Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[CairoKid]

Cairo Kid,

Congrats on your acceptance! I'm glad to know that someone else is in the same boat. A year in London is never a bad thing (except for maybe the cost, and I'm hoping that it will bode well for a strong Fall 2013 application.

Thanks! Same to you. I agree with you on the cost matter; however, the other Master's programs I've applied to and am waiting to hear from are even more expensive (also with no funding) and the cities (NYC and DC) are comparably expensive to London. Plus this program would only be a year, rather than the 2 year programs in the States. But LSE is a really great school and I'm sure it will boost your credentials considerably when reapplying for PhDs this coming season. Hopefully SOAS is similarly respectable for that same reason.

[AuldReekie]

Not much going on here. Just applied for a scholarship to take some courses at the Essex summer school in social science data analysis. Essentially the closest thing the UK has to Michigan's ICSPR summer programs. Lots of the courses are taught by US faculty members so I'm hoping I get a place..

[PDCU]

I was also rejected from every single PhD programs. Chicago was nice enough to offer me one-year MA in IR with partial funding. I guess I'll be going there after the visit in April. Looking forward to the next cycle!

But I have a question... how does one fully utilize an one-year MA? I would be barely finishing my first quarter when most of the apps are due. I probably won't get a recommendation from a professor there unless I am stellar. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to send off the transcript. Only thing I could work on is adding couple lines to CV and polishing my SoP. Could someone tell me what else I can do to fully use one-year MA to my advantage?

[CairoKid]

I was also rejected from every single PhD programs. Chicago was nice enough to offer me one-year MA in IR with partial funding. I guess I'll be going there after the visit in April. Looking forward to the next cycle!

But I have a question... how does one fully utilize an one-year MA? I would be barely finishing my first quarter when most of the apps are due. I probably won't get a recommendation from a professor there unless I am stellar. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to send off the transcript. Only thing I could work on is adding couple lines to CV and polishing my SoP. Could someone tell me what else I can do to fully use one-year MA to my advantage?

I'd be interested in hearing whatever advice is given in regards to this. The program at SOAS is a one-year Master's, and I fear the same that it won't really boost my app much because I won't know my professors there much and I won't have any grades yet either.

[Jean Jacques]

I can hear you loud and clear CairoKid. I am also reapplying for the 2012/2013 cycle and will start the MSc IR (Research) at the LSE this fall. Unfortunately by the time the first application deadlines for 2013 will come around, I will only have taken classes for a couple of weeks...

[Hotspur]

Hey there,

As somone who is currently doing a one-year MA at King's College London, I would have to say that there is a certain amount to which your fears are correct, but you can still utilise it to the best of your advantage. As for your transcript, you will at best be able to show what classes you are taking; you will almost definitely not have grades for the early deadlines--unlikely that you will even for the later ones. If you are looking for a recommendation, do your utmost to get noticed in seminars, in an academically significant way. It is common for many English universities to have student-led seminars or at least presentations; volunteer for the earliest one you can. Speak to the professor in office hours right after and say you would like a recommendation and ask him or her if there is anything else you can provide them with so that they can write you a good recommendation; one of my professors here wanted to see some of my papers. This might be less likely for a research-based MA, as I am not sure that you have classes in the same way as a taught-MA.

Otherwise, you will just need to utilise it as a show of ambition on your SOP. Be ready to explain why the classes you are taking/research you are doing will help you to be a better candidate; whether it is filling in gaps in your knowledge, better understanding of methodologies, etc. This bit was easier for me as I was not a political sceince undergrad, so it helped me a lot, but you want to make it clear how it is enhancing your ability to be successful in grad school.

Lastly, there are a bunch of internships you can get in London, with foreign policy think tanks (like Chatham House) or with Members of Parliament. Depending on your interests, apply for these; it is definitely possible to hold down a part-time internship and do a one-year master's, although you will be very busy! Even just stating that you've applied for them shows ambition, as well as opening up other job possibilities for the future, depending on what direction you decide to take. Hope that helps and best of luck in London for all of you next year! Also feel free to message me if you want me to try to answer more specific questions.

