Where should I apply?(Poli Sci)

Graduate School
1

<p>I would appreciate any help you guys can give me. I will graduate in December, a semester late and here are my stats.</p>

<p>Major: Political Science
GPA: 4.0
University: Tennessee Technological University
Ranked 33rd in US News Universities-Master's (South): Top Schools
I was regrettably not in the honors program because of my ACT score.</p>

<p>GRE: not taken yet shooting for a least 600 verbal and 650-700 Quantitative. I have been studying for about two weeks now and I have about half the 300 work hit list memorized and the math is coming back to me. </p>

<p>In the fall I will be interning with congressman Bart Gordon's office in the town my college is located. I will also be writing a research paper in a one on one class with my professor. I am in a fraternity so I am not one of the 4.0/no social skills students. I just yesterday e-mailed a professor of mine who is a top 30 expert on the middle east about possibly being an assistant to him in some manner in the fall and spring but I am not sure if he will agree. Also my adviser has told me she will help me get published before I start grad school. A year or so ago she got one of her students published in the Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties, so probably something along those lines. </p>

<p>I want to attend a well ranked private university's phd program and specialize in International Relations. I am currently wishing for any Ivy League school or Vanderbilt. Are my goals for the GRE too low for these schools? What GRE score should I shoot for? If I do not do as well as I hoped on the GRE what kind of schools should I shoot for? Am I wasting my time because I attended a unknown public university? </p>

<p>An answer to any of these questions would be of great help. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>jakepols,
I do not wish to discourage you at all, really, but saying that you are wishing for "any Ivy League school" means you need to do a bit more research. Not all the "Ivy League" schools are known for their Ph.D. programs in poli. sci./IR. All of the top poli. sci. Ph.D programs are extremely competitive. Some have acceptance rates below 5%. You have a great GPA, but I honestly have no idea how Tennessee Tech is regarded in academia. Your letters of recommendation will be very important, as will your statement of purpose. Your GRE's will be important only to "get you in the door," and I think that the scores you are shooting for are OK, although the verbal score will be important for someone going into the social sciences. The higher the verbal, the more chance that your application won't be put into the "circular file" to start off. Very high GRE scores (700+ on each) are important on the university wide level for consideration for fellowships.</p>

3

<p>jakepols, it's very important to research the programs carefully, and then research the professors carefully. You need to try to find professors whose specialty is something you are particularly interested in. Is what they are particularly researching something you are particularly interested in?</p>

4

<p>I have researched different programs extensively and most the Ivies are in the US News top 40, the exception being Penn. I want to attend a private university for graduate study because I have attended a state school for my undergrad and there are certain attributes of smaller private universities that appeal to me. I believe that the top ten schools would not consider me so when I said any Ivy I mean Columbia, Cornell, and Brown. Here is how I see the rankings</p>

<p>Unattainable:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan
5. Yale
6. Princeton
7. UCSD
8. Duke, UCLA, Chicago</p>

<p>Long Shot:
11. Columbia, MIT, Rochester, Wisconsin
15. Ohio State, Minnesota, UNC Chapel Hill
18. Indiana Bloomington, Washington University in St. Louis</p>

<p>Possible:
20. Cornell, Northwestern
22. Michigan State
23. SUNY Stony Brook, Illinois, Texas, Washington
27. Johns Hopkins, Iowa
29. UC Irvine, Maryland</p>

<p>Decent Shot:
31. Emory, Rice, Texas A&M
34. NYU, Arizona, UC Davis, Virginia
38. Florida State, Penn State, Rutgers New Brunswick, Colorado
42. Georgetown, Syracuse, Vanderbilt
45. Brown, Claremont, George Washington, Pitt</p>

<p>Also I would prefer to not attend school in a dangerous city such as St. Louis because my future wife is a southern belle who thinks the north is over ran with rapists and murders. lol.
Lastly, about the professors, I want to study International Orgs such as the UN and particularly the EU but I do not know how that factors into admissions standards. For example let's say George Washington has the foremost scholar on the EU would that make their admissions standards for students wishing to study that more like Harvard's?</p>

