PhD Political Science/Political economics profile evaluation

[rougeetnoir]

Hi guys,

I'd really appreciate it if someone could evaluate my profile for PhD applications at Political Science Departments. My background isn't exactly traditional (just left corporate job in finance) and I'm worried it will hurt my chances.

Let me know what you think, please!

Program/Institution: PhD, Political science/ political economics, HKS, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Brown, Rochester, Ohio State, NYU, Chicago Harris

Interests: Political economy of development, economic growth in South Asia, Governance and role of private sector in economic policy

Undergrad Institution: non Ivy top 10 LAC in the US, but international applicant

Undergraduate Majors: economics, international relations

Undergraduate GPA: 3.8, major gpa 3.9

GRE: 167 V, 170 Q, 5 AW ( not retaking)

Age: 24

Research: 2 undergrad theses ( 1 in each major), $6k grant junior year for individual research (involving fieldwork)

Quant: multivariate calc, econometrics, mathematical economics, statistics ( apart from normal economics courses)

Years of Work Experience: 2 

Work Experience:  Currently engaged in freelance research and consulting for a public health university and a health policy NGO in India. Spent 1.5 years working at a top 4 management consulting firm in NYC (developed market strategy for big banks), hated my work and realized my professors were right and I needed to be in academia.

Volunteer Experience:Current work at health policy ngo mentioned above,student volunteer helping rural poor cope with bankruptcy

LORs: Econ thesis advisor ( endowed chair), IR thesis advisor (associate professor in political science), Chair of IR department ( I helped him write his last book)

Concerns: My corporate experience is a huge red flag, I haven't talked about it in my SOP but it's in my CV. Advice on tackling this?

Some programs require 2 semesters of calculus, but I was advised to just take the most advanced course in college ( I was pre-engineering in HS and curriculum included advanced calc, linear algebra and differential equations) and now I only have one semester :((

Since I wrote 2 undergrad theses my senior year, my last semester was horrific and I got a C+ on a political science course for not submitting a paper on time. I really don't want to draw attention to it, but should I ask my LOR to address it anyway?

Any feedback would be highly appreciated! What should I highlight/ avoid?Should I be setting my sights lower? If yes, any program recommendations?

Edited November 13, 2016 by rougeetnoir
Mentioned citizenship

[reasonablepie]

First - having two years of private sector experience is not at all unusual. Most programs quite like it if people are a few years out of undergrad, and having spent those years in consulting is not at all a negative thing. At best it shows you've really thought through your options and know what you're doing in choosing academia, at worst it's just the opportunity cost of more research-related activities you could've been doing. I would say it should be in your SOP, but not as something to apologize for - instead, use it to explain how you came to the decision to go to grad school and try to think of which skills you gained from that experience that will be valuable in your life as a graduate student and academic, and emphasize that.

Regarding that C+, don't even mention it. It was one class several years ago, your grades overall are great, they really don't care. 

There's one thing I think you should think about carefully, and that's the choice between political science and political economy programs. There is not one single meaning of the term political economy. In particular, to some people it means "studying economics issues with political science tools" (which seems to be where you fall) whereas for others it means "studying politics issues with economics methods" (which gets you more to using formal models etc to answer questions that may have nothing to do with the economy directly). Different department lean different ways on this, so it would be worth figuring out (either from the work of faculty and grad students at the institution, or by asking your LOR writers) which places would be a good fit for you on this front.

[resDQ]

you have a great profile. Don't worry about the private sector experience. It will not hurt you. 

[krapp]

6 minutes ago, resDQ said:

you have a great profile. Don't worry about the private sector experience. It will not hurt you. 

^ This

You have great GRE scores, GPAs, two theses, methods prep, and what I'm assuming are solid letters of reference. That's a pretty impressive application file right there!

[rougeetnoir]

Thanks all! That's extremely reassuring, now to think of a way to put the corporate experience  in my SOP.

22 hours ago, reasonablepie said:

 

There's one thing I think you should think about carefully, and that's the choice between political science and political economy programs. There is not one single meaning of the term political economy. In particular, to some people it means "studying economics issues with political science tools" (which seems to be where you fall) whereas for others it means "studying politics issues with economics methods" (which gets you more to using formal models etc to answer questions that may have nothing to do with the economy directly). Different department lean different ways on this, so it would be worth figuring out (either from the work of faculty and grad students at the institution, or by asking your LOR writers) which places would be a good fit for you on this front.

@reasonablepie, thank you so much for this, you're quite right. My current SOP doesn't make it clear exactly what I want my "brand" of political economy to be, and I think I should really do some thinking about this and how it relates to my fit at the programs I'm applying to. 

Thank you for the feedback, everyone! Super appreciated.