<p>I am a junior political science major who is looking at PhD programs in political science. I would like to know if possible the chances of getting in the programs that will follow. I have a 3.7 gpa with a 4.0 in the major. I already have one internship and will be interning at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in the spring. I havent taken the GRE yet and plan to take it in the late spring early summer of 2010. From practice test that I have taken it looks like I will be in the 550-650 range on both verbal and qantitative sections. any help will be welcomed.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing. Out of the hundreds of applicants to those top programs that you’re looking at, more students than the school can admit will have 3.7+ and above average GRE scores. Once you get past a certain point (usually around a 3.6 GPA and a 1200 GRE) those things don’t matter.</p>
<p>We can’t chance you because we don’t know your interests, we don’t know the interests of the professors at the programs to which you’re applying, and we don’t know a variety of other things. Internships don’t matter as much when you’re applying to PhD programs unless they are research internships. What’s really going to affect whether you get in are:</p>
<p>-your recommendation letters from faculty members who know your work in classes and have preferably supervised you in some sort of research, especially research related to political science.
-your statement of purpose explaining why you want to undertake graduate work, and why the specific program you are applying to will suit your needs now and for your career.
-your research experience. You should have at least 2 years of research under your belt before applying, although exceptional students can get admitted with fewer. It should be research related to political science and possibly related to your field, and you should be able to discuss it in your statement and how those experiences have shaped your decision to attend a PhD program in political science.
-Your fit with the department. If you want to study, say, the political economy of Eastern Europe and there are no political economists at Vanderbilt and no one who studies Eastern Europe either, they are not going to accept you no matter how good you are. They can’t take on students that no one in the department can supervise.</p>
<p>A little more about myself. I spent a month last summer in China learning culture and some mandarin. The internship at the Woodrow Wilson center is a research based internship as I will be working with scholars on there research. I have an interest in East Asian politics mainly with Chinese politics. I hope that helps.</p>
<p>I suppose that might help if we wanted to take the time to research what professors at those schools were researching and then we would have a better idea if you are a good fit for the program. </p>
<p>OP likely has a reasonable shot at admission at some of the schools on the list (Northwestern is likely the most competitive school listed). Doing well on the GRE and using the next year to develop your statement of research interests will go a long way toward helping.</p>