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Oh no!

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  • Location
    New York
  • Application Season
    2016 Fall

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  1. I like to revisit this thread every so often just to give myself a little reminder that this process need not be so bothersome. To me (and people like me) who may have gotten a little nutty when applying to undergrad, threads like these are really nice to read.
  2. I've posted in this thread before and received good feedback, but I had a pertinent question that I didn't want to start a new thread for, and couldn't find an appropriate thread to put it in. Results have gone out for the Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Insitute (PPIA JSI) fellowships, and I initially was an alternate select at Carnegie Mellon (which is a fancier way of saying "waitlisted"). Well, today I learned that everyone took their fellowship and nobody dropped, so I won't be bumped up to primary select. My question is this: is it kosher to list an alternate selection on your resume/CV or grad school app? Thanks.
  3. Hey there future wonks! My situation is outlined here in the "Am I competitive?" thread. I'm set to graduate soon, and will be taking some time off before applying to schools. Since posting, I've taken a micro-focused econ course ("The Global Economy"), and I'm finishing up a graduate-level class in quantitative political science methods (which has a lot of work in R). The catch is that I've taken both of these on a P/F basis because they're pretty far out of my comfort zone and I didn't want them to tank my grade. I've previously taken an Intro macro course and received an A+, and an Intro stats course that I also took on a P/F basis. So my quant work looks something like this: Macro: A+ Stats: P Global Econ: P Quant methods: P (likely) Does taking quant courses on a P/F hurt an applicant? What about taking advanced courses, or taking many courses? From reading this forum, I've gathered that taking quant classes on a P/F basis won't help, but I guess what I'm asking is if there's a sort of inflection point where the quantity and/or quality of courses would overcome the negative aspect of pass/fail. Thanks again guys! This forum has been very educational.
  4. I'll be 32 when I start the application process. I did almost 10 years in the Marine Corps, and I'm glad that I did; I was not mature enough for college when I came out of high school. That's to say nothing of my grades, which were not impressive. Now that I'm a little older, I really enjoy school on my terms and don't see it as a chore.
  5. Hi everyone. Hope you guys enjoy your time here. I'm a current undergrad, which doesn't exactly help much, but if you need help with getting around or moving or what-have-you, just drop a line!
  6. Hi everyone. Long time reader, first time poster. I should note that I'm in the middle of my junior year at undergrad, so this post is not really to assess competitiveness but rather to temper expectations. As in, "Why are you applying to this school/program? You should apply to X instead." I'm a non-traditional applicant with a good amount of work experience, but I'm very new at this grad school game. I'm interested in intelligence and security studies programs, and have based my list around schools that either offer those kinds of programs, or have strong concentrations. Program (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPA, MPP, MIA Schools Applying To: SAIS, Georgetown, GWU, SIPA (Maybe), Princeton, Harvard Undergraduate institution: Columbia Undergraduate GPA: 3.6 Undergraduate Majors: Middle East Studies GRE: TBD. I did merely okay on the SAT Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): Still attending Years of Work Experience: 10 years Describe Relevant Work Experience: Military intelligence analyst. Multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and one to Japan. Could talk all day about the various analytical work I did there, but suffice it to say I covered a lot of topics and territories. In Afghanistan I developed a training curriculum for one of the first Afghan National Army intelligence units, and trained several classes of analysts over the course of six months. It was a very rewarding experience. Right now I'm working as an budget analysis intern for New York City. Languages: Intermediate Persian (Iranian Persian and Tajik dialect) Quant: Light. Macroeconomics and statistics. I haven't worked up to Calculus yet, but I'll get there. Strength of SOP: Hard to say for now, but I have a very clear idea of what I want to accomplish in the IC and can draw upon past experiences to substantiate it. In the past, I've written SOPs for scholarships like FLAS and Critical Language Scholarship that were moderately succesful. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): N/A Concerns: My quant experience is light, which will probably hurt me at places like SAIS. I'm concerned that I'm looking at the wrong programs. For instance, when looking at HKS' website, I'm not certain if I should be applying for the MPP program or the mid-career program due to my work experience. Similarly, I'm unsure if I should apply to Princeton's MPA program, or swing for the fences and try for their Security Studies PhD.
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