Profile Evaluation: International Candidate

[og_al]

Hello all,

Although I received quite some recommendations from my advisors, I still have some doubts regarding my applications. I would much appreciate any suggestions on the profile of programs that you think I should apply. 

Undergrad Institution: Probably the top-ranked university in Turkey.

Major: Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.7, 3rd of the cohort

MA: Political Science at one of the best programs in Turkey.

Grad GPA: 3.95 (so far)

GRE: 159V, 169Q, 4.5AWA

TOEFL: 119/120 (Speaking:29)

Teaching: During my undergraduate, I was the TA of an intermediate-level macroeconomics course. Last year, I was the TA of an introductory political ideologies course. Currently, I am the TA of a research methods course for undergrads and formal theory course for both undergrads and grads. 

Letters of Recommendation: A strong letter from my M.A. thesis advisor who can highlight my political methodology knowledge and research skills. A hopefully strong letter from a Professor who is the professor of the courses that I am currently working for. I also worked for her as an research assistant this summer. Lastly, a relatively weak letter from an IR professor with whom I wrote a final paper on a tentative extension to Fearon's rationalist explanations of war. 

Statement of Purpose: I mention my passion for studying comparative politics, more specifically, political and electoral behavior, political parties and political polarization. I highlight my quantitative skills as I received my B.A. from the economics department and I worked extensively on quantitative political methodology during my M.A. studies. I also describe my teaching experience and underline the different disciplines that I have became associated with through these experiences.

Writing Sample: I will upload the final paper that I prepared for my quantitative methods course. I examine the interactive effects of electoral proximity and media freedom on partisanship employing logistic regression estimates. It does not have the most fancy methodology but overall, the methodology is sophisticated. 

Publication: Unfortunately, I don't have any publications or presentations in an academic conference. 

I would highly appreciate any program recommendations. If you have any other suggestions on the application process, I'd be glad to hear those. 

Thank you in advance.

 

[terefere]

What are your research interests? Comparative?

[og_al]

Sorry, I only mentioned my research interests on the SoP section. Yes, I study comparative politics with a particular focus on electoral behavior, political parties and political polarization. 

[terefere]

It's difficult to tell where you would have a shot without actually seeing your application materials etc., and comparing to other applicants. But I would suggest first browsing through faculty directories at top30 schools and seeing how many faculty members have research interests that are close to yours. Stick to schools were you can find at least 2-3 faculty members who do something that is interesting to you. This should help you narrow down schools. Generally, your fit to the program will also be a criterion for the schools to decide whether to admit you, so it's a useful exercise (the result of which should go into your SOP, btw, mentioning why THIS school). My second criterion would be funding availability, especially since you are an out of state international applicant.

Ideally, you would want to have 10-15 schools to apply to.