Bubal

Thanks for your time guys!

Well, I studied political science and government affairs in the most well known university in Spain (Universidad Complutense, but unfortunately has nothing tgo do with US universities) and I did most of my electives courses in the faculty of economics (one os my two references is from the economics dean, who has been teaching in the US). So I do have a strong background in quant. Actually, and as i said, my GRE result in Q is much higher than the one in Verbal section. Anyway, I know my GRE results are low, I point out in the SoP that I only had one chance and was ill during that dates.

- When i refereed that I have voluntary work experience, does not have to do with punctual activities. I was the international officer (European and worldwide) of a young association, so I traveled to many different countries in order to take active place in Seminars and Congresses that were having an impact in real politics. A part from that, I was also helping in local campaigning.

I'm also considering about applying to an MPP program in London, is only one year, 8,000-14,000 pounds, I can work after graduation. I'm still waiting out for an answer from Loyola University in Chicago ( I had a look to some reviews http://www.studentsreview.com/IL/LYU_u.html) and for me seems that paying/invest such a high amount of money in order to not been in a top school (considering my profile-> ¿ top20?) makes me think seriously about staying in Europe. Because afterwards this seems to not make an important impact in my future professional carrier. Waiting another year in order to do a master is not an option for me, I'm already 26 and I want to start my professional carrier as soon as possible.

Thanks Matcha for the link, is very useful. At the moment, I'm interested in the MPP, rather than MPA.

I'm going to do some research today and tomorrow and will post more info.

Thanks again for your comments!

Here's a few places to start:
http://www.petersons.com/ugchannel/code/LateDeadlineSchools.asp

Does it have to be an MPP, or would you want an MPA? More MPA's have rolling admissions than MPP's. I'm not sure why...

CIPA, Fisher, Roosevelt, and Northeastern have rolling admissions. Brandeis has a late admission, although I'm not sure when. That's just after a quick search. I'm sure you can find more, if you look around.

Hi everyone!
After waiting out for almost 4 months, my situation is this one: I have been rejected to a Master in Public Policy in NYU, American, Georgetown, GWU, Northeastern University, University of Chicago. And I'm still waiting for the last school Loyola University in Chicago.

So I would like to apply to 2 more schools by mid of May. Which school with a good MPP program will you recommend me? I will be happy if is between top 20 in the country. I’m more interested in Public Policy Analysis.

Thank you in advance, I really need advice.

More info about me:

This is my overall profile:

GPA 2.91 (The bachelor degree is 5 years long here) (Last 2 years 3.4)
Got minimum require TOEFL score for all schools.
GRE: 1000 in total (I know, my verbal is low ).
My letters of recommendations and PS are very strong.
I've been doing voluntary work for 4 year and been travelling a lot because of that, was having lots of responsability and its related to my field. I've been working since I'm 18.
I'm working very hard in my Personal Statement. (not finish yet).

Hi everyone!
After waiting out for almost 4 months, my situation is this one: I have been rejected to a Master in Public Policy in NYU, American, Georgetown, GWU, Northeastern University, University of Chicago. And I'm still waiting for the last school Loyola University in Chicago.

So I would like to apply to 2 more schools by mid of May. Which school with a good MPP program will you recommend me? I will be happy if is between top 20 in the country. I’m more interested in Public Policy Analysis.

Thank you in advance, I really need advice.

More info about me:

This is my overall profile:

GPA 2.91 (The bachelor degree is 5 years long here) (Last 2 years 3.4)
Got minimum require TOEFL score for all schools.
GRE: 1000 in total (I know, my verbal is low ).
My letters of recommendations and PS are very strong.
I've been doing voluntary work for 4 year and been travelling a lot because of that, was having lots of responsability and its related to my field. I've been working since I'm 18.
I'm working very hard in my Personal Statement. (not finish yet).

Are you trying for this coming fall? Most schools have firm deadlines in December or January. A couple of schools might have rolling deadlines, but I'm not sure of which ones.