[saltlakecity2012]

I've wrapped up my cycle and will be attending a PhD program in fall 2012, but I wanted to put it out there (for when this thread really kicks into gear) that I'm happy to pass on the information that helped me this cycle to anyone who's interested. PM me if you have any questions a recent applicant might be able to help with - I'm obviously no expert, but the offer stands. Good luck to everyone!

[shavasana]

See above, and all that applies to me! Good luck everyone!!! I can't wait to see what wonderful places you end up!

[kolja00]

I'd love to help out too especially with IR folks. PM me!

[Benjamin Butler]

Having lurked around here for the past couple of weeks I've finally decided to jump in and to take full advantage of this wonderful community.I look forward to learning from my peers as we move forward in this process. My interests in Political Science is IR so I wanted to try to be more active in the community before I started throwing out the million questions that I have . Once again I look forward to getting to know all of you better this cycle and thank you in advance for all of the help!

- Ben

[blaspheming]

Hi all,

I have a question about GRE scores for Poli Sci. When I took my GREs I was focusing more on my verbal. I scored a 710Q and a 750v, and 5.5 in the writing. Would it be worth taking them again or is my quantitative high enough and compensates by my verbal? I have a quant-heavy undergraduate degree (Econ) and am not applying to quantitatively heavy programs, although I intend to use some quantitative methods in my research. Thanks.

I got a 640V/720Q and still got into a top 20 program (American), so there is hope

[Max Power]

Now that I'm officially done with my cycle, I'll put for the same offer the earlier folks did to answer anything people are wondering about next year, especially in American politics. I promise responses though they might not always be timely since I have no idea what my gradcafe habits will look like.

[Carousel]

Ditto what Max Power said. Feel free to post or PM me anytime, I'll be around.

[grantman]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Despite my bad cycle this year, I am still on the fence, so to speak, about applying again next year. While I am currently working with a professor on a publication and I am currently in the beginning stages of a massive coding project, I am interested in some individuals think about how I can further bolster my application next year. Thus far I plan on applying to U. of Toronto, McGill, and UBC. While they are all Canadian schools, they do not require GRE scores (with the exception of UBC which does require GRE scores), since I did not do well on the scores I am interested to hear how I can bolster my application keeping in mind my low scores. Please feel free to PM me with your thoughts.

[iwouldpreferanonymity]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Despite my bad cycle this year, I am still on the fence, so to speak, about applying again next year. While I am currently working with a professor on a publication and I am currently in the beginning stages of a massive coding project, I am interested in some individuals think about how I can further bolster my application next year. Thus far I plan on applying to U. of Toronto, McGill, and UBC. While they are all Canadian schools, they do not require GRE scores (with the exception of UBC which does require GRE scores), since I did not do well on the scores I am interested to hear how I can bolster my application keeping in mind my low scores. Please feel free to PM me with your thoughts.

Glad to hear that you are still considering it, grantman. I lived in Toronto for six years, and think that studying there would be wonderful. Please keep us informed as to your decision.

[grantman]

I think that could be a smart move. I also don't know if you've been diagnosed with any testing disabilities, but if you think that might be a concern you can check out what accommodations the GRE administrators will make if you want to retake the test.

More generally, if you're really committed to becoming an academic researcher in political science, don't give up! Plenty of people don't make it the first time around. Do you have the option of taking graduate courses this year to demonstrate your academic abilities beyond your GRE? There are lots of ways to augment your application for the next round, if you choose to go for it.

To address your first concern, I have not been diagnosed with any testing disabilities, I just get anxiety in high stress situations like standardized testing which prohibits me from performing well. Secondly, I have taken graduate level courses given that I will have my Master of Public Administration degree here in the next few weeks. As i mentioned previously I here shortly will begin working on a paper for publication based off of my graduate thesis and I will also begin a massive research project. I thought that my 3.7 undergraduate and 4.0 graduate g.p.a would be enough to compensate and demonstrate to most universities that I would be an asset to their school, but I guess I was mistaken. Again, I am interested in hearing what others may have say. If you please would not mention the GRE's in your comments I would be very grateful.

