Applying to PhD with a sub-3.0 undergraduate GPA

[egunes]

Hi, 

 

I am applying to Political Science PhD programs at US universities as an international applicant, but my undergrad GPA (Economics major) is very low. It's 2.92. Currently I am pursuing a MA in Political Science, and my GPA is 3.6. I have taken GRE, and my scores are as follows: Q-168, V-154, A.W. - 3,5. My TOEFL score is 104. 

 

I have contacted with some faculty members, and asked about the fit of my research project to their department. I have taken some positive feedbacks. I want to apply to universities such as University of Washington, UPenn, Northwestern, Cornell, Michigan State, Syracuse, Maryland College Park, Brown, Pittsburgh, Illinois (Urbana). What do you think about the likeliness of my being admitted to one of these schools? Is my low undergrad GPA is big barrier for being admitted? 

 

Thanks. 

 

[zudei]

Hi egunes,

 

While I do not purport to be an admissions expert (seeing as it is my first cycle), let me try to answer your questions:

 

• First of all, does your home uni actually give numerical GPA's? If not, how did you convert it? If it isn't an official conversion, I wouldn't put much store by it. Your grad GPA is good on the other hand, and will do you a lot of good.
• Secondly, Your verbal and writing GRE scores are not that great, but all universities have different requirements. I would suggest that you check the websites or contact the grad schools themselves to find out if you are at a disadvantage. Sometimes it can be hard to get funding with low GRE scores.
• Finally, we need more information: what are your interests? If methodology, a low(er) V or AW score is less of a hurdle. How are your LOR's? What sort of a sample are you submitting?

I know that I'm not giving you any concrete answers, but I'm afraid that there rarely are any. Your undergrad GPA (if applicable) and low GRE scores are a hurdle, but other aspects can bring your app up again.

[egunes]

 Thank you very much for your reply.

 

my uni gives numerical GPA based on 4.0 scale. I want to study comparative political economy with a regional focus on Middle East. I have strong background of Middle Eastern politics. I have taken many POLS courses that had to with Mid. East. In my SOP I emphasized that feature.

[zudei]

Ok from what I know, and I stress again that this is my personal opinion, that V and AW score does not look good. The low undergrad GPA can be mitigated by the good grad GPA. If you provide a kickass sample and get informative letters I think you would do fine.

 

Contact the unis and see where you stand in terms of the GRE. Some universities apparently have a cut-off system.

 

Good luck!

[cooperstreet]

That verbal score is quite low. You say you want to study comparative political economy with a focus on the Middle East, which suggests a quantitative approach. So scratch Penn of your list because there is no one there that does that. Hows your Arabic or Turkish or Hebrew?

[IRToni]

I assume OP's not a native speaker, though. Some schools emphasize that they're more lenient with non-NS with their verbal. I would say, however, that your verbal, in addition to your "relatively low" TOEFL and AWA might be a problem for political science research. What are your TOEFL scores in reading/writing etc. I saw some schools in the US that have a cut-off of 110, and others with specific cut-offs for the different skills.

 

Your UG GPA might be a problem, especially for funding and the Graduate School, but there's no way to know for sure.

 

cooper: You can study CPE with ME qualitatively as well, though, especially if you understand CPE substantially, and not methodologically. However, with the OP's profile, emphasizing quant might be a good idea, since the Quant score is really good. I will say that Cornell is not the best place to do quant stuff, since they still are quite heterodox, and qualitative in general, that's my impression anyway.

[egunes]

That verbal score is quite low. You say you want to study comparative political economy with a focus on the Middle East, which suggests a quantitative approach. So scratch Penn of your list because there is no one there that does that. Hows your Arabic or Turkish or Hebrew?

Thank you very much for your reply. 

Yes it's a very low score for a native speaker, but a mediocre one for non-native I think. People from my country who get admissions from US universities generally score close to mine. My native language is Turkish, and I started learning Arabic last year, and completed elementary level courses. I apply to UPenn because of my strong background in Mid. East politics.

[cooperstreet]

I suggest you find a program that has people who study Turkey--you will be in a much better position. and FYI, if you say you want to study the comparative political economy of the ME in your application to Penn you wont make it past the first round because they don't have anyone there who studies that.