Worried...Seeking Advice

[tennisfan]

Hello Everyone,

 

Happy application season!

 

I'm hoping to get some advice. I'm applying for Political Science PhD programs beginning in the Fall of 2016. All of the programs that I'm applying to are fully funded, strong programs. My top choices right now are NYU, Columbia, Yale, and CUNY (the City University of New York).

 

I think that overall, my application is strong. I have very good work experience relating to my specific research interests (foreign policy as it relates to the Middle East and counterterrorism); my recommendations are excellent; my academic history is good including a Master's degree related to Middle East policy; and my personal statement and writing samples are also excellent. The weakest part of my application is my GRE score - mainly, my GRE score on the quantitative section. I'm in the 32nd percentile on the quantitative section and the 85th percentile on the verbal and writing sections. I would take the test for a third time, however there are no available appointments within a three hour radius of me before my application deadlines...so, I'm stuck with this bad score. Even if I did retake it, I'm not sure I'd do better, as I studied quite a bit for both attempts. I've just never been good at algebra, geometry, etc; statistics and that type of math, however, is no problem for me (I would imagine this is the primary type of math I would do in a PhD program).

 

My questions are:

*How much will this bad GRE math score realistically hurt my chances of admission?

*Should I (sneakily) address my poor math performance in my personal statements?

 

Please feel free to include any other questions, comments, suggestions. I'm so incredibly driven to pursue this PhD and am worried that this could really hurt my chances of admission.

 

Really appreciate any feedback I can get. Thanks everyone!

 

-M

[nevermind]

This probably isn't what you want to hear...but those programs are hyper-competitive, so you're really shooting for the stars. It's not to say that you won't get in--I don't know what the rest of your application looks like. It's just hard to say, especially since your GREs (even the writing/verbal) aren't doing you any favors. 

My advice (probably isn't what you want to hear) is to apply widely. Find some schools that are lesser ranked and a good fit and apply there as well. Not that it is less competitive, but Arizona (http://menas.arizona.edu/phd-critical) may be worth adding to your list, etc.

 

 

 

[tennisfan]

Thanks for the feedback and I appreciate the honesty. I'm hoping that I at least have a decent chance of getting into CUNY. It's funded and there are a few professors there that I'd really like to work with. I know the others are reaches, but I'm hoping maybe someone in the admissions committee will see something in my application aside from low GRE scores.

 

I do plan to apply widely, I'm just somewhat restricted as the program has to fully funded (tuition waiver plus stipend). I will certainly check out Arizona, thanks for the suggestion!

 

What do you think about addressing the low score issue in my personal statement?

 

Thanks again!

[nevermind]

I have a similar GRE score (32% quant, but a 95% verbal and likely 90%+ writing...), so I don't plan to address it all in my application at all. My research is qualitative in nature though (I will just have to do a stats class), so I don't think my quant will ding me too much (though it still makes me nervous, despite my rigorous quant. preparation). 

You being Poli Sci though, it's a tough call. It's worth taking a look at this (http://magoosh.com/gre/2013/gre-scores-for-social-science-programs) to get an idea of how competitive your overall scores are....that being said, I wouldn't mention it in a personal statement (where you really should be showcasing your positive attributes and how you fit their program), but perhaps address it in a supplemental section.

The problem with explaining it is...what really do you say? "I'm not a good test taker"? What happens when you have to take tests in grad school or--worse--when you have to prepare for comps? You definitely don't want to say, "I've just never been that good of a math person" because you'll likely have to do some math. Saying, "there weren't any more dates available" puts into question your time management skills. So it's not really "should" you try to explain it...but "how" do you explain it. I'm just not sure how exactly you could phrase it wouldn't sounding like you're trying to make excuses.

Edit: I think you could try to get an Econ professor to really address this discrepancy. Talk to your LOR writers and see if they can address it for you ("despite their low GRE performance, they actually showed promise in quant. by doing such-and-such analysis in their work for my class.")....then YOU'RE not making excuses and the issue is addressed (From a credible source).

Edited October 23, 2015 by tmt503

[tennisfan]

Wow...90th and 95th percentiles, nice work!

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how to bring it up in my personal statement either without being too blunt or sounding like I'm making excuses. I'll likely leave it out. One of my recommendations is from my Master's thesis advisor. A good chunk of my Master's thesis was quantitative, so I think asking her to address it somehow is a good idea. 

 

Thanks again and good luck with your applications!

 

[juilletmercredi]

I don't think you should try to address it because, as was stated above, there's not really much you can say about it other than that you aren't a good test taker (which sounds like an excuse). Instead, use the space in your statement to focus on your outstanding qualities - particularly anything that may set you apart from other applicants that makes you uniquely qualified for graduate study at one of those departments.