Profile Evaluation and Advice

[wpg205]

I'm a long time lurker on this forum who will be applying to Ph.Ds this fall.  I was hoping for some advice on applications and suggestions for programs.  Here we go:

Type of Undergrad Institution: East Coast Top 30 Liberal Arts
Major: Philosophy
Undergrad GPA: 3.6

Type of Grad: Top IR M.A.

Grad Focus: Quantitative Methods, China Studies
Grad GPA:  3.9
GRE: 170 V, 166 Q (92%), 6 AWA
Any Special Courses: Lots and lots of Econ (95% As) , Calc I, II & III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis (all As), Statistics, Econometrics (All As).  Currently taking ODE, Probability Theory, and Theory Functions of a Real Variable (grad level, mostly measure theory, lebesgue integration)

Letters of Recommendation: Have up to four solid LOR, but they are all Economists, some at the Federal Reserve (see below) and two from MA.

Research Experience:  Two years as an RA as the Board of Governors in DC, but nothing published

Teaching Experience: N/A
Subfield/Research Interests: State Formation, Institutions and origins of development
Other: Honors in Undergrad and MA, Award for top student in department in MA, near fluency in Mandarin

I am basically looking for input for A. How to strengthen my application, B. Which programs would be a good fit/possible to get in.  I know my strengths are my quant and econ background and my GREs, my weaknesses will be lack of Poly-sci classes (only a few), LoR from economists, lack of publications, and probably not great writing sample (only have econ and nothing I am really proud of).  

I am interested in doing Comparative Politics and Methodology, in particular the study of institutional development, origins of the state, and institutional competition, but from a more quantitative/modeling perspective and less qualitative.  Long term I definitely want to be doing research.  Stanford would be my top choice, but I know even with a strong application its a crap shoot.  Any advice on schools that would be a good fit would be greatly appreciated, as well as advice on anything I can do to strengthen my application.  Thanks.  

 

[MastersHoping]

Two "weaknesses" you state, i.e. lack of poli sci classes and the fact that you have recs from economists are not, in my view, even weaknesses. 

You already have a few poli sci classes, and from the rest of your profile it seems to me that you are a very bright student so I would bet you did well in those, so that's a plus for you. Also, economics and poli sci are very close relatives, and in fact, if you were interested in doing political economy it might even be better that you had more econ relevant classes than poli sci. Furthermore, quant skills are more and more desirable in political science research. Judging by your coursework and GRE score, you clearly have that. 

As for your rec letters, I have no doubt that an economist would be able to properly assess your potential for political science, particularly if you're doing political economy. What's more important is that the letter writers know you well and can assess your potential for research. 

For your lack of publications, I wouldn't worry too much about it. While it's nice to have some under your belt before you apply, it's not necessary. In fact, doctoral programs are supposed to train you on how to write journal quality papers. I know plenty of people who didn't have a single publication and got into some nice schools. It's more important that your programs can assess your potential to do productive research in your intended field. I have a few minor publications (a non-academic book translation on a relevant topic, and some peer-reviewed articles albeit from very unprestigious journals, haha) but would give those up in a heartbeat - well maybe not the book translation, that i am very proud of - for your quant background, transcript, and GRE scores. 

That brings me to your writing sample. You say your writing sample isn't that good. If it's truly not that good, then this is, in my view, the biggest blemish for you. The writing sample is one of the most important aspects of your application, and through that adcomms gauge your writing ability and potential to do research. So my best suggestion for you is, out of all the components of your application that you've mentioned being a "weakness", spend the MOST time on your writing sample until you feel fully confident in it.

As for school suggestions, double check on this, but I believe places like University of Rochester, Princeton, and Michigan are very good for quant/methodology. You mention fluency in Mandarin - are you planning to do anything about China in your studies? If so, I might suggest taking a look at places that also have strong Asian studies programs. Stanford, as you mentioned, sounds like a great fit for you in this case. I'd also maybe take a look at a bunch of the UCs, like UCLA and UC-Berkeley. Try Harvard and Columbia as well. Avoid Northwestern and UChicago. Again, double check on all my suggestions of schools just to be sure. But definitely spend time on your writing sample! 

Good luck to you. I'm applying to PhDs in poli sci as well right now   

[wpg205]

Thanks so much for giving me some feedback, it is really useful and very much appreciated.  

For China, I would definitely want to incorporate China into my studies.  Given my specific research interests I am not entirely sure how to incorporate that in my SoP, but I can probably just drop a couple lines about my desire to continue doing China work and be OK.

For school recs, why do say avoid Northwestern and Chicago?  I don't know about NW, but I had heard good things about U-Chicago.   Thanks again, and best of luck on your apps as well!

[MastersHoping]

Given what you've said here, it seems to me that you will have a very strong application! 

As for why not Northwestern and Chicago, why, they are my top two choices and I wouldn't want to be compared against you, of course XD 

But on a more serious note, I went to UChicago for undergrad although I was not in the poli sci department. It seems to me that much of their program is super duper cerebral/intellectual/on the brainy side of things and less quantitative (think philosophy type stuff). Even though you were a philosophy major, it doesn't seem to be what you're interested in doing for your Ph.D. Same goes for NU... I think. Take my school suggestions with a grain of salt, though. The other things I mentioned to you I feel very confident about, i.e. focus on your writing sample, but less so for school choices. 

[reedlei]

I guess you are doing your M.A. in SAIS? I think you have really good preparation in your application! I am also interested in China Study (because I am Chinese). But I think you definitely have better chance of getting into a top program than I do. My feeling is that  Stanford will be a good choice for you (both for institutional analysis and China studies). U of Michigan is traditionally strong in Chinese Politics. UBC has Kevin O'brien and you should have a try. Maybe Cornell is also good, Victor Nee is really good.

I really do not think there is anything you can improve... It seems perfect to me. Good luck to you!

Edited October 5, 2015 by reedlei