Applying to a T10 from a T3?

[noahdutch]

I'm currently an undergraduate at a T3 school in the United States. Does this at all give me an advantage in applying to select T10 political science PhD programs? Additionally, am I at an advantage if I apply to the same university that I'm currently attending (even if incredibly competitive)?

[ihatedecisions]

I have heard of the cases when T10 did not get into any T20 program. So I think whereas it does not hurt and probably will get you looked at, it does not guarantee anything either.  A lot will depend on what you did with your undergrad, which courses you took, whether you TAd/RAd, etc. 

Regarding your alma mater - if you are in a good standing and have been somehow involved into research activities beyond undergrad scope, you probably will get looked at. However, that probably also does not guarantee anything. But it gives you a very good starting platform in terms of access to resources. Your professors are the ones that are best qualified to advise on how to get into the best program you can.

So I would definitely have as many of them as possible to look at my profile and ask them to estimate my chances. 

[uncle_socks]

Advantage: I mean yes in that your file is more likely to be looked at, and that if you have a 3.2 in [unrelated field] you won't get automatically disqualified if everything else is good. But like, the expectations are still very high: coming from a top undergrad you pretty much still need a great GRE (160+/160+), great letters from people who matter, and a good statement of purpose. IMO the real only advantages are ones that you already have: good access to world class professors who matter and who are friends with other T10 professors, probably a good aptitude at taking standardized tests, and a writing center that is very accustomed to reading PhD statements of purposes. But if everything is mediocre but your school's name, you're going to get dinged. 

At your current school: Anecdotally if your school is Harvard or Stanford, then my personal belief is that there is some extra advantage that you wouldn't get coming from Yale or Princeton. 

[noahdutch]

21 hours ago, ihatedecisions said:

I have heard of the cases when T10 did not get into any T20 program. So I think whereas it does not hurt and probably will get you looked at, it does not guarantee anything either.  A lot will depend on what you did with your undergrad, which courses you took, whether you TAd/RAd, etc. 

I didn't switch to government until the beginning of my third year, so your first sentence is a little scary to me. How did those situation arise? I feel as though applicants from those universities would be aptly prepared.

[uncle_socks]

39 minutes ago, noahdutch said:

I didn't switch to government until the beginning of my third year, so your first sentence is a little scary to me. How did those situation arise? I feel as though applicants from those universities would be aptly prepared.

Switching in your third year isn't a problem. There's a number of current students and profs at T10 schools who didn't switch until very late or have BAs in things like engineering, econ, math, stats, biology. Honestly applicants probably get bonus points in T10 admissions for having a STEM/econ degree because that means they've done some quantitative work that a lot of undergrad polisci programs don't get to. 

Applications are somewhat random but they're not that random, and the best way to avoid getting universally dinged is to apply widely (like if you're deadset on attending a top 10, apply to all/nearly all top 10s), get great GRE scores, find a professor who will seriously and critically look at your statement of purpose and writing sample, and make sure your letters of rec are from TT professors who actually like you. 

Lots of people currently in top 10 programs have actually applied twice, striking out the first time and then getting really sweet admissions the second time. A year in consulting, a think tank, or a pre-doc/post-bac really does wonders on maturity. 

[ihatedecisions]

On 3/20/2020 at 7:29 PM, noahdutch said:

I didn't switch to government until the beginning of my third year, so your first sentence is a little scary to me. How did those situation arise? I feel as though applicants from those universities would be aptly prepared.

i agree with what was said previously. to address your question: the process is random insofar that sometimes you strike out not even because your application is bad, but because of bad luck. profs of interest might simply not be on admission committee or not needing any new people, or your competition is too cutthroat this time around. do not feel discourage but also be realistic that there are no guarantees in this process.