TestMagic Forums - View Single Post - How does the admissions/selection process work in political science?

strategery · 07-31-2007, 03:19 AM

I don't know the answers to all of these, but here's a shot at a few.

- Is there an auto-reject mechanism? (e.g. throw out low GPAs or low test scores or people without certain core coursework before even looking at the recommendations and the statement of purpose)

I was told by senior faculty at a top 5 school that this was indeed the case.

- What is more important for admissions: Statement of Purpose (i.e. your future research interests) or Writing Sample (i.e. the quality and thematic choice of your current work)?

I would say that the SOP is more important. Other factors in your apps (recs, gpa, gre) should already give them a good idea for your research/analytical/writing abilities. You need the SOP to convey what specifically you are interested in researching, why you are prepared for such research, and why school X is the best fit.

- Who will be the first to have a look at your application: graduate director/chair of the admissions committee or a randomly selected faculty member? Or a person in an administrative function?

I'm sure this depends on school, though the programs I know of either had "a person in an administrative function" or not so randomly selected faculty members (based on what you put down in your app as being your subfield.

07-31-2007, 03:19 AM	#3 (permalink)
strategery Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 18	I don't know the answers to all of these, but here's a shot at a few. - Is there an auto-reject mechanism? (e.g. throw out low GPAs or low test scores or people without certain core coursework before even looking at the recommendations and the statement of purpose) I was told by senior faculty at a top 5 school that this was indeed the case. - What is more important for admissions: Statement of Purpose (i.e. your future research interests) or Writing Sample (i.e. the quality and thematic choice of your current work)? I would say that the SOP is more important. Other factors in your apps (recs, gpa, gre) should already give them a good idea for your research/analytical/writing abilities. You need the SOP to convey what specifically you are interested in researching, why you are prepared for such research, and why school X is the best fit. - Who will be the first to have a look at your application: graduate director/chair of the admissions committee or a randomly selected faculty member? Or a person in an administrative function? I'm sure this depends on school, though the programs I know of either had "a person in an administrative function" or not so randomly selected faculty members (based on what you put down in your app as being your subfield.