Most likely rejected from every PhD program… feeling pretty lost.

[Natesmith1016]

Hey, everyone. So it’s looking like my second straight admission cycle shutout. I’m feeling pretty dejected because while my GRE scores aren’t amazing, I did work hard to improve my scores over the past year. I took a Kaplan course online for 2 months and was able to obtain a 160 verbal 145 quant and 6 on my writing sample. Again, not the best, but after prepping for a year and considering where I started I was feeling ok.

 

Did my research and looked for professors with whom I shared research interests(Japanese comparative politics), obviously due to the niche nature of my field there aren’t a whole lot of options and those tend to be the higher ranked schools, sadly.

 

I had one of my former professors from USC(applied and rejected) who works on the political science admissions board write me a letter of recommendation, got it all in early.. and still nothing.

 

Obviously the most glaring thing I could improve would be my quant score, I really struggle with math, but I fought very hard to raise it from where it was initially. But part of me wonders with how competitive PhD spots are right now, is it even worth it. Just really lost rn. If anyone has been in a similar position or has any advice I’d appreciate it. This has been a lifelong goal of mine and it just looks bleak at the moment. Did my master’s in 2020 and it’s just been trying to get into PhD since then.. I’m only 24, but I still feel like life is passing me by.

 

Edit: totally neglected to mention my background, was so upset I forgot. Have a M.A Linguistics from Glasgow Uni(3.6 GPA) did my master’s in international public policy and management at USC(3.5 GPA) who also rejected me today.

 

[sbidyanta]

Which schools did you apply to? As for competitiveness, the top 25 are extremely competitive, the top 50 less so, and outside top 50 is probably very easy (saying this because I don't think I'm a very competitive candidate and got in 6/6 schools I applied to outside the top 50, and got funding from 3 of them). 

[Theory007]

You have got to get that quant score up. 145 corresponds roughly to the 18th percentile and adcoms must think you'd have a hard time getting through the required methods courses and be successful in your study. It's a fair worry. I think without a quant score in the mid-to-upper 150s your chance will be low at any top-50 program. Your other stats are OK (in my view) but I think they highlight the importance of raising your GRE scores - also the verbal.

You can do it though - even if it will take you another year. Hang in there!

[LM2022]

22 hours ago, sbidyanta said:

Which schools did you apply to? As for competitiveness, the top 25 are extremely competitive, the top 50 less so, and outside top 50 is probably very easy (saying this because I don't think I'm a very competitive candidate and got in 6/6 schools I applied to outside the top 50, and got funding from 3 of them). 

I second this...

One more thing...from your Q scores I guess you are not very into quant stuff. If that is the case, you might want to consider try harder on those programs where qualitative approaches or other "alternative" interdiscplinary approach (as opposed to more popular interdisciplinary approaches like political economy or computational political science) are highlighted. You might wanna consider UCSC for your next round (if you are still interested). They dinstinguish themselves from other US political science departments by doing studies of "politics" rather than poltiical "science". Applying to PhD in History, East Asia Studies, or antropology may also be a way out for you.

[Bosox]

I'm gonna echo what the previous comments have relayed. Don't get me wrong I struggle heavily with math and quant as well,

and I took the exam 3 times solely because of quant. The advice I received from professors and other grad students was that the GRE exists

basically as a threshold. So, no applicant will be admitted definitively just because of their GRE scores, but on the flip side, their package will

indeed likely be thrown out if the scores don't break a department-set figure which often sits at least within the 155-158 range I would guess.

For me, I enrolled in a Magoosh package that had a bevy of practice exams and problems with specific short clips catered to each problem.

Finally, are there no tangible options for you to apply to schools within the UK? In my case, I found several professors at UK politics and IR/IS

departments who literally did not care at all about the GRE score. I hope this helps!!!

[Theory007]

9 minutes ago, Bosox said:

Magoosh

?

[Ksu]

Just getting antsy hearing PhD admissions decisions, after interview have not heard back but was not rejected either. I cannot share school or specifics. At this point it's almost end of March and I don't know if I should get in touch with the program or continue to wait. Faculty member who wrote one of my letters says wait. I did get rejected by 3 schools so far and this is not the first year of applications. Thankfully programs do not require GRE this year. 

[PhD_Soul]

On 3/23/2022 at 9:08 PM, Ksu said:

Just getting antsy hearing PhD admissions decisions, after interview have not heard back but was not rejected either. I cannot share school or specifics. At this point it's almost end of March and I don't know if I should get in touch with the program or continue to wait. Faculty member who wrote one of my letters says wait. I did get rejected by 3 schools so far and this is not the first year of applications. Thankfully programs do not require GRE this year. 

Some programs still require GREs, but many schools are starting to waive the GRE requirement. (to the original author of this thread) If your GRE scores are low, it may be worth looking at schools that do not require GRE; Many top ranked programs do not require this. It's obviously too late this cycle but in case you want to try again next year

[Ksu]

2 hours ago, PhD_Soul said:

Some programs still require GREs, but many schools are starting to waive the GRE requirement. (to the original author of this thread) If your GRE scores are low, it may be worth looking at schools that do not require GRE; Many top ranked programs do not require this. It's obviously too late this cycle but in case you want to try again next year

I only applied to schools that do not require GRE this cycle. Thank you for advice though. I am just worried for now.