From your list of schools you did apply to, your ambitions are high. Would you be satisfied with any school at this point, or would you rather try again for your dream schools? Perhaps it is worth taking a year off and gaining experience as well as improving those GRE scores.

Well, there is many out here. If you are staying long enough, I will recommend you to visit Toledo or Segovia, which are close enough from Madrid for a day trip. In Madrid, must see places are Reina Sofia Museum, Prado, and Thyssen. If you are soccer fan you can visit Santiago Bernabeu. You should go to the Austrian and Borbonic part of Madrid: Puerta del Sol, Opera, Plaza Mayor and also visit the retiro (Sunday is better).
You can have some beer with tapas in La Latina, or in the area close to Plaza Santa Ana.
Gran Via is nice, Calle FUencarral is pederastrian and is nice for shopping.
Night life is plenty of it, but depends which kind of places/music you prefer.
Send me MP if you want to know something else .




Nice to hear that! Im applying to Master in Public Policy. Where are you applying? How is funding going? What's your Major? Mines is Political and Government Science, with Major in Political Analysis in Complutense.



Hi Pepe! I coulnt apply last year to the Caixa scholarhip because didn't have the TOEFL. I'm applyng Caja Madrid, Caja España, Beca-Prestamo Santander-ICO and Mutua Madrileña (para hijos de mutualistas que lleven mas de 20 años).
Congrats for your fellowship! Uf, I would love to have a full coverage scholarship.
Where are you applying?
Do you know more ppl is our situation?

Well, there is many out here. If you are staying long enough, I will recommend you to visit Toledo or Segovia, which are close enough from Madrid for a day trip. In Madrid, must see places are Reina Sofia Museum, Prado, and Thyssen. If you are soccer fan you can visit Santiago Bernabeu. You should go to the Austrian and Borbonic part of Madrid: Puerta del Sol, Opera, Plaza Mayor and also visit the retiro (Sunday is better).
You can have some beer with tapas in La Latina, or in the area close to Plaza Santa Ana.
Gran Via is nice, Calle FUencarral is pederastrian and is nice for shopping.
Night life is plenty of it, but depends which kind of places/music you prefer.
Send me MP if you want to know something else .




Nice to hear that! Im applying to Master in Public Policy. Where are you applying? How is funding going? What's your Major? Mines is Political and Government Science, with Major in Political Analysis in Complutense.



Hi Pepe! I coulnt apply last year to the Caixa scholarhip because didn't have the TOEFL. I'm applyng Caja Madrid, Caja España, Beca-Prestamo Santander-ICO and Mutua Madrileña (para hijos de mutualistas que lleven mas de 20 años).
Congrats for your fellowship! Uf, I would love to have a full coverage scholarship.
Where are you applying?
Do you know more ppl is our situation?

Good luck Sheila! Yep, the application process is an odyssey (we know how spanish bureaucracyy works ) moreover for international students (GRE preparation, asking for LoR in English, ...).
I've heard about the Fundación Rafael del Pino scolarships, the deadline was the 15th of Jan. Thanks anyway!

It must be nice to be able to do nothing and get paid in vegetables, but for the rest of us living in the real world, that is not an option. I don't know about everyone else but I don't have the time to sit on the beach and do nothing with my life. I'm already drowning in debt and dreading my future if I don't get in anywhere. I hope graduate schools want people other than those who are just getting PhDs for kicks.

Wow. Did you register at thegradcafe just to respond to my post? I was going for inspirational; I didn't think it'd be inflammatory.

I do live in the real world. I have had a number of "hardships" I've had to endure. Maybe you'd like to hear the downside of it? My family was abusive (so I left). I had no support and was emotionally stressed to the point of crying every day and failing my high school (AP/honors) classes. I was bright but had no future, or a future only of mediocrity.

So I made the best choice I could: I joined the military. I volunteered to be SHOT by enemy combatants in a combat zone. I didn't fit in with the military mentality, but I gave my best to serve my country and get a little support. In return for my service, I got a pay check and money for college. Some of my non-college educated buddies spent thousands on strippers and alcohol, I saved my money because I knew no one was going to take care of me if I failed. I had no one to depend upon but myself. I toiled away being bitten by mosquitos and sleeping in a dirt hole for 7 years while all my smart friends went to grad school and now are faculty at top 10 universities. I tried not to beat myself up for being a failure and lagging so far behind everyone else. However, I was getting older every day, yet remained academically the same as a high school graduate.

