Profile Evaluation?

[tritonundergrad]

Posted this in the wrong place so posting it here:

 

Hello

I am new here and just recently heard about this forum but I would just like for someone to give me an idea of where I am at and what I should consider.

Applying to: Political Science (with emphasis in PT) PhD - UCSD, UCSB, UCLA, UMichigan, Duke, NYU, CUNY, with a desire for a future in academia.

Undergraduate Institution: Top ten US school, "Public Ivy"

Undergraduate GPA: 3.0 cumulative, 3.45 major, 3.7 last two years

Undergraduate Major: Political Science with a concentration in Political Theory (and a minor in Philosophy)

GRE: 165V/161Q/5.5AWA - pretty happy with this score, wondering if I should boost my score a few points to make up for my poor GPA.

Letters of Recommendation: have yet to receive any yet, but have three people in mind. One I am 100% confident on, the other two I am 50/50.

Statement of Purpose(s): Pretty confident with these, but I imagine I will be revising them up until the deadline. I have been getting help from various different people (former grad students, professors, parents, friends, etc.).

Years Out of Undergrad:  I am a fourth year so I will be applying through this fall.

Years of Work Experience:  1 ish

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Interned for a lobbying campaign in July that works with different public interest groups. Worked on a political campaign from December to March.

Other notable experience: Worked in dictations and as a scribe for a physicians office during my last two years of high school, sorting paperwork and typing what the physician was saying so that he/she could have notes later. Will be undertaking a research project with one of my professors either in winter or spring (we have yet to work out the details on time frame due to covid, but he has agreed to be my mentor).

 

Main concerns:

• Low cumulative GPA - this one sucks because my first two years of undergraduate, I was pretty lost and did not know why I was at college or what I wanted to do at all. The summer going into my third year I sort of "came back" to political science (I initially wanted to major in this, but let many around me sway me otherwise due to it "not being a viable career path" or "not making money"), and found a love within political theory especially. Since, my major and last two years GPA have looked pretty good, but I worry it is all still too low (the grades I got in PT classes are all As).
• LORs - I worry that due to COVID, these professor will feel like they do not really know me. While for one, I am very confident (took 3 of his classes, A in all 3), the other two, I don't know. I took a class with each of them in a previous quarter (got an A in both), and am currently in a class with each of them now (likely to get an A in each again). I attend office hours pretty regularly, and appear to be the only one taking advantage of office hours right now (the sign up sheet is public).
• Writing samples - I don't know how important these are, but I feel like since they are a part of the application they must be. As is, I do not have a paper or a project long enough for this, as most of the applications ask for minimum of ten pages. Because of this, I figure I have to take on a sort of independent research project of my own. I have some pretty good ideas for this and am confident I can write something phenomenal in a month (my course load currently is not high whatsoever). Wondering if this is a big part of applications mostly.