Profiles, Results, SOPs, and Advice 2018

[izmir]

Since most applications are in by now, I see it fit to start this thread for this application cycle. I saw some users using 2017-2018 Application Cycle thread to share their experiences but I believe that we should make our posts under an independent thread to provide clarity and coherence for future applicants.  I benefitted a lot from the experience of previous users on this forum and I am sure so many of you did too. Therefore, I am starting this thread by just copy pasting @dagnabbit's introductory post from last year. Good luck to all future applicants.

Previous threads:

2017, 2016 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2010 

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution:
Major(s)/Minor(s):
Undergrad GPA:
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE:
Any Special Courses:
Letters of Recommendation:
Research Experience:
Teaching Experience:
Subfield/Research Interests:
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$):
Waitlists:
Rejections:
Pending:
Going to:

 

LESSONS LEARNED:

 

 

SOP:

 

 

 

 

 

Note: If you are uncomfortable revealing certain aspects of your file in order to maintain privacy, please do not let that stop you from posting the other parts! Anything is useful, and each cycle we have so many applicants who post in the main thread but leave before posting here - let's change that!

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[izmir]

Since I started the thread, I am assuming that I am supposed to go first. For now, I will just share my profile and the schools that I applied to. As we start getting the results, I will come back and edit it to share what I learned during this application cycle.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Low-ranked private institution
Major(s)/Minor(s): Political Science/ Stats and German Studies
Undergrad GPA: 3.98
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: V:160 Q:168 AWA:4.0
Any Special Courses: Applied Statistical Methods, Probability
Letters of Recommendation: All from tenured profs in my department. One from a professor that knows me very well and whom I RA'd for. One from a professor that I took two regular classes and did an independent study with and one from a professor who knows me since my freshman year.  
Research Experience:  One quarter RA, one summer research project as a result of a grant, independent research for a quarter.
Teaching Experience: None
Subfield/Research Interests: Comparative/Authoritarianism
Other: I am an international student from Turkey and I speak Turkish and German(intermediate). My writing sample was the research report that I wrote for the summer research grant.

RESULTS:
Acceptances($$ or no $$):
Waitlists:
Rejections:
Pending: Harvard, Cornell, UT-Austin, UCLA, GWU, FSU, Duke
Going to:

 

LESSONS LEARNED:

Ask as many people as possible for help and after the first round of their responses, eliminate the ones that really don't care about you. I sent my application materials to so many different people (over 10) and got very valuable feedback. I finalized my SOP after 8 drafts but some of the people I talked to gave ok to the second draft. My point is that ask people you trust and go over your application materials as many times as possible. I know it might be hard but don't go back to your writing sample after you submit it because there will always be some mistakes and at that point, there is nothing you can do about. So just relax and tell yourself that we are all humans and are bound to make mistakes. (This concludes my suggestions for now but it will surely continue)

 

SOP: Crafted a classic SOP that mentioned my background, undergrad education, and my research interests. Tailored the last paragraph based on schools and faculty fit.

Edited December 15, 2017 by izmir

[Hamb]

So this forum website is pretty strict with their editing policy, and users only have a couple of hours to edit their post before it's locked.

For this reason, these threads in past years are posted in February and March. I think that's why everyone sticks to the standard application cycle thread. We should probably do the same, no?

[izmir]

Hey @Hamb I didn’t know about their strict editing policy. If that is the case, let’s leave this thread here until February and come back after we have the complete picture.

[Haeralis]

PROFILE: 

Prospective Emphasis: Political Theory

Type of Undergrad Institution: Private evangelical university

Major(s)/Minor(s): Government, Minor in History

Undergrad GPA: 3.73

GRE: 161V (88th), 151Q (43rd), 6.0 AW (99th)

Letters of Recommendation: Three very good letters from respected professors who have faith in my ability to excel in graduate school. So far, their letters have proven to be decisive factors in my admittance to prestigious fellowships so I know that they will be one of the stronger parts of my application. 

Research Experience: Two non-academic internships in which I conducted research. Not optimal research experience for a prospective applicant. 

Teaching Experience: Writing Tutor for about a year in college

Subfield/Research Interests: Religion and politics, the American political tradition, classical political philosophy. 

