Good enough to get in?

[polisci09]

Like a lot of other prospective grad students out there I'm doubting whether or not I can get in to a top 25 school. I went to an unknown undergraduate state university in Michigan that I love and have done very well at, and luckily, haven't paid a dime for. However, I doubt that the name of any member of our poli sci faculty will be recognized by an admissions committee at a top school. The department is not very active in research and does not extend research opportunities to undergraduates.

Another thing I have been worrried about is that one of my undergraduate majors is Political Science with a pre-law concentration. I have a general political science minor. The truth is, I kept the pre-law concentration so that I could have a general poli sci minor and justifiably take more political science classes. I am now concerned that an admissions committee will think I'm flakey for applying to graduate school with my pre-law school background.

My graduate school interest is American politics, focussing on legislative politics. Any advice/comments from other forum members would be appreciated.

GPA- 3.97, 2 A-s (4.00 in political science major, 3.97 in philosophy major, 4.00 in political science minor)

GRE- 740 Quantitative, 710 Verbal (haven't gotten writing scores back yet)

3 semesters teaching experience, 2 of which are in sophomore level political science classes.

Helped create and now serve as editor for an undergraduate political journal, President of Model United Nations for three years, active in university life (judiciary boards, orientation staff, housing staff), paid specialized tutor in political science and philosophy, interned with a political news organization, slew of other extracurriculars.

[USF_Rockstar]

It sounds like you can probably go where ever you want, aside from maybe the top 3 schools but I wouldn't rule anywhere out. Congrats.

[browneyedgirl]

Another thing I have been worrried about is that one of my undergraduate majors is Political Science with a pre-law concentration. I have a general political science minor. The truth is, I kept the pre-law concentration so that I could have a general poli sci minor and justifiably take more political science classes. I am now concerned that an admissions committee will think I'm flakey for applying to graduate school with my pre-law school background.

My graduate school interest is American politics, focussing on legislative politics.

while I'm not totally clear on how your ug program was set up, it doesn't sound like this should be a concern. you've taken (so it sounds) a number of polisci courses, so it's not as if you've just suddenly decided that you like polisci and want to pursue it in grad school. some of your pre-law background may add to your appeal as a student of American (again, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this; at my alma mater, 'pre-law' meant you were probably a polisci student and you took practice LSATs), especially if you have any interest in public law topics.

also, I wouldn't waste valuable SOP room explaining away the above - that's not to say don't mention it, if it's important to you, but rather that you shouldn't feel obligated to justify your decision (or even address it at all, if you so choose) because it doesn't seem very out of the ordinary. good luck!

[ampersand]

I think you'll be fine. Trust me, you're not the first political science major to think you're going to law school only to change courses. I also agree with browneyedgirl that you don't need to use valuable SOP space explaining this. I think the fact that you've taken a lot of poli sci classes will speak for itself, and instead you should use your SOP to discuss your qualifications and fit with the program. Your GPA and GRE scores look great, as do your extracurriculars, and I would recommend getting a little research experience if you can. If you can do a conference paper with a faculty member or publish one of your papers in an undergraduate journal (I don't think you have to aim very high, just be able to put a publication on your CV) it would boost your already considerable qualifications.

[polisci09]

Thanks for the responses everyone! My adviser agreed that being pre-law shouldn't hurt my chances of getting in, given that our pre-law curriculum is just a little different (more structured) than the general political science major, and all of the courses for it are political science.

So now I'm trying to figure out where to apply, right now this is my list of schools, in no particular order except that they are in this order on my Excel worksheet:

Ohio State, Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Are these unrealistic for me? I can't come up with a "safe" school that I wouldn't mind attending, suggestions? My numbers are above (still waiting on the Analytical Writing score), any input would be appreciated. I hope I can get into at least one, otherwise I am going to have to save up for a boob job to become a trophy wife.

