Yue Lee Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Hi all! I'm a newbie here and I'm applying for comparative politics PhD programs now. I kinda freaked out when some of my friends suggested me to apply for a couple more programs with lower rankings. So I think maybe I can get some advice here Here are my stats: International student Research interest: Civil society activism in China, maybe some comparative studies between China and some other authoritarian state Undergrad: Government, Top 2 university in China (Best in political science, I guess) Undergrad GPA: let's say 84/100, or 3.41 (GPA calculation method is kinda different), no so good. MPhil: Political Science, Top 2 university in Hong Kong MPhil GPA: 3.87 GRE: V157， Q170，AW4.5 (not a native speaker of English) Research method: I'm not super quantitative, but ok with SPSS, STATA and stuff Experience: part time research job at some LGBT and women NGOs No publication Language: Mandarin Chinese, English, some Korean I plan to apply for programs in MIT, Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell, Notre Dame, and Maryland. Do I have a shot at these programs, or should I find some programs with lower rankings to replace them? Thank you so much : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeMyCoffeeBlack Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 You have a shot at the programs, but nothing's guaranteed. Problem is, it wouldn't be guaranteed at the "lower ranked" universities either, since it's all about fit. Make a small list of universities you could be really happy at (which you already have) and put everything you can into it. You've got a decent spread here from the top 30. From there, it's a mixture of preparedness and luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yue Lee Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 You have a shot at the programs, but nothing's guaranteed. Problem is, it wouldn't be guaranteed at the "lower ranked" universities either, since it's all about fit. Make a small list of universities you could be really happy at (which you already have) and put everything you can into it. You've got a decent spread here from the top 30. From there, it's a mixture of preparedness and luck. Thank you TakeMyCoffeeBlack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGnome Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I echo what TMCB said. However, if there are other schools that you think are good fits, would be happy to attend, and have the extra money for the application fees, I would go ahead and apply to them as well. dworkable 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeMyCoffeeBlack Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I echo what TMCB said. However, if there are other schools that you think are good fits, would be happy to attend, and have the extra money for the application fees, I would go ahead and apply to them as well. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steedyue Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 (edited) Hi all! I'm a newbie here and I'm applying for comparative politics PhD programs now. I kinda freaked out when some of my friends suggested me to apply for a couple more programs with lower rankings. So I think maybe I can get some advice here Here are my stats: International student Research interest: Civil society activism in China, maybe some comparative studies between China and some other authoritarian state Undergrad: Government, Top 2 university in China (Best in political science, I guess) Undergrad GPA: let's say 84/100, or 3.41 (GPA calculation method is kinda different), no so good. MPhil: Political Science, Top 2 university in Hong Kong MPhil GPA: 3.87 GRE: V157， Q170，AW4.5 (not a native speaker of English) Research method: I'm not super quantitative, but ok with SPSS, STATA and stuff Experience: part time research job at some LGBT and women NGOs No publication Language: Mandarin Chinese, English, some Korean I plan to apply for programs in MIT, Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell, Notre Dame, and Maryland. Do I have a shot at these programs, or should I find some programs with lower rankings to replace them? Thank you so much : ) Peking University right? i don't know there is a political science department in China mainland, if you understand what i mean. By the way, I happen to know some other Chinese students applying political science Ph.D. this year, and they are from Yale, Stanford and Columbia. A very identical characteristics is that they would shoot for 8-12 schools. Edited November 23, 2013 by steedyue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yue Lee Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 I echo what TMCB said. However, if there are other schools that you think are good fits, would be happy to attend, and have the extra money for the application fees, I would go ahead and apply to them as well. Thx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yue Lee Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 Peking University right? i don't know there is a political science department in China mainland, if you understand what i mean. By the way, I happen to know some other Chinese students applying political science Ph.D. this year, and they are from Yale, Stanford and Columbia. A very identical characteristics is that they would shoot for 8-12 schools. Yeah, and yeah, I know what u mean... Thx : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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