218 replies to this topic

[beefmaster]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): Middle East Studies / IR etc.
Schools Applied To: Fletcher (MALD), Georgetown (Arab Studies), George Washington (Middle East Studies), SAIS (Middle East Studies)
Schools Admitted To: 0
Schools Rejected From: 0
Still Waiting: All

Undergraduate institution: UK university
Undergraduate GPA: 1st
Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable):
Undergraduate Major: History

GRE Quantitative Score: 145
GRE Verbal Score: 154
GRE AW Score: ?

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2
Years of Work Experience: 3
Describe Relevant Work Experience:

2 years at NGO in the Middle East as a Programme Officer. Written proposals, gained funding, and implemented projects from funders such as USAID, MEPI, US Embassy, Irish Embassy, UK Embassy, Sawaris Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, National Democratic Institute, Finnish Embassy, Swedish International Development Association, Germany Embassy, GTZ, UNDP, New Zealand Embassy, and the American Development Foundation.

Managed project budgets in the region of 15,000 USD - 500,000 USD

Following the 'Arab Spring' worked on capacity building for new political parties etc.

Travelled extensively throughout the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, and Egypt) and have spent time studying Arabic in both Syria and Egypt.

Languages: English (native), Arabic (working knowledge), French (limited knowledge)

Quant: Financial management of project budgets as describe above, will be taking intro macro and micro through the University of Oxford school for Continuing Education from Jan - June 2012

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Work and travel experience as described above.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 3 professors from undergraduate institution who I took final year classes with and one of whom was my dissertation supervisor.

Anyone got any idea how I stand considering my terrible quant score? Should I even bother paying the fee and submitting my applications?

[jmsw8d]

Hi all. Been lurking around the site for a while now and finally writing my own post. I'm in the very early stages of applying, and looking for a little feedback on my undergrad GPA as it fits in with my other qualifications. I feel confident about my LORs, personal statement and writing samples, but my GPA (3.1/4.0) combined with a not stellar GRE score has me a little bit concerned.

Would love any feedback.

--


GRE: 160 verbal (86%), 153 (65%), 4.5 analytical writing (72%)

Undergrad GPA: 3.1/4.0
GPA in major: 3.4/4.0

Graduated from Missouri School of Journalism -- if you're not familiar, it's one of the better journalism schools in the country. Minor in History, multicultural studies certificate

Work Experience: 3 years reporting for major newspapers (think big household names) on national politics and elections. Board of Directors for a large-scale journalism organization

Language Skills: Proficient Spanish and French.

Quant: Microeconomics, Economics of Public Policy, Money, Finance and Banking

Statement of Purpose: I write for a living and feel pretty confident in it. Have shopped it around to a number of academic and professional colleagues. Have checked for spelling/grammar errors so many times that I'm nearly going blind.

LOR: One from a former professor who happens to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Another from a CEO of an independent media company.

Applying to: Cornell (CIPA), Hopkins (Communications @ DC campus), George Washington (Graduate School of Political Management)

[saltlakecity2012]

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate any feedback you guys have on my application chances. I'm applying to 18 programs for specialization in comparative politics/political economy. I know, 18 - but it seems justified given the level of competition, there are profs I would love to work with at all of them, my recommenders are okay with it, and for various reasons it would be quite difficult to have to reapply next year..

Here are the stats:
Graduated from Columbia 2009 - 3.65 overall, 3.92 major, major poli sci minor math. I graduated in 3 years (I took a year off to work full time in development in the former USSR during my junior year), and my GPA from my last year was a 3.98.
GRE: 800 Verbal, 790 Quant
LORs: 1 very well known professor who has done some awesome work in my field (but more of a practitioner - he's my academic mentor), 1 up-and-coming poli sci professor (thesis advisor), and 1 from former employer. All will be pretty glowing.
Statement of purpose: I shopped it around and did like a million rewrites, and I feel pretty confident with it. In each one I mention at least 2 professors I'd like to work with in the department and why their work interests me.
I've got 2 years work experience after undergraduate, and I worked in microfinance in the former USSR and then in clean tech, focusing on developing markets (I wrote about how the first job immersed me in the political economy of my region of interest and the second job has exposed me to a new side of the energy trade, which will be a crucial component of my doctoral studies).
I presented at a pretty high-level conference my senior year, have lectured in Argentina, did an undergrad thesis based on original field research done with a fellowship grant, and was invited to present at some conferences in Asia.

