SDtoMPP

I'm waiting to hear back! Hoping to hear sometime this week.

Also, they have still not updated my portal. Has anyone else had this problem?

You got a funding offer? Interesting. I was under the impression that they hadn't given out fellowships yet because my letter made no mention of it. Hm, I guess that means I didn't get any funding, although I was admitted about 3 weeks ago.

I am thinking about it! I applied to the joint MPP-MBA program, so I'm still waiting to hear from them, as well as about funding and other schools. But I'm definitely considering Luskin.

Heard from UCLA's MPP program yesterday. Accepted! No information on funding, but I don't think that's available quite yet. Still waiting on MPP admissions from HKS, Berkeley Goldman, Duke Sanford, Georgetown McCourt, and Chicago Harris, as well as MBA admissions from Berkeley Haas, UCLA Anderson, and Georgetown McDonough. Obviously still waiting, but it feels good to get that first acceptance. I know I'm going SOMEWHERE!

I've taken the GRE twice. The first time was with no studying :/ Actual GRE March 2014: 163 V, 155 Q, 4.5 W Finally decided to retake recently and actually buckle down and study. My goal was to break 160 in each section. Magoosh practice test 1: 154 Q (didn't take verbal) Magoosh practice test 2: 158 V, 157 Q. Definitely frustrated with this. Powerprep II practice test 1: 161 V, 158 Q Powerprep II practice test 2: 161 V, 161 Q (finally breaking 160 in Q) Magoosh practice test 3: 158 Q (didn't take verbal again) Actual GRE September 2015: 163 V, 162 Q I found Magoosh a lot harder than the actual test but it was great in preparing me. I definitely scored higher on the actual test than any practice test.

Hello all! I retook the GRE yesterday and was very satisfied with my new scores. However, while writing both essays I cut it really close on time. This resulted in fully developed body paragraphs, but somewhat stunted intro/conclusion paragraphs (particularly conclusions). The ideas were clear, cogent and summarized well (I like to think at least), but they were only a few sentences because I literally ran out of time. How much do you think this could damage my scores? These were much better essays than my first GRE, from what I remember, and I scored a 4.5 I was aiming for a 5 or above, but I'm worried this lack of development could really damage it. Thanks!

So this isn't exactly an am I competitive post, hence the new thread. I am looking at MPP programs and have begun applying to the dreams (Berkeley Goldman, HKS), but I am looking for a few programs that would be more of a "match" and less of a "dream". I'm interested particularly in education policy, so any insight on that would also be helpful. Some background about myself: Undergrad degree: Top 10 public school Major: double major in Political Science- American Politics and Urban Planning GPA: Overall 3.49. Junior/Senior GPA: 3.7. GRE: 163V, 155Q, 4.5W. I took this during college without studying (I know, I know..), so I am currently studying to take it again. Study abroad: Spent a quarter studying in Paris during my sophomore year. Years since undergrad: graduated June 2014 Work/internship experience: 2 internships- 1 was a communications internship writing press releases for a research and policy development center focused on social and economic issues, another was as a policy intern focusing on immigration policy at an advocacy group in DC In college, worked as a high school mentor advising high school students from low income schools applying to college Currently 2 years into teaching science (Teach for America) in a low income middle school Coursework: Political sciences courses, urban policy courses, research design, analytical data (SSPS, GIS), calculus, statistics, biology, and currently taking an economics class through Berkeley Currently enrolled in education classes through a CSU (not my undergrad schools) to gain my teaching credential Senior research thesis: Disparities in Public Education and Resource Applicability to Low-Income Public Schools Languages: Spanish (intermediate), French (basic) SoP: I'm not too worried about this. Plan on explaining my purpose for studying education policy through my experience in the education sector LoR: Very strong professional recommendations. Academic recommendation I'm a little more worried about. Planning on asking my research advisor, but we weren't especially close. He is familiar with my work, though. Extracurricular activities: Vice President- student government, 1 year. Was on student government for 3 years. RA 1 year. Sorority 4 years. Executive council of sorority 2 years. Academic Chairman of sorority one year. Awards: Nominated as sorority woman of the year, twice. Nominated for the Sue Lehmann teaching award through Teach for America. Concerns: Low GPA/GRE. Not a ton of quantitative classes. Only somewhat relevant work experience (relevant, but not directly correlated). Thanks in advance for any help!