chocolatecheesecake

Piffle. Your GPA is fine. It's definitely not on the high side, but it's not going to tank your application! The fact that you have absolutely great GRE scores underlines the fact that you didn't "get pathetic marks in math" because you were bad at it. You have a near perfect quantitative score! Seriously, other people will mention something if I missed it, but your GRE scores already bolster your quant credentials, so I don't know if there's anything you should be doing in the meantime. If you got like a C, D, or F on your transcript in a quant class, it may be advisable to retake that sort of course somewhere and get an A or B, but it doesn't sound like it was that horrible. The only thing I was going to say is that I have no idea about TOEFL scores, so no basis on which to judge that score, but 163 is great for verbal too, so I think you're safe there. The most important thing is to 1) know what you want to do with your MPP -- which sector, what kind of work, maybe know organizations that you'd like to work for in the future. Think hard about that and use that to help you figure out which internship you should go for, or if you need to find a new internship because these two don't reflect your interests as well as they should. And the other important thing is to 2) research your schools well. You mentioned all great schools, but they have different strengths and focuses, and faculty who work in different sectors and areas, so read up on the different programs, talk to different students, research professors' backgrounds and their work, and see what program will help you get where you want to go. Finally, check out the "Am I Competitive" thread, because that's where this kind of evaluation usually is posted, and you can see where the rest of the pack is, or what is considered a good GPA/ GRE score and how much work experience other people have. Which reminds me. You should think about full-time work experience. Even a year or two is very important for policy schools, and can also be extremely useful in helping you make sure that the MPP is the right next step for you. Many people (including me) make that choice after they have a few years of workforce experience. Good luck!

Waitlisted? I'm sad but I did get funding from my other programs, so I think I'm going to focus on working with what I have. Good luck to everyone else!

I didn't get in either, which was sad. This was really my top choice, but I feel like I gave it my best shot, so it's not all that painful. Congrats to everyone who did get in, and I echo the sentiments stated earlier about how cheap Berkeley can turn out to be. I did a lot of research, and it looks like research assistantships as well as graduate instructor positions (as TAs) offers 25% to 50% tuition remission, so that will be a great deal. Best of luck, all!

Does anyone who's visited or who is currently a student have a better idea of the cohort culture and how tight-knit the community is? Honestly, that's one of my biggest concerns. I really want a dedicated group of people to be working with. My undergraduate experience was very intense, very nerdy (oh, all right, I went to UChicago), and I enjoyed that aspect a lot. I know graduate school is much different, because everyone has their own lives and families, but I'm still interested in something fairly close knit, with a good amount of common activities or people who are policy wonks. Also, just from hearsay, I don't have the best impressions of Duke's undergraduate population. It's not a make-or-break for me, but I think it's just about having a more comfortable environment, and that certainly matters. Thoughts?

Haha, my heart rate just went up immediately when I saw this thread, only to find that everyone's still waiting in the same boat. It's my top choice too. Well, I suggest we stop hyping each other out, and go do some breathing exercises until we get emails. =)

Mainly agreed with Gov2School. The most important thing is to know what you want to do afterwards, because if you don't, any degree could end up being a waste if it doesn't get you where you want to be, career-wise. I do think though that MPPs can offer the salary you need to live comfortably (if you're me, anyway). I hope to earn $60-80K within five years after I graduate, and I think that will be enough to pay off loans, because I have already established that I don't want to pay more than $50K for my entire grad degree, and I've applied to a range of schools with that aim in mind. That being said, to address your original question of whether HKS would be worth it in terms of immediate salary -- the numbers certainly seem to reflect that, but of course, you have no idea what kind of jobs they're going into. If you're asking whether the education is good enough to be worth 140K, chances are probably not. There are a lot of other very good schools in the US and Canada that charge about 60K less, and could be a much better fit for you, depending on what you want to do. I'd recommend some more intense research into the strengths and regional specialties of each program and also visit if you get the chance.

Congrats! I was also admitted, with $21K. It's nice, but you know tuition and fees alone are $45K. It makes me a little bit more biased toward the other schools...