Here are the schools:
1. Stanford GSB Political Economics
2. Harvard Political Economy and Government
3. Columbia Poli Sci
4. SIPA MIA
5. SAIS MA
6. Washington U Poli Sci
7. Berkeley Poli Sci
8. UCLA Poli Sci
9. UCSD Poli Sci
10. Brown Poli Sci
11. Yale Poli Sci
12. Oxford Development Studies (mphil)
13. Cambridge (same)
14. LSE (same)
15. U Chicago Poli Sci
16. Duke Poli Sci
17. U Mich Ann Arbor Poli Sci
18. NYU Politics

I know this is super long, but if anyone gets a chance to take a look I'd love some feedback.

Thanks!

[MYRNIST]

1) I don't know why someone would downvote your post.

2) This is probably the wrong forum to ask your question. This forum is primarily focused on 2 year masters in professional programs (MPA, MPP) etc. that are specifically career-oriented. PHDs, with their longer duration and academia-oriented curricula, are an entirely different beast. I would ask in the Political Science forum.

3) Now I see some professional programs mixed in with your PHD ones, which begs the question of why you are applying to both? Everything you've said indicates a desire for doctoral studies, which is entirely NOT what MPP/MPA programs are about.

Edited by MYRNIST, 09 December 2011 - 01:57 AM.

[Stefania Coco Scalisi]

Good morning everyone,

My name is Stefania and I come from Italy. I'm new to this forum so first of all I want to say "Hi" to all of you! I would like to show you my profile so that you can give me your opinion.

I'm a Fulbrighter (just got a special Fulbright scholarship in Italy only for International Relation/Political Science students). My GPA both for undergraduate and graduate studies is 4/4 and my TOEFL is 102/120. Yesterday I got the results of my GRE new version and got 309/340 (159 V/150 Q) which I think are ok especially because this kind of exam is extremely different from our system of study. What shocked me a bit was my result on the AWA section: 2.5!!!! I was really disappointed also because I had experience with english writing (just took a diploma in Energy and International Relations at King's College in London) and have also two publications in the Global Community Yearbook of International Law with the Oxford University Press.
Said so, I realized the AWA section is corrected by a computer (!!!) which give you grades according to some set criteria (length, use of certain words, ...). However the result remain. I don't have time to retake the test cause everything regarding my application is managed by the IIE and not me personally.
I applied for:

Georgetown
NYU
Boston University
Syracuse University

My "writing sample" is good, I hope (is about anarchy and interdependence in the international system). I also have work experience (the last was at The Special Tribunal for Lebanon of the UN in The Hague) and have some good recommendations (one from Professor Antonio Cassese already president of the ICTY ). Do you think my bad result on the AWA section of the GRE would affect my application? I'm also looking for some other scholarship: maybe it would be an obstacle??

Thank you very much for your time reading my post.
Stefania

[MYRNIST]

Good morning everyone...

Hey Stefania!

Doing poorly on the GRE is never good, but as you correctly identified, the damage can be mitigated by composing a really awesome statement of purpose, writing sample, etc. I recommending having a professor who is a native speaker of English (more accurately, is a native speaker of IvoryTower-ese) look over all your stuff, because going solely off your post I can see why you got a 2.5 on the AWA. Forgive me if that is harsh, since you clearly do speak English at a quite good level (and far better than I can speak Italian), but there are a number of grammatical errors and awkward constructions. If these mistakes were also present on the GRE, then the 2.5 was honestly earned. Luckily, for writing samples and SOPs you have the advantage of time for revision. Getting some quality editing from an educated native speaker, if you haven't already, will hopefully smooth out the linguistic bumps and let your actual ideas shine through.

PS - the GRE AWA is not graded solely by a computer. There are always at least two human graders as well.
Source: http://www.ets.org/g...ral/scores/how/

Edited by MYRNIST, 09 December 2011 - 05:56 PM.

