Poli Sci PhD Program Recommendations?

[Whanauer]

Hi everyone, I'm a new poster and am planning on applying for a PhD in Political Science for the Fall 2011 semester. However, given my background, I'm unsure as to which schools I should be aiming for. Perhaps someone with more experience or knowledge of the admissions process could give me some advice. I currently possess a BA in History with a 3.957 GPA (4.0 Major GPA) and a minor in French However, it was from a small college in NY (St. Francis), and therefore I'm not sure that GPA carries much weight. I also have my MA in International Affairs from CUNY Brooklyn College with a 3.966 GPA, and passed Brooklyn's language exam as was necessary (short translation sans dictionary, basically). My GRE was taken approximately three years ago prior to my graduate work, and my scores were 690 V (96%), 580 Q (52%), and 6.0 writing. While I realize my Q is low, I've received grades of A in numerous courses such as graduate stats and macro/ micro which should help alleviate some concerns. Also, over the course of my BA and MA I've written three theses (2 undergrad, 1 for major and 1 to satisfy an Honors graduate, and 1 for my MA. LORs should not be a problem. Therefore I feel my strengths are my language ability, proven graduate record, GPAs, and strong writing skills. My weaknesses are the fact that I did not attend a top flight program and had a relatively low Q score. Therefore, what would be a realistic school to apply for? As of now, I'm interested in the likes of Brown, Emory, U Minnesota, U Michigan. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks.

[mrmirv]

Hi everyone, I'm a new poster and am planning on applying for a PhD in Political Science for the Fall 2011 semester. However, given my background, I'm unsure as to which schools I should be aiming for. Perhaps someone with more experience or knowledge of the admissions process could give me some advice. I currently possess a BA in History with a 3.957 GPA (4.0 Major GPA) and a minor in French However, it was from a small college in NY (St. Francis), and therefore I'm not sure that GPA carries much weight. I also have my MA in International Affairs from CUNY Brooklyn College with a 3.966 GPA, and passed Brooklyn's language exam as was necessary (short translation sans dictionary, basically). My GRE was taken approximately three years ago prior to my graduate work, and my scores were 690 V (96%), 580 Q (52%), and 6.0 writing. While I realize my Q is low, I've received grades of A in numerous courses such as graduate stats and macro/ micro which should help alleviate some concerns. Also, over the course of my BA and MA I've written three theses (2 undergrad, 1 for major and 1 to satisfy an Honors graduate, and 1 for my MA. LORs should not be a problem. Therefore I feel my strengths are my language ability, proven graduate record, GPAs, and strong writing skills. My weaknesses are the fact that I did not attend a top flight program and had a relatively low Q score. Therefore, what would be a realistic school to apply for? As of now, I'm interested in the likes of Brown, Emory, U Minnesota, U Michigan. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks.

Hello,

I am also applying for the same semester.

In doing hours and hours of research on what you need for various programs, I would say you are very competitive. Your GPA is great and the school you recieved the grades in matters very little. I would retake the GRE though and try to boost your score as you are a little low in that are for the schools you have targeted.

[Charlie2010]

It would definitely be worth it to retake the GRE and get a better Q score, if indeed you are as comfortable with quantitative material as you say your coursework shows.

Your school will hurt you because faculty on the admissions committee are less likely to know of your letter writers. Also, a 4.0 or almost 4.0 is what we'd expect from anyone coming from outside the top twenty or so undergrad institutions, so it doesn't stand out as much as a 4.0 from one of those.

But you should have a good shot at some of the programs you mention.

[IRmiester666]

Given your GRE, I'd be very nervous about any application going to a top 20. I'm also not convinced that your stats class makes up for this.

But I wouldn't be worried about AdComms thinking less of your degrees because of the name of the institution. Your GPA is great and you were an honors student. However, if you are targeting schools that are not on the same level as your previous schools, chances are the AdComm won't know your letter writers. And unfortunately, a letter from a friend at a peer institution is a more creditable signal than an unknown letter, no matter how glowing.

I'd say pick a couple elite programs as your top picks and work on your SOP so that it screams "I fit in here and can handle the rigor!".

I can only recommend re-taking the GRE if you know you can improve your quant score because if it is sub-700 again, you are sunk at the top because you are demonstrating consistency in test taking as opposed to an abnormally bad test day.

[adaptations]

I would strongly support applying to top programs. Your stellar GPA at the undegrad and graduate level are a major strength, and assuming you can back it up with a strong SOP, writing sample, and LOR, I think you have a good chance. I would not be as worried as some of the other posters about your LORs being from less known schools - they may carry slightly less weight, but assuming most of them are from CUNY and highlight your abilities as a graduate student, they will be more than sufficient.

All of that said, I strongly agree with the previous poster, that you should retake the GRE assuming you can get your Q score up in the 700s and maintain your V score. That is the only significant weakness in your application (and even with it I think you have a shot at good programs), but there is still time to fix it and retake the test in the next couple months.

Best of luck!

[mrmirv]

I would strongly support applying to top programs. Your stellar GPA at the undegrad and graduate level are a major strength, and assuming you can back it up with a strong SOP, writing sample, and LOR, I think you have a good chance. I would not be as worried as some of the other posters about your LORs being from less known schools - they may carry slightly less weight, but assuming most of them are from CUNY and highlight your abilities as a graduate student, they will be more than sufficient.

All of that said, I strongly agree with the previous poster, that you should retake the GRE assuming you can get your Q score up in the 700s and maintain your V score. That is the only significant weakness in your application (and even with it I think you have a shot at good programs), but there is still time to fix it and retake the test in the next couple months.

Best of luck!

I would apply to all the schools you mentioned. I would retake the GRE like everyone else said as the Q score hurts you. I think you will get into many of the schools you picked if you can get that Q to at least 650. You will be competing with people who have the same grades and a 700+ Q score. Keep this in mind.

[Whanauer]

Thanks to everyone for the advice, it's most appreciated. As it stands I'm probably going to apply to a few of my top choices and keep programs such as the CUNY Graduate Center as a "safety," though quite frankly from my own personal view it appears as if they do a relatively good job of placing their candidates at positions within the CUNY system for invaluable experience. I'm hoping that since I'm applying as a Political Theory/International Relations Theory guy my Q might be slightly more forgivable, or at least the competition might be less fierce in comparison to the comparative and IR programs.

[GopherGrad]

I know this response won't be helpful to the "where will I get in?" which is your real curiosity, but as potential political science PhDs we should have some understanding of costs versus benefits.

This is a $70 application fee. If you think Harvard has a good program for your interests, I don't care if you have a 2.0 with dual 500s on the GRE. Write a great SoP and apply. Do the same with every school down the line until you get to the point that getting the degree seems meaningless.