taroboba

Program: MPP/MIA/MPA Interests: Security Studies or Human Rights (specifically focusing on technology policy) Schools Applying To: SIPA, HKS, Fletcher, potentially McCourt or SAIS. Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college, decently well known Undergraduate GPA: 3.33 Undergraduate Major: BA Political Science & East Asian Studies GRE: 162V, 150Q, 5W Years of Work Experience: Five (3 FT, 2 PT/internships) Languages: English, intermediate Japanese, beginner Korean and Hindi. Work Experience: Internships at nonprofits in London and DC, three years at a name-brand tech startup, currently securing another position at a small startup with ties to public sector LORs: Three strong ones, one from undergraduate advisor, two from former managers Other Things: I'm fairly sure I'll be a run-of-the-mill candidate with my work background, but I'll be focusing my optional essays & SOPs on tech policy as it pertains to international relations (haven't narrowed down my focus yet, I'm thinking potentially security studies or HR). I have a pretty solid hook for one of my optional essays, I'm mostly worried about my GREs keeping me out. I'll have all my app materials ready by Columbia's November 2nd early deadline, but am considering retaking the GREs and sending my app in December. Thoughts? 150Q is pretty weak, and so is my academic quant background, but I'm going to start taking stats/econ classes at community college and have a decent amount of coding languages on my resume.

Hey y'all. Been thinking about applying to MPP/MPA/MIA programs for a bit... my top choices right now are Columbia (either MIA or MPA - I have 6 years of Japanese but I wouldn't call myself 'proficient' by any means), Fletcher, HKS (for funsies), and Georgetown (leaning towards McCourt). My GPA is not competitive (3.35) and my Q score needs a lot of beefing up (currently 150Q/162V/5w, am retaking in October). My academic quantitative background is also weak. However, I think I have an interesting perspective for my essay, especially if I decide to concentrate in security studies -- I don't want to go into too much detail, but I worked for a well-known tech company for the last three years and have a really solid topic that combines policy + tech. My biggest concerns: my semi-unusual work background (I have some nonprofit experience, including being on the board of a nonprofit org this part year, but nothing full-time) combined with my lack of a quantitative background -- I am going to start online courses for stats and econ, but my transcript does not look great quant-wise. Should I take a year and try to find a more policy-oriented job + finish up these courses, or do you think my essay will be enough to convince admissions that I'm a serious applicant? My job was pretty entry-level but can definitely be spun to look more interesting. Edit: forgot to mention my undergrad degree was in Political Science & East Asian Studies!