[Stefania Coco Scalisi]

Thanks Myrnist,

your post is helpful! Of course my SOPs and writing samples have been revised by native speakers. However, regarding my english, forgive my mistakes because when I wrote it I was still shocked by the result of the AWA which honestly I don't think to deserve. However, the most important thing is that you have reassured me!!!

Bye

[yo_yo86]

Beefmaster,

Left you a reply here: http://forum.thegrad...s/page__st__40. I'd wait out the year and retake the GRE if I were you. However, you can always defer for a year if accepted and reapply anywhere you didn't get in. Then you have better chance at (limited) funding.

[isamup]

Hi guys,

I am an international student from Nepal and came to this website after another friend applying to grad schools highly recommended it. Nothing relevant to me was showing up when I was searching for Urban Planning in this forum so I figured I would write this post.

Here's my problem, I really need to find 2 safety schools and I was hoping I could get some recommendations. I know it sounds vague but since MURP doesn't have rankings for schools I really can't tell where I'm competitive.

Here's my Bio:

Interest:M. Urban Planning with following concentration interests:
Community Development, Social Policy, International Development. I'm looking more at working with non-profits than governments and am eventually planning on working outside the US in more developing nations.

Undergraduate:
GPA: 3.317
BA in Sociology and International Relations from Beloit College (Ranked around 60)

GRE:
Verbal: 166 (97%)
Quant: 157(77%)
AW: 4.5(72%)

Work Experience:
I graduated in May 2011 so I have almost no work experience. I did conduct a fully funded independent research on social capital in a slum in Mumbai, India over winter break of my senior year however. Also, my thesis paper addressed air pollution in Kathmandu, Nepal and proposed the restructuring of the public transport system as a potential solution.

Language Skills:
Nepali(native), English, Intermediate Hindi, Intermediate Japanese

Schools I'm Applying To:
University of Illinois - Urbana Champagne
Cornell University (Not Certain)
University of Michigan
The New School
Portland State University
Rutgers, The State University of New York
University of Toronto
University of Hawaii - Manoa


So if anyone were to drop names of universities that I could apply to as safety schools I could research them further and see if things would work out. I'm completely lost at the moment. Also, if anyone could quickly give me their opinions about how competitive an applicant I could be at the schools mentioned above, I'd really appreciate that too as I'm running out of time.

I would really appreciate your input!!

Thanks!

Isamu.

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[Xoan]

Hello everyone,

I want to thank OP and everyone else who take the time to read our "am I eligible" posts.

I am a lawyer (almost 3 years as a licensed attorney) but my interests are pushing me into an international affairs career.

Profile:
Graduation: Law, Universidad Iberoamericana (top 5 in Mexico)
CGPA 87.3/100 (3.49/4)
GMAT : Still to take it.
Experience : 2.5 years in corporate, administrative and financial law (2 years as an intern and 6 months as a licensed attorney in 2 of Mexico's best (local) law firms), 1 year intern in administrative litigation, 3 years in one of the best constitutional and human rights litigation firms in Mexico (2 years as a licensed attorney, 1 year as intern) and 8 months as intern in a criminal law litigation firm.

International experience: Studied 5 months in Leiden Law as exchange student, and 1 year of high school in Ireland.
Relevant experience: I guess dealing with constitutaional litigation included heavy international law research

Nationality: Mexican
Community service: Part time for 2 years. Free legal clinic and legal support and women's rights education for impoverished women in rural mexico (heartbreaking experience).

I am looking into the following programs:

Fletcher
AU (SIS)
LSE/Sciences Po
Geneva (G.I.)

And if I manage to get some economics courses under my belt:
SIPA
Princeton (SPIA)
Gtown.
and some others.

I still have to take the GRE which will be an important point to consider, but this is what I've got so far.

Thank you all and good luck with your applications.

Juan

[jhpigott]

New to the forum. Brief bio - Graduated from Univ. FL w/ BA in Business Admin (3.6 GPA, w/ honors) and from Univ. FL Law School w/ JD (3.1 GPA, which was top 25% of class).

Have been practicing law for 8 years, 4 with a medium sized firm and 4 out on my own. Wide range of civil law practice (no crim law practice).

Never took the GRE. But did very well on the LSAT and the FL Bar exam. Because of my JD, I have been told by the different graduate admissions offices that a GRE is not required.

