<p>Hello Everyone,</p>
<p>I just graduated from FIU with a B.A in International Relations. I am lucky enough to find a
subject I have passion for and want to pursue a Ph.D in International Relations. I am the first male to graduate college (my older sister was the first) and I would be the first to go to a Graduate School (my older sister went to law school). While she does help somewhat I want to get a fresh perspective from someone that is in grad school, is applying to grad school or has graduated from a Grad school. I was hoping to get opinions and advice on what I can do to ultimately hit that goal of getting into a Ph.D program. </p>
<p>Academic GPA-3.39</p>
<p>Recommendations- i could get 6. 3 of them are from profs. that I know would provide great letters and liked having me as their students. </p>
<p>Standardized test scores-I retook the GRE test and got verbal:157(560), quantitative:151 (
650)</p>
<p>Character / personal qualities – During my undergrad career I had proven myself to be confident in my work, when ever there was group projects I had consistently taken a leadership role. I have never shied away from hard classes took 4000 level classes in both Ir, Polcysci, and History.</p>
<p>Alumni relation – My sister graduated from UMD and works there now.</p>
<p>Geographical residence- I live in Miami, which makes it hard to work in the IR field being so far away from DC. </p>
<p>State residency–Florida</p>
<p>Religious affiliation/commitment-on paper Roman Catholic</p>
<p>Minority status- Cuban</p>
<p>First generation college student</p>
<p>Financial Aid – Financial Aid is important if im going to be leaving Miami, Florida</p>
<p>I hope you can tell I am in the dark here. Im not sure how my grades and test scores compare with everyone else.My GPA in IR classes is an A-. In Polysci classes its an A-. If i would have stuck to Spanish Classes my GPA would have been a lot higher but i wanted to challenge myself with Mandarin Chinese. </p>
<p>I appreciate any help. If you have recommendations from programs or paths to a PHD I would really appreciate that too. Im still kind of new so anything would help with helping my grad admissions package look a lot better. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone</p>