thecommons

In this case, I've generally stuck to 1000 words, give or take 100. We'll see how that turns out.

Not sure if anyone read over the first bit; I did write up a 500 word version, my main concern with it is whether I'm being specific enough about my interests/goals/fit. Again, any feedback at all is welcomed as I finish up the editing.

I'm applying for a Masters in Public Policy for the Fall, and the deadline is tomorrow. However, I would like any feedback you may have. This statement was supposed to be of no particular length. It is 1,171 words, and I'm not sure if that's too long. I also will need a similar essay for another school, and that has a 500 word limit, and I'm not really sure what I can reuse in such a condensed version, but that's not so important here. Anyway, here it is:

I'm applying now to various MPP programs, and I have two letter writers lined up, one my undergrad thesis advisor, the other a project manager I worked with for 5 years in consulting. I am trying to think of someone for the third, and I'm trying to decide whether I should ask the instructor of an economics course I took at night last spring, or to try and use a couple of letters I know I had written for me back in senior year, and are on file at the college. Neither are ideal of course, but which do you think is better? And if it's the latter, what do I do if it's a school that doesn't accept paper letters? Also, most of the programs require taking an advanced calculus or statistics course. I took two semesters of calc in freshman year, but did horribly. I have several upper level physics courses I took and did a little better in, but nothing spectacular. When I took my GREs 6 years ago, I got 690Q/780V/5.5AW, but had to take it again and didn't do nearly as well (rustier than I thought), 660Q/690V/5.5AW. Because of my less than stellar math grades in undergrad, is it worth retaking the GRE to try and give a better impression of my math ability? Thanks.