3 years of HS Spanish and 1 year college level Spanish.

Have always had a strong interest in international security related studies. Contribute to a number of security related blogs. No military experience. Did have a conditional offer of employment with DIA right out of law school but turned it down due to relocation and family issues (still kicking myself for that one).

No LORs from professors as I have lost touch with them being out of school as long as I have. However, all LORs from professionals with security related work experience.

Strong writing sample regarding DPRK provocations in the Yellow Sea.

Based upon my review of these kinds of forums, I realize I am not your "typical" applicant. I have applied to SFS (SSP), ESIA (SPS) and SIS (US Foreign Policy).

Very anxiously awaiting admissions responses from these programs.

[fenderpete]

isamup - Afraid I can't help you on the safety schools front as I don't really know anything about MURP. But otherwise your stats look good.

XOAN - You may be leaving it a bit late if you're applying for Fall 2012 to get GRE scores in.

jhpigott - You look pretty solid to me in terms of work experience and profile to me. I don't necessarily think it's about fitting the mould for security studies programs (this is just my opinion). I'd far rather have someone who can bring a unique point of view to the subject and sounds like you can do that. That being said, bear in mind I may be completely wrong

[jhpigott]

fenderpete - Thank you for the feedback. The more I research what qualifies as a "strong profile" for security studies programs at the top-tier schools the more I tend to agree with your assessment. There doesn't seem to be any one particular profile they go after. In other words - it's a crapshoot

[Xoan]

fenderpete, thank you for the answer, I will be applying for Fall 2013 so I still have some time.

[JAubrey]

New to the forum. Brief bio - Graduated from Univ. FL w/ BA in Business Admin (3.6 GPA, w/ honors) and from Univ. FL Law School w/ JD (3.1 GPA, which was top 25% of class).

Have been practicing law for 8 years, 4 with a medium sized firm and 4 out on my own. Wide range of civil law practice (no crim law practice).

Never took the GRE. But did very well on the LSAT and the FL Bar exam. Because of my JD, I have been told by the different graduate admissions offices that a GRE is not required.

3 years of HS Spanish and 1 year college level Spanish.

Have always had a strong interest in international security related studies. Contribute to a number of security related blogs. No military experience. Did have a conditional offer of employment with DIA right out of law school but turned it down due to relocation and family issues (still kicking myself for that one).

No LORs from professors as I have lost touch with them being out of school as long as I have. However, all LORs from professionals with security related work experience.

Strong writing sample regarding DPRK provocations in the Yellow Sea.

Based upon my review of these kinds of forums, I realize I am not your "typical" applicant. I have applied to SFS (SSP), ESIA (SPS) and SIS (US Foreign Policy).

Very anxiously awaiting admissions responses from these programs.

First, you should be fine at American SIS, GW and SSP will be more of stretches and will want to see proof that this just isn't a random change in direction. Also, they will want to see you have realistic post master's goals... and given that you will be 35 by the time you graduate...what is your plan? Will you really want to take a $52k a year GS-09 job?

[jhpigott]

First, you should be fine at American SIS, GW and SSP will be more of stretches and will want to see proof that this just isn't a random change in direction. Also, they will want to see you have realistic post master's goals... and given that you will be 35 by the time you graduate...what is your plan? Will you really want to take a $52k a year GS-09 job?

After researching the job placement reports of those schools, I'm a little more optimistic about job prospects/salary. That being said, I don't expect to get rich either. I realize my age and career change may count against me, but I can only hope my SOP, writing sample and prior pursuit of employment within the intelligence community would evidence that this move is not random or some passing fancy.

[Hodor]

Hi all, applying for MPP w/ a focus on policy analysis in 2013. I'm curious as to whether a circuitous academic history will affect my chances, and what if any second tier programs are available.

I have a somewhat muddled and longwinding undergrad career with a 2.5 GPA through most of it, but finished the last 45 credit hours or so with a 3.9. I have about 20 credit hours of a master's in IR with a 3.6, but I'm probably not going to finish b/c I found the school (an online program of a state school) incredibly unhelpful.

