Chances for PhD Political Science with focus Middle East

[sianover4o]

 I am very impressed by the strong backgrounds everyone has and I'd like to share my humble profile. I'd be happy to get some feedback and advice about my chances to end up in a good PhD program with MENA focus.

 

So here are my stats:

 

International student

BA double major in Political Science and International studies; minor International Business from a not-very-well known US public college

GPA 3.8/4.0    I guess not high for top-10 programs 

 

MA in International Relations from a top German university (top 200 in international rankings) 2012-2014 (expected)

GPA 3.5/4.0 (kinda hard to estimate it rights since they have different grading system)

 

GRE  V: 165, Q: 158; AW: 4.0

 

 

Proficiency in SPSS, R, and MAXQDA

One conference paper and publication.

Two Research internships in Germany

One NGO internship in USA

 

My wishlist:

Yale

Stanford

NYU

Rochester

Upenn

WUSTL

Georgetown

Brandeis

Northwestern

Illinois, Chicago

 

I guess I should add some lower universities, since I do not have very outstanding GRE and GPA scores.

[cooperstreet]

Are you an IR or a comparativist? Is the publication single-authored in a peer reviewed journal?

 

That quant is going to keep you out of the running at top programs.

 

Who at NYU and rochester do Middle East? At stanford? I don't think Lisa Blaydes is tenured.

[sianover4o]

I'm a comparativist and yes, Lisa Blaydes is not tenured, but I'm also going for Jeremy Weinstein (civil wars and political violence). As for NYU, Prof. Farhad Kazemi looks like a pretty suitable choice for my research interests.

 

My publication is single-authored in a peer-reviewed journal and it is also a conference paper.

I was very disappointed about my math score but in general I am not very good in math I thought maybe the verbal score will give me some push. 

[TheGnome]

I don't think what you said about sianover's Q score is necessarily true cooper, unless you have insider knowledge on the admissions process in every one of those schools.

 

Sianover, 158 in Q is not a plus, and you can reasonably expect that to hurt your chances at top programs.There is always the possibility that your file will be weeded out in some places if they have a high GRE cutoff, and if they are very serious about it. However a quick search in the gradcafe forums will reveal that people have been accepted at top institutions with similar GRE scores pretty much every year. If you have a solo peer-reviewed publication, good letters, and a well written SOP, there is no reason why those should not compensate for the low Q score.

 

A last note - Farhad Karzami is an emeritus professor. I am definitely not the authority on this, but I think it is not a great idea to drop an emeritus prof name in your SoP as your primary person of interest. 

[sianover4o]

Thanks for the advice. I feel like I am quite limited with my possible supervisors in Middle East research - they are mostly either Emeritus or assistant professors. But hopefully, I will be able to get to at least one good program with relevant supervision. I am really frustrated about my Q scores. I have taken the exam before and I scored 163 in math and 160 in verbal and I'm so divided which score to send that would hurt me less. So far I am inclined to go for the higher verbal....

[cooperstreet]

What about Rutgers? Princeton? Johns Hopkins?

 

Also, how are you language skills?

[sianover4o]

I actually haven't found any Middle East supervisors in Rutgers and John Hopkins. Can you recommend me some if you know? As for Princeton, it is also on my list but I am reluctant due to their high GRE Quant cut offs

As for my language skills: fluent English and German, intermediate French and Russian.

[cooperstreet]

Eric Davis is at Rutgers,and I don't know who they study with, but I do know a lot of grad students at johns hopkins study the Middle East.

 

If you're applying for comparative programs that focus on the Middle East, you will be up against people who have lots of Arabic/Hebrew/Farsi experience,, which will be difficult.

 

Also, Don't forget Michigan, which has probably the best program out there for this stuff.

[Today12345]

Thanks for the advice. I feel like I am quite limited with my possible supervisors in Middle East research - they are mostly either Emeritus or assistant professors. But hopefully, I will be able to get to at least one good program with relevant supervision. I am really frustrated about my Q scores. I have taken the exam before and I scored 163 in math and 160 in verbal and I'm so divided which score to send that would hurt me less. So far I am inclined to go for the higher verbal....

Why don't you send both scores? Schools would generally take the highest score in each section.  That way, you'd end up with 165V 160Q.

[sianover4o]

Thanks, Today. I wasn't sure if it was good for the admissions committee to see me taking the exam two times, and decreasing significantly my Q score the second time. I guess if they really look at the highest scored sections, it would be in my advantage.

[sianover4o]

Eric Davis is at Rutgers,and I don't know who they study with, but I do know a lot of grad students at johns hopkins study the Middle East.

 

If you're applying for comparative programs that focus on the Middle East, you will be up against people who have lots of Arabic/Hebrew/Farsi experience,, which will be difficult.

 

Also, Don't forget Michigan, which has probably the best program out there for this stuff.

  I will look into Rutgers and JH, thanks I thought that language is just a bonus but not a requirement, and I haven't had much time for language classes after I was sure I want to focus on MENA

[TheGnome]

Penelope Higgins on phd admissions and languages 

Edited November 13, 2013 by TheGnome