So many people who have done their time in Chicago! I'm no exception. Maybe that's a pre-requisite for seeking to live in warmer climes. I've heard things about air pollution too from visiting friends in Santa Monica. The coast where they live is quite nice, but if you get out a bit, the air quality can get bad. And I've also been assigned Raphael Bostic. My main interest is in education, employment, and general urban development, so he sounds great.

Let's preface this reply with something about counting your chickens before they hatch. Hopefully you'll get into Georgetown or JHU and then you won't have to worry. I'm most interested in knowing what you are going to be focusing on for your degree, and if you have direct experience in that. Your experience working and living abroad is certainly helpful in a lot of situations, but it's probably not a substitute for direct job experience in foreign policy and international affairs. Keeping your current job may not hurt your prospects, but I think it can hardly help if it's not going to grow your network in your future career or give you relevant experience (to an IR job). Ideally, I would want part-time work in my field of interest which directly relates to what I hope to do after graduation, and is also going to pay decently. It may be hard to find, but it seems early to close the door on finding something that is a better fit for you *and* can pay the bills. Hopefully you'll get a while after you hear back from both schools to do some research on what's out there for a graduate student in that degree. Finally, about the scheduling part, I'd take a good look at the online curriculum and do some research to see what/when the classes are. Some degree start out with a very rigid sequence, and you're practically locked into taking introduction to statistics and macroeconomics at these times, at least in the first year. A look into the current timeschedules or class schedules for this semester can tell you what days or times of day they are likely to be. I think it's unlikely that you'd get more than one day without any classes, but you may get lucky!

Agreed on the great advice so far. The questions it sounds like you need to focus on are not so different from everyone else's, regardless of your background or situation. If you are thinking about graduate school, the most important thing is to know what you want to do with it. If you have a very vague idea what you want to do when you graduate, graduate school (at least the sort of professional masters degree you're looking for) may not be for you yet. Use the time between now and this fall to zero in on some of the things that you're interested in. IR is pretty vague, and government vs. NGO is a big question. Once you actually figure out a few things that you're really interested in, the right degree you need in order to work in that area will become clearer to you, as will the qualifications for your ideal program of study. It will also become clear whether you'll be able to learn that knowledge and get experience in those things if you stay in the Army or become an FAO. I had the same questions myself about what kind of jobs were available, and for something like that, I just searched all the places I could find: a municipality website's personnel section, a university's job board, Monster.com, anything and everything I was and wasn't qualified for just to get a sense of what was out there in my area of interest. I found it was especially useful to look at the Staff pages of organizations I was interested in or whose work I admired, to see the career trajectories or former positions of people who work there now. And of course, I've been doing my networking and informational interviews by email and Skype and in person -- Doyle and terrapin are great examples of people you could have a long conversation or email chain with to discuss how they found what they're interested in doing and forged their own path after their service. Keep talking to people, and good luck!

For me, USC is 3rd out of the four schools I applied to. I feel like it's not as good a fit for me as Michigan or Berkeley. USC however did give me more money than I expect either public university will be able to give, and I know the alumni network is first rate. I won't be able to go to any of the events, so report back, anyone who's going! I'd also love to hear other people's impressions of the cohort culture here. Congrats to all!

Exactly $347. The cheapest school I applied to was Michigan ($65) and the most expensive USC ($85). I applied to two other schools both $80 each and then paid $25 for the GRE score (to just one school! If only I had accurately predicted all 4 schools I wanted to apply to when I was taking the exam), and $12 for one of the transcripts. It's very slightly more than I expected, but not tooooo much.

I think it's time to break the acceptance threads out... I'm overseas but my mom just emailed me with some pics of my admittance letter to USC for the MPP! Really exciting! Any other people hear from them yet? I also got a nice scholarship, which is the part that really makes me happy. FYI, the letters I got are dated February 6 and 7. Kind of expected I'd hear by email first, but it hardly matters when it's good news. =) Hope to hear from others!

