What if MA grades are worse than BA ones?

[socioeconomist]

Hey guys!

I am almost done with my studies in Europe and this year I am going to apply for PhD in the U.S. So, here is the thing. I completed my BA in Sociology with GPA of 3.95. Then I decided to change the field a bit and got enrolled to an MA program in Political Science. Now I have almost finished the first year, but got a poorer result of something about 3.5 out of 4 (it is not a final grade, but I will probably need to send exactly these preliminary transcripts with my PhD application. So, the questions are as follows:

1) How problematic is it for my application in general? I mean I read that many schools pay most of their attention to an undergraduate degree. At the same time I could imagine that my situation might be comprehended as "a bad trend" or something.

2) If it really could be a problem, I am wondering whether it'd be better to explain this situation in my statement of purpose (I changed my major etc.)

3) All other things being equal (and I really mean it!), do you think that given my situation I am more competitive for a PhD in Sociology or PhD in Political Science? My research interest actually lies in between these fields and I have quite similar experience and knowledge of both of them. On the one hand, I would assume I am more competitive for Sociology, because of the higher grades, but at the same time, it could seem that I didn't succeed in Political Science and decided to return. So, on the other hand, my way to Political Science is more straight-forward and even though I have lower grades in it, I could still catch up completing MA requirements during my PhD.

Thanks!

Edited May 16, 2012 by socioeconomist

[BrokenRecord]

Undergrad GPA matters far more. Grad GPA's tend to be heavily inflated. Your research/publications matter more if you already have a masters. A 4.0 masters GPA with no publications won't get you anywhere. However, in your case since you switched disciplines poli sci adcoms may pay more attention to your masters GPA since it is the only barometer that they can attest to your competency of the political science field.

Your competitiveness for either PhD program lies in the research agenda you are carving in your masters program. I would honestly be wary if I were a sociology adcom member seeing your masters in polisci and undergrad in sociology UNLESS you make the case in your personal statement how your research addresses a specific gap of the literature that is explained more thoroughly by a knowledge of both disciplines (of either political science or sociology). Social sciences are increasingly becoming more interdisciplinary so it may be to your advantage so long as you can make the case without of sounding unsure or wishy washy with what you want to do.

Edited May 19, 2012 by BrokenRecord