Profile Evaluation - Undergraduate research experience matters?

[Swaggyst]

Hi guys, I am currently a rising junior (international student) at a top 10 liberal arts college with major in political science and want to apply for a top 15 PHD program (Comparative, Middle East/Democratization) one year after graduation. I was wondering if somebody could help me evaluate my profile. Thanks!

My school is very rigorous so I only got a GPA slightly over 3.8 (my freshman year's GPA is pretty low; 3.8 is at least a MCL in my home institution as it is renowned for its low GPA...). I got a pretty solid quant background (pursuing a double major/minor in Stats and will be applying for the ICPSR at UMich next summer). Strong language skills: I am a native Chinese speaker and can speak fluently English and French; also I recently started to study Arabic and expect to at least have a medium professional proficiency upon my graduation (also a really basic conversational knowledge of Spanish). Kinda strong LORs (my advisor is an expert in this field). Based on my peers' experiences and my practice tests, I am expecting a GRE score of 165+, 165+, 5. Tons of teaching experiences: design and teach two 8-day poli sci courses to local high school/first-year college students every summer. 

My biggest disadvantage is that I do not have any undergraduate research experience; thus, my thesis may be the only research that will be done by me before the application (although I think I can make it a great one). I am really freaking out after browsing this website...I honestly do not know how to find some quality research opportunities.

My question here is that what is my chance to be admitted to a top 15 PHD program and how can I improve my profile (especially the undergraduate research part...I do not even know where to start)?

Thank you so much!

Edited August 15, 2016 by Swaggyst

[PoliticalOrder]

This is kind of the good and the bad of liberal arts colleges. The good: small faculty and undergraduate classes so making relationships with professors is easier. The bad: not a research institution really and most professors aren't actively involved in research or don't produce a lot (and faculties tend to be small).

That being said, research experience is not incredibly difficult to find, it just a matter of trying to create opportunities for yourself. Why don't you ask your adviser if you can collect literature and/or data for him? Even if its not a paid position and it is fairly rudimentary work it still counts for research experience and you can put a RA position on your CV. If not your adviser, try to approach professors that you have built a relationship with and/or have done well in their classes and see if you can get involved in some way. This is also a good way to make the letters you intend to use better. 

You could also try to take independent studies courses. Basically you design a syllabus with a professor on X topic and you meet with them periodically to discuss them and write a paper or something. This isn't as good as a RA position but it is better than just taking some random class (and I think a lot more educational as well).

[timhorton]

I would second what PoliticalOrder said. My university had few research positions for undergrads and this is something that made me nervous for future grad school applications or even just post-university job prospects. I actually got an unpaid RA position doing some basic survey design and data collection my senior year and then used that information to write my thesis. I found that most professors were extremely supportive of that decision because not only was it helping to ease the work load of someone in the department, but it also gave me the ability to write a thesis with data that no one else had used before. This could be a way to go about getting research experience.

Personally I don't think that the absence of an RA position will automatically exclude you from a top PhD program, I think your teaching experience could bolster your application quite a bit. 

 

 

[Determinedandnervous]

Adding to the above comments, I did not have any RA experience as an undergrad either and I did fine in the application process. Most people just have a thesis at this point in the game. As long as it's a strong thesis, it's fine. 

[Swaggyst]

13 hours ago, PoliticalOrder said:

This is kind of the good and the bad of liberal arts colleges. The good: small faculty and undergraduate classes so making relationships with professors is easier. The bad: not a research institution really and most professors aren't actively involved in research or don't produce a lot (and faculties tend to be small).

That being said, research experience is not incredibly difficult to find, it just a matter of trying to create opportunities for yourself. Why don't you ask your adviser if you can collect literature and/or data for him? Even if its not a paid position and it is fairly rudimentary work it still counts for research experience and you can put a RA position on your CV. If not your adviser, try to approach professors that you have built a relationship with and/or have done well in their classes and see if you can get involved in some way. This is also a good way to make the letters you intend to use better. 

You could also try to take independent studies courses. Basically you design a syllabus with a professor on X topic and you meet with them periodically to discuss them and write a paper or something. This isn't as good as a RA position but it is better than just taking some random class (and I think a lot more educational as well).

Thank you for the reply! After consulting with the registrar, I now realized that my school does have the setting of "Independent Research Seminar" which works exactly as what you described and if I can write some quality paper, I may be able to publish the outcome of the Independent Research Seminar at some major conferences (there are some precedences). Thank you again for mentioning this. Also, what do you think about my profile in general? Based on the information in the main thread, do I have a chance for a top 15 program?

Edited August 16, 2016 by Swaggyst

[Swaggyst]

12 hours ago, timhorton said:

I would second what PoliticalOrder said. My university had few research positions for undergrads and this is something that made me nervous for future grad school applications or even just post-university job prospects. I actually got an unpaid RA position doing some basic survey design and data collection my senior year and then used that information to write my thesis. I found that most professors were extremely supportive of that decision because not only was it helping to ease the work load of someone in the department, but it also gave me the ability to write a thesis with data that no one else had used before. This could be a way to go about getting research experience.

Personally I don't think that the absence of an RA position will automatically exclude you from a top PhD program, I think your teaching experience could bolster your application quite a bit. 

 

 

Thanks for the reply! I did not realize that teaching experiences can bolster my application. I teach at that summer program simply for interests. Will grad school really take my teaching experience into consideration?

[timhorton]

@Swaggyst I would say so. If the programs you apply to come with some sort of funding there is a good chance that there will be a TA requirement. In my opinion the teaching experience would show that you definitely have the ability to be a good TA (and possible future prof). Basically it will show the adcomm that although you are applying straight from undergrad, you have exhibited an important aspect of working at a university which is teaching (sometimes people forget that grad student life is not 100% research). At the end of the day your teaching experience can only help your application. 

Also on a random note, good luck in your application to the ICPSR. I took a few courses at the ISR's summer institute in survey research and found it extremely beneficial, even if it was maybe a little too fast-paced at times. 

[Swaggyst]

@timhortonThanks for your advice. What do you think of my profile in general? Will I have a shot to top-15 programs?