Ph.D Profile Evaluation- Looking to apply for an American or Comparative Program in the US

[Oboeist]

Hey, I was hoping to look for some feedback on places to apply to get my Ph.D in Political Science given my stats. I'm aiming for a Fall 2021 start date, and I'm willing to go anywhere that'll provide full funding with a stipend and that'll give me a reasonably good chance of getting into a tenure-track position given my research interests. I'm not aiming for a tenure-track position at a top research university though, really any university or college will do.

Program- Political Science B.A. with Statistics minor at a directional university, expected 3.9 GPA

GRE- 160V 162Q (I could possibly bump this up by a few points though)

Research experience- In the process of writing an undergraduate thesis, will (hopefully) be presented at a major political science research conference

Possible research interests- Congressional studies, legislatures and elections and political parties

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Edited July 21, 2019 by Oboeist
Wanted to add a disclaimer for my GRE score, I've only taken it once

[sinni]

I am sorry if I can't be more helpful, as I am applying myself. But what stats courses have you taken?

If you're interested in heavily stats driven research, I would definitely try to bump the quant GRE.

 

Your profile doe not give enough info about other preferences which may determine your interests. Have your professors suggested any specific faculty? 

Edited August 8, 2019 by sinni

[Oboeist]

I've taken several statistics classes (there aren't a lot at my university), specifically classes on Regression Analysis, Sampling Theory and Nonparametric statistics among some others. I haven't had any specific faculty recommendations yet since I'm still trying to flesh out my research interests, but I know I'll either choose American or Comparative as a field and that if I do choose Comparative that either East Asia or Eastern Europe would be my area of focus. I do appreciate any and all feedback though!

[sinni]

The courses you took sound extremely useful! I am sure that they should be more than sufficient on top of a good GRE score. 

[polisciallday]

On 7/21/2019 at 5:05 PM, Oboeist said:

Hey, I was hoping to look for some feedback on places to apply to get my Ph.D in Political Science given my stats. I'm aiming for a Fall 2021 start date, and I'm willing to go anywhere that'll provide full funding with a stipend and that'll give me a reasonably good chance of getting into a tenure-track position given my research interests. I'm not aiming for a tenure-track position at a top research university though, really any university or college will do.

Program- Political Science B.A. with Statistics minor at a directional university, expected 3.9 GPA

GRE- 160V 162Q (I could possibly bump this up by a few points though)

Research experience- In the process of writing an undergraduate thesis, will (hopefully) be presented at a major political science research conference

Possible research interests- Congressional studies, legislatures and elections and political parties

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Your GRE seems decent for anywhere between ranked 15-40 schools. That said, you definitely stand to gain if you do bump them higher. Re: academic jobs: I think other than getting into a program that has good fit and ranks somewhat highly, it might be a tad premature since the goal right now is getting into a program in general. I would recommend focusing on writing a strong, compelling SOP in addition to securing recommendations from faculty who would be able to speak to your intellectual ability and methodological skills. 

On 8/19/2019 at 4:04 PM, Oboeist said:

I've taken several statistics classes (there aren't a lot at my university), specifically classes on Regression Analysis, Sampling Theory and Nonparametric statistics among some others. I haven't had any specific faculty recommendations yet since I'm still trying to flesh out my research interests, but I know I'll either choose American or Comparative as a field and that if I do choose Comparative that either East Asia or Eastern Europe would be my area of focus. I do appreciate any and all feedback though!

Both your minor in statistics and the statistics courses you have taken in the past are desirable and competitive at any program. Feel free to PM about narrowing down specific POI's on your research interests and comparative regions of interest. Hope this helped.