Publications: Recent "Revise and Resubmit" from the peer-reviewed journal American Political Thought, 2 essays in an online journal of political philosophy, an essay being considered for publication as a chapter in an edited volume. 

Academic Conferences: Three academic presentations 

Honors, Awards, Fellowships: 1st place prize in my university's annual research conference, Dean's List, John Jay Fellowship, Acton Institute Fellowship, Koch Fellowship, Institute for Humane Studies Conference and Research Grant. 

Writing Sample: My undergraduate thesis on Calvin Coolidge's political thought, it is the one that won first place in the aforementioned conference and received the "Revise and Resubmit" from APT

Organizations: President of the Political Science Honors Society (Pi Sigma Alpha) for two years, member of my university's student government 





RESULTS:

Acceptances: 

Waitlists: 

Rejections:

Pending: 

Going to: 

 

  

[artibasos]

Ooh, I get to be The Weird One!

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad Institution: Top-tier domestic technical institute with little to no social sciences (bonus points if you can guess where)
Major(s)/Minor(s): Physics
Undergrad GPA: 2.94 (yeah, I know.  There were...  extenuating circumstances, and I've already gotten into a PhD program once with That GPA)

Type of Grad: Physics PhD, leaving with a masters (by choice; my department is mildly annoyed I'm leaving), top 15 physics program at institution with a top 10 political science program
Grad GPA: 3.36 (4.0 currently in political science, but we shall see what fall term grades bring)
GRE: 169 V, 168 Q, 5.0 AW
Any Special Courses: Started first-year PhD sequence for political scientists this term + a couple classes from our (top-15) policy school
Letters of Recommendation: Physics adviser, Big Name IR prof at policy school, not particularly well known but tenured prof at policy school, undergrad political science prof, medium name prof from political science department
Research Experience: haaaaaaaaaa.  I'm an astrophysicist.  So tons, half a dozen conference talks, worked at three national labs, etc, but none relevant to my new field.
Teaching Experience: I tutor a bit, I guess?
Subfield/Research Interests: IR/conflict/political economy

Schools: UCSD, HKS, Chicago Harris, Princeton, Yale, MIT econ, MIT political science, Berkeley econ, Columbia, Stanford, probably NYU and UC Davis (because a prof basically asked me to; apparently they're pro-physicist)

I have directly been told by my rec letter writers that I am an "odd case", so We Shall See How This Goes.  Clearly I've got the quant skills, but honestly, physics doesn't do sky-high GPAs like political science, and the particular programs I went to *really* don't.  My GPA is low-ish for my program (and was very low in undergrad), but is not *exceptionally* low in the way it would be in political science.  It remains to see if political science programs are aware of that.  (Hopefully the two competitive PhD fellowships I got in physics will make that obvious.)

Edited December 16, 2017 by artibasos

[csantamir]

PROFILE

Type of Undergrad Institution: Spanish public university
Major(s)/Minor(s): Journalism
Undergrad GPA: 3.16 (based on computation from Foreign Credits website, requested by one school)
Type of Grad Institution: International Relations MA from regionally accredited US online school
Grad GPA: 3.92
GRE: 158v/151q/4.0AWA
Any Special Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: former grad professors, mentor who was not my professor but encouraged me to pursue PhD
Research Experience: converted master thesis into article for peer-reviewed journal. first decision R&R, waiting on review
Teaching Experience: none
Subfield/Research Interests: IR, Asia, China-Southeast Asia
Other: Writing sample is revised version of paper submission. Applying as international student but will be US permanent resident soon.

RESULTS:

Acceptances($$ or no $$):
Waitlists:
Rejections:
Pending: IU-Bloomington, Notre Dame, GWU, Virginia, Delaware, Rutgers, CUNY, Georgia State
Going to:

LESSONS LEARNED: If you have a clear research topic, pick schools depending on faculty. Don’t hesitate to contact departments for questions on application process, that allowed me to waive TOEFL requirement for some schools.

SOP: Explained why my non-traditional background as a journalist and knowledge of Asia qualifies me as a researcher, and why my age (37) demonstrates my commitment to finish the program even if I know I probably won’t get TT position when I’m done.