How many weight can MPSA conference add to application profile?

[steedyue]

Just received the message of acceptation. The paper is for in IPE/Asian Politics panel.

 

gradGPA 3.9+ in UCSD

GRE 333

RL from UCSD tenured professors (familiar with my work/enrolled in course).

Edited November 7, 2013 by steedyue

[TheGnome]

Conference presentations are nice but their impact on admissions -I think- is probably trivial in the grand scheme of things. They might matter more if there is a choice to be made between you and someone else with a similar profile. Alternatively they might help offset a perceived weakness in your file. In any case, I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

Your profile looks quite good though, so I am sure you will do great. 

[steedyue]

Conference presentations are nice but their impact on admissions -I think- is probably trivial in the grand scheme of things. They might matter more if there is a choice to be made between you and someone else with a similar profile. Alternatively they might help offset a perceived weakness in your file. In any case, I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

Your profile looks quite good though, so I am sure you will do great. 

That is what I am thinking; MPSA is a low-barrier platform for PhD students to communicate. I am still happy though, and feel myself assimilated into the community before actually enrolling in a Phd program.

Thanks.

[TheGnome]

I would still say the same thing though if you would switch MPSA presentation with APSA presentation, which has a significant rejection rate. My comments were about conference presentations in general, not specifically about MPSA.

[justinmcducd]

I would still say the same thing though if you would switch MPSA presentation with APSA presentation, which has a significant rejection rate. My comments were about conference presentations in general, not specifically about MPSA.

 

That's interesting, and a bit unnerving. I would think that conference presentations at least show that applicants know what the research world is like.   I'd think it also shows an ability to formulate research questions, undergo research projects, and contribute to the field...  all the things that good PhD students and job market candidates usually do, right?

Edited November 9, 2013 by justinmcducd

[jazzrap]

That's interesting, and a bit unnerving. I would think that conference presentations at least show that applicants know what the research world is like.   I'd think it also shows an ability to formulate research questions, undergo research projects, and contribute to the field...  all the things that good PhD students and job market candidates usually do, right?

Actually even publication would not add too much weight

[justinmcducd]

Actually even publication would not add too much weight

Why? I've heard from a grad adviser that publications in particular are a big selling point.... strange.   What does add weight, other than letters, SOP, and scores?

[TheGnome]

That's interesting, and a bit unnerving. I would think that conference presentations at least show that applicants know what the research world is like.   I'd think it also shows an ability to formulate research questions, undergo research projects, and contribute to the field...  all the things that good PhD students and job market candidates usually do, right?

 

That may be so, but you will do that once you get in anyway. They will teach you how to do these things. Also I did not mean to dismiss conference presentations, I think beefing up your resume however you can is a good strategy. My point was that compared to the core components of your application -GRE, GPA, SOP, etc- , the impact of conference presentations is probably minimal, therefore it is not wise to put too much stock into them. Would they help? Sure, but it won't make or break the application. This is, at least, my take on it (i.e. random guy at gradcafe), so take it for whatever it is worth.

 

Why? I've heard from a grad adviser that publications in particular are a big selling point.... strange.   What does add weight, other than letters, SOP, and scores?

 

There is a greater margin of error in interpreting the value of publications. If you have a scholarly, peer reviewed publication, it should definitely be a good signal. If not, well it is good to have it than not I guess but shouldn't be terribly important. Then again, not all peer-reviewed publications are created equal, so it is hard to tell how good a signal that would be. If you propose to do some sort of IPE work in your SOP, and show that you have a piece in Review of International Political Economy that would be a fantastic signal about your academic potential. Then again, even the graduates of top schools often do not have such pubs in their CVs when they go into the job market, so I cant imagine that to be a common situation among PhD applicants.

[jazzrap]

That may be so, but you will do that once you get in anyway. They will teach you how to do these things. Also I did not mean to dismiss conference presentations, I think beefing up your resume however you can is a good strategy. My point was that compared to the core components of your application -GRE, GPA, SOP, etc- , the impact of conference presentations is probably minimal, therefore it is not wise to put too much stock into them. Would they help? Sure, but it won't make or break the application. This is, at least, my take on it (i.e. random guy at gradcafe), so take it for whatever it is worth.

