Profile Evaluation - PhD

[sbidyanta]

Undergrad - Political Science - CGPA 9.5/10 (from a state school in India (qs rank 650-700)

Masters - International Relations - CGPA 7.3/9 (from a central university in India, qs rank 560)

GRE - not given yet, but expecting V165 Q160

Conference presentations - 2 (one in a EU-funded conference, another in a conference organized by a top Canadian University)

Formal research experience - none (both my presentations were a result of independent research, I have not worked under any professor).

Anything else - I have a fellowship from the Indian government to get funding for a PhD in India, but it's pretty useless abroad. I can speak 3 languages fluently (including English), and I am currently A2 in French (and improving). Also have a working knowledge of R.

Universities I'm applying to - Texas A&M University, UC Irvine, University of Southern California, Temple University, University of Cincinnati, Kansas University, Florida International University.

 

My concerns - 

1) I have very scant quantitative training. I only took a class in basic statistics during my undergrad (got an A), and that's about it. I am currently doing an online course in Calculus, but I don't know how much it'll help me.

2) Since I have not worked under any professor directly (research culture is very different in India, particularly in non-STEM field), my Letters of Recommendations would be pretty bland.

3) My Masters GPA is pretty low prima facie, but it's actually equivalent to a British First Class with Distinction. But I'm not sure how the admissions committee would convert international GPA. 

 

Do I have a chance at getting admits from the universities I mentioned? I have emailed some professors at these universities, but received pretty generic replies so far. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by sbidyanta

[coffeeman123]

This is quite a nice profile! Without knowing the specifics of your IR interest it is tough to say, but barring it being a super empiricly rigorous field, I don't think they will penalize you for your quant very heavily. The 160 shows that you are definitely able to do math. A good statement of purpose should really help show that you are adequately prepared. Good luck my friend. 

[MrsPhD]

If you are not from the US (you say India), you need to apply to more private universities. UC Irvine typically does not fund foreign students because they are much more expensive than US students. Public universities charge more for tuition to foreigners, which means that if a program gives you a scholarship, you are much more expensive than an American.

I don't imagine University of Cincinnati, Kansas University, have good funding.

It's difficult to say anything about admissions because what matters is fit and research interests. You also have no research experience which makes your profile kind of weak. I'd recommend looking for scholarships to pursue masters and then apply to PhD. You can look into any scholarship that gives you the opportunity of doing a Masters in Europe or the US or Canada.