[Texas A&M University Admits Fall 2016]

Howdy!

I will be attending the Bush School at A&M in the fall for International Affairs. I am excited to meet fellow graduate ags!

Thanks and Gig em

[2016 Results Thread]

7 hours ago, YayPublicPolicy said:

Hi there, 

Long time user, first time caller. I haven't seen this up yet, so I thought I'd start it seeing as most notifications should have come in by now. Mainly posting in case this is cathartic/informative for new admits/prospective applicants, but not gonna lie, also curious to see what the competition looked like  In any case, I'm sure everyone deserves a job well done!

Program Applied To: (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.) IA/IR

Schools Applied To: Bush School (TAMU), Texas Tech, American

Schools Admitted To: Bush School (TAMU)

Schools Rejected From:

Still Waiting:

Undergraduate institution: Texas A&M

Undergraduate GPA: 3.08

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable):

Undergraduate Major: International Studies 

GRE Quantitative Score: 148

GRE Verbal Score: 156

GRE AW Score: 4.0

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1

Years of Work Experience: 1

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2 Congressional internships, 1 with a degree relevant House committee chairman, internship in Spain

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Talked about finding my passion for international affairs and about my work in the House of Representatives. The work experience helped greatly with my SOP as I could talk about the work I had done, not just the work I wanted to do. 

Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I did not get the opportunity to see my LOR's but my 2 educational letters were from professors I took multiple times (with A's) and whom I'd attended events with, my last LOR was from an A&M alum in my first congressional office.

Other: Attended the interview conference and had a great time as I had coincidentally read and could talk about one of the books one my interviewers assigns for his class. Will accept the Bush School offer as it is cost effective with great faculty 

 

[BUSH SCHOOL INTERVIEW NOTIFICATION?]

I really enjoyed the interview conference, I got to meet many candidates both from A&M and from many other universities. Talking to the current students was really helpful with how their interview conferences went and what to expect if you are accepted and enroll in the Bush School. Getting to meet the faculty in person was a big bonus because most of the time they were joking around with us and poking fun at each other. I think that was the biggest drawback to not being able to attend the conference is you only interact with the professors as interviewers, which is all business. 

 

Also I learned alot more about the school than I could from researching it online

[BUSH SCHOOL INTERVIEW NOTIFICATION?]

Wow, well I hope you did well!  It was definitely a bit intimidating, I wish I could have known!  oh well.  @J-admire you were at the interview conference?  I could not make it.  If you dont mind kind of explaining how it was in general?  Moreover, why was their 90 minute "writing" block?  Did they explain why they wanted another writing assessment?  Thanks

They said that this writing sample was to see how you write, like not from a prepared writing sample that you have written in the past. Also the topic was in regards to research methods and I believe they will also look at how you answered the prompt. 

[BUSH SCHOOL INTERVIEW NOTIFICATION?]

Do you have Dr. Shrifinson doing the interview?

 

I was at the MIA interview conference and I had Dr. Shifrinson as my 2nd interviewer. While waiting outside his room some of the current students warned me that he liked to be intimidating and liked poking holes in your statements. They were definitely not wrong. He would ask me soft questions then continue to poke at the things I said over and over. He asked one question and I had no answer to it so I had to say that I have nothing more to add to the statements I've already made. 

 

He was definitely one of the toughest interviewers but I hope that I was able to defend my answers well enough for him. 

 

Good luck to all who applied and we'll find our decisions hopefully next monday!