minnewegian

Schools (haven't yet applied, beginning with my top program): WWS, Sanford, LSE, Hertie School, Georgetown, American, U of M - TC, LBJ Career goals: Join the foreign service or work for an international development organization Undergrad: Small liberal arts college Major: Political Science, German Minor: English Writing GPA: 3.46 Years out of undergrad: will be 3 years oce I matriculate to a program in Fall 2015 GRE scores: 164 V, 161 Q, 5.0 W Work experience: 1 year teaching English in South Korea. 1 year conducting research in International Law on a Fulbright scholarship (which helped me ultimately decide not to pursue a law degree); I also taught English part-time as part of my research grant agreement. Now in my third year out of school and in addition to extending my teaching contract from last year at a public high school abroad, I am doing three internships: one at a US embassy (finished), one as a remote research intern at a well-known military affairs research center (winter 14-15), and one at a freedom of press institute (spring 15). During college, I also worked in the finance department of an amusement park in the summertime as a junior accountant. Coursework: Calculus, Microecon, Principles of Econ, Intermediate Econ, Accounting... grades were not good. Ranging from D+ to B+. While on my fellowship, I did get As in an Intro to Quant Methods in Social Sciences and another social science research design class. Language skills: German (C2), Korean (A1) Statement of Purpose: I have loads of stories to tell, but so far my narrative seems detatched from my goals in applying for policy analysis programs. Letters of Recommendation: I'm strategizing based on the programs which letters of rec go where. So far I have one reference from an internship and three professors. Two of the professors knew my work well in my senior year and one wrote me a letter of rec already for my Fulbright. One was a professor I had in my quant courses while on my Fellowship. Concerns: -Dat GPA. LSE says they recommend a minimum of 3.5 and after looking at the top program stats, this seems standard. -Relevant experience? I've got a lot going on. On paper, I don't think my choices have made a lot of sense. -I am retaking the GRE, with the hopes that I can just get myself into the next percentile just to help a little, but who knows, right? Basically, any advice would be greatly appreciated! Any other suggestions for programs I should look at? I've already nixed JHU, GW, GMU, UMich, Harris, Georgia Tech, SIPA, Korbel for a variety of reasons.