I wanna get into to either UC- Berkeley Ethnic studies or Harvard American studies Ph.D. programs.
GPA: 4.06
University: large public urban school
Accomplishments:
- Honors College
- graduated a year early
- honors thesis for my writing sample
- presidents list for all of my semesters at my school
- fellowship with the US Department of education
- worked at the state capitol, law firm, NGO, and as a research assistant
More about me:
- wanna go into academia and research
- queer woman of color
- Poli sci major with minor in WGSS
CHANCES at top Ph.D. programs? specifically, the ones mentioned?
Any advice on my last year? I’m doing my thesis in the fall and should be wrapping up soon.
Nice background for law school (where it does’t much matter)…but top PhD programs wanna see Research on a cv. Anything published? Or, at least poster presentations?
GRE?
Is the GPA out of 4.0 or 5.0? Your resume seems strong and the fact that you are writing a Senior Thesis is good. Make sure you get strong letters of reference from the faculty advisor and those you worked for as an intern.
That being said, the admission rates for the most selective schools is always low so make sure you also apply to some less selective programs to ensure that you can pursue the Ph.D. Choose only those schools that you would be happy to attend if you don’t get into UCB or Harvard.
What undergrad school? GRE? Agree that you need schools with a range of selectivity where there is research going on in areas you are interested in. My kid also made sure she picked schools where there were at least a couple of profs doing work in her area of interest (you never know if a PI prof is going to retire, leave, or just not be a fit for you). I’d add that you should keep an open mind when you get offered visits - my kid ended up picking a different school than she expected once she’d been on visits).
Depends a lot on the quality of your honors thesis/writing sample. Also, for a PhD program, research experience will be expected - especially with a background in political science. How long did you work as a research assistant? Doing what?