Totally lost and would like some advice please! Thank you!

[MastersHoping]

Hello,

 

     I am interested in applying to Ph.D programs in Political Science (or related departments) for either Comparative or IR. 

 

     A little about my background: I came straight from undergrad to a masters program and would like to apply to Ph.Ds programs this upcoming fall semester. 

 

     My major in undergrad was East Asian Studies (although at my undergrad it was very humanistic), and I'm currently in an Asian Studies masters doing politics and security in asia. 

 

     Unfortunately, my undergrad transcript is a mess. I ended up with about a 3.3 - 3.4 GPA, although believe me the transcript is pretty messy. Fortunately at a university that is known for being rigorous. 

 

     I will probably have about a 3.6 or so in my masters program at the time of applications. Out of my 8 grades, I have 6 A-s, 1 A, and 1 (unfortunately) B. Although the B was in an elective class on a totally irrelevant topic.

 

     My interests are in things like human rights, refugee resettlement, sex trafficking prevention, etc. particularly in Asia involving North Korea and China (although lately I've been taking interests in Japan as well). 

 

    I have a few very minor publications, as well as a book translation on a relevant topic published. Unfortunately my quantitative skills are not that good. Not that they're bad, just not something I've worked on since undergrad.

 

    Currently, some schools I'm interested in are:

George Washington University

Johns Hopkins

University of Washington

George Mason

American

Tufts

etc.

Open to suggestions as well - prestige of the school isn't that important to me. 

 

GRE Scores of 163 V, 162 Q, and 5.0 W. Are these good enough or should I retake the test? 

 

There are a few people at most of these schools that I think have a good research fit - how does one go about contacting potential advisers? What should you say to them? 

Any other advice on what I should do? I am pretty lost.  Is it possible to get into Ph.D programs with my profile? Will my grades prevent me from getting into any programs? I've also taken some MOOCs that are possibly relevant that I probably want to include in my application.

 

Thank you!!! 

Edited May 17, 2015 by MastersHoping

[esotericish]

 

Open to suggestions as well - prestige of the school isn't that important to me. 

 

why not?

[MastersHoping]

I'm more interested in the reputation of the department as well as research fit than overall prestige of the university. 

[esotericish]

I'm more interested in the reputation of the department as well as research fit than overall prestige of the university. 

I think you'll find a strong correlation between reputation and prestige. The unfortunate truth is if you don't go somewhere with a good name recognition, you're very unlikely to get a job. The places you list above have very poor placement rates. You should do some research into how well these schools place people into jobs and use that as a starting point.

[MastersHoping]

Awww darn. Even Johns Hopkins and Tufts?

Does the reputation of the university still matter if you don't go into an academic job? 

 

Also, do I have the stats to even be considered for one of these places in the first place? I want to go to a higher ranked place too, of course, but I just fret that my poor undergrad transcript, despite a fairly decent though not great masters transcript, will prevent me from getting into places like Harvard, Stanford, Michigan etc. 

Edited May 20, 2015 by MastersHoping

[twentysix]

Awww darn. Even Johns Hopkins and Tufts?

Does the reputation of the university still matter if you don't go into an academic job? 

 

Also, do I have the stats to even be considered for one of these places in the first place? I want to go to a higher ranked place too, of course, but I just fret that my poor undergrad transcript, despite a fairly decent though not great masters transcript, will prevent me from getting into places like Harvard, Stanford, Michigan etc. 

 

Is a PhD really what you want if you have no interested in an academic job?

[victorydance]

You don't need perfect GPAs to get into top schools. It's actually the indicator that matters the least. I would say your grad school transcript is worse than getting a 3.4 during undergrad, finishing with only one A is kind of unimpressive. Regardless, it's not the end of the world to have average GPAs in your file. Your GRE score is solid.

 

If I were you, I would be more worried about if you have had enough training in political science and/or empirical/quantitative training. I have no idea if this is the case or not but it's something to consider. 

 

One thing I will say is this though: you have a sufficient substantive training in East Asia. You don't need to apply to programs that have a number of people who do research on East Asia politics. You need to focus on your research interests and apply to programs that have the best scholars in those sub-fields. For example, if you are interested in migration, you should be looking at all the top programs and who studies migration. If one of these studies migration in East Asia that's a bonus, but you have enough training in East Asia now that it really doesn't matter. 

[esotericish]

Is a PhD really what you want if you have no interested in an academic job?

 

yeah, why get a PhD? you're better off just entering the work force now. Think about the opportunity cost of those 5-6 years in grad school, both monetarily and career-wise.

 

And yeah, Johns Hopkins is ranked in the 50s, and as far as I know hasn't had a decent placement in years. I'm not even sure where Tufts is ranked? Definitely not a top 50 school. You should really think long and hard about even considering attending a school outside the top 20-30.