I can speak Mandarin and Spanish and will have taken proficiency exams in both before applying later this year. I currently work for a state owned enterprise in the shipping industry in China, and will have also lived in Korea (my Korean is borderline conversational but nothing special). I also volunteer teaching migrant children in China as well.

My GRE was strong 710 V 800 Q 4.5 writing, but I'm wondering if the new scale will take my Q score down a few percentile points? My dream schools are Princeton and/or UC Berkeley, but I'm trying to round up "second best" schools, and have come up with Indiana, UT-Austin, and maybe Michigan? Are my backups feasible or should I cast a wider net? Thanks for any advice.

[Azrou]

Hi all, applying for MPP w/ a focus on policy analysis in 2013. I'm curious as to whether a circuitous academic history will affect my chances, and what if any second tier programs are available.

I have a somewhat muddled and longwinding undergrad career with a 2.5 GPA through most of it, but finished the last 45 credit hours or so with a 3.9. I have about 20 credit hours of a master's in IR with a 3.6, but I'm probably not going to finish b/c I found the school (an online program of a state school) incredibly unhelpful.

I can speak Mandarin and Spanish and will have taken proficiency exams in both before applying later this year. I currently work for a state owned enterprise in the shipping industry in China, and will have also lived in Korea (my Korean is borderline conversational but nothing special). I also volunteer teaching migrant children in China as well.

My GRE was strong 710 V 800 Q 4.5 writing, but I'm wondering if the new scale will take my Q score down a few percentile points? My dream schools are Princeton and/or UC Berkeley, but I'm trying to round up "second best" schools, and have come up with Indiana, UT-Austin, and maybe Michigan? Are my backups feasible or should I cast a wider net? Thanks for any advice.

Your international experience and language abilities are going to be a big help. I wouldn't worry too much about the undergrad GPA, your GRE scores will help show that you have "natural" ability. What may be an issue is that you started an IR grad program already and dropped out/are going to drop out (it's not really clear from the post). You will want to address that in your SoP because adcoms may question your desire and you need to convince them that if they admit you, things will be different this time.

You didn't say how long ago the previous grad program was, but if it was recent I think it may hurt your chances more. For many people shooting for the top tier of programs like Berkeley and WWS, if they don't get in they will spend the next year or two improving their application by increasing work experience, volunteering, retaking the GRE, taking courses towards a grad certificate, etc, and then reapply again, rather than accept an offer from a school they are not really interested in attending. So when the adcoms see your application they could wonder why you bothered with the state school. I think it will be important that you get very strong letters of recommendation, preferably from former instructors, that will attest to your dedication and ability to finish what you've started, in an academic sense.

Of course I could be completely wrong about all this, I don't have any special insight into admissions other than what I have learned from browsing this forum.

I think you have good second choices. Other schools that you could consider are Georgetown, GWU, CMU-Heinz, Syracuse, University of Denver, UCLA. They have varying levels of international focus so you should look at the concentrations, course descriptions, and professor bios to see what fits with your interests. I am curious why you don't have SAIS as a dream school? It seems like their regional studies program for Asia would be a perfect fit for you and your language skills would count for a lot. If you didn't want to limit yourself geographically, you could still do a functional concentration.

[Hodor]

.

I think you have good second choices. Other schools that you could consider are Georgetown, GWU, CMU-Heinz, Syracuse, University of Denver, UCLA. They have varying levels of international focus so you should look at the concentrations, course descriptions, and professor bios to see what fits with your interests. I am curious why you don't have SAIS as a dream school? It seems like their regional studies program for Asia would be a perfect fit for you and your language skills would count for a lot. If you didn't want to limit yourself geographically, you could still do a functional concentration in the international sphere.

Sorry I wasn't too clear, I'm going for an MPP in Policy Analysis not IR. Thanks for the advice though, I'll look at the other programs and try to get some decent letters of recommendation. I am not going for IR b/c I don't think the quantitative analysis is too strong, but if you know of programs that do have strong quant programs I'd appreciate any pointers. I'm really not into SAIS b/c of the neo-con faculty, but I haven't heard any specifics about the program beyond that.

[JAubrey]

I'm really not into SAIS b/c of the neo-con faculty, but I haven't heard any specifics about the program beyond that.

This is literally one of the most asinine things I have ever read on here.