nervous about low stat grades

[tennis12]

Hi all,

I'm an Applied Math major at an Ivy League university. I love math, hence the major, but want to do quantitative research in political science - I'm very interested in pursuing a political science PhD (American with quant methods), and I hope you can give me some advice.

Because of my major's requirements, I've taken the "harder" sequence of statistics (probability, theoretical stat, stat analysis) and have gotten two B's and a B- in those courses. While I know I could/should have done better, I can't change anything now. I've gotten mostly high grades in my other quant classes and A's in the political science classes I've taken, but I'm very worried about those stat grades, since I've heard political science admission committees really look at your stat classes.

Next semester, I'm planning on taking the grad-level methods class (political science dept). If I get an A/A- in that class, would that "offset" my low stat grades, or would it still not convince admission committees, especially since I'm hoping to focus on methods work in grad school? And how would ad coms see this differently across differently ranked schools? Am I doomed because of my low stat grades? Is there anything I can do to "fix" this? (And just as a sidenote, even though I'm a non-polisci major, I do have a "demonstrated interest" in political science through research and classes.)

Thanks!

[GopherGrad]

You are certainly not "doomed". I'm not even sure it matters that much if your other math classes can establish your quant ability. As a math major at an Ivy, your quant qualifications will far outstrip most of your peers. Adcomms will probably be broadly aware that the courses were harder based upon their names/listing numbers.

Clearly, your application would have been stronger with As in those courses, but it's hard to tell you anything else. Keep getting good grades, demonstrating your polisci interest. If you can't change it now, don't worry about it. A grad level methods class might be nice, but make sure you can dedicate the time to get it right. You will be competing against very smart grad students who will set the standard for A-level work, and there is no point compounding your worry by feeling as though you underperformed in that class as well.

[tennis12]

You are certainly not "doomed". I'm not even sure it matters that much if your other math classes can establish your quant ability. As a math major at an Ivy, your quant qualifications will far outstrip most of your peers. Adcomms will probably be broadly aware that the courses were harder based upon their names/listing numbers.

Clearly, your application would have been stronger with As in those courses, but it's hard to tell you anything else. Keep getting good grades, demonstrating your polisci interest. If you can't change it now, don't worry about it. A grad level methods class might be nice, but make sure you can dedicate the time to get it right. You will be competing against very smart grad students who will set the standard for A-level work, and there is no point compounding your worry by feeling as though you underperformed in that class as well.

Thanks - with this blemish on my record, do I still have a shot at the top quant departments? Or what would be some good target departments with this in mind?

[GopherGrad]

I'll leave that to be answered by someone that knows quant.

[oasis]

Hi all,

I'm an Applied Math major at an Ivy League university. I love math, hence the major, but want to do quantitative research in political science - I'm very interested in pursuing a political science PhD (American with quant methods), and I hope you can give me some advice.

Because of my major's requirements, I've taken the "harder" sequence of statistics (probability, theoretical stat, stat analysis) and have gotten two B's and a B- in those courses. While I know I could/should have done better, I can't change anything now. I've gotten mostly high grades in my other quant classes and A's in the political science classes I've taken, but I'm very worried about those stat grades, since I've heard political science admission committees really look at your stat classes.

Next semester, I'm planning on taking the grad-level methods class (political science dept). If I get an A/A- in that class, would that "offset" my low stat grades, or would it still not convince admission committees, especially since I'm hoping to focus on methods work in grad school? And how would ad coms see this differently across differently ranked schools? Am I doomed because of my low stat grades? Is there anything I can do to "fix" this? (And just as a sidenote, even though I'm a non-polisci major, I do have a "demonstrated interest" in political science through research and classes.)

Thanks!

I think they would understand that your grades reflect the difficulty of upper division math/stat dept courses and the abilities of those who self-select into those courses. The median math major or engineer has a higher quant ability that the median social science major.

You have a number of options. 1) Ace the grad level methods class so they can see where you lie on the polisci population ability distribution - probably 99th percentile. 2) Take the stat or econ dept grad econometrics sequence instead, more rigorous. will be a challenge, but you're an applied math major and can handle it.

[oasis]

Thanks - with this blemish on my record, do I still have a shot at the top quant departments? Or what would be some good target departments with this in mind?

offhand, michigan, rochester, wustl, caltech, nyu come to mind.

[RWBG]

I don't have any insider information about how admissions committee decisions actually work, and I'm a bit biased, given that I'm in a somewhat similar situation to you. But I would imagine that adcomms consist of intelligent people who can discern the relative difficulty of different courses you've taken to some extent, and will attempt to determine your relative quantitative abilities beyond a first glance at the numbers of it. Certainly, in my experience, I took a theoretical course in math-stats and a practical stats course for econ majors, and found that a B in the first was more difficult to obtain than an A in the latter. I would imagine most people on adcomms would be able to figure that out as well. Especially if you've taken other math courses that demonstrate strong quantitative aptitude.

A caveat being, of course, that if someone applies with higher grades than you in advanced stats courses, they will probably be given preference. But I don't think it should harm your position relative to applicants who've achieved higher grades in simpler methods courses in the polisci department..

[oasis]

A caveat being, of course, that if someone applies with higher grades than you in advanced stats courses, they will probably be given preference. But I don't think it should harm your position relative to applicants who've achieved higher grades in simpler methods courses in the polisci department..

do you seriously anticipate competing with those people? they tend to sort into econ.

[RWBG]

do you seriously anticipate competing with those people? they tend to sort into econ.

Haha, well I hope you're right. Although it was my impression that there are more mathematically inclined people applying to many political science programs than there have been in the past. I lack the information to comment beyond that.

[Charlie2010]

I'm reading files now. Don't worry about the grade. Any department you'd want to go to will have a committee that understands that the average grade in a math or stats course is much lower than that in a social science course. Simply by completing an applied math major you have demonstrated that you are in the top 1% of files in terms of quantitative training. Presumably you will also have a math GRE of 760 or above (and probably 800) to reinforce this impression. If you fall short on the political science coursework or lack recommendations from social scientists that we've heard of, you may have better luck at Caltech/GSB/Rochester but if you also can show you know more than just the numbers-stuff you'll be looked at seriously at any top department.