amanda1985

I can only speak of Indiana University... I completed my undergrad at IU and although I was not a SPEA graduate, I recieved a minor through SPEA for Environmental Science and Health. I have also been admitted to SPEA's MPA and will be attending in the fall. SPEA is not only strong in Environmental Science and especially Environmental Policy, but other concentrations are top ranked. The Nonprofit Management concentration is ranked # 1 by US News and World Report. Unfortunately there is not a concentration for International Development, which is what I am also interested in, but I'm pretty sure you can develop your own specialization using courses from other departments, which is probably what I will have to do. As an undergraduate, I studied International Studies and have experience taking courses from various departments, so a specialization in International Development is feasible. Also, IU offers unique language courses that you cannot find in other universities, I believe they have one of the only kurdish programs??? There is a huge number of International Students at IU. As an undergraduate, most of my friends were from India and Pakistan, however most of these students studied at the Kelley Business School. Overall, I loved IU and I felt that SPEA's courses, at least for my minor, were some of the most interesting and practical courses I took as an undergraduate. If you are geared toward a professional career rather than an academic career in Public Affairs, then SPEA may be the best choice as they require an internship and a senior project as opposed to a thesis. Apart from academics, IU has one of the most beautiful campuses, best ethnic restaurants, and descent entertainment. The night life and bar scene could be a downside as IU has a reputation for being a "party" school and this may be distracting to serious graduate students.

did anyone have a worse GRE score than me? hahaha

Program Applied To: MPA: Indiana University SPEA, New York University Wagner, MPP: University of Michigan Ford, Master of International Public Affairs: University of Wisconsin La Follette Schools Admitted To: Wisconsin (La Follette) Indiana (SPEA) Schools Rejected From: Michigan Still waiting to hear from NYU Undergraduate institution: Indiana University Undergraduate GPA: 3.87 Undergraduate Major: International Studies and Psychology, minors in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (Arabic) and Environmental Science (Through SPEA) GRE Quantitative Score: 560 GRE Verbal Score: 480 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2 Years of Work Experience: part time job throughout undergrad, volunteer experience at NGO, policy work at IU Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Basically I studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt, studied Arabic Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): For IU: one of my recommenders is a professor in the SPEA graduate program, another one was the Director of the International Studies major Deciding Between: Decided on IU SPEA