Program Applied To: MPA, MPP, JD/MIA, MA Latin American Studies
Schools Applied To: Georgetown MPP/MSFS, Georgetown MALAS, SIPA, SAIS, Syracuse MPA/MIR, UW-Madison, GWU, American (JD/MIA), Denver
Schools Admitted To: Georgetown MPP (10K), American JD (10K), Denver (10K), Syracuse (no word on money yet), UW-Madison (waitlisted for funding)
Schools Rejected From:none yet
Still Waiting: Georgetown MSFS and MALAS, SIPA, SAIS, GWU, American MIA
Undergraduate institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison (go Badgers!)
Undergraduate GPA: 3.67
Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): ???
Undergraduate Major: Sociology/Spanish
GRE Quantitative Score: 730
GRE Verbal Score: 650
GRE AW Score: 5.0
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5
Years of Work Experience: 5
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Immigration Law, Governor of the State of Wisconsin (Leg/Policy and External Affairs), year abroad working for an NGO in Chile, Coordinator at a small private liberal arts college (Study Abroad, International Student Services and Diversity Initiatives)
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I focused on my policy experience and my international work experience. Took about a month to write, had about six people read them over including a few professors.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): A few of the letters were so-so, a few were generic, at least two were stellar (I used about 8 different recommendors because I felt that different people were more appropriate for certain programs/schools)
Other: It's really going to come down to money for me, I'm hoping that I get a FLAS or a largeĀ® scholarship at some of the schools I haven't heard from yet. I'm not willing to pay 100k for a 2 year master's degree only to work for the Federal Government for the rest of my life earning less than 70k a year... On a side note I'm one step away from passing the foreign service exam process so I may have some interesting decisions in April.
Good luck to all!