So when I had the opportunity to take a break, 8 months, I took it! I used my savings from the military to get a cheap apartment in a good location and take a breather for the first time in my whole life. I sat and did nothing because for the first time in my life no one was screaming at me, I had a roof over my head, and food in the fridge.

When it was time, I took my college fund from the military and used it for community college. I worked my butt off, got straight A's then transferred to a state school. I then applied to another state school, a public ivy, where I will be getting my masters. I intend to apply at one of the original Ivies someday and get my PhD. I'll be past 40 by then, but I no longer care about being behind by peers or taking longer than all the smart people out there. Maybe I won't have as long of a list of publications as my high school buddies when I retire, but I'll still do my part and contribute to the academic literature. I did the best I've could what what I had and made a darn good life for myself.

I no longer dread the future because I've changed my outlook. Some people figure it out when they're younger, others need a bit more time and experience to see things clearly (like I did). I now understand that I only get one life, and I'm going to make sure every moment counts for something good, whether I get into an Ivy next year or never.

FWIW- There were plenty of my combat buddies that had advanced degrees such as JDs, PhDs, MAs, BAs, etc. They military was repaying their student loans -up to $60,000 at the time- in addition to their regular paycheck for their service. You might want to look in to that.

The purpose of this thread is for those of us applying to IR/Policy schools for Fall 2010 to share experiences and thoughts as we try to figure out where we want to go. There is already a Final Decisions thread, which I'm sure I'll post to eventually, but for many of us who won't hear from our first school until March, there is still a lot of considering to do.

Since I'm applying from Beijing and won't have a chance to shoot back to the US to visit schools, I am especially interested in hearing other people's impressions of the various schools in terms of admissions processes, visits, etc. I'm sure there are others who won't be able to visit all of the schools that they've applied to, and I think that sharing our thoughts and impressions about the various schools could be an especially useful resource.

I'm not sure why there seems to be so little activity on this board during this application cycle in comparison the last cycle. I've gone through the archives to look for useful threads, and I'll post a few below in case others feel like reading them. I'm sure that there are a lot more useful threads that I've missed.


HKS IGA article

SUNY Stony BrookMolecular And Cellular Biology (MCB), PhD (F10)Rejected via E-mail on 5 Feb 2010I5 Feb 2010I don't see why.....is it possible to be rejected for overqualified?

This guy probably received an email couple of days later offering him to skip the phd (because he is totally overqualified) and accept a tenured position in the department.

Bubal-- Being an international student can never hurt your chances (unless you do poorly on your TOEFL, if applicable). Schools of this nature are always looking for ways to diversify their student population. Therefore, I feel as though being an international student gives you an edge in some respect. Good luck!

I'm an international student (from Spain) who is applying for Master in Public Policy, MPA and Urban and Regional Policy.
This is my overall profile:

GPA 2.98 (The bachelor degree is 5 years long here)
Got minimum require TOEFL score for all schools.
GRE: Q 560 V 330 AW 3.0 (I know, my verbal is reaally low ) I only had 1 chance and got 3 weeks of preparation.
My letters of recommendations are very strong.
I've been doing voluntary work for 4 year and been travelling a lot because of that, was having lots of responsability and its related to my field. I've been working since I'm 18.
I'm working very hard in my Personal Statement. (not finish yet).

Im applying to: Northeastern Univesity, NYU, University of Chicago, Loyola University-Chicago, American University, Georgetown and George Washington University.

Sincerely I think I have chances to get in 1 or 2 of the schools mentioned above (I have a plan B in case I don’t get accepted). I think I have more chances in Loyola and American University. But because my overall profiles is good, not my GRE and my GPA is normal, I prety sure What do you think?

