CafeB

Hi Pavlik Thanks for your brutally honest feedback. I am in the process of retaking the GRE. Is there anything else that I can do? I've been told by several schools that the fact that I have 13 years of work experience by the age of 30, and half of it working overseas in international development in managerial positions is a huge plus. Do you think that may offset my GPA and quant problems? Thanks for your help.

Reposting with GRE scores (just took it today). Feedback appreciated. Schools: HKS MPP, WWS MPP, Chicago Harris MPP, Georgetown MSFS, Korbel MA IS, Duke Sanford MPP, Maxwell MAIR/MPA, Michigan Ford MPP, Fletcher Career goals: Work in political risk analysis and intelligence after grad school and work as a foreign policy advisor in my home country, eventually. Institution: Top 5 Universities in Bangladesh Major: Eng Lit (but lots of econ courses as I wanted to do a dual major) GPA: 3.2 cumulative (worked full-time during university and most semesters are 3.5-4 but a few 2.75-3.0) GRE score: 148 Quant 162 Verbal Work experience: Total 13 years. 2 years part-time when finishing high-school teaching English and History, 4 years of university working in advertising and marketing. 2 years after finishing university in CSR consulting and PR handling MNCs as clients. Last 6 years in international development working for INGO. Would have lived abroad for almost 5 years by the time I start school, with 7 years of international work related to public communications, mobilization and policy advocacy. I used to write a lot of op-eds, so have been published nationally and internationally, with the BBC quoting one of my articles last year. Coursework: Took intro and intermediate courses in micro and macro econ and applied maths in uni. Grades between A to B-. Language skills: English (non-native speaker but only language I've ever studied in), Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, basic Thai Overseas experience (work, study and teaching): 7 years in international development by next fall. Have worked with Asian and African countries on social campaigning. Last 4 years living and working in S.E Asia (I'm Bangladeshi), covering Australia, Asia and Middle-East. Statement of Purpose: Working on it. Extra Essays: Such a long list! Struggling to keep track. Letters of Recommendation: Two professors (one of them is a lecturer because he never finished his Phd. will use one or the other), one ex-boss (number 2 at INGO) and current boss. Work recommendations should be great (as expected for someone who prioritized work over studies, always). Concerns: GPA is quite awful really. Haven't done any applied math in over 10 years. GRE quant score is pretty low at 148. Schools assured me that they take a holistic approach to admission and funding decision, but this is a major area of concern for me, especially for WWS, Harris, Duke and HKS where they seem to really need you to have good quant.

Schools: HKS MPP, WWS MPP, Chicago Harris MPP, Georgetown MSFS, Korbel MA IS, Duke Sanford MPP, Maxwell MAIR/MPA, Michigan Ford MPP, Fletcher (either MALD or MIB), Career goals: Work in political risk analysis and intelligence after grad school and work as a policy advisor eventually. Institution: Top 5 Universities in Bangladesh Major: Eng Lit (but lots of econ courses as I wanted to do a dual major) GPA: 3.2 cumulative (worked full-time during university and most semesters are 3.5-4 but a few 2.75-3.0) GRE score: Working on that Work experience: Total 13 years. 2 years part-time when finishing high-school teaching English and History, 4 years of university working in advertising and marketing. 2 years after finishing university in CSR consulting and PR handling MNCs as clients. Last 6 years in international development working for INGO. Would have lived abroad for almost 5 years by the time I start school, with 7 years of international work related to public communications, mobilization and policy advocacy. I used to write a lot of op-eds, so have been published nationally and internationally, with the BBC quoting one of my articles last year. Coursework: Took intro and intermediate courses in micro and macro econ and applied maths in uni. Grades between A to B-. Language skills: English (non-native speaker but only language I've ever studied in), Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, basic Thai Overseas experience (work, study and teaching): 7 years in international development. Last 4 years living and working in S.E Asia (I'm Bangladeshi), covering Australia, Asia and Middle-East. Have also done some work, remotely, on Sub-Africa. Statement of Purpose: Working on it. Extra Essays: Such a long list! Struggling to keep track. Letters of Recommendation: Two professors (one of them is a lecturer because he never finished his Phd. will use one or the other), one ex-boss (number 2 at INGO) and current boss. Work recommendations should be great (as expected for someone who prioritized work over studies, always). Concerns: GPA is quite awful really. Haven't done any applied math in over 10 years, so though I'm studying for the GRE, I'm not very confident. Schools assured me that they take a holistic approach to admission and funding decision, but this is a major area of concern for me, especially for WWS, Harris, Duke and HKS where they seem to really need you to have good quant.

Hi Anyone ever done this? Online on skype or on campus? There is very little guidance available on what is helpful (besides bring your resume) and what they expect to find/see here.