One thing I see as being very important is that you don't always need a graduate degree to begin doing what you're doing. Many times, you follow a topic that you're interested in, a project, a cause, an organization, and you find that the masters or the PhD is essential to doing what you actually want to be doing for that topic. I say that just to mention that this is a good year to nail down what you are interested in doing and really begin to flesh that out. Don't wait for that acceptance letter -- if you are really interested in security issues in the Middle East, try to get involved in blogging about it online, attending the conferences or seminars that address that topic and getting into a dialogue with others, and whatever you're interested in, start making it happen. If you're not sure yet, use the advice given in the above post to try to narrow it down. I think it's a great run-down of what you should be doing, but the WHY, the reason why you should be doing all that, is to figure out what you're really interested in working on in your career, and then to begin to further it. Volunteer somewhere for that cause that you're invested in, and start becoming knowledgable in that subject or active in that field. Tweet up a storm at a related event. I don't think everyone does this, but to wait for graduate school to begin working on the change that you want to see is putting the cart before the horse. And you'll find that it will help you clarify what you want in a program, what you want to do in the future (maybe ruling out something you thought was interesting before), get a sense of who is who in that field and gain yourself some advocates. Not all of this helps you present a better application as in higher scores, but maybe better as in more tailored and confident. That is appealing to schools, because they want to see that you aim beyond just getting into a school. And after you get in, you'll be that much further along in figuring out what you'd like to do and concentrate on in grad school and beyond.

First, the numbers bear some closer examination. According to this website (which is not .gov), California has 172,873 employees to DC's 166,280, so it's really a marginal amount. More importantly, Virginia is third with 147,787, so the DC metro area has much more overall. Context... pretty important! Secondly, to address the question of why USC and UCLA aren't as bruited about, I think that it is a matter of focus on domestic versus international. Also, you're kind of missing Berkeley when it comes to the rigorous MPP programs on the West Coast. But that's three good schools mostly for domestic policy versus about ten thousand which focus on public administration as well as international development on the East Coast and elsewhere. Speaking as someone who is waiting to hear back from USC and Berkeley, I think people are quite interested in those schools.

I've been getting emails from multiple schools that they have a "two week" recommendation extension period. Thank any deities listening for that, because I have a recommender who has been "getting ready to submit it" for almost a month! I'm also overseas and can't go storming into his office with a torch. I seriously think these people just FORGOT what it was like to ever apply to a school you were very nervous about. Also, I'm never asking this guy for a rec again.

In case any current Duke students are still reading this, or any former Duke applicants with some substantial impressions of the school, I'm interested in hearing more about this school in general. I've managed to find some alums of all the other schools I'm applying to and talk to them about the atmosphere and the community/ cohort feel, but I've have relatively little contact with Duke people. If anyone out there attended/attends the Sanford School or have visited and met alums or faculty, I'd love your opinions and thoughts. Thanks!

When you actually get into filling out the application, they say yes, it's okay for the SOP and Personal History to have overlap. On the second question, yes, the Policy Statement of Purpose should be exactly the same as the SOP. Here's the text directly from the app: Please note: The instructions below supersede the instructions for the general Statement of Purpose from the main menu. You do not need to write two different statements, instead you should respond to the questions below and then upload this response for the Policy Statement of Purpose to both statement sections (both here and the main menu).

Swedishcoffee, I'm running into the same issues on my app, and here's what I'm doing. Where Berkeley asks me for: Years of full time work: I put 3 since that's how long I've been working full time since graduating. Years of part-time work: I put 4 since I worked steadily while I was in college. Years of volunteer work: I put 7 since I've volunteered pretty much every year since I got to school. These numbers look big but I think it's being truthful, so I'm not too worried about it looking weird. Would also be happy to hear about other peoples' answers if they decided to put something different.

I also have a question, which may be well answered by other Duke applicants. The part that I'm most intimidated about completing in the application is the video essay. I know it's "optional," but from my background working with college admissions, I understand "optional" to really mean "optional if you don't care about getting in." What have other essays been about? How do people approach this? Should I script and direct a minute-long thing à la Elle Woods? Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom? What are they really looking for here that wouldn't be communicated in my essays? Is this a substitute for an interview? Okay, you get the idea. Hope someone has some ideas. =)

Here are the numbers for Texas A&M (just scroll down) and for Georgetown (page 10 in the PDF). For more comparisons, here are a few more schools - Berkeley GSPP, USC Price. I feel better about schools I'm applying to where I'm at or above the average, and a little more queasy about the schools where I'm below the average (mostly just my quant score, bleh). Hopefully this helps. I think the GRE scores can buoy you up a bit if you don't have good grades, but if you have the nice GPA and a challenging academic background, they're a little less important as long as they're not terrible. Good luck!

