[Where did I go wrong?]

On March 8, 2016 at 2:02 PM, quietman said:

Hi,

First off, I hope me starting this thread isn't considered presumptuous, but I notice that posts in the 'Am I Competitive' thread often get overlooked.

I was admitted to elite law schools (HLS, Columbia on a fellowship) a year ago and initially planned to be a lawyer, but decided not to attend and instead applied to MPP programs. I aimed high, perhaps too confident from my law admissions success, and struck out this application year (HKS, WWS, Berk---not even a waitlist), which has been very tough to swallow. I was just wondering if anyone has input as to what the most likely causes of this could be (see details below). I also know that there are factors such as essays that are considered as part of one's application, and my essays are not posted here for you to see.

-Does a 155 quant score preclude admission at the top schools?

-Will a total lack of economics and stats courses, as well as time abroad, be detrimental?

-Looking at the info below, where do you see room for improvement?

Program: MPP/MPA

Schools being considered: Applied to Harvard, Princeton, and Berkeley..I know I should've applied more broadly.

Major: Poli Sci

GPA: 4.16/4.33 from the first college I attended, then 89.5 at the university I transferred to (this was the highest percentage out of all 200+ POLI students there)

GRE score: 170 verbal (99th); 155 quant (60th); 6 writing (99th)

Other test scores: 174 LSAT (99th percentile)

Years since undergrad: It would be 2.5 in the fall of 2016. I worked through UG though.

Work experience:  Founder of a successful but small and local non-profit that is no longer in operation due to a lack of time; policy analyst for a local political party (summer job); legal researcher for a law firm; Program coordinator for a university

Coursework: Mainly Poli Sci and Psych. No Economics or Math courses.

Language skills: Only English fluently

Statement of Purpose: Focusing on interest in education policy

Letters of Recommendation: Two professors whose courses I excelled in and one employer.

Concerns: Poor quant score, minimal quantitative/econ-related coursework, no time abroad, and lacking in extensive research aside from what is typically done in undergrad.

 

I don't think the GRE scores or lack of econ classes is the problem. You seem to have excelled in organized educational settings, and have good letters of rec. My own opinion is that it's not clear, based on what you've provided, why you're interested in education policy. Was your non profit education-focused? Is your current job in that field? Overall, my sense is that they're looking for a consistent narrative. If you're serious about a particular field, show them that through your interests and outside experiences.

Just my two cents. I'm an HKS MPP  grad.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

Hey All,

I took some time away from these boards, thinking I could spare myself some mental anguish, but it turns out there's no such thing as sparing yourself mental anguish in the MFA process. So here I am again.

So far: wait listed at 3 very competitive programs (read: no one's declining their offers or moving off the wait lists), and rejected from a handful more. Still waiting to hear back from a couple others. Now I'm busy focusing on what to do next, if school isn't in the cards. I'm a mid-30s applicant with a good job, so for me this was never a pathway toward a different profession, necessarily, but I'm still pretty bummed about the prospect of having to apply again in the future.

The good news: just found out that I got into the Kenyon Review summer workshop and Bread Loaf's Sicily workshop. Pro tip for any newbies: summer workshops completely changed my perspective on all things writing, and I'm pretty certain the improvements I made during those summer sessions were the only reason I stood a fighting chance at the MFA programs I applied to.

[What is "Draft"?]

It's a private Facebook group organized each year that you have to request to join. This year's is called MFA Draft 2016. You could join it to see what it's all about, or you could wait until they create one for the 2017 admissions cycle.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

17 minutes ago, holycat said:

Anyway, I suppose, as @Ultralightnoted, people are paying for more than the degree. It's for NYC. And also for Columbia, I guess. And I admit it would be awesome to get the full NYC experience, especially as a writer. I'll wait and see if I get in and, if I do, what kind of funding I'll get. If, after working my numbers, I find that I'd still need to spend so much of money I don't have to go there, I would rather take a chance on my writing/stories and go elsewhere than swim in debt in the hopes of benefitting from being in the "publishing center of America."  Good luck, by the way, @FalloutCoversEverything! 

For what it's worth, I was accepted to Columbia last year and was really excited when I found out (Ben Marcus making the call was an added bonus). Then the paperwork came. Not only did I not get any funding at all, it was going to cost something like $55k to attend. I just couldn't hack it, so I decided to apply exclusively to fully funded programs this year. I have another Masters degree that I'm still paying off, and NYC was just going to be too expensive without help.

I don't think my experience with that particular program was at all unique. I've heard they have to maintain a huge waitlist because of how many people bow out once they discover the program's cost.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

43 minutes ago, FalloutCoversEverything said:

Cornell acceptances still haven't gone out this year.

They did go out last year by around this time. 

Likely, they'll be going out soon (over the next week).

From the draft:

Cornell's fiction faculty is still reviewing applications. They're scheduled to meet next Saturday to decide admissions and wait lists, etc

[Fall 2016 MFA]

14 hours ago, manoshij said:

 

Does anybody have news about any of these places: OSU, Virginia and Virginia Tech? 

 

Are you checking the results forum on this site? I've seen both OSU and VT acceptances, as well as OSU rejections.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

6 minutes ago, Radesky said:

Any word on Vanderbilt? Seems like a couple of acceptances went out. Do they notify in waves as well?

I'd bet that they've notified all the acceptances. The program is pretty small and I already saw one acceptance on the draft and two here. I'm guessing they maintain a waitlist, but who knows if it's informal or not.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

3 hours ago, gaudysideoftown said:

Looks like Wisconsin sent out a wave of acceptances today! Did anyone here get any good news?! I seem to remember a few of you guys saying it was on your list!

I've now been waitlisted by both Minnesota and Wisconsin. MN gave me a my position on the waitlist, WI didn't. I'm trying to feel optimistic, but honestly, all the schools I applied to are equally competitive, so we'll see.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

Today is my birthday, so obviously all the programs I applied to are going to call me with good news, right? 

[Fall 2016 MFA]

Alright, people who have posted acceptances to Iowa for fiction: show yourselves! I can't figure out if they're legit, or some kind of cruel joke.