PhD Candidacy Evaluation

[anonym892]

Hello all,

I’m looking to apply to political science PhD programs, and I’m a bit concerned about what range of schools I should be applying to. I spent the last four years away from the subject and I know PhD programs’ admissions standards are considerably more subjective than law schools. I’m concerned about that time I spent away from the subject at law school, my law school GPA, and otherwise whether my previous experiences will help or harm my graduate school applications.

Before anyone asks, I opted not to pursue a JD/PhD program because my law school’s PhD program is ranked considerably lower than the JD program, and I don’t have any interest in legal academia. Personally, I consider the JD to be a misstep in my career that I wouldn’t repeat, if given the opportunity. I’ve done my best to try and integrate it into a broader narrative, and understand I’d have to address the subject in a personal statement. Thus, while I’m content to choose to my law school’s PhD program, I would like to try my chances at other schools without being prematurely locked into a PhD program.

So, my two questions are as follows:

1.     What range of schools should I be considering? Top 20? Top 50? Top 100? Have I completely misjudged my chances and I’m really not in a strong position at any program?

2.     If anyone has any experience taking a detour in their career before graduate school, what advice could you give about framing my time in law school into a larger narrative for the purposes of a personal statement?

Below is a synopsis of my profile. Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have any other questions about it (that don’t compromise anonymity), I’ll be happy to answer them. Thanks in advance!

Undergraduate institution: somewhat obscure private school (top 10 in US News & World Report’s Regional Universities ranking - North)
Major: Political Science and History (double major)

Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0 (class rank was first in total class of ~1000); graduated from college’s honors program and completed senior thesis relevant to my academic interests in graduate school application

Graduate institution: top-14 law school (Ivy)

Graduate GPA: ~3.2 (GPA not reported, rough estimation)

GRE: 163 on both verbal/quantitative without any prior preparation. Planning to retake in late August/early September with significantly greater effort.

Letters of Recommendation: two undergraduate professors who thankfully remember me quite well – both are highly respected within the college but aren’t nationally known in their field. Pursuing a third from another professor at the same college. Unfortunately, I’ve not had the opportunity in

Research Experience: research associate for small regional college think tank for 1 year (after I decided I wanted to pursue a PhD, I took a leave of absence from law school to gain formal research experience outside of my senior thesis), research topics concerned social mobility and workforce optimization. I’m also currently a research assistant at my law school for this current summer, which is more foreign-policy focused.

Teaching Experience: none – unfortunately my undergrad didn’t afford many opportunities to anyone interested in becoming a TA due to the small size of the political science department

Research Interests: without going into too much detail to preserve anonymity, I’d like to build off my senior thesis, which concerned globalization’s impact on political decision-making in a particular geographic region of the world. In terms of subfields, I’d be looking at comparative politics, political economy, and political development.

Other: editor on law school’s international law journal; editor-in-chief on college’s (admittedly short-lived) social sciences academic journal; previous undergraduate internships in state governor/senator offices; previous law school judicial internship in federal district court

[IR44]

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't apply to top programs (I wouldn't avoid any of them.. shoot as high as it goes). Your undergrad experience seems strong, and your GRE is extremely impressive for not studying. Put together a solid SoP and you probably stand as good a chance as most at top programs. If your goal is to get a tenure track position at an R1, you definitely don't want to go to a 50-100 ranked program.

[anonym892]

Thanks! Based on a quick search of the forums, my situation (PhD after JD) appears to be relatively uncommon, so I wasn't sure how strongly the JD would be weighed against me in my application, or whether I could reasonably rely on admissions committees looking mostly at my undergraduate record (and whether that record alone is good enough to justify applications to top schools). I really appreciate your feedback!

[IR44]

3 hours ago, anonym892 said:

Thanks! Based on a quick search of the forums, my situation (PhD after JD) appears to be relatively uncommon, so I wasn't sure how strongly the JD would be weighed against me in my application, or whether I could reasonably rely on admissions committees looking mostly at my undergraduate record (and whether that record alone is good enough to justify applications to top schools). I really appreciate your feedback!

Look at the faculty perspectives thread. I think a faculty member has already addressed that question, and his answer was that JD experience doesn't matter much (double check, because I'm not 100%. It's a great thread regardless.) 

[anonym892]

2 hours ago, IR44 said:

Look at the faculty perspectives thread. I think a faculty member has already addressed that question, and his answer was that JD experience doesn't matter much (double check, because I'm not 100%. It's a great thread regardless.) 

The faculty perspectives thread didn't actually come up in my initial search. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention!

[puddle]

On 6/21/2017 at 9:23 AM, anonym892 said:

Thanks! Based on a quick search of the forums, my situation (PhD after JD) appears to be relatively uncommon, so I wasn't sure how strongly the JD would be weighed against me in my application, or whether I could reasonably rely on admissions committees looking mostly at my undergraduate record (and whether that record alone is good enough to justify applications to top schools). I really appreciate your feedback!

It isn't that uncommon. 2/18 people in my cohort had passed the bar and were working before deciding to go back to do a PhD.