Profile Evaluation?

[coffeeman123]

 I have been a long time reader of the site and was wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of where I should likely try to target my applications and what I can do over the rest of my junior year to increase my chances of getting into a better program. I posted once before but I figure since more people are on now it may be worthwhile to get s0ome more opinions from people who just went through the process

Type of undergrad institution: Public T40 in Political Science 

Major/Minor: Political Science / Economics and Statistics 

Overall GPA: 3.76 Major: 4.0 Statistics 3.75 Economics 3.4 (ouch I know)

Special Courses: One graduate level game theory course, one graduate level IPE course, analysis of economic data, econometrics, research methods in poli sci, multiple 4000 level stats courses 

GRE: I have been prepping for around 6 months and think a combined 325-330 is likely with mostly the same quant and verbal 

LOR: Two from professors, one Tenured I have done research with for one semester, 1 full in the school of business who I am co-authoring with and had a yearlong RAship turn into a DIS, the other is an economist by PhD but in the Poli Sci dept. and then a professor who knows me very well from the Community College I went to while I was dual enrolled in HS, also TT. 

Research: Full academic year of research on business sustainability, two DIS, another semester working with the political economy and game theory 

Teaching: None

Subfield/Interests: Mostly interested in IPE and Development 

Other: One poster presentation about the sustainability project, one co-authored paper with professor from business school and a presentation forthcoming in the fall and then a standard B.S. senior thesis. 

 

I really appreciate anyone who took the time to read this! I have been stressing like crazy over what to do where I can likely get in so anyone giving me a general range of colleges would be appreciated. 

[Sad Politics]

I think that you have a strong profile. Getting a good GRE score would be very good for your chances. Even though the GRE may be optional for some programs, good scores would allow you to apply anywhere. Some places (e.g. NYU) still require the GRE. Apart from that, focus on writing a very good SOP and having a good writing sample. Ask your LORs and any academically inclined friends you have to read your file. Regarding where to apply, ask your POIs and check the kind of research done by the department to see if there is a fit with your interests. Rankings matter (it is obviously very hard to get into Stanford) but your fit with the department is also very important. In my experience this year, fit has been a far better predictor of where I get admitted than the ranking of the school. Start preparing your file early and you will have great chances. I wish you good luck in your applications next year. 

[nivy25]

I agree with @Sad Politics. Rankings do matter, but in the end, it really depends on how you pass your 5+ years at the program, and the stronger your research fit, the easier your time will be there. If I were you, (probably going to apply again next cycle too), I would really carefully pick out my PhD programs that I apply to. Making sure you maximize programs that you feel are great research fits rather than high rankings is important.

Getting a combined score of 325+ will definitely help too. I would try to push my GPA towards at least 3.8 or more. One way to do that is take classes with professors who you already have a good relationship with, or choose classes that are not taught by professors who are famously known to barely give people a grade of A. I had a professor who was amazing, but it was incredibly hard to get an A in his class, I would usually get an A-. In the end, even an A- affects your GPA. Try to finish this semester strong and aim for a 4.0 for this semester so you can bring your overall up.

You seem really strong on the quantitative front which is awesome. That might open up a lot of doors for you. Networking with current faculty at programs that you wish to apply could also help. 

Just work on your research and develop strong interests in a topic of your choice. If you haven't already, work hard on your thesis/large paper that you would use as a writing sample! 

[coffeeman123]

2 hours ago, Sad Politics said:

I think that you have a strong profile. Getting a good GRE score would be very good for your chances. Even though the GRE may be optional for some programs, good scores would allow you to apply anywhere. Some places (e.g. NYU) still require the GRE. Apart from that, focus on writing a very good SOP and having a good writing sample. Ask your LORs and any academically inclined friends you have to read your file. Regarding where to apply, ask your POIs and check the kind of research done by the department to see if there is a fit with your interests. Rankings matter (it is obviously very hard to get into Stanford) but your fit with the department is also very important. In my experience this year, fit has been a far better predictor of where I get admitted than the ranking of the school. Start preparing your file early and you will have great chances. I wish you good luck in your applications next year. 

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on a couple of acceptances I would kill for, especially given the current state of admissions. I also wanted to say that I appreciate your response. I’m scared my economics class GPA may mar my chances a little bit, I noticed you were in political economy so I wonder if you could speak at all to that. Second thing I would like to ask is as follows: given your recent cycle success, do you have a rough recommendation for the range of schools I should apply for? I was thinking it looked like the 15-25 range but I’d appreciate anything! 

[coffeeman123]

1 hour ago, nivy25 said:

I agree with @Sad Politics. Rankings do matter, but in the end, it really depends on how you pass your 5+ years at the program, and the stronger your research fit, the easier your time will be there. If I were you, (probably going to apply again next cycle too), I would really carefully pick out my PhD programs that I apply to. Making sure you maximize programs that you feel are great research fits rather than high rankings is important.

Getting a combined score of 325+ will definitely help too. I would try to push my GPA towards at least 3.8 or more. One way to do that is take classes with professors who you already have a good relationship with, or choose classes that are not taught by professors who are famously known to barely give people a grade of A. I had a professor who was amazing, but it was incredibly hard to get an A in his class, I would usually get an A-. In the end, even an A- affects your GPA. Try to finish this semester strong and aim for a 4.0 for this semester so you can bring your overall up.

You seem really strong on the quantitative front which is awesome. That might open up a lot of doors for you. Networking with current faculty at programs that you wish to apply could also help. 

Just work on your research and develop strong interests in a topic of your choice. If you haven't already, work hard on your thesis/large paper that you would use as a writing sample! 

I would like to say thank you for your response and taking the time out of your day, I truly appreciate it. Even if I get a 4.0 this semester and take 2 summer classes I’d still be at a 3.792 unfortunately. I definitely need to get cracking on some revisions haha. Thank you so much for all of your advice and I wish you luck in the upcoming cycle. Also, I’m not sure if you have an idea of what range it seems like I’m in I would really appreciate that too! 

[nivy25]

6 hours ago, coffeeman123 said:

I would like to say thank you for your response and taking the time out of your day, I truly appreciate it. Even if I get a 4.0 this semester and take 2 summer classes I’d still be at a 3.792 unfortunately. I definitely need to get cracking on some revisions haha. Thank you so much for all of your advice and I wish you luck in the upcoming cycle. Also, I’m not sure if you have an idea of what range it seems like I’m in I would really appreciate that too! 

Honestly a 3.79 is a great GPA in my opinion, and your major GPA is great too so it won’t hurt your chances significantly. 
 

Unfortunately, it’s hard to predict a range of schools based on this information. Your statement, letters and research fit will matter A LOT. 
 

I personally like applying to schools across the spectrum. I do regret not applying to schools ranked a little lower even though I had great fit. Don’t only chase rankings, it’s really not the most important thing!