Rainbow0121 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 I've been reading these forums for a while and so I thought I would finally take the plunge and get involved. I don't want this to be a generic "what are my chances" thread as reading through all of the past ones only brings about fear and loathing and I realise calculating "chances" is an exercise in futility! I'm planning on having a go at this years cycle but am realistic about my chances and feel that next year my application will be stronger, however I think participating this year will give me a wealth of useable experience- and hey, you never know! Anyway, I'm a UK student and so am evaluating my chances of success in US programs. I'm considering only applying to three programs (I know this dramatically decreases my chances but i'm a broke soon-to-be masters student so it can't be helped) At the moment I'm looking at Georgetown and Berkeley and one other top 50-75 school - any suggestions??? A little about myself: High 2.i Degree from Cambridge University, MA from University of London, research experience in both UK and US Think tanks and a couple of published papers. I'm taking the GRE in July and aiming for (fingers crossed) 165+ in both and a 4.5+ in Essays. My interests are primarily political communication, elections and campaigns and more broadly anything resembling UK/US comparative politics. Thoughts/Suggestions/Past Experiences welcomed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoliSwede Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 My first impression is that you might be aiming a bit low if you are expecting your GRE scores to be 165+ for verbal and quantitative. especially considering your past experience. Now, I know nothing about how British applicants are viewed by admissions committes, so I can't speak to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socioeconomist Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 From my experience, it totally makes sense to borrow some cash from a friend and apply to a dozen of schools. If you are not completely confident in your application, it is a suicide to apply for less then 6 programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow0121 Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 Yeah from looking around the boards its obvious that the more the better. Having done some research I've found about 7 schools which I think would be a good fit. What are the reputations of U of Washington and U of Colorado (Boulder) like? I'm finding it difficult to find anything beyond superficial rankings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRToni Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 U of Washington at Seattle? One of my profs recommended it to me as a solid Comparative Politics Department, though I don't know about US/UK comparative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisGuyRiteHere Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I second applying for a bunch of schools. I knew exactly where my apps would fly, so i aimed 50-70 on USNWR list. Needless to say. Applied for 7 schools, with drew one app, rejected by 3, accepted by 3, funded by 1. Wish I would have targeted my application better, but I am satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoliSwede Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 What are the reputations of U of Washington and U of Colorado (Boulder) like? I'm finding it difficult to find anything beyond superficial rankings. I think that it's hard to go wrong with University of Washington (Seattle) as long as you think it will be a good fit. It's a solid program with a good reputation. University of Colorado at Boulder probably has a slightly less competitive admissions' process than University of Washington, but it's still a decent school to graduate from. I know that Aydin and Tir are both good IR scholars at UC-Boulder, but I don't know much about the other subfields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upam Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I think that it's hard to go wrong with University of Washington (Seattle) as long as you think it will be a good fit. It's a solid program with a good reputation. University of Colorado at Boulder probably has a slightly less competitive admissions' process than University of Washington, but it's still a decent school to graduate from. I know that Aydin and Tir are both good IR scholars at UC-Boulder, but I don't know much about the other subfields. Tir is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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