Chances for Political Science PhD

FentonF2
Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:19:00 +0000

My guess is you’ll get in somewhere. You have some unique aspects to your application that will set it apart somewhat. I used to be in a PhD program in Poli Sci and I can tell you how it went for me.

GREs: 630v, 770q, 6.0 analytical writing
undergrad: Philosophy and Poli Sci, 3.87 cumulative, above average but not stellar private school.

Applications:

Berkeley - Rejected
Princeton - Rejected (they actually lost my application and I had to call to find out I got rejected)
Michigan - Rejected
Wisconsin - Rejected

North Carolina - rejected, although somebody candidly told me that I would have gotten in if I had research interests that matched anyone on the faculty. I didn’t, don’t know why I bothered to apply in the first place.

Wash U St Louis - cancelled my app with them before review period

Notre Dame - wait-listed

Texas - Accepted
Washington (Seattle) - Accepted
Maryland - Accepted
Florida - Accepted

Trust me, there’s nothing special about yours truly. And granted, I mainly got into the lower end of my application spectrum, but at least I had a few choices.