Thanks for offering your thoughts; it's great to learn a bit more. The Goldman School is my top choice right now, for some of the same reasons why you chose it (I think being a generalist is awesome!). How is the cohort that you are with? On a visit earlier this year, I mostly liked the people I met. Do you like the people that you're with and find them similarly motivated or inspirational? Is it as diverse as you think it should be or have you seen that come out in a good way? Do people spend time collaborating or hanging out together outside of class? Since you took advantage of the GSI position and the tuition discount (such a useful fact and not broadly publicized), can you describe what position(s) you have taken on, if any in your first semester, and how the experience has been? One more generalish question: I've heard from various people that my SOP should (in a subtle way) namedrop some professors at the school in question that I'm interested in working with or studying with should I get accepted. I also have contacted one Berkeley prof to date and had a quick phone conversation with him about the APA, which was really useful. Should I do that for more professors at each school? It feels a little awkward like I'm just doing due diligence; it's not that I wouldn't like to get in touch with them but more a matter of I feel like I'm doing it for the application, and it feels weird since I'm not really a student yet. And of course, does it really make a difference i the application in so far as you know? I'll probably pose this to the greater Gradcafe forums for SOPs but thought I'd appreciate your view. Thanks!

The most interesting piece of advice I've gotten about applying to grad school was this: "You're selling the sizzle, not the steak." In other words, it matters somewhat what you've done, but they really want to know why you're going for this degree. I think your true interest and what you're really curious/passionate about will come out in your application, and admissions will see where your experiences have led you. You'll be happier and feel more focused/involved in this degree if it's what you really want to pursue. Ideally, you also want to get some international and language experience, so talk about that; and if you don't, then you have to maybe go back to the drawing board to question why you want to work in international communities.

Definitely agree with others. Peace Corps is a great experience but really time consuming. Ditto on the being married for a year before you serve together as a couple; I had a friend who had to tie the knot pretty quickly so that she and her husband would be able to go to Honduras together. If this were my plan and I hadn't had any foreign language or int'l experience, I would definitely do Peace Corps first and then graduate school; it'll be great experience on your application, and you'll get a much better idea of what you want to do in school after your Peace Corps experience too. Best of luck!

At the risk of sounding presumptuous, I think it'd be useful to hear more about your professional background/ career and where you want to go. Without knowing what you've been up to and what kind of positions you are aiming for, it's hard to say how you're being limited by the lack of a graduate degree or what the best degree/ concentration for you would be. I hope that makes sense. I've heard before that graduate school can be kind of a springboard; it will launch you far, but in a certain direction, and you want to be sure that's the right direction. Some quick thoughts on your questions: as someone who is in a similar situation (graduated in 2010 from a nationally prestigious university), I believe name recognition is a tool best utilized with good networking. I don't know how you've been utilizing the network that came with your undergraduate degree, but I feel less like I've gotten a job because they were impressed with where I went and more because I knew alumni who knew people at said organization. Also, it sounds like you're already planning to stay in areas where your family can help out, so even if going to a locally respected school left you with limited geographic options for a new job or career, it sounds like that won't be much of an issue? Hope that makes sense. I think eventually, real life experience makes up for any of that. Especially if you're going for a professional degree like an MPA, internships and everything will count a lot more. After all, "I'll take that guy who studied X instead of the guy who did X for a year," said no employer ever. Finally, I think development is one of the most in-demand fields for non-profits, obviously, and from my experience, there's not much you can get for that line of work from a degree. Only good fashioned experience and networking can help you be an effective fundraiser. Good luck with no matter what you choose, and I do think more thinking about WHAT you want to do in the future will help you figure out if the MPA can get you there.