gradytripp
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Posts posted by gradytripp
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Hey all, I also feel like I'm 1-2 years away from going to grad school. In the meantime, though, I'd like to know what I could do to improve my application.
Applying For: MPA/MPP, concentration in domestic immigration policy
Schools Considering Applying To: Goldman, HKS, Georgetown, WWS (dare2dream), whatever others you recommend
Undergraduate Institution: Berkeley
Undergraduate Major: Political Economy
Undergraduate GPA: 3.49 (3.6 something last 2 years)
GRE score: None thus far. I'm pretty good at tests though and plan to study a lot.
Years out of undergrad: Probably 5, maybe 4
Years of Relevant Work Experience: During college I worked on several political campaigns. I was a local volunteer coordinator for Hillary Clinton, a campus coordinator for No on Prop 8, and did basic outreach/canvassing for a couple other major campaigns. I had a full-time social justice internships/jobs the summers before my freshman and sophomore years, and served on a youth advisory committee for this same non-profit even in high school. Interned in a govt agency summer before my junior year. Interned at a refugee advocacy group in South America while studying abroad. When I returned, I wrote an independent study thesis on refugee policy in South America and interned at a refugee resettlement non-profit (where I was the only Spanish speaker).
Once graduating, I got a job as a legal assistant/eventual case manager at arguably the best immigration law firm on the west coast, doing a combination of admin and casework stuff, spearheaded office casework of new DACA program. Also volunteered on occasion at free immigration clinics. Now I'm in South America again, working for 6 months at a different refugee advocacy organization on the policy advocacy team. When I get back to the States, I hope to find work at another non-profit doing immigration case management for 1-2 years before starting a grad program.
Language skills: Essentially fluent in Spanish, some Portuguese, one semester French in community college
Quantitative requirements: A couple of mediocre (one C+) grades in important classes, including microecon. Also took macro and intro to economics. No college stats (got a 4 on the AP so I didn't need it) or calc (took AP in high school but did not take test), but I'll probably take those and micro in community college if necessary.
Anyway, so I know I have good work experience but my GPA is kinda weak? I honestly wasn't really sure I wanted to go to grad school in undergrad and so I didn't care that much about grades. I also was really into internships, as you can see.If anyone has any suggestions for schools where I can study domestic immigration policy, that would be much appreciated. Otherwise, any ideas to improve/focus my application are very much welcome. What should my priorities be in taking supplementary classes? Econ/stats/calc/language?Thanks!Your GPA is great for everywhere but WWS. There, the majority of new students have GPA's of 3.7+, but 1/3 of the students are below that.
I'd suggest that you retake the microecon. class as you said. Taking stats or calc won't hurt, especially for more quant heavy programs, but it's not necessary at most of them. Schools accept students with a variety of quant backgrounds. Most have alternate tracks for the quant core and a summer math camp for students who need extra help. You need to investigate particular schools more to decide if the extra math work would benefit your application and your time in a MA program.
What kind of immigration policy do you want to work on and with who? If you are planning to continue to work with Central and South American groups, I don't see how your Spanish and Portuguese won't be sufficient. Studying languages for their own sake are great personally, but not going to make a difference in your chances if unrelated to your academic goals. For example, I have decent Japanese and Mandarin, but that's unlikely to help me in my applications since I'm not focusing on East Asia.
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Why not ask them? Tell them the specifics of your situation, that you want to go to their school, but would accept other offers if there's not really any chance of you getting in. Showing interest isn't going to hurt your chances, and you might get sufficient clarification from the schools to make your decision.
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Since this field is relatively small, a school beyond the top ten is a big step down in prestige. There simply aren't enough people going for professional degrees in MPP or MPA to allow for a large number of excellent programs. It's true that your school won't matter much for government work, but for other areas, it could have an impact. Your cohort at University of Kentucky is likely to be of a different calibre than at Syracuse.
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Take the money.
My feeling is that students generally overestimate the importance brand name and underestimate the effects of cost. This is doubly important when considering a degree in a lower paying field like development. $70,000 on your back is likely to severely curtail your job choices post graduation.
UD is a strong program and if you are a motivated student, you should be able to get just as good an education there. This isn't a comparison between University of Alaska and Columbia after all.
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From talking with several current Berkeley students, unless you come from a very strong quant background, Goldman's core classes will be quite quant heavy. Harris is generally even more quant-focused, but you can always supplement if you want more at Berkeley.
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Since money is a concern, Berkeley seems like a better decision hands-down. You already said that both programs seem like an equally good fit for you, so it doesn't sound like Harvard would lead to substantially better jobs following graduation. Also, while Harvard is more prestigious, Berkeley's reputation is also excellent, both domestically and abroad. It's possible that Harvard's name could open doors for you, but debt could close even more.
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I think the most important question to ask yourself is what do you want to do after graduation and which school will best prepare you for that work? You simply need to compare the usefulness of study abroad vs (possibly more) DC opportunities. Do you want to work in DC? If not, then your decision is simple. If so, does UNC also have strong connections there?
Additionally, while UNC is a weaker school compared to either AU or GWU, you might have a specialized interest where UNC is stronger or at least comparable.
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Hello, and thank you for doing this.
I'm looking to focus on ed. policy. With your interests, I'd love to hear your perspective. Could you tell me what you see as the major strengths and weaknesses of the Ford school specifically as it applies to the ed. policy sphere? -
Hi there,
Thank you for taking the time to answer questions. I'm looking to study educational policy, possibly with an international bent. While I know there are some respected scholars there like Professor Kirp, do you know if educational policy is a big part at the school?
Additionally, is the program focus on developing general analytical skills rather than a specialization? Since I didn't see policy focuses listed (albeit with plenty of elective courses on offer), I thought that might be the case.
Gaining work experience without a BA in IR?
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted · Edited by gradytripp
Before I started JET, I talked with admissions at both Johns Hopkins and Georgetown. Both told me that JET is highly respected at their schools. I'm not sure if more of the accepted students are CIR's rather than ALT's, but even so, you can make up for that. As was suggested by chocolatecheesecake, start a secondary project. What any school wants to see is initiative and leadership. If you identify a need in your community and help to address it, that will go a long way towards making you a competitive candidate.