<p>I'm currently applying to several schools for PhD's in international relations and I would appreciate it anyone could give me an honest assessment about my chances for admission into a top tier PhD program. I've looked into several schools to see how my research interests fit with professors and I believe that besides my GREs, the rest of my application should be competitive.</p>
<p>I have a GPA of 3.5 from a top 20 undergraduate university (In IR), a 3.9 GPA for my master's degree from a top 10 international relations program. I've written a Master's thesis, been published in two graduate journals and have had internships and fellowships in think tanks and government. I'm also bilingual in Chinese and have received a national security fellowship. I should have strong recommendations and hopefully a well-crafted SOP. </p>
<p>However, my GRE scores are mediocre. I made a 153 Q and a 168 V. I've never been a great test taker and honestly don't think I could do better. The verbal is fine but the math seems low for most schools, though the combined is similar to the average at many top ranked schools.</p>
<p>With this background and my GRE scores, do I have a chance at admission in a top tier PhD program, or will my application even be considered with this kind of quant score?</p>
<p>If anyone has any insight into this, I would really appreciate it</p>
<p>Well, we can’t really speak to chances because graduate school admissions has a lot to do with factors outside of your control (like who you’re competing with and what professors need). Your math score isn’t even low - it’s average. Low-ish for top PhD programs but otherwise average. You sound like an otherwise strong candidate outside of the math, and strong applications can often overcome weak GRE scores. I would say that some quant-heavy political science programs might be concerned, but you also have two publications - if you had to do quantitative analyses for them, that should prove that you are capable. Or if you are a qualitative researcher, it may not even be an issue.</p>
<p>I’m editing your title, though, because it’s confusing - you said that you were applying for political science PhDs in the title but your post says international relations PhDs. They’re different, and I was a bit concerned because you were an IR major, but that won’t be a problem for IR PhD programs.</p>
<p>Thanks, Juillet! I appreciate your input. I really don’t want to fool myself and apply for schools that I have no chance of getting into. I am thinking about top 10 PhD programs and a couple of top 20-30 PhD programs. My understanding is that most IR programs are becoming more quant heavy these days. </p>
<p>As for the publications, these were in graduate journals and did not rely on quantitative analysis. </p>
<p>I believe the rest of my application should be strong, but I just want to make sure that these quant scores aren’t so normal that I’m one of the first 300 applicants that get weeded out. I know there is no way of knowing and the applications process is not a science. I also know that even with perfect GREs, I could still get rejected. I’m just wondering if my scores were too low to be considered or if they seem just high enough that a top ranked PhD program might actually consider my application and other qualifications.</p>
<p>Thanks again for your input. It’s nice to hear another perspective on this.</p>