Frank profile evaluation (Political Theory)

[Democrat]

Hello,

I am looking for a frank profile evaluation of an unusual political theory profile.  

Undergraduate GPA: UK pattern degree (upper 2nd class honors, top 5 UK university) - degree in philosophy

GRE: 168v/155q/6.0w

British MA in philosophy (very high distinction level grades)

T14 law degree (3.49 GPA due to crappy grades in the 1st year and near perfect grades in subsequent years), licensed attorney with trial and appellate experience.

HYPS professional masters degree (perfect grades)

Multiple years of undergraduate teaching on a TA basis at an ivy-league political science department.  

Multiple law review articles, many conference presentations.  Significant grants/awards.  

Letters of recommendation from a mix of polisci professors, law professors, and philosophy professors, 

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

Edited February 6, 2017 by Democrat

[reasonablepie]

Frank evaluation: you've got too many degrees. Both your law degree and professional masters lead to some obvious career choices, and yet you've chosen not to pursue those. You may have your reasons for that, I don't know, but you might have a hard time convincing schools you want a Political Theory PhD to actually do something with, rather than just because you enjoy getting degrees. 

[resDQ]

4 minutes ago, reasonablepie said:

Frank evaluation: you've got too many degrees. Both your law degree and professional masters lead to some obvious career choices, and yet you've chosen not to pursue those. You may have your reasons for that, I don't know, but you might have a hard time convincing schools you want a Political Theory PhD to actually do something with, rather than just because you enjoy getting degrees. 

other side of the coin: He is likely to complete a PhD and he has already demonstrated that s/he enjoys academic work. S/he also demonstrates that s/he could make a contribution to field (assuming SOP and writing sample are good). Having said that, this is something that needs to be directly addressed in your SOP. Maya Sen at Harvard got a JD before entering a polisci program. I don't think adcoms would hold it against someone. It does need to be addressed. 

 

[mstama123]

I agree with both of the posters above - your many degrees can be a double-edged sword. On one end it helps demonstrate your ability to complete a degree successfully, and on the other end it may inadvertently signal to some ad coms that you are good at getting degrees, but perhaps not as good with sticking to a single career path (although I don't know your individual case well aside from what is provided here, or your reasons for pursuing said degrees). I think that choosing the right program at the right school, in your case, is very critical. Some programs are heavily centered around producing scholars to enter into academia at top institutions, while others recognize that students may want to pursue an alternative career-path outside of academia. When applying to PhD programs my first cycle two years ago, my undergraduate advisor recommended that if I intended to pursue a career-route outside of academia, that I not tout that too heavily in my SOPs to schools that were geared towards producing academics. I did not heed that warning, and here I am in my second cycle of applications. Not to say that the SOP was the defining factor that got me rejected from most schools during the first round, but it certainly did not help. If your intent is to enter academia, then you must make it clear in your SOP that that is your intent if you apply to schools geared primarily towards producing professor-academics. If your intent is to do something else, I would advise researching and applying to those schools that place students both into academic jobs, as well as alternative jobs like advocacy, government, and non-profit work (there are indeed many, now-a-day). Either way, making your career aspirations clear in your SOP and choosing the right school for those aspirations is critical. Hope this helps!