Program: MPA/MPP
School Applying to: Brandeis Heller, Duke Sanford, GW Trachtenberg, Georgetown McCourt, Brown Taubman, William and Mary Thomas Jefferson
Undergrad Institution: Private college, ranked 27-33 throughout the years (according to USN – not that this means a whole lot!)
Undergrad GPA: 3.5
Major/Minor: Sociology major, International Studies minor
GRE: 163 V, 158 Q, 4.5 Writing
Age: 25
Years of Work Experience: 3 years (not including internships) at time of entry
Published Work: None
Languages: French, some Farsi
Work Experience: Internship with civil rights government agency for about 6 months, focused on advocacy and outreach. For the past 2.5 years, I’ve been working as a project manager for a court case. The quick version: three unions have a history of racism, these unions are under court order because of this, and we’re working to improve them by imposing certain remedies.
Quant Experience: Statistics (B+), Calculus (B), and Research Methods (A-). I’m taking a Microeconomics course that starts in January to satisfy some prerequisites.
Strength of SOP: I’d like to work with prison populations – providing greater access to education/career resources during their sentences, reentry programs to ensure a smoother transition to society, you name it. I could see myself in either a nonprofit or a government agency. My full-time work experience is somewhat related to this (some union members do have criminal backgrounds and thus have less opportunities, and our program is technically a vocational program, though not exclusively for previously incarcerated individuals). It’s mostly my volunteer and internship experiences (like Books through Bars) that speak to my goals.
Strength of LoR 1: From former professor – this could be anywhere from meh to good. She asked for a bunch of supporting materials, which hopefully allowed her to write a more informed letter. However, since it’s been a few years and I haven’t been the best at keeping in touch, I’m a little concerned.
Strength of LoR 2: Current supervisor. I expect this to be strong.
Strength of LoR 3: Former internship supervisor. I expect this to be positive (she asked me if I wanted her to write one when we were catching up a few months ago); however, she hasn’t asked for any documents (SOP, updated resume, etc.), so I hope it doesn’t seem too generic.
Concerns: My academic LoR, average GPA/quant experience. Moreover, while my work experience enhances my application, I feel like I gloss over it in my SOP. I was worried about regurgitating my resume. Any advice on this?
Also – anyone out there worried about the lack of safety schools on your list? I realize some of the schools I’m applying to aren’t mentioned much here; however, they’re fairly small programs (let’s say ~40 students), so I can’t say I’m a shoe-in. Just experiencing that inevitable application season anxiety I guess J