Is there hope for me?

[ibukinoya]

Hello everyone, it's good to meet you all. I am new here, and as a third year political science undergrad, I am not quite at the point that many of you are. My academic career and been fairly rocky, but it is my dream and goal to get into a master's degree program for political science, and international relations specifically. I have a deep interest in East Asia and the political dynamics between the East Asian states. The purpose of this post is to find out if there is any hope for me to get into graduate school. 

I began university at the University of Alberta in Fall 2014 as a physics major in the department of science (don't even ask). After crashing and burning with a couple of D's, an F and W or two, I moved into the political science program (which had been my plan to begin with). I immediately started pulling much better grades in my second year, and was asked if I would be interested in the honours program in political science. This would have been a great opportunity, but I soon after discovered I was ineligible. The program required a B average in all PolS courses taken, and I had received a C in PolS 101 during my first year as a physics major. Since then, I have continued on the regular political science path, and aim to graduate in 2019. Currently, my overall GPA is about 3.4, and I will work to bring this up as I distance myself from my disastrous foray into the sciences. My fourth year is nearly entirely political science courses, so I intend to do better than I have in the past. 

Now I do not aim to be accepted into any Ivy League schools, but I would like to get into a decent Master's program in international relations. I have proficiency in the Japanese language, and have been investigating international relations programs at the University of Tokyo and Waseda University in Japan. These would be my top picks, as they allow me to be immersed in Japan, which will help my future research interests. 

I am concerned that since I am not enrolled in the honours program, which would normally allow one to prepare an undergraduate thesis, this will cause issues for me down the road. What are my chances, and what can I do to salvage my academic career?

Thanks!

[IR44]

It's tough to offer advice without knowing what your long term plans are. Are you looking to do a PhD and become a researcher at a university? Are you just trying to get an MA in order to be more competitive for a government job? Masters degrees aren't typically extremely competitive; and a 3.4 GPA certainly shouldn't disqualify you. That said, your GRE can work to offset any questions about your academic ability. If you score well there, your GPA issues may be mitigated. With an MA, you're unlikely to get much funding (if any). PhD programs typically offer stipends and tuition remission. If a PhD is ultimately your goal, you should aim for the best institution possible. If you're not able to do well on the GRE at this point, you might be best served by completing a masters degree despite the debt. This is often the route folks take when they aren't competitive for PhD programs immediately after undergrad. That said, I don't think a 3.4 is going to make PhD admission impossible.  A strong GRE, cogent statement of purpose, and letters of rec from faculty that like you and see your potential can definitely make up for a lower than ideal GPA. Also, in terms of the thesis, you might consider finding a faculty member and trying to simply enroll in an independent study course to work on one.  You could also just do one on your own. I'd recommend the faculty option, and you should look to do it sooner rather than later. It's a great opportunity to get to know a faculty member that shares your interest, and it'll come in handy for a LoR. 

Hope this helps. 

[ibukinoya]

6 minutes ago, IR44 said:

It's tough to offer advice without knowing what your long term plans are. Are you looking to do a PhD and become a researcher at a university? Are you just trying to get an MA in order to be more competitive for a government job? Masters degrees aren't typically extremely competitive; and a 3.4 GPA certainly shouldn't disqualify you. That said, your GRE can work to offset any questions about your academic ability. If you score well there, your GPA issues may be mitigated. With an MA, you're unlikely to get much funding (if any). PhD programs typically offer stipends and tuition remission. If a PhD is ultimately your goal, you should aim for the best institution possible. If you're not able to do well on the GRE at this point, you might be best served by completing a masters degree despite the debt. This is often the route folks take when they aren't competitive for PhD programs immediately after undergrad. That said, I don't think a 3.4 is going to make PhD admission impossible.  A strong GRE, cogent statement of purpose, and letters of rec from faculty that like you and see your potential can definitely make up for a lower than ideal GPA. Also, in terms of the thesis, you might consider finding a faculty member and trying to simply enroll in an independent study course to work on one.  You could also just do one on your own. I'd recommend the faculty option, and you should look to do it sooner rather than later. It's a great opportunity to get to know a faculty member that shares your interest, and it'll come in handy for a LoR. 

Hope this helps. 

Thank you for your advice. I would say that the road to a PhD would be the my most favorable outcome, if at all possible. Does the GRE have weight outside American institutions? And how would one even go about enrolling in an independent study course? I appreciate your time!

[alrightok]

A couple things I would look into in your situation. I know these are possible at my undergrad institution and might be possible at yours.

1) Re-take the intro poli sci course and have the new grade replace the old one. Sounds like this would make you eligible for honors

2) Like poster above mentioned, do a non-honors thesis. At my school this is basically the same as doing an honors thesis when your GPA is too low to get honors.

As an aside, there are only a handful of institutions outside the US where you'd want to get your PhD. There's a reason half the students in US programs are international. If you're dead set on one of those institutions, the admissions website should make it pretty clear whether they take GRE scores

[guest56436]

My story:

3.3 in (foreign) community college, 3.6 at a good (foreign) university (so roughly 3.45 UGPA), 3.95 in master's program at a good US university. Now at an 'ivy league' US university for Ph.D.

Are you doomed? No. Is is an incredibly hard road to get from Univ. of Alberta with a poor GPA to a top 20 Ph.D. program in the US? Ridiculously, but it is possible.

PM if you want to discuss the nitty-gritty details on how I did it.