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[leparsell]

Hey,

I have been looking for the answers to some Ph.D. questions for quite awhile, and this seems to be a good forum for it!  I apologize if these questions have been answered for others, but I really need some solid advice. 

I graduated from Quinnipiac, a medium sized private university in 2006 (double major, political science and history), winning most outstanding senior in political science.  3.9 gpa in majors, 3.52 overall. 

I worked in D.C. for a year doing political work on college campuses and then moved back to Connecticut to work at the Yale Dept. of Anthropology supporting the faculty here. 

I have taken the GRE in the past, and treated it like the SAT (did not study, got first a 530/370 and then a 570/530).  Unlike the SAT, no subject tests to rescue me.  Did not get into graduate school.  Two years later, I am now preparing to take the test again and hope to raise my score in the 630-650 verbal / 550 math range (I cannot do higher-level math, period, which hurts me at certain programs such as Virginia).  I also have Zero foreign language skills, but feel I could tough out one by the time I need to be tested in grad school.

I am planning on applying to a variety of schools, and will be including recommendations from professors both at Yale and at Quinnipiac.  So far my list is shaping up to be:

Good mix of chance of acceptance and program strength: Boston College, American, Catholic, Brandeis, Boston University, Claremont, UConn

Reaches: Yale, George Washington, Georgetown, University of Virginia, Princeton

Weaker Program, but attempts at Ph.D "safety schools" if such a thing exists: George Mason, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin

Disregarded because of program (too hard, not the right fit, too far away ect): Northeastern, Harvard, Idaho University, Baylor, U. of Utah, University of South Carolina. 

In summation, if I could get a few answers to the following questions:

I. Lets say I just break the 600 verbal barrier, but not much higher - I have a pretty good GPA and significant political work experience.  Will that even out?  Tons of colleges say "your entire profile will be examined" but I have found that NOT to be the case in the past if your GRE isn't pretty high.
When I was a senior I annoyed the George Mason admissions officer enough that she retrieved my file to tell me what happened - she said "your gres were not good enough, the rest of your file was not even considered.  As far as we are concerned, your GRE score says that your school was far too easy."  GRR

II. My writing samples are now 2+ years old, should I freshen something up or write an entire new paper?  Sending as is wouldn't really work, I might have gotten an A but they aren't the greatest papers.  My history thesis still stands the test of time, but it wouldn't really be appropriate to send an exerpt from that for a political science writing sample.

III. One of the professors I have asked to write me a recommendation also did one for me 2 years ago, but he simply had me type what I wanted and he signed it - needless to say it was not very good, I had no idea what schools wanted at the time.  Assuming he asks me to do this again, would it be ethical to draft a letter beforehand?

IV.  Are there any other programs (American Politics focus) anyone would suggest?  How does my list look?  I know it is long (15 currently, most likely trim to 12-13) but I MUST get into a program next fall.  Time is ticking and the Ph.D. takes an incredible amount of time to earn.

I am still struggling with the possibility that there is no such thing as a “safe” Ph.D. school.  Any help you can offer, either from what I have written here or otherwise would be GREATLY appreciated. 

[booking]

III. One of the professors I have asked to write me a recommendation also did one for me 2 years ago, but he simply had me type what I wanted and he signed it - needless to say it was not very good, I had no idea what schools wanted at the time.  Assuming he asks me to do this again, would it be ethical to draft a letter beforehand?

Was that ethical in the first place?  I've heard of this phenomenon, but have never exercised it myself. I'd like to hear other forumites' opinions, if they can be posted in such a manner as not to derail the OP's question.

[poliscidude]

Well, as someone also in the thick of political science PhD program applications (albeit for IR) here are some of my thoughts.

Your GPA and work experience seem like a good basis for your application. As for the GRE, if you commit to studying for 2-3 months with a Kaplan or Princeton Review guide, flash cards and practice tests, you can bring it up well over 600/600. So don't give up on getting a respectable score just yet.

One thing you can do to really help your odds is spin your work background as something that has motivated you to pursue a PhD and connect it to your research interests and what you want to study. And if you can connect it to the type of research going on at the school or a specific faculty member's work, even better. If your personal essay turns out especially well, it *could* MAYBE cancel out mediocre scores or grades...at least that's what I've heard. (I wouldn't bank on that, though.)