[misterpat]

So now I'm trying to figure out where to apply, right now this is my list of schools, in no particular order except that they are in this order on my Excel worksheet:

Ohio State, Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Are these unrealistic for me? I can't come up with a "safe" school that I wouldn't mind attending, suggestions? My numbers are above (still waiting on the Analytical Writing score), any input would be appreciated. I hope I can get into at least one, otherwise I am going to have to save up for a boob job to become a trophy wife.

I mean, with your numbers shouldn't you consider Pittsburgh and Syracuse your safeties? Unless your writing sample is awful and your letter writers hated you, I'd say you might want to apply to a few more school that are ranked a little higher. Especially since I've heard going top 25 is of utmost importance in Poli Sci (I'm applying for History, but I looked at Poli Sci schools for the possibiltiy of doing Political Theory earlier this year, so I'm not totally talking out of my ass here).

I don't know, I'd throw University of Chicago or something equally cool on there just out of optimism related to your numbers.

[flyingwalrus]

Thanks for the responses everyone! My adviser agreed that being pre-law shouldn't hurt my chances of getting in, given that our pre-law curriculum is just a little different (more structured) than the general political science major, and all of the courses for it are political science.

So now I'm trying to figure out where to apply, right now this is my list of schools, in no particular order except that they are in this order on my Excel worksheet:

Ohio State, Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Are these unrealistic for me? I can't come up with a "safe" school that I wouldn't mind attending, suggestions? My numbers are above (still waiting on the Analytical Writing score), any input would be appreciated. I hope I can get into at least one, otherwise I am going to have to save up for a boob job to become a trophy wife.

Given your profile and assuming your letters of rec and personal statement aren't crap, I'd think Pittsburgh and Syracuse would be fall backs for you. Michigan State, as well, though I'd say it's clearly above those two. If you want to do legislative politics, you should also apply to UC-San Diego. They've got Cox, McCubbins, Jacobson, and Poole. I don't do legislative politics, so you may want to take this with a grain of salt, but I don't think there's a better group (reputation-wise) of Congressional scholars at any other university.

[polisci09]

I would certainly apply to UCSD if I thought I could get in there.

Clearly my analytical skills are not PhD level if I have to ask this after scouring their website, but does UCSD not require a writing sample?

Thanks again everyone.

[flyingwalrus]

I would certainly apply to UCSD if I thought I could get in there.

Clearly my analytical skills are not PhD level if I have to ask this after scouring their website, but does UCSD not require a writing sample?

Thanks again everyone.

As I recall I didn't submit one to them.

[Jufarius87]

You sould really consider applying to some more prestigious programs than the ones you've listed. Will lack of name rec as far as school and LORS hurt you abit? yes. but not so much that you should deny yourself the (very realistic) chance of getting into a top program given your great numbers and ECs.

Im a Divinity/Theology guy who hasnt considered politics in quite sometime. I was looking into that field at one point though and you seem very competitive for top schools. Also consider applying for some terminal MA/MPhil/MPP.... w/e terminal masters suits your interests.... that way if you dont get into a top PhD first time around you will get into a top masters and get LORS with name rec so you can try again....

I think you are cutting yourself short given your current list of schools.

[ordinonuovo]

Aim higher. You need to get into a top 20 school(preferrably top 10) if you want to get anywhere with that Phd.

Your GRE math is a tad low for the top 5 programs, but I imagine you still have a chance at the 6-20 range.

Michigan, UCLA, UCSD as well as a quite a number of schools within the top 20 have excellent AP programs.

Apply to 5-6 of them besides the 2-3 safety schools.

And Good Luck.

[polisci09]

I decided to take Syracuse off my list and added Indiana and Illinois. Got my analytical writing score- 6.0!

[slacker79]

polisci09, I think you are undershooting. You should apply to at least one top 6 school (Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/Berkeley/Michigan). Your stats are very good. Some committees might want name brand undergrad, but some just want people who succeed wherever they are, and it's hard to do better than you have.