Fall 2009 PhD Aspirant - what are my chances?

[rsen123]

Hi everyone,

Although this is my first post to this forum, I love this forum esp. for the candid feedbacks. Can anybody plz comment on my chances.

Applying (all Poli Sci depts): Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, UPenn, Rochester, SUNY-Stonybrook, NYU, UC Berkeley.

Profile:

GRE: 680 v, 790q, 6.0 awa
Pursuing Masters in Poli Sci from a top ranking terminal Masters program in Northeast US - 4.0 GPA [7/10 courses completed, yet to write MA thesis ]
Courses:2 Statistical Methods, IPE, 3 IR/comparative, 1 theory so far.
Already have an MA in IR from a top-ranked univ in India with a second rank.
RA: 2 years (in US) + 2 yrs (India), Lecturership: 1 yr (India)
Publications: 4 publications in Indian journals, none in US. 2 conference presentations in US so far.
Interests: IPE, IR with a quanti slant.
Are my choice of schools good? Or am I being too ambitious? What are my chances?

Any feedback /advice?

[Demisel]

Based on the profiles I know, I believe your profile (assuming your undergrad GPA is as good as your grad GPA) will get you in NYU and Rochester. I have no insider information on other schools, but I guess Princeton and Stanford (poli sci) is similar to and on par with NYU and Rochester, and hence likely to admit you. Stanford political economics requires a stronger quantitative background than yours. I think you should apply to Harvard too. They've revamped their PhD program and it's looking pretty fascinating now.

[rsen123]

Thank you Demisel for your encouraging response. You know how the application process gets exhausting and sometimes depressing!

As far as my undergrads are concerned, I did it in India, where they dont give a GPA. I did very well with a second rank in a top ranking university. Do you suggest, I should try to get an equivalence of some sort of my undergrad grades? HOw do the universities normally interpret an international transcript without a GPA?

ALso, do you suggest that I include one LoR from my undergraduate uinv prof?

[Demisel]

I think you have to translate your Indian grades to American GPA, because otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to complete the online application (which requires you to put a number in the GPA box). The best way to do this is using percentage: A = 90%, B = 80%, C = 70%, etc. or something like that. I'm sure you can find a guide to translate Indian grades on the web, especially since there are a lot of students from India.

As far as LOR's are concerned, here's what you should do. First, ask yourself: does this professor know you and can he write good things about you? If yes, then pick the one who's more famous (i.e. has better connections).

[rsen123]

Thanks again Demisel. I really appreciate your help.

The Harvard program looks great and I actually have someone in the faculty there whose work matches my area of interest perfectly. I am also pretty conversant with her work. But I am hesitant to apply because I have been told that I dont have much chance in harvard because they are a closed elite club where you cant cut in without a non-Ivy league background! The student profile there also kind of corroborated this. Given how expensive the application process is for a poor grad student living on a stipend, I took harvard off my list. But, on your advice, I really want to give it a shot this time. Is there anything I can do now to improve my chances?

[Demisel]

Originally Posted by rsen123

But I am hesitant to apply because I have been told that I dont have much chance in harvard because they are a closed elite club where you cant cut in without a non-Ivy league background! The student profile there also kind of corroborated this.

That's probably true. No self-respecting programs hire or admit their own students, but Harvard is obviously not a self-respecting program, it's self-loving. However, say what you want about it, everybody loves Harvard if it loves them back.

Originally Posted by rsen123

Is there anything I can do now to improve my chances?

Yeah, you can contact the professors whom you wanna work with. They tend to be very supportive when you have genuine interest and genuine questions. However, don't contact them for the sole purpose of getting admitted. This is sort of similar to looking for a job lead, except that it's much more delicate than that.