As for the writing sample, that's a tough one. If you are working at Yale, could you audit or take a class or two and use them to get your writing chops back and produce a good work sample? Similarly, could you maybe do a master's somewhere to refine your interests and build up your qualifications? That's what I did and I really believe (and HOPE) it will make a difference.

I would try to get reccs from people who will really put in an effort, it's more ethical and will probably help your application more.

For the school list, you should choose schools that have faculty, courses, research centers, workshops, etc. that relate to your specific interests. I would then choose a few reach, a few safeties, and a few medium chance ones. I can't speak on strength in American Govt specifically, but I don't think Boston College, UConn, Catholic or George Mason are that great, especially if you are hoping to land a tenure track teaching job afterward. I always thought Minnesota and Wisconsin were pretty solid schools, but I could be wrong. Bottom line: shoot for the best, have some decent and reputable ones as back ups, but make sure they all fit with your interests and will be conducive to success.

I think there is such thing as a safety school because one thing I noticed when scouring program web pages for every school imaginable was that the really obscure, unranked schools had a very large number (in some cases a majority) of foreign students. Not that foreign students aren't good (in fact I know some who are amazing) , but I sort of got the impression that due to language issues/test scores, maybe these schools were the only ones they could get into. So I think there are schools you could get into with low scores. The real question is why you would want to if your chances of lining up a tenure track job afterward are slim to none.

Best of luck, and if it doesn't work out, there must be an MA program or a job in DC that would make a tolerable fall back option. The sooner you prepare yourself for that possibility, the less painful and exhausting the application process will be.

[imawakenow]

I am still struggling with the possibility that there is no such thing as a “safe” Ph.D. school. 

Sounds about right given that one of your "safety" schools only admits about 10% of its applicants into its political science Ph.D. program.

[litcrittr82]

I second the advice about looking into MA or MPP programs as alternatives/places to hone your skills and build your CV. 

Caveat: I'm now a grad. student in the humanities, but two years ago I heavily researched but did not apply to social science PhD programs after majoring in the social sciences as an undergrad.

I'm sure some will rightfully disagree, but in my view the safety school concept is best forgotten when it comes to PhD programs.  College admissions is pretty straightforward, but grad. school admissions is far less predictable, with much tougher odds.  Sure, you have a sense of reaches, realistic options, and easier places to get into--that's all well and good--but when the decisions come back, it gets pretty crazy.  Lesser known or lower ranked programs may well take a look at an applicant who seems very strong, assume s/he won't go if admitted, and decide not to waste one of a handful of admissions offers on someone who they figure will turn them down 9 times out of 10.  That same applicant could be categorically rejected by top programs for a hundred different reasons, or be universally accepted by top programs for as many reasons.  The process is so competitive, particularly in this economy; so the best thing to do in my view is over-prepare in the application process, hope for the best, but don't be too shocked or defeated if it doesn't work out as you envisioned it.  Of course, the other side of that coin holds as well: some people get into all of their reaches and only 1-2 of their 'realistic' schools. 

I'm of the 'anything can happen' view on this one, having been admitted to great places and rejected from places I fully expected to get into.  At two of these latter places, multiple faculty with whom I'd been corresponding and with whom I shared research interests happened to pick up and move to another school in the middle of the application season.  One of the best ways to deal with the 'anything can happen' nature of the process is to apply broadly and pay close attention to fit and not just brand name (seems you're doing a good job of this already).

One more thing: write it down a hundred times if you have to just to get your confidence up: there is no high level math on the GRE.  If you refresh on basic algebra, trig, really low-level statistics (like reading charts and finding the mean and mode), etc., and practice the problems, you can definitely boost your score.

[leopard]

I'm sure some will rightfully disagree, but in my view the safety school concept is best forgotten when it comes to PhD programs.  College admissions is pretty straightforward, but grad. school admissions is far less predictable, with much tougher odds.  Sure, you have a sense of reaches, realistic options, and easier places to get into--that's all well and good--but when the decisions come back, it gets pretty crazy.  Lesser known or lower ranked programs may well take a look at an applicant who seems very strong, assume s/he won't go if admitted, and decide not to waste one of a handful of admissions offers on someone who they figure will turn them down 9 times out of 10.  That same applicant could be categorically rejected by top programs for a hundred different reasons, or be universally accepted by top programs for as many reasons.  The process is so competitive, particularly in this economy; so the best thing to do in my view is over-prepare in the application process, hope for the best, but don't be too shocked or defeated if it doesn't work out as you envisioned it.  Of course, the other side of that coin holds as well: some people get into all of their reaches and only 1-2 of their 'realistic' schools. 