5

<p>Sorry, if I sounded rude in that last reply, I was late for a hair cut. lol. I appreciate your help. Thank you.</p>

6

<p>jakepols,</p>

<p>Sorry to be a bubble burster, but you really need to consider this a bit more.</p>

<p>For one, why get a PhD? Do you have some impossibly passionate desire to be a professor? Do you relish the idea of getting a PhD so much that you'd chance not getting a job afterward? Does your "southern belle" wife understand that you'll pretty much disappear for 5 years and then you'll have very little choice in where you go afterward? PhDs in poli sci don't choose their jobs, the jobs choose them. How would you and your future spouse feel about a nice life in Maine? How about Iowa? Utah? Remember, you might end up ANYWHERE when it comes time to placement.</p>

<p>Further compounding this is the fact that you are simply not at the top 10 to 15 level right now. One of the biggest issues facing any poli sci PhD is the low supply of jobs. If you're not at one of the top programs, you're simply not going to do well up against your peers.</p>

<p>I don't mean to be a wet, cold, ragged blanket, but these are the best words I can offer you right now. If you cannot shoot for 700+ on both sections, you're not going to get into top 10 to 15 programs. If you can't get into a top 10 to 15 program, then ask yourself-- is the upwards of 6 years of opportunity cost and low marketability of the degree worth it to me?</p>

<p>If so, I'd be glad to help you.</p>

7

<p>Thank you for your response. Yes, I do want to be a professor, badly. I think that is one of the few jobs that would keep me interested and happy. I understand that the job market and pay is not that great considering the lengthy time spent in school. As far as pay is concerned it will seem like a lot to me because my parents combined only make about 30k a year with two children. I will not need to teach at a large university, I would be happy teaching at a school like Tennessee Tech, anything would be better than working on a farm again. lol My fiancee will be fine I was being somewhat feceous characterizing her as a southern belle. But to answer your question, yes this is the only career path that I desire. However it does come as somewhat of a shock that my 4.0 does not make me even slightly competitive at the 10-20 range. Do I have a shot at any of the top 40 programs listed? Is there a good way to improve my vocab to the 700+ range by October? My adviser said she believes that you can improve your score significantly by studying but I have heard from others that it is impossible. I am going to study my ass off anyway because it can't hurt my score and I have always wanted to improve my vocabulary. The math is not causing any problems for me now and I feel confidant that I can score 700+ on it.</p>

8

<p>jakepols,</p>

<p>The problem with the GPA is that it's relatively meaningless. Everyone comes in with a high GPA, and you'll be competing against applicants from top schools with similar GPAs. I can't say how hard your program is, but remember that grad schools are very much risk averse. They will be looking at your GRE very seriously, as it will be the only common metric you and the Harvard applicant will have. </p>

<p>What kinds of research did you do as an undergrad? What makes you stand out? </p>

<p>These are the things you should be worried about along with the GRE. Oh, and I just recommend reading a lot of high end literature and periodicals. The Economist is a good start.</p>

9

<p>Also are there any way that I can improve my chances between now and the end of the year? Who should I have write my reference letters? My professors? My internship supervisors? I am very headstrong and ambitious so if there is any thing I can do between now and application time please let me know. Thank You.</p>

10

<p>I will be doing a research paper in the fall that should make for a good writing sample. I will be writing about labor unions in Iraq and if the Bush admin policy against them is detrimental to the attempt to build a democracy there. Other than that I wrote a research paper on children with special needs in the regular classroom. The paper was a debate paper where I had pro and another student had con. It was about 20-25 pages long. I also researched John C Calhoun for a class presentation in American Political Thought class.
I currently have a subscription to Foreign Policy and I have signed up for the Wilson Quarterly and I am reading Bowling Alone. Are these a good start? I will look at The Economist.</p>

11

<p>One thing I recommend to any budding political scientist is to take econ, math, and stats.</p>

<p>All political science is getting quantitative these days: demonstrate that you're ready for this by having at least micro and macroecon down. Make sure your differential calc is good. If you can, take calc based stats and econometrics.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>