Schools Strong in Ethnic Conflict, State/Institution Building

[grantman]

Good Evening Everyone,

I first want to congratulate to all of those who have claimed acceptances thus far I wish you the best of luck and safe travels as you begin to visit and contemplate which school you will ultimately attend.

Not to sound like a downer, my cycle this season has not been generous to me, presently I have received 8 rejections, more than likely I feel I will hear from the final two schools in the next week or so and I do not expect great news from either of them. With that said, while I am not sure if I will do another cycle next year, I am asking for your opinion on which schools tend to be strong in state reconstruction/building as well as ethnic conflict, mainly dealing with the reconciliation process and how institutions may be able prevent another conflict. While I am aware of some schools being high strong in this field, particularly UCSD and Northwestern, I was wondering if there are other programs that are strong in these fields but may not be as competitive when it comes to application time.

To promote full disclosure my GRE scores were bad, the total was 1040 (420 V, 620 Q, 4.0 A). Realizing in order for me to stand any legitimate chance in gaining entry in any school of any caliber those scores will have to be raised and I hope I can do that, but I am not highly optimistic. While that is a significant blackmark on my application I did carry a 3.70 undergraduate g.p.a., also graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi, and I currently have a 4.0 in my graduate M.P.A. program with a specialization in International Development. However, both of my degrees are from the same university in Ohio that you probably have never heard of. I do have about 4 years experience serving as a research assistant as well as one year as a teaching assistant. While I do apologize for giving you ladies and gentlemen by background I thought it would be pertinent as you consider what schools that you may think fit the bill, so to speak.

Again I wish you all the best of luck as you journey into the next stage of your lives and I can say with a great deal of certainty that I am jealous and envious of those of you who will be continuing your studies next year.

[Doorkeeper]

I cannot reiterate how important it is for you to increase that verbal GRE score. Many schools a low score on the GREs as an unofficial cut-off to reduce the number of applications that get serious review. I would bet you were a casualty of that cutoff at a number of the schools you applied to.

[shavasana]

@grantman I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the Kaplan book series (and flashcards) they sell for GRE verbal. I am loathe to pay into the testing system, but I can say from personal experience that those flash cards took my verbal GRE score from 510 to 720. The practice books they have (they have ones just for verbal) are also a wonderful resource.

[puddle]

@grantman I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the Kaplan book series (and flashcards) they sell for GRE verbal. I am loathe to pay into the testing system, but I can say from personal experience that those flash cards took my verbal GRE score from 510 to 720. The practice books they have (they have ones just for verbal) are also a wonderful resource.

Agreed. I also suggest you try downloading the ETS practicet tests & exams. I think this system is free but if not, the ETS book with the practice paper tests is also pretty useful (not for technique but defineltly for practice exercises).

If you decide that you are going to re-apply to graduate school, getting your GRE scores up is going to be vital. As doorkeeper mentioned, many schools (possibly all schools?) have a cutoff score that allows them to filter the high number of applications down to a more manageable number. It sucks, but it is important to take these features of the system into account.

Good luck with your future applications!

[kaykaykay]

you have to work on both your verbal and quant GRE scores. It is doable and this is coming from a non native speaker of English. You just have to spend a lot of hours next to the parctice books . Also here your writing style seems to be very heavy full of unnecessary passive voice, but I guess you write very differently in your SOP, right? good luck!

[whirlibird]

Have you considered doing a program in Peace and Conflict Resolution rather than Poli Sci? There was a point when I thought I wanted to pursue PCR and looked into a number of PhD and terminal Masters programs, many of which were international universities that are very respected in the PCR world (a little different than the heavy American school bias of American Poli Sci academia). Besides not requiring the GRE, many of the programs are at the forefront of the field. If you're interested in the actual practitioner side of PCR, or if you want to do research on it and teach about it full-time, I would consider getting more specialized and going after that type of degree.

[grantman]

I would like to thank you all for your responses, I will take great care in looking them over. I would like to mention something about my GRE scores. While I do not want to seem confrontational or defensive, but for many years I have suffered from an anxiety disorder which makes it very difficult for me to concentrate when I am under considerable pressure and the time constraints does not help. While I studied for months for the test, I actually did better than I expected. While I am continuing to work on my issues it is slow progress in the making. While I would prefer to remain in the U.S., I am open to Canadian universities if anyone has any suggestions in that matter.

@ Whirlibird I have looked at those programs but I found them unappealing to me plus the only program I see that holds any merit is at Notre Dame.

I am open to all suggestions, if you would like to PM me please feel free.

[kaykaykay]

Well if you really cannot improve your GRE score (although you may want to try one of the GRE courses because they give back your money if you do not do better so you can't lose anything) you may want to try Canada. Uof T has some excellent scholars who are working on constitutional design so it may be the place for you. eg. David Cameron http://politics.utor...tlight/cameron/,

Edited March 4, 2012 by kalapocska

[grantman]

kalapocska,

Thank you for your response. I am currently looking into U. of Toronto. I am beginning to look at schools in United Kingdom and Australia. I am looking extensively at LSE but I have heard good things coming from Warwick and Manchester. I am also looking at ANU and University of Sydney. If anyone else has any thoughts on any schools I should consider I welcome any and all advice.