Am I a Competitive PhD Applicant? Fall 2021 Hopeful

[YouJay2468]

Program: PhD in Sociology

Schools Applying To: Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, University of California - Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell, UC Irvine, CUNY, Penn State, USC, Brown, Yale, Princeton

Interests: Immigration, migration, assimilation, identity

Expectations from Programmes:  Fully funded

Graduate Institutions:

University of Missouri - MA Political Science 3.92 (I was in their fully funded 5 year PhD program but decided after two years I really needed to rethink what I wanted to do. So, I took an MA, began teaching English overseas and traveled the world.)

University of Arkansas - MA Political Science 4.0

Undergraduate Institution:

University of Hawaii at Hilo - BA Political Science 3.85

Research:
1 publication in a peer reviewed journal on development and economic growth in Africa (quantitative)

6 conference presentations at good political science conferences

Quant oriented, but interested in qualitative methods as well

GRE:  V 159/ Q 153 / AW 5

Age: 29

Work Experience: Graduate Assistant (taught undergrad classes at Mizzou and Arkansas) for 4 years

English teacher overseas for 3 years

SoP: Not begun yet, but will focus on specific research I hope to do (along lines of a proposal) 

LORs: 3 from good scholars in political science

Concerns: 

1. Not so stellar GRE scores

2. No prior research in sociology

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on whether you or not I'd be a competitive applicant at the schools I'm applying to. Thank you 

[jriveracal]

2 hours ago, JayyyYou1989 said:

Program: PhD in Sociology

Schools Applying To: Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, University of California - Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell, UC Irvine, CUNY, Penn State, USC, Brown, Yale, Princeton

Interests: Immigration, migration, assimilation, identity

Expectations from Programmes:  Fully funded

Graduate Institutions:

University of Missouri - MA Political Science 3.92 (I was in their fully funded 5 year PhD program but decided after two years I really needed to rethink what I wanted to do. So, I took an MA, began teaching English overseas and traveled the world.)

University of Arkansas - MA Political Science 4.0

Undergraduate Institution:

University of Hawaii at Hilo - BA Political Science 3.85

Research:
1 publication in a peer reviewed journal on development and economic growth in Africa (quantitative)

6 conference presentations at good political science conferences

Quant oriented, but interested in qualitative methods as well

GRE:  V 159/ Q 153 / AW 5

Age: 29

Work Experience: Graduate Assistant (taught undergrad classes at Mizzou and Arkansas) for 4 years

English teacher overseas for 3 years

SoP: Not begun yet, but will focus on specific research I hope to do (along lines of a proposal) 

LORs: 3 from good scholars in political science

Concerns: 

1. Not so stellar GRE scores

2. No prior research in sociology

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on whether you or not I'd be a competitive applicant at the schools I'm applying to. Thank you 

Given the fact that you self-admittedly have no research exp in soc...I would definitely make it a priority to highlight the shit out of WHY SOC in your SoP. Connect any experience you do have to soc, if possible. Also, given that you were previously in a Ph.D. program and left, I would deffffinitely highlight WHY NOW (and why not then) in your SoP.

[YouJay2468]

14 minutes ago, jriveracal said:

Given the fact that you self-admittedly have no research exp in soc...I would definitely make it a priority to highlight the shit out of WHY SOC in your SoP. Connect any experience you do have to soc, if possible. Also, given that you were previously in a Ph.D. program and left, I would deffffinitely highlight WHY NOW (and why not then) in your SoP.

Noted. I greatly appreciate the advice, thank you! No mention of my GRE scores, though. You think they're sufficient?

Edited March 6, 2019 by JayyyYou1989

[jriveracal]

13 minutes ago, JayyyYou1989 said:

Noted. I greatly appreciate the advice, thank you! No mention of my GRE scores, though. You think they're sufficient?

If you have the time to focus on studying to improve, I would recommend it...just because you don't want to give them a reason to have hesitation towards your "aptitude". But I personally don't think GRE scores are a hit or miss thing....If you have other areas in which you are strong, I think generally programs will not oust you just because of a less than stellar GRE score. I'm probably not the best person to ask tho because my GRE scores are shit lol 

[sociopolitic]

I think I would recommend getting your GREs up if at all possible. Your profile is generally strong, but without research experience in soc (unless your publication is super sociological) I think getting your scores up would be very helpful. No matter what, you definitely need to make it clear why you're going into soc and not polisci. (I'd be happy to help in that regard -- I majored in both!) I think your GRE might be less important if you had a "name brand" degree, so to speak, but I'd say bumping your score a bit can likely make up for that, especially since your GPA is excellent.