Admission chances for ph.d in poli-sci (unusual background student?)

[catd]

Hi! I'm starting to prepare for applying next cycle. I have quite unusual background compared to other students and I'm even not sure that political science ph.d is a right track for me. So, I would appreciate any information you give me.

Undergrad: Double major in Economics and Social Welfare at top Asian school 

GPA: 3.41, though core quant courses like statistics, calculus and econometrics are A-~A+.

Grad Degree: MA of political science at state school (I had personal reasons to attend this school as a master student and currently at third semester)

- took some quant courses like grad stat classes, game theory, and grad linear algebra

Graduate GPA: 4.0

GRE: Q170 V 162

Teaching Experience: TA for one undergrad class 

Research Experience:

- Currently an RA for one of the department's professor

- No publications but expect to submit at least a manuscript before applying

Programming Experience: R, SAS, SPSS

Job experience: 

all experiences are from social-welfare public sector :

- 6 years of work experience at public enterprise as a researcher and organizer

 

Research Interests: Currently interested in public policy and quantitative methodology

 

My main question is, that can I be competitive for T10 ~ T20 programs? I am little worried about undergrad GPA and my backgrounds. 
I originally worked at a social welfare organization, and had some interest in public policy. But for some personal reasons, I had to choose political science department who also offers public policy as their sub-field. So, in my case, can I stick to my current route and apply to the poli-sci ph.d program for further study? Or should I just apply to government affair phd program?
Would appreciate any advice, thanks!

[JPYSD]

Hello Catd,

I do think you have decent chances at a good PoliSci PhD program, especially if you are pitching quantitative subfields like methods and political economy, for example. Political economy usually is the most "policy-related" subfield, however, many departments don't have that necessarily. Can I ask in which country you completed your grad degree? That wasn't too clear from your description. but might be important.

It would be somehow important to pitch an application and research interest that very much aligns with the typical US PoliSci subfields. Methods would be one, but public policy isn't really. You are right in saying that the latter is something more for public policy or professional schools and there, I would doubt the usability of a PhD. I would apply as a general rule: If you are not fully certain that you would at least want to try to step into academia, a US PhD is not for you. Otherwise, it will be a waste of time and resources and just a really frustrating experience.

Having said that, if you can write a compelling SOP with a clear and honest red thread that fits with the subfields and focuses of top US PoliSci departments, you have all the chances still for that. Your background is not too unusual and your grades won't matter too much, especially since you have a great GRE and quant background. It would be good, however, to find reference writers with connections to the US, especially to make a compelling case for your interest in PoliSci academia despite your "unusual" background. Usually, that is a problem for many applicants from abroad.

Edited yesterday at 10:59 AM by JPYSD

[A Dalek]

Not an unusual profile at all. Several schools have a policy subfield. Don't hesitate to apply to policy schools either. They make more $$$ anyway.

[catd]

4 hours ago, JPYSD said:

Hello Catd,

I do think you have decent chances at a good PoliSci PhD program, especially if you are pitching quantitative subfields like methods and political economy, for example. Political economy usually is the most "policy-related" subfield, however, many departments don't have that necessarily. Can I ask in which country you completed your grad degree? That wasn't too clear from your description. but might be important.

It would be somehow important to pitch an application and research interest that very much aligns with the typical US PoliSci subfields. Methods would be one, but public policy isn't really. You are right in saying that the latter is something more for public policy or professional schools and there, I would doubt the usability of a PhD. I would apply as a general rule: If you are not fully certain that you would at least want to try to step into academia, a US PhD is not for you. Otherwise, it will be a waste of time and resources and just a really frustrating experience.

Having said that, if you can write a compelling SOP with a clear and honest red thread that fits with the subfields and focuses of top US PoliSci departments, you have all the chances still for that. Your background is not too unusual and your grades won't matter too much, especially since you have a great GRE and quant background. It would be good, however, to find reference writers with connections to the US, especially to make a compelling case for your interest in PoliSci academia despite your "unusual" background. Usually, that is a problem for many applicants from abroad.

Hi, thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it. 
I currently do my master at the U.S state school which has a big statistics department. Sorry for misclarifying. 
And for the point you mentioned, I strongly want to remain in academia after graduation. Though which country I will be finally landed is unclear at this moment, but I definitely want a tenure track job. So, I'm curious about your comment that the public policy or professional schools are not for Ph.d. Indeed, I already searched the goverment affairs forum at this site, but I cannot get much information about the Ph.d, so I wrote this here. Is public policy school's Ph.d degree not for academia job?
And I can get a referrence letter from the professors here. Would it be helpful if I get a letter from statistics professor? I have a good relationship with one of the professor who taught me last year. Or should I just get all letters from the political sci professors? 






 

[JPYSD]

56 minutes ago, catd said:

Hi, thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it. 
I currently do my master at the U.S state school which has a big statistics department. Sorry for misclarifying. 
And for the point you mentioned, I strongly want to remain in academia after graduation. Though which country I will be finally landed is unclear at this moment, but I definitely want a tenure track job. So, I'm curious about your comment that the public policy or professional schools are not for Ph.d. Indeed, I already searched the goverment affairs forum at this site, but I cannot get much information about the Ph.d, so I wrote this here. Is public policy school's Ph.d degree not for academia job?
And I can get a referrence letter from the professors here. Would it be helpful if I get a letter from statistics professor? I have a good relationship with one of the professor who taught me last year. Or should I just get all letters from the political sci professors? 






 

Being at a US school already is great! Statistics might be even better, as it will be greatly appreciated by most quant-heavy programs!

The public policy schools are mostly just too vague in their approach and acceptance in the academic market. With the exception of maybe Harriss in Chicago if you are doing formal methods or political economy and Stanford, they are all mostly geared towards foreign service or think tank jobs, and in those cases, you will usually compete with people that are much younger as they only did those policy school masters and collected more directly relevant work experience on the way. So for policy jobs, a PhD will be "nice" but not a direct benefit, while for tenure track jobs in academia they are clearly a disadvantage as most departments will not take them seriously, especially if you wish to stay in academia. Especially if you were looking at the DC schools, Fletcher, SIPA, Kennedy and the likes, academia will not be the default path. Again, Harriss and Stanford are somewhat of a niche, but you will be quite detached from the PoliSci discussion there. They might all be a benefit, if you wish to work at, say, the World Bank, but that is a very small group of jobs. If you have no strong wish to stay in academia, want to stay close to actual politics and have a career in it and think you would have fun doing a PhD and don't mind the extra time, they might be great, however.

As for references, including one from statistics is fine, even a good idea! 

Your credentials are great it seems. Find a topic and subfield you are passionate about and departments that really fit that interest and write a compelling SOP. That seems the most important for you. Good luck! 🙂