[MastersHoping]

You don't need perfect GPAs to get into top schools. It's actually the indicator that matters the least. I would say your grad school transcript is worse than getting a 3.4 during undergrad, finishing with only one A is kind of unimpressive. Regardless, it's not the end of the world to have average GPAs in your file. Your GRE score is solid.

 

If I were you, I would be more worried about if you have had enough training in political science and/or empirical/quantitative training. I have no idea if this is the case or not but it's something to consider. 

 

 

 

Oh haha, darn! And here I was hoping that my grad transcript could make up slightly for my spotty undergrad transcript. 

I'm not the best student, probably average among my bright cohorts. But I am pretty decent with publications and research - I've coauthored a few things in peer-reviewed journals before, although they were almost all very obscure journals or low impact journals. And I've got two papers being submitted right now for publication that I think have a good shot of being accepted. 

I think I have good background in poli sci in terms of content (Georgetown is very good for this kind of stuff). Unfortunately, my quant is not particularly impressive. Not that I'm bad at it, just haven't gotten exposure to it in quite some time and also don't particularly enjoy quantitative training. 

Edited May 20, 2015 by MastersHoping

[MastersHoping]

yeah, why get a PhD? you're better off just entering the work force now. Think about the opportunity cost of those 5-6 years in grad school, both monetarily and career-wise.

 

And yeah, Johns Hopkins is ranked in the 50s, and as far as I know hasn't had a decent placement in years. I'm not even sure where Tufts is ranked? Definitely not a top 50 school. You should really think long and hard about even considering attending a school outside the top 20-30.

 

http://politicalscience.jhu.edu/graduate/alumni-job-placement/

That's Hopkins recent placement record. Seems pretty decent to me, with people winding up at places like Arizona State, Boston University, SAIS - am I misunderstanding something? 

 

Is a PhD really what you want if you have no interested in an academic job?

 

 

Hmmm... you guys are right. Perhaps a Ph.D isn't right for me after all. Maybe I'll apply to other things in addition to Ph.D programs. Does the same rule apply if I don't necessarily want to stay in the United States in the future? A lot of places in my parents' home country, where I would definitely consider living in in the future, place a lot of value on American Ph.Ds, no matter what the ranking. Often, an average American university will get the job over a graduate of the top university in that country (at least that's what I've been told). 

Oh and it's not that I have no interest in an academic job, just that it's not the only thing I'd be willing to do. I'd be perfectly fine working in a think tank or something. 

Edited May 20, 2015 by MastersHoping

[victorydance]

^ People on this board don't really consider foreign nationals and how beneficial Ph.Ds can be in those job markets. Depending on your home country, a Ph.D. can get you into the door into a lot of professions where it may not in North America. I study Latin American politics and people from those countries that go back home with a Ph.D. from a top school end up with very good careers particularly in the public sector.

 

Not saying that it's the right choice or not, but you need to decide if the opportunity cost is right for you. 

[MastersHoping]

ah yeah you're right. I definitely should think it through carefully. Good thing I have all summer for that! Also, my parents and I are all naturalized American citizens, it's just that I'd be interested in, actually might even prefer, to move back to my parents' home country for a career in the future. 

 

Assuming that ultimately I decide this is the right path for me, do you think I have a shot at getting into at least some of these programs, like JHU and GWU? 

What about some higher-ranked ones like UPenn, Yale, WUSTL, etc (not necessarily these particular places but universities of that caliber and rank). 

[victorydance]

Impossible to say. The problem with these 'what are my chances threads' is that the most important factors, SOPs, LORs, writing samples, and research experience are never really revealed. 

 

Everyone on this board likes to say they have top notch LORs, but I doubt that's the case. Everyone seems to overrate their SOPs, even though this possibly could be the most important part of your application. 

 

Research experience matters. You will be competing with people, like myself, who have 1-2 years of RA experience when they apply to Ph.D. programs. 

 

Stats at the end of the day are the weakest indicator of acceptance potential. As long as you meet a threshold (~3.5+ GPA, 160+ on both sections of GRE), these things have little relevance in whether you get accepted or not.

 

Regardless, at the end of the day it doesn't matter. You put together the best application possible and apply to the best programs possible and see what happens. Only a select few have carte blanche to attend virtually anywhere they wish. For the vast majority of us, we put together a good application and hope we get a couple of acceptances. You only need one fully funded acceptance to go to grad school. 

 

FYI, I will be applying to Ph.D. programs mostly only in the top 10 and a couple in the top 20 with a 3.45 GPA and mediocre GRE scores (something I am going to try to improve). I got into perhaps the best MA program in my field (albeit obviously these programs are less competitive than doctoral programs) with these types of stats. That being said, I have quite hashed out research interests, experience in researching them, and a few professors who are really going to bat for me. That at the end of the day is going to get you in. 

