advise me please

[anxiousapplicant]

I have been reading these forums for some time and can't help making my own post now. The application process quite frankly freaks me out. Here are my stats:

School: I don't want to say the name, b/c I would be recognized immediately by anyone who knows me, but suffice it to say it is a very low-ranked school in southwestern CT that is viewed extremely unfavorably by anyone who has heard of it.

GPA: 3.98 cumulative, 4.0 in both of my majors, poli sci and philosophy

Recs: one from the chair of one of the departments, another by an associate, another by a full professor, all extremely strong recommendations, probably the best part of my app

GRE: 730V, 600Q, 5.0AW

I am a research assistant to a chair (for two years now).

Honors Studies

I realize my quant score is abysmal but I had to either forget the math and shoot for a high verbal, or study the math and break 700 and risk a crappy verbal score, rendering my overall score very average. So I aimed for a high verbal so admissions committees would only think I personally suck at math and not that my entire transcript sucks because my grades were inflated and did not correlate with my score. For the record, I am applying to political theory programs, so I don't plan to do much math beyond required courses. I am applying to Yale, NYU, Fordham, CUNY, Columbia, NSSR, Brown. I know there are a lot of reaches there, but my professors encouraged me. Is my quantative score going to sink me, do you think, along with my crappy undergrad institution? I took very tough professors and classes, which may not initially be obvious when they see the school, so I am so worried they're going to toss my app before they even read it.

[NEPA]

I have been reading these forums for some time and can't help making my own post now. The application process quite frankly freaks me out. Here are my stats:

School: I don't want to say the name, b/c I would be recognized immediately by anyone who knows me, but suffice it to say it is a very low-ranked school in southwestern CT that is viewed extremely unfavorably by anyone who has heard of it.

GPA: 3.98 cumulative, 4.0 in both of my majors, poli sci and philosophy

Recs: one from the chair of one of the departments, another by an associate, another by a full professor, all extremely strong recommendations, probably the best part of my app

GRE: 730V, 600Q, 5.0AW

I am a research assistant to a chair (for two years now).

Honors Studies

I realize my quant score is abysmal but I had to either forget the math and shoot for a high verbal, or study the math and break 700 and risk a crappy verbal score, rendering my overall score very average. So I aimed for a high verbal so admissions committees would only think I personally suck at math and not that my entire transcript sucks because my grades were inflated and did not correlate with my score. For the record, I am applying to political theory programs, so I don't plan to do much math beyond required courses. I am applying to Yale, NYU, Fordham, CUNY, Columbia, NSSR, Brown. I know there are a lot of reaches there, but my professors encouraged me. Is my quantative score going to sink me, do you think, along with my crappy undergrad institution? I took very tough professors and classes, which may not initially be obvious when they see the school, so I am so worried they're going to toss my app before they even read it.

There are plenty of folks around here who know more than I do about GRE scores vis-a-vis getting into elite programs, but my instinct would be that, at worst, your quant may put you in a "maybe" pile at Yale, Columbia, or NYU. I'd be far less worried about Brown, New School, Fordham, or CUNY. Honestly, my first reaction was, "What are you worrying about?" It seems you have some very strong qualifications and a strong SOP/good fit would do wonders to boost that even further. I, too, come from a less-known school (we're well ranked regionally, but probably unheard of nationally), so I know a bit how that feels. But there's no need to be so "anxious!" Well, a little. We all are. But don't let it get to you; really, as long as you're comfortable with all the places you're applying, you should find yourself in a good place come the fall.

[anxiousapplicant]

That's just the problem. My stats are good, but they will be laughed at because of my school. We're not "lesser known," we are simply despised. It's unfortunate that I had to go to the worst school in the world, but I didn't have any financial means to go anywhere else. I can't make that clear on my application mainly because they don't ask, and because I don't want to seem like a whiner for pointing it out.

[hawk]

I'm pretty sure adcoms are less shallow than you are making them out to be

[NEPA]

That's just the problem. My stats are good, but they will be laughed at because of my school. We're not "lesser known," we are simply despised. It's unfortunate that I had to go to the worst school in the world, but I didn't have any financial means to go anywhere else. I can't make that clear on my application mainly because they don't ask, and because I don't want to seem like a whiner for pointing it out.

It seems to me like you could turn financial challenges into a meaningful argument for overcoming adversity in an SOP. It's probably not standard, but if you could make a good case, it might boost your application.

[thegradstudent]

That's just the problem. My stats are good, but they will be laughed at because of my school. We're not "lesser known," we are simply despised. It's unfortunate that I had to go to the worst school in the world, but I didn't have any financial means to go anywhere else. I can't make that clear on my application mainly because they don't ask, and because I don't want to seem like a whiner for pointing it out.

I completely agree with hawk. Adcoms are going to look at the classes you took, how you did in those classes, the strength of the letters, the writing and strength of your SOP and your writing sample. Don't harp so much on the "prestige" of your undergrad institution or the relative level of your GRE scores. You're doing political theory - quant doesn't matter. Your verbal score, AW score and writing samples are substantially more important. Most of the schools you're applying to probably won't even make you take a methods course b/c you're in theory (typically they exempt theorists from those classes). So a 600 quant is more than fine. You look to be in pretty good shape. It's gonna be tough at Yale, Columbia and NYU but I see your application doing well at the other schools on your list.

[anxiousapplicant]

Well, my SOP stinks, but I am still not whining about my lack of money. I never used that as an excuse and I am not going to now. If they see where I'm from and draw their own conclusions, fine, but I'm not pointing it out. I'm sure they get enough sob stories about how students overcome tremendous adversities, but that's not my style. I'm also not applying to all Ph.D, programs either; there are a mix of MA's in there, so my chances may be better. Or hopeless, given my university.

[hawk]

Well if your SOP is bad and you refuse to write a better one, and your university isnt that good, I dont know what to think of your chances... You seem to think the university is a big factor (probably not true) and that your financial situation has played a huge role in shaping your life yet despite that you have still dedicated yourself to learning about political science and understanding 'this stuff'. If you dont want to 'whine' about that (by which I mean turn it into a nice story for the adcoms to understand how much hard work has gone into overcoming financial difficulty to get you where you are today), I don't know why you're still posting on here...

[Ziz]

I don't understand why everyone seems to think that a 3.8 from Harvard is so much more impressive than from some other schools. I have seen countless reports of grades being massively inflated at Harvard specifically and some of the Ivies.