How much does research experience matter for PhD admissions?

[justinmcducd]

Hey guys, I'm trying to figure out which PhD programs to apply to, and was wondering if I'm selling myself short. My interests are primarily in american politics, specifically political behavior and psychology.

Like a lot of students, my first couple years in college where pretty bleak, and even though I improved a lot, I'm spooked about applying to top programs. I did present my undergrad thesis to the International Society of Political Psychology, and I'm finishing up an MPA with a 3.75 GPA (4.0 in academic classes, ie. I got b+'s in human resource management and a class on negotiation).

My masters thesis studies the ability of students to conceptually transfer deep properties of complex systems across physical and social domains, and the impact of transference on policy preference (sorry I know thats vague/wonkish).

I also worked a couple years after college as a political consultant and policy researcher/aide in the GA house of reps minority leaders office.

So my question is, should I focus my letters of intent strongly on my research, or would this make me appear too myopic or narrowly focused? Also, would the relative success I have had in the last 7 years over power the terrible years I had academically from 18-20?

Thanks guys, your advice is very appreciated!

Edited August 17, 2012 by justinmcducd

[Max Power]

Short answer: yes, you can certainly overcome the holes in your application. focus your statement strongly on research and show that you can ask an interesting and relevant question. if you have a letter writer or two who can speak to the fact that you are clearly not the same person who who got those undergrad grades, that should be sufficient. it will sound way better coming from them than it will from you, plus it will just eat into your already limited word count on your research statement.

Your story and interests sound incredibly similar to mine. I had some rough years from 18-20 both academically and personally. I spent 5 years in political consulting, did an MA and had a very successful go of applying last time around. If you want, you can PM me and I'll share more details

[adaptations]

Definitely focus on your research. Grad schools are looking for a statement of (research) purpose, not a personal statement like undergrad, so be clear about what your interested in and show you have demonstrated potential to succeed(a couple schools also require a personal or diversity statement, but that is different than your statement of purpose). Having strong credentials post-undergrad can certainly offset a poor early academic record, so you have a shot. Good luck!

[justinmcducd]

Thanks so much for the responses! If I can, let me ask the further question..

So basically my undergrad paper that was presented to ISSP sought to explain (partially at least) the emergence ideological belief systems in terms of recent cognitive/behavioral psch, and ground a theory of 'how' ideological beliefs occur based on historical docs and modern research into how cogntive processes allow such beliefs to form as part of environmental interactions.

My masters thesis is based on complex systems theory as it applies to policy effects/outcomes, and how students mentally model such behaviors and how effective meantal modeling influences policy choice...

In other words, I'm WAY out of the range of normal poli sci.. yet these areas are just the (I'd argue interesting and relevant to social science) problems I've been lucky enough to have the capability to research. I'm interested in many aspects of institutions, political behavior, political comunication and would love to learn some more advanced research methods than what I've been taught so far.

How do I market it this weirdness ;-)

Edited August 20, 2012 by justinmcducd

[Max Power]

Easily. Your research statement and application will be higher variance than most other people, but also possibly higher mean. You will hurt your chances at some schools but raise your chances by an even bigger factor at others. Some members of admissions committees will read it and think its out there. You will not get into those schools. However, it will speak to some people who agree with your vision. You will have an extremely good shot at getting into those schools because your application will be unique and have a strong advocate. The downside to this is that you may want to apply to a few extra schools because there is no way to know which schools will have admissions committee members who will like what you are selling and which will not.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Max Power

[Bdeniso]

I dont know about American, but I know that places like Ohio State are doing things on decision making including looking at fMRI scans and seeing how the brain reacts when making political decisions. So there are places out there doing things you seem to be interested in.