Cheers

Hello everyone,

I'm working in my personal statement (ps), but I've been working in one but not taking consideration any guidelines. So, how can I answer this questions?

Please upload an essay of two or three pages, double-spaced, describing your career goals, your interest in the ***** School, and how your education and work experience qualify you for admission. Please be specific about what impact or contribution you hope to make in the field of public service and how the **** School will support your goals.

Should I stick to what is asked? or, can I introduce some personal experience in order to let me know as a candidate?



I'm doing extra reseach about the schools because as an international student I don`t have a lot of information.

Cheers

And this is why I sometimes have to bang my head against the desk while reading these forums.

Though they call it a personal statement, the prompt reads like the usual SOP. You can preface your SOP with some personal experience, if it's relevant, but I'd suggest devoting the bulk of the essay to the questions asked. Which means, concenrating on your research interests, your future plans and goals, and fit.

I would strongly suggest editing out the first sentence, maybe even the first two. Why have your first impression be one that communicates, if only subconciously, something negative? And it really doesn't add anything. My suggestion:

During my junior year a volunteer experience (where? with whom? doing what? that's the interesting stuff) refocused my studies in sociology and psychology (not reallly all that different from social work are they? so no need, IMO, to make them seem like negatives) on my long-standing interest in working with urban youth. My X amount of years/semesters working with disadvantaged students at XYZ, Inc. clarified my interests by providing experience in ABC. Further, a recent school site visit I conducted tiative for a research project that examines 123 honed my research interest in ABC.

OP: I, too, am starting my SoPs. For what it's worth, fuzzylogician and jacib are echoing everything I've been told by profs and graduate friends.

If it helps, some even offered some strict guidelines:

If it says 1000+ words, do 1000.

If it says 1000 words, do 750.

If it says 2-3 pages, do 2.

If it says 500 words, you better find the 500 best words on that messy Word doc!

That is, include only the most relevantly titillating information; I think it's a general rule that SoPs, especially the shorter ones, are largely used to judge an applicant's ability to whittle a surplus of information (like "your life") into its most pertinent essentials, and to present those essentials with insightful brevity. Anyone can do research, but few can identify and present their most salient findings in a concise and engaging manner, and it's that skill that'll help your app climb toward the top of the stack. Additionally, AdComs will certainly be reading loads of SoPs that not only reach their limits but even extend past them, so be assured that they'll be grateful to see that you know how to edit yourself.

For those unhelpful schools that didn't indicate any word or page counts, it never hurts to e-mail them. The onus is on them, not you, to set the parameters of the SoP, even if their intention is to see how you perform without guidelines.

Thanks for your time, I appreciated it .

@Lauren35


I didn’t know that international students are more "expensive", as you mentions. I'm applying to scholarships, but fortunately I don’t need to choose school depending on finance issues.
When you mention to applying other places, do you have some recommendations? My preferences is the northeast of the country, close to Chicago, nYC or DC, because I want to work afterwards.


@modernity


Your post is very helpful, . About the GPA, I had a very low average during the first 2 year, but my 3rd 4th and 5th year I studies hard I my result were high, cose I spend time in voluntary work but not as much as the first two years.
Good to know they go easier on international students on the verbal section and the AW section of the GRE.
I will do my best with the Personal Statement. My PS is about my gap year, I worked and travelled. I did it because I didn’t know what to do in my life, but after that experience I had the chance to knew myself better and realize that I wanted to study Political Science.

I don’t know if coming from Spain could be a advantage, because most international students (as far as i know) come from Asia and Middle-east. Speaking Spanish and introducing European viewpoints could enrich the course. Hopefully the graduate admission may think as I do... hehe.

@necreation


Very helpful post too.
It's ok if I highlight the quality of my academics in the Personal Statement? In the transcripts its pretty clear how I did improve after my second year. But maybe that is not enough... I only have a optional essay in one of the applications.
My work didn’t take me away from my ability to study, but the voluntary work yes. I participated and organized events, had to do campaigning, sometimes in dates of exam period... after second year I focus more in the studies leaving that dates only for study, because in my experience, I would say that It offered me a great chance but it affected my results. My Political Science degree does not have many economics modules/subjects, but I took the free choices ones in economics, in order to improve my knowledge. So I think that im strong in math and statistics.
Actually one of my LoRs is from one of this free choices modules, and he was very happy about my performance and he appreciated that I was the only student of political science in class. Nowadays he is the dean of the faculty, so I think that this LoR is important.