[PDCU]

Just a random question, I heard that people with UK degrees have hard time getting academic jobs in the US. Is that the same deal with Canadian degrees?

[kaykaykay]

Pretty much. But of course there are exceptions and there is a Canadian academic job market too.

[bright on time]

Hey everyone-

I'm another 'rejected across the board' applicant from last cycle, back for another round of abuse. For 2012 I found GradCafe just in time to miserably obsess over the results boards, so I figured this year I might as well participate! I'm an IR person, with a tentative Latin American focus.

Right now I'm trying to prioritize the things I can improve (SOP, quant. experience), while simultaneously job searching and reworking my choices of schools. Seems to be the case for most, but the GREs are obviously weighing heavily on me- seriously, why can't school's just publish their angry, invisible cut off line?

Unlike most of you, though, I've already taken it twice. While I did improve (640 Q and 670 V, then 156 Q (720) and 165 (690) V according to the new scale) I'm still not sure that's enough. For you veterans- any thoughts on a THIRD take at the GRE? Of course, then the committee may just reject me on the criteria that no sane person wants to sit through that thing 3 times...

[blaspheming]

Hey everyone-

I'm another 'rejected across the board' applicant from last cycle, back for another round of abuse. For 2012 I found GradCafe just in time to miserably obsess over the results boards, so I figured this year I might as well participate! I'm an IR person, with a tentative Latin American focus.

Right now I'm trying to prioritize the things I can improve (SOP, quant. experience), while simultaneously job searching and reworking my choices of schools. Seems to be the case for most, but the GREs are obviously weighing heavily on me- seriously, why can't school's just publish their angry, invisible cut off line?

Unlike most of you, though, I've already taken it twice. While I did improve (640 Q and 670 V, then 156 Q (720) and 165 (690) V according to the new scale) I'm still not sure that's enough. For you veterans- any thoughts on a THIRD take at the GRE? Of course, then the committee may just reject me on the criteria that no sane person wants to sit through that thing 3 times...

It really depends on the range of schools you're applying to. A top 20 American program took me with scores slightly worse than those!

[IRToni]

First, the GRE is going to allow you to selectively send scores soon, from what I've read.

Second, if you're sitting out a year and really fell like you could do better, improving the Quant score might just be worth it. I don't think it will hurt you more than the score you have now. Not that your quant score is bad by any stretch of the imagination, but there's definitely room to improve. At the same time, however, if the rest of your application is very good, your current score will likely not hinder you at all. I'd probably make it depend upon how much effort I'd have to put in to get (>90th percentile) in math and then decide from there. Just my 2 cents

[AuldReekie]

Phew. Got a scholarship for a summer course in regression analysis and maths taught by US professors in Essex . Could help my relatively poor background in Math?

[catchermiscount]

The Essex program is generally well-regarded. It could certainly help to signal good background in statistical work.

[Joebim]

Hello everyone,

I'm applying to political theory programs in the US and was wondering how I should calculate my undergrad GPA since I switched faculties after my second year--I went from the faculty of business to the faculty arts. My overall GPA is 3.75, A- (81.3% in Canada) and my Bachelor of Arts GPA is 4.0, A (85.3%). What do people think the admissions committees will calculate it as? My lowest grades are in quantitative classes such as accounting, finance, and calculus (all of which I took in my first year), do you think they will factor that in even if it is completely unrelated to the field I'm applying to?

Thanks a lot!

[balledematch]

Hey All,

I'm back post-graduation relaxation time and starting to think about my 2nd cycle. When thinking about my profile, I'm most worried about my GRE score: 164V and 157Q. I'm an IR guy who isn't looking to do much quant, but I'm still worried about the scores. I come from a top 15 US university, and my letter writers say that I should apply to top 20 programs again, but I am pretty paranoid considering my shutout last year--I'm looking forward to LSE this fall, but would rather be starting a PhD. I know that all of this stuff can be a crapshoot, but I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!