I think the only safety schools in grad admissions are the ones that don't fund most of their students which means they are able to let many more people in...which is probably not the program one wants to attend.

[holyhush]

You have a hippopotamus percent chance of admission.  If you're lucky, that might bump up to umbrella percent. 

Seriously, there really aren't "reaches" or "safeties" when it comes to grad school admission.  Choose the best schools that fit you, and take your chances.

[prephd]

I. Meet the minimum GRE score.

II. Write something new.

III. The real question is whether it's ethical for a professor to ask you to write your own LOR. 

IV. Apply widely and carefully.

No, there probably aren't "safety schools," per se.

Your percent chance of admission? It's your GRE scores plus your GPA, multiplied by the number of articles published by your LOR writers, and subtracting one point for every typo in your SOP.

Good luck.

[betterslac]

1) You need to raise your GRE scores significantly. Unfortunately I'm not sure that you will be able to raise them to the level you need in order to get into a good program given where they are now.  In particular many American politics programs have a very heavy quantitative emphasis and you need to demonstrate that you can do that kind of work. But even your verbal score is still very low. You need to have stellar GREs to make up for your unexciting overall GPA at Quinnipiac

2) Find someone at Yale and have an honest talk with them. I'm not sure who the Americanists are anymore in the political science department but I think Ian Shapiro is still the chair. If you can speak with him to get an honest assessment of your chances of getting into a good program that would be helpful. He can be brutally honest and I think you might need that.

3) The political science job market is a bit tight, though there are probably more jobs in American than in any of the other subfields. You need to get into the best program you possibly can, try not to pay anything for the program, and see if you can get together with an advisor who will provide you with good training, contacts and possibilities for collaboration.  At my middling slac we have been able to get people from fairly high level programs while turning up our noses at people who come from places comparable to Catholic and BC.

4) My understanding also is that Minnesota and Wisconsin are much better than many of the places you identify as target schools. Wisconsin is taking a hit because of faculty being lured away by other places but it historically has had a very strong reputation. I don't see either of those by any stretch as a "safety" school for you-- both are probably reaches.

5) Unless you are otherwise extraordinary (in the sense of having some type of experience or skill you have not mentioned that sets you apart), I don't think you have any shot at Yale or Princeton and I'm not sure you should even waste your money applying to them.

6) Write a bang up essay on your research interests and make sure you craft it so that it is clear that you can accomplish what you want in the programs to which you are applying.

[leparsell]

A very good friend of mine with a comparable GPA, (won the most outstanding political science grad the year before me), less extra curricular activities and less political work experience (but a stint in the peace corp in Romania which certainly helped) scored a 1230 on his GRE's and just started a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins.  That gave me considerable hope, but I am hearing opposite things here. 

I know well the head of the political science department at BC, and he said to me, "I think the list of schools is a good one; obviously, Yale and Princeton are a stretch, considering your GRE’s.  But the others I think are within reach."

Wisconsin and Minn. were not on the list he saw, and so perhaps those should be added to my "reach" schools.  I significantly prefer the northeast, and if I get into a program in that area it would take an avalanche of financial aid for me to move elsewhere.   Unless I could get into a school in Britain, but I have read that the financial aid for non-commonwealth members is rather low and considering the size of my list already, I decided that adding more reach schools far away which will not fund me was not a wise plan of action.

I could certainly focus on international relations, it is where I intended to focus my Ph.D. until the last year or so when my opinions have solidified around the US returning to an insular Republic.  Not something to spend 7 years in an international relations program (which is why, unlike my friend, I will not be applying to JHU) writing about.  It is, however, a much better fit in an Americanist program. 

My #1 recommendation letter will be from my thesis adviser at QU, who got his Ph.D. at Yale in '97.  I will be contacting Professor Shapiro, who I have met with all the faculty searches here, and see if he can give me some constructive advice. 

Thank you for your continued help, and keep the tough advice coming I can't seem to get anything but "you can do it!" advice from professors/otherwise around here.