Odds at a decent Political Science PhD program

[tifff]

Type of Undergrad Institution: Top 3 Canadian University

Major(s)/Minor(s): Majors in Political Science and Russian Language and Literature, minor in English Literature

Undergrad GPA: 3.50 (upward trend)

MA: same as undergrad, MA in Russian literature, no assigned grade, but should be around 3.7-3.8

GRE: 160 V, 145 Q, 4.0 (abysmal I know, definitely will retake, originally took this while I was going through some personal things)

Languages: Russian, Chinese (basic proficiency)

Teaching: N/A; marking TA for Russian course

LOR: Should be decent

Research Experience: undergraduate thesis, RA for a linguistics project

Relevant Experience: not much. interned at a state museum in Russia on a fellowship

What are my odds at a top 20 school? I'm not very optimistic. There are some schools where I think I would be a decent fit, but my CV and my transcript are mediocre. A lot of the Russian politics scholars are at prestigious universities where I do not think I have a shot at. Should I apply for another MA (but in Political Science)?

Edited August 26, 2019 by tifff

[Dwar]

So looking at your profile I would say that in order to get into a top 20 program you really need to increase your GRE. A minimum of  160+ Verbal and 157+ Q is probably a safe bet for top 20. 

But I would also heavily recommend looking outside of the top 20. Check random universities in the 20-65 range and see if you can work with any professors. if a PhD is really your goal then you may have to apply to schools lower on the ranks. 

Another note, admissions to many of the top 20 schools, and even some of the more well known top 30 ones, can be really random and arbitrary. Sometimes an applicant with amazing scores gets rejected, while another time a candidate with average scores gets in. Many times it can come down to things that us as applicants have no control over. So I would recommend  that you apply to multiple schools both within and outside of the top 20.

There are some really great schools with decent placements in the 20-65 range. 

[Theory007]

If you have ambitions of the sort you mention, I recommend that you work on an aspect of your application that will make you stand out somehow. As you yourself, and the other post above indicates this as well, your GRE scores - quantitative AND verbal - are too low. And I might add that your GPAs are decent, but entirely non-impressive and these will likely place you in the lower range among applicants. So at present moment, you are in the lower range on two key indicators, which is why I urge you to find a way to improve your application. An obvious way to do this is to do very well on the GREs (in the 165 range on both sections), noting that your GPAs likely will not change much by the time you apply for admission. Of course there is always a chance you can get in with lower scores (people have done it), but they are very, very, slim.

My intention here is not to be discouraging, but to give you realistic expectations of what is required to gain admission to a top program. The good news are - you can do it. Most application deadlines are 3-4 months away so you have plenty of time to improve your GREs and ultimately fulfill your dreams.

[tifff]

21 hours ago, Dwar said:

So looking at your profile I would say that in order to get into a top 20 program you really need to increase your GRE. A minimum of  160+ Verbal and 157+ Q is probably a safe bet for top 20. 

But I would also heavily recommend looking outside of the top 20. Check random universities in the 20-65 range and see if you can work with any professors. if a PhD is really your goal then you may have to apply to schools lower on the ranks. 

Another note, admissions to many of the top 20 schools, and even some of the more well known top 30 ones, can be really random and arbitrary. Sometimes an applicant with amazing scores gets rejected, while another time a candidate with average scores gets in. Many times it can come down to things that us as applicants have no control over. So I would recommend  that you apply to multiple schools both within and outside of the top 20.

There are some really great schools with decent placements in the 20-65 range. 

Hi Dwar, thank you for your honest answer. I will definitely look into schools outside of the top 20 range.

[tifff]

15 hours ago, Theory007 said:

If you have ambitions of the sort you mention, I recommend that you work on an aspect of your application that will make you stand out somehow. As you yourself, and the other post above indicates this as well, your GRE scores - quantitative AND verbal - are too low. And I might add that your GPAs are decent, but entirely non-impressive and these will likely place you in the lower range among applicants. So at present moment, you are in the lower range on two key indicators, which is why I urge you to find a way to improve your application. An obvious way to do this is to do very well on the GREs (in the 165 range on both sections), noting that your GPAs likely will not change much by the time you apply for admission. Of course there is always a chance you can get in with lower scores (people have done it), but they are very, very, slim.

My intention here is not to be discouraging, but to give you realistic expectations of what is required to gain admission to a top program. The good news are - you can do it. Most application deadlines are 3-4 months away so you have plenty of time to improve your GREs and ultimately fulfill your dreams.

Hi Theory007, I know your intention is not to be discouraging and I was not  I appreciate your honest input and your advice. 

[Dwar]

1 hour ago, tifff said:

Hi Dwar, thank you for your honest answer. I will definitely look into schools outside of the top 20 range.

Sure thing! 

One of the professors on here once said that rank ultimately doesn't matter, what matters is outcome. If you find a department/school that you like, then you should take a look at their student outcomes, can you see yourself in that type of outcome, working that type of job? if you can then go for it! 

If you can't, then regardless of rank, it may not be the school for you.