<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>top 20 U
3.8+ GPA
3.9+ Major GPR</p>
<p>GRE
680Q
640V
6W</p>
<p>J.D, top 5%+ of class</p>
<p>I am also applying for PhD's in poly sci. I have tried to ask some questions but this site dosnt seem to be very helpful for this field. Anyway I can tell you my quals and where I am applying...</p>
<p>U of Maryland undergrad Poly Sci 3.8
Tel Aviv University - Middle East Studies MA
I speak Arabic and Hebrew
I served 4 years in US Naval Intel
GRE - 600V 680Q 5.0
one publication</p>
<p>I am applying to Georgetown, NYU, Columbia, George Washington, Maryland, SAIS and American.</p>
<p>Columbia is a bit of a stretch. I am hoping for G-town or NYU but I wonder if my low verbal score will keep me out of some of these programs.</p>
<p>I am focusing on the Middle East, so either comp-pol or IR.</p>
<p>how about you? where are you applying...what's your concentration? </p>
<p>what do you think of my chances? when you give me some more details i will give you my opinion on your situation.</p>
<p>.....................</p>
<p>My guess is you'll get in somewhere. You have some unique aspects to your application that will set it apart somewhat. I used to be in a PhD program in Poli Sci and I can tell you how it went for me.</p>
<p>GREs: 630v, 770q, 6.0 analytical writing
undergrad: Philosophy and Poli Sci, 3.87 cumulative, above average but not stellar private school. </p>
<p>Applications:</p>
<p>Berkeley - Rejected
Princeton - Rejected (they actually lost my application and I had to call to find out I got rejected)
Michigan - Rejected
Wisconsin - Rejected</p>
<p>North Carolina - rejected, although somebody candidly told me that I would have gotten in if I had research interests that matched anyone on the faculty. I didn't, don't know why I bothered to apply in the first place.</p>
<p>Wash U St Louis - cancelled my app with them before review period</p>
<p>Notre Dame - wait-listed</p>
<p>Texas - Accepted
Washington (Seattle) - Accepted
Maryland - Accepted
Florida - Accepted</p>
<p>Trust me, there's nothing special about yours truly. And granted, I mainly got into the lower end of my application spectrum, but at least I had a few choices.</p>
<p>Thanks for your info. Did you have any research experience or publications. Were you coming straight from undergrad? You had good numbers; did you speak to faculty at the specific schools to which you applied? What were your interests?</p>
<p>A lot of top poli sci departments won't look at your file much if both GRE scores are below 700 - spoken from experience on both sides of the process. This unwritten rule can be broken if you have publications, but it is an easy way to reduce the number of applicants that need to be considered in detail...</p>
<p>Porkypig that seems odd? Given that a 700 in quant is a much less impressive score than a 700 score in verbal. Verbal scores in the 600s are still 90th percentile whilst 700 is only about 75th percentile in the quant. Surely they will miss lots of excellent students with 90th percentile verbal scores who might not be interested in quantitative research</p>
<p>Porky Pig, give me a grasp on publications here that your stellar institution would be intrigued by; do you mean book reviews, encyclopedia articles, or are we talking lengthy pieces in JoP and APSR?</p>
<p>yamamoto,
750 V, 800 Q, graduated with high honors from very top school known for academic rigor, no publications, applied straight from undergrad.
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, MIT
Accepted: Johns Hopkins, Ohio State, U. of Chicago
Top 4 original choices for sub-specialty were OSU, Harvard, Columbia and Chicago, so it worked out well.
Best of luck in your search!</p>
<p>I think your stats sound great, and will definitely not hold you back. Unfortunately, they alone are not enough to get you into a great school.
I applied last year, and had average stats (3.9 from unknown public institution, only a handful of poli sci classes, 720 quant, 760 verbal, 6.0 writing) but good letters (from well-known folks) and a unique background. I got into UCSD, UCLA, Ohio, Yale, and Rochester. I was wait-listed and later rejected from Michigan.
I remember being in your shoes this time last year - it's definitely not fun. It's all worth it when you start getting acceptances.</p>
<p>british_student - I guess what I am saying is that GRE scores can keep you out of a department - they are an easy way to cut down the number of files. I am pretty sure that even my colleagues in political theory use the quant GRE score as a quick screen of candidates.</p>
<p>And Homestar - I apologize, I misspoke about publications. I was thinking of a particular case I remember of someone admitted with a co-authored article with their advisor but without high GRE scores, but in general at least in my department we screen files with test scores first.</p>
<p>I know this is an old post but would love if anyone has any thoughts on my situation.</p>
<p>3.2 from a below-average state school. 2 years of good work experience. I'm about to start a masters in IR at UCSD and I hope to get a PhD in pol. sci. after that from a top school. Assuming a do well at UCSD (i.e. 4.0) and break 700s on both parts of the GRE, will my crappy undergrad hold me back?</p>
<p>I'd like to a go to a top 20 program like UCSD, Ohio, or Mich. </p>
<p>thanks.</p>