 

Also, UPenn isn't very good for political science.

[law2phd]

Your undergrad and masters GPA are below average (but not terrible) for top programs.  As someone else suggested, the MA GPA is probably worse for you at this point than the undergrad one.  Whether true or not at your school, the general idea is that almost everybody at a terminal MA program is there to boost their stats for a future PhD, that grade inflation is even more endemic in MA programs than BA programs, and that something is likely wrong if you aren't pulling straight A's and A-'s in an MA program.

 

On the bright side, your GRE is good enough that it would only be a limiting factor at a handful of the top 10 programs, and it sounds like you could evidence a research record substantially better than most PhD applicants.  At the end of the day, this (along with solid LoRs and a focused SoP) could convince at least one solid program to overlook your GPAs and admit you.  It's impossible for anyone to predict, so you really have to just try and see what happens.

 

With all of that said, you should consider applying to better programs.  I don't think many people entering the process with their eyes wide open would consider attending most of the places you have listed.  At least for U.S. jobs, a PhD from  most of them isn't going to do much for your career.

[MastersHoping]

Okay, thanks for all your input! 

 

I feel a bit better knowing that my stats won't get me thrown out automatically. 

 

I'll work on a draft of the SOP over summer, and work on getting good recommendation letters. 

 

What does it mean to have hashed out research interests? 

 

Good luck to you! 

[MastersHoping]

Your undergrad and masters GPA are below average (but not terrible) for top programs...

 

Yeah I was aware that my GPAs were below average, which is why I feared that they would get me into the reject pile right off the bat - although I had no idea my grad was actually worse than my undergrad lol. 

 

Glad I don't have to retake the GRE then!  

 

And thanks for the tips, I'll definitely consider applying some better-ranked programs then, and see what happens.   

[victorydance]

 What does it mean to have hashed out research interests? 

 

It means that I know pretty specifically what I want to study and have spent a lot of time pursuing that topic and gaining knowledge and experience in it. 

 

Consider this, by the time I apply to Ph.D. programs, I will have written an honours thesis, a masters thesis, have been an RA in related subjects, all of my mentors (and SOPs) will have specialized in it, and hopefully presented a paper or submitted an article to a journal on this very topic. 

 

When you have clearly defined research interests you can build your application around it, the programs that you studied at around it, and the programs you are applying to around it. All of your LORs will be involved in that topic, your classwork will be geared towards it, your research experience will be on it or connected to it, and you will know exactly which programs house scholars in that subject. Everything is targeted and tight. 

 

And that is one factor that really I think people underestimate as a potential deal breaker into getting into top ph.d. programs. 

[MastersHoping]

Okay, in that case I think my research interests are pretty well defined and I have a decent amount of evidence to back that up. 

 

What do people who graduate from lesser-ranked programs like the ones I listed and don't get academic jobs end up doing? 

Edited May 20, 2015 by MastersHoping

[MastersHoping]

 

 

One thing I will say is this though: you have a sufficient substantive training in East Asia. You don't need to apply to programs that have a number of people who do research on East Asia politics. You need to focus on your research interests and apply to programs that have the best scholars in those sub-fields. For example, if you are interested in migration, you should be looking at all the top programs and who studies migration. If one of these studies migration in East Asia that's a bonus, but you have enough training in East Asia now that it really doesn't matter. 

 

Thanks for this piece of advice. So let me see if I understood correctly: you are advising me to apply to programs with topical research matches rather than regional interest matches?

[GradSchoolTruther]

What type of journal are you looking at if you're posting here for advice? Not wanting to be too mean, but most master's students do not have the methodological skills to publish in any decent journal, especially if you are using qualitative methods.

 

It means that I know pretty specifically what I want to study and have spent a lot of time pursuing that topic and gaining knowledge and experience in it. 

 

Consider this, by the time I apply to Ph.D. programs, I will have written an honours thesis, a masters thesis, have been an RA in related subjects, all of my mentors (and SOPs) will have specialized in it, and hopefully presented a paper or submitted an article to a journal on this very topic. 

 

When you have clearly defined research interests you can build your application around it, the programs that you studied at around it, and the programs you are applying to around it. All of your LORs will be involved in that topic, your classwork will be geared towards it, your research experience will be on it or connected to it, and you will know exactly which programs house scholars in that subject. Everything is targeted and tight. 

 

And that is one factor that really I think people underestimate as a potential deal breaker into getting into top ph.d. programs. 

 

 

[MastersHoping]

^Some less impactful journals. Not top journals. Perhaps the Georgetown Journal of Asian Studies (which is still fairly new) and things of that caliber. 

 

And don't worry about being "mean" as long as you're being honest. I know that you, as an anonymous stranger on the internet, have nothing against me personally, so as long as it's constructive criticism I won't be offended or take it personally. 

Edited May 21, 2015 by MastersHoping