So...for finishing (sorry if the post is too long)
Mainly I have two options: 1. The one I plan from the beginning, apply to all prior deadlines so I can know if I'm in or nor by March or as very late April. In case I wasn’t accepted at any, I would have time to apply to some universities which deadlines are by May or June.
The Second option, is to apply to the late deadline, retake the GRE (I think I can improve my W and Q, but I wont have time to study vocabulary in order to improve the Verbal section, maybe I could do it better if I'm lucky with the exam and reach 400-450).
In this second case I would apply for other 2 o 3 more universities.

The above poster made some very good points for you to consider. A strong, focused, well thought out SOP and LORs will be a necessary component for your application.

I'd also add that you may be able to highlight the quality of your academics, where it is applicable. A lower than avg GPA can come as a result of various combination of course loads, classes, and circumstances. It could be two or three early semesters that were not quite as strong as others. That is something that will only be evident from a close examination of your transcripts. You mentioned work/travel since you were 18? Did this take away from your ability to study/do well in classes? Are there any classes/types of classes you did particulary well in that highlight your passion for pursuing this degree?

Having exposure to quantitative classes will also help. Did you take any challenging courses in math, economics, or statistics? If so, make sure you make this clear in your application whenever it is asked.

Finally, many schools have an optional essay for you to address concerns in you have in your application. I'd be sure to write an optional essay that thoroughly and thoughtfully describes your past academics and even possible reasons for not doing well on the GRE (ex. bad test taker). In that optional essay, you can also outline your action plan for success in their graduate program.

Well right now it might be difficult being an international student because I hear that schools have to pay more to support those students and right now that is very hard for them. But about your profile, I know all of those schools require a minimum of a 3.0 GPA (and some require a 3.3) just to apply, so I'm not sure how that will affect you, and honestly your GREs are not in the range for any of the schools you have listed. They require a combined score of at least 1100 or so and most people that apply and are accepted have over a 1300. I'd recommend applying to some other places that have lower admission standards just to be safe because I don't know how far your letters of recommendation and personal statement can carry you with those scores.

Things that might make you hopeful:

Your GPA may reflect differently because of where you came from - IE Spanish schools may not have problems with grade inflation, grade harder, etc. I'm not familiar with them, but someone may be able to comment on this.

They go easier on international students on the verbal section and the AW section of the GRE.

You're an international and some of these schools really want people from other countries to reflect the schools "diversity" - if that's the case with one of them you might have a little help that way.

If you provided a paper, or your SOP was really well written this might also help offset your low V/AW.

To worry about :

Some schools (I don't know about these specifically) have known or unknown GRE/GPA cutoffs - for the GRE these are usually somewhere between 1000-1200 cumulative which your 890 will fall below, and GPA is usually 3.0 (but some go as low -or lower- as 2.75 if the candidate can prove a substantial background otherwise).

Some of those schools are quite competitive.


Overall, I would just work very hard on your SOP, and hope that your experience and LORs pull through for you.

Thanks fuzzylogician

Unfortunately, here in the US we have other tests we need to take around that time - specifically the SAT and/or ACT. And before those, of course, there's the PSAT, which we have to take in order to be considered for certain awards. And before that, there are the yearly state exams, which test whether students are learning the material they theoretically should be.

Personally, I'm so used to all of these tests that all I feel about the GRE is resignation. It's just another test, like all of the others. And like all of the others, it probably won't make or break my application. It's unfairly biased, but it's not going away until the entire US educational system changes. In fact, I liked the GRE better than the SAT - it was a lot easier, in my opinion. If we're voting on tests that should go, my first choice to be thrown out would be the SAT, then the GRE, then the ACT.