The MA/PhD program at U of Washington
The grad program at U Maryland
Although in the next few months I will be applying to other programs as well (notably at UCSB and maybe at UCSD, among others) those are my top two choices for grad school programs in Communications. I know that there are several college profs on the Dope - some of whom have certainly served on admissions committees - so I figure I could get some kind of gauge of my chances here. Here’s some info about me that I intend to include in my SOP:
-Undergraduate GPA: 3.993
-Presented a paper at a conference that was given a top prize there (this was later reported by my university and other local newspapers)
-Was a keynote speaker at a research event on my campus
-Have teaching experience (paid to assist the teaching of a research methods course)
-Undergrad of the year in my discipline (top award given to a single undergrad in my major out of ~700 students)
-Member of several honor societies
-Will have an article (of which I am co-author) under consideration for publication by a major Comm. journal at the time that I apply
-President of the Poli Sci club at my community college
I’ve also been working outside of school during this whole time, but that doesn’t have anything to do with academe so I don’t know how meritorious it would be to harp on those experiences. The big unknown for me at this point is the GRE, which I am taking at the end of September. However, my last score on a practice test was 151 M, 160 V, so that should give a ballpark idea of where I stand there. I appreciate any and all insights, everybody!