<p>I am currently a junior majoring in politics. I am looking at Ph.D programs in politics. I am looking specifically at foreign policy and had a few questions about going to grad school.</p>
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<li>How do you select/rank programs for politics? Should you guide your search by going to a university where your someone in your field does good work or is overall reputation of the university is more important?</li>
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<p>2.Do grad schools look for students to have done research in the field before?</p>
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<li><p>Do grad schools look at cum GPA or GPA in your major? I ask because I have a low cumulative GPA but my GPA is politics is reasonable.</p></li>
<li><p>How important, if at all, is work experience important in terms of making you attractive to grad school adcoms?c</p></li>
<li><p>What is the best way to prep for grad school?</p></li>
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<li><p>Overall reputation is important in a sweeping job market sense, but the most important thing is finding a particular professor who is doing research that meshes with your research interests. He or she will support you and you’ll build a strong relationship for post-doc contacts or prospective jobs later. Check out US News & World Reports subfield rankings – not just overall polisci rankings.</p></li>
<li><p>The best thing you can have under your belt is research in the field – it’s the most concrete way of demonstrating your readiness for grad school. Writing a senior/honors thesis or helping a professor with summer research is also a great way to solidify at least one great recommender to write a letter for your applications.</p></li>
<li><p>Grad schools look at both cum GPA and the major GPA. Some even break it down into several other GPAs (i.e. first two years vs. last two years). Major GPA is most important, but having an overall GPA above 3.5 is ideal.</p></li>
<li><p>Work experience can be helpful if it’s relevant to your field. If you take time off before grad school, they like to see that you’re doing something related (such as teaching). I have taken two years off because I had a baby, but ran a tutoring business from home, so my experience isn’t necessarily in academia or political science, but it’s justifiable.</p></li>
<li><p>Talk to lots of professors and grad students. Everyone’s experience is different, and you realize that grad school research is so specific that it’s most important to have a clear idea of what excites you. Doing research is certainly the best literal preparation, but reflection on your career goals and interests is equally important.</p></li>
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<p>I just applied for Fall 2010 PhD programs in political theory, so my advice is not necessarily absolute. I’m just telling you what I know from my own undergrad research experience and application process.</p>
<p>you should be fine. of course, even the “perfect” applicant doesn’t get in everywhere, simply because there are limited spaces or because your potential advisor doesn’t “get” a new student that admissions cycle (intradepartmental stuff you have no control over) or because the project you pitch in your SOP doesn’t connect to any professor’s own interests. so, while your profile seems good enough to be competitive at each school you’ve mentioned, some of these places will say no.</p>
<p>i’d recommend getting some 10-20 level schools, or even 20-30 level schools, that you would be happy with attending (this is key) and adding them to your list. if you don’t want to attend any 10-20 schools out of principle, that’s fine too. despite the GREs, you seem to be really solid, so i don’t think you’ll strike out completely but… maybe toss an application or two to smaller schools.</p>
<p>your verbal score blows. you know that, though. the quant score isn’t good enough for heavy math disciplines, and depending on the type of poli sci you want to do, that could hurt you. i don’t think your GREs will get you tossed out right away at every school, though it’s conceivable that one or two may eliminate you on that basis alone (they’d be silly to). where it might hurt is in securing a competitive funding package. especially for funding that is university-wide vs from the department only, GRE scores are an important way to compare students across disciplines. your scores will probably take you out of the running for school-wide fellowships, though you can still secure full funding from your department.</p>
<p>i’d consider retaking it if i were you, but only if you have the time to study for it. if not, getting a poor score on the test twice might raise some red flags.</p>
<p>Thanks for your assessment. Like my name implies, I’m kind of go big or go home right now. Penn is my 20-30 application; they may be ivy, but when it comes to poly sci, they’re not spectacular.</p>
<p>Yea, I know my verbal blows and it’ll screw me in some scenarios, but I didn’t retake it for the very reason you stated. I prepared well for the test and that’s what I got - I couldn’t risk repeating the score or doing worse.</p>
<p>I’m anticipating the worst right now, so I’m already looking for a job next year, but hopefully one goes through.</p>