 

 

There is a greater margin of error in interpreting the value of publications. If you have a scholarly, peer reviewed publication, it should definitely be a good signal. If not, well it is good to have it than not I guess but shouldn't be terribly important. Then again, not all peer-reviewed publications are created equal, so it is hard to tell how good a signal that would be. If you propose to do some sort of IPE work in your SOP, and show that you have a piece in Review of International Political Economy that would be a fantastic signal about your academic potential. Then again, even the graduates of top schools often do not have such pubs in their CVs when they go into the job market, so I cant imagine that to be a common situation among PhD applicants.

There are people who did not get into Top 5 with Political Analysis. My point is that a publication must help, but the really elite schools are still terribly hard to get in. Plus, they have weird preferences.

[upam]

In the end, you're just putting together the best application you can. No clear formula as to where you'll be accepted/rejected. Oh the joy of the applications!

[justinmcducd]

In the end, you're just putting together the best application you can. No clear formula as to where you'll be accepted/rejected. Oh the joy of the applications!

 

Very true!  If anyone has any input,  I'm struggling with a similar question regarding how to discuss my prior research experience in comparison to what I'd like to do in a PhD program.

 

I gave my undergrad thesis to a fairly large conference (international soc. of political psychology),  though  I can't say I'm interested in specifically doing poli psych only, and in the years since have developed broader research interests.   I'm not sure if/how to integrate this into my SOP since it does appear on my CV, and not get typified in being interested narrowly in one subfield.

Edited November 10, 2013 by justinmcducd

[TheGnome]

I am in a similar boat in terms of having research interests that are different (changed) than some of the stuff on my CV would suggest. I don't talk about those at all in my SOP and focus almost exclusively on elaborating my current research interests and fit. I guess I thought that demonstrating my fit and my familiarity with the discipline and the topics that I am interested in would yield the most benefit, but I would definitely be interested to see if anyone has any comments on that.

[AmericanQuant]

There are people who did not get into Top 5 with Political Analysis. My point is that a publication must help, but the really elite schools are still terribly hard to get in. Plus, they have weird preferences.

Really? Who?

[RWBG]

Really? Who?

I am also wondering this. I know one person who chose not to go to a Top 5 with a publication in political analysis, but they certainly got in. I'd have to say a solo-authored publication in political analysis is a pretty damn good signal, but this is very, very rarely the kind of publication that incoming grad students have.

[jazzrap]

I am also wondering this. I know one person who chose not to go to a Top 5 with a publication in political analysis, but they certainly got in. I'd have to say a solo-authored publication in political analysis is a pretty damn good signal, but this is very, very rarely the kind of publication that incoming grad students have.

Okay. SORRY for over-speculating. I guess I was referring to the same person as you are. That person went to a non-Top 5, so I thought he must have not got into a top 5. Now I guess you pointed out the true story. Of course, the program that person went to, if we were indeed referring to the same person, is almost as good as a top 5. 

Sorry guys, really bad reply on my part. 

[TheGnome]

I smell Rochester

[catchermiscount]

Not that I can think of.

[cooperstreet]

I do know that ISA's annual conference says that they reject hundreds of applicants, so that counts for something.

[TheGnome]

I can't really think of any other place that one would pick over the top 5 schools - if there are no personal/family factors weighing on the decision that is.

[AmericanQuant]

Okay. SORRY for over-speculating. I guess I was referring to the same person as you are. That person went to a non-Top 5, so I thought he must have not got into a top 5. Now I guess you pointed out the true story. Of course, the program that person went to, if we were indeed referring to the same person, is almost as good as a top 5. 

Sorry guys, really bad reply on my part. 

 

This is sort off-topic for this thread, but in polisci, we usually talk about a top 5 rather than a top 6. Berkeley is just as good as (and in American, probably better than) Yale and Michigan.  Secondly, student in question has a fellowship from Harvard (which he declined) on his transcript. He also turned down Stanford.

Edited November 19, 2013 by AmericanQuant

[catchermiscount]

Remember:

 

There are six top fives.

There are twelve top tens.

There are twenty top fifteens.

It is impossible to count how many top twenty-fives there are.

[TheGnome]

This is sort off-topic for this thread, but in polisci, we usually talk about a top 5 rather than a top 6. Berkeley is just as good as (and in American, probably better than) Yale and Michigan.  Secondly, student in question has a fellowship from Harvard (which he declined) on his transcript. He also turned down Stanford.

 

Whoa! Is that guy for real? That CV is hurting my eyes!!

 

I'll go discuss this in depth with a bottle of something, preferably 80-proof or higher...