 5 is a much higher score than a 4 on the Analytical. The slightly higher score on verbal for the first test isn't worth sharing given the other low scores.  

[tmardoh1917]

28 minutes ago, Dwar said:

If you don't mind my asking, what kind of work are you interested in doing?

Sure - the end goal is academia. Fully realizing that is difficult as is even if one were to go to a T15 school, but I love teaching and I love research. 

[tmardoh1917]

24 minutes ago, Midwester said:

If your SOP is strong (and CV and writing sample, if applicable), I imagine you're probably in good shape to get in somewhere. That said, because the process is so unpredictable from cycle to cycle at any particular school (maybe extra true for smaller programs), it's possible you'll get unlucky. If you find yourself in the position of trying again next year, I would suggest applying to more schools. Also, it's possible that your stats could land you in a ~15-40 ranked program, if it were an extra good fit, so if you go another round keep that in mind. If applying to few schools relates to cost, see if you can get some application fee waivers (see discussions on obtaining these elsewhere). Finally, don't discount your experience in nonprofits and grant writing. Don't overstate these either, of course, but nonprofit work could build your research skills and familiarity with important concepts and topics in politic, and grant writing experience can be a clear advantage since it often calls on/develops three important skills: research, writing, and fundraising. Oh, and don't show schools your first set of GRE Score, even for the purpose of showing improvement. Better they don't think you are capable of ever scoring in the 130s on Q, and 5 is a much higher score than a 4 on the Analytical. The slightly higher score on verbal for the first test isn't worth sharing given the other low scores.  

Thank you! I agree - I definitely should have applied to more schools. I was daunted by the whole applications process on top of full time work and full time grad school but if I go to next year that won't be an issue! 

Also - just double checked and my GRE original quant was 148 which is still atrocious but not as atrocious as a 138. I did unfortunately - out of the stress of not knowing how strong my AWA score would be - send both set of scores.

[Dwar]

2 minutes ago, tmardoh1917 said:

Also - just double checked and my GRE original quant was 148 which is still atrocious but not as atrocious as a 138. I did unfortunately - out of the stress of not knowing how strong my AWA score would be - send both set of scores.

I don't think you need to worry about that, 148 is leagues ahead of 138.

[eggsalad14]

Yeah assuming your statement of purpose and LORs are fine, you're in pretty good shape for schools at that caliber. Reiterating what someone else said, schools at 20-40 would also probably be within your reachable range given your GRE and gpa. 

 

I worry about funding at the schools you've applied to. I know the new school is bad with funding usually. Plus they're all pretty small programs, which means some years they'll enroll very few (if any!) students. Hopefully things will work out for you this year, but if they don't, definitely apply more ambitiously and widely.