mpamppquestions

Want to see how strong of a candidate I would be for Carnegie Mellon's MSPPM program. Specifically, I am interested in taking the environmental policy concentration. Program: MPP Education: Undergrad at Allegheny College, 3.6 GPA. Major in English with double minor in Philosophy and Psychology. I spent a semester abroad in Australia where I took and Environmental Science course with a lab component. GRE: 161 V, 4.0 W and 150 Q. The quantitative score is the big black mark here, and I am currently studying to retake and hopefully improve my score by at least 3-4, which would put me at least among average accepted students to Heinz College. I should be able to improve my writing score to a 4.5 as well, but it doesn't look like CMU cares about the score from what I can tell. Work Experience: This is an area of concern for me. I have a 3.5 month internship doing trail work for Americorps in the Catskills for New York Department of Environmental Conservation, worked for a semester at a local conservancy near my college, and have for the last two years been working full time for an environmental advocacy organization (watch dog group for the Delaware river watershed, essentially) doing social media/It and fundraising. While I haven't done any real policy work directly, I now have a general understanding of the mechanisms through which local and state level environmental legislation gets passed, as well some firsthand experiences with current major environmental issues affecting the region, many of which are relevant in Pittsburgh. I've definitely learned a good amount, but I don't want to be deceitful about my work experience when it comes to relevancy here. Lastly, while this isn't work experience, I am an Eagle Scout which may slightly improve my application in terms of experience doing service work. I am enrolling to take statistics in the spring at a local college, which is something CMU likes to see. Language: No foreign languages, I am a native English speaker. Additional Questions: In addition to CMU (by far my top choice) I am looking at Syracuse, Suny ESF and Pitt's MPA program. Syracuse seems like an excellent school as well, but I think my lack of a quantitative background might make me more or less ineligible. CMU offers a course to get students without this background up to snuff before starting the program. Do you guys think I have a good shot at getting accepted to CMU? Also, are there any other similar programs in the area that you would recommend looking at?

Thanks for responding! What degree did you go for, and what can you say about environmental policy analyst market right now? The quantitative aspect of the program is worrying me a little, but I am very motivated and know I can learn. I have read that it isn't anything too crazy for most of these programs, though. My big conundrum is whether or not to retake the GRE or take an intro to stats course, as intro to stats seems to be one of the classes that lots of programs like to see. However, I really don't think I'll be able to effectively juggle working full-time, study for the GRE and take a college course as well as do my applications before the Jan/Feb deadlines. Because Carnegie Mellon offers a quantitative crash course for incoming students without a quantitative background, improving my GRE score would definitely be the right move to strengthen my application. I don't want to put my eggs in one basket, but Carnegie Mellon is definitely my top choice among schools I'm interested, I would be over the moon if I get in.

Thanks so much for the response! CMU is absolutely the number one program I want to go to, and I think you're right when you say that selling the school on what I've taken from my experience will be key. I've started studying for the GRE again (kill me, please!) to improve that quantitative score. According to their admitted students statistics from the last three years, even if I could get it up to 153 from 150 it would at least put me in the mix of average scores among accepted students. My career goals (broadly) are to get into environmental policy analysis for the government. Fingers crossed! Outside of the program being amazing, being able to live in Pittsburgh would also be an ideal scenario for a myriad of reasons. I am applying to Pitt's MPA program too.

Background on myself: I went to a decent small Liberal Arts school and received my undergrad in English. I interned at an environmental non-profit and spent my first summer doing a conservation internship for Americorps, and have been working full time at another environmental advocacy non-profit for close to two years since graduating. While my GPA is competitive enough for good schools (3.6), I'm worried that my job experience isn't sufficient to be a good candidate for the programs I'm currently eyeing. the bulk of my work has been in social media/some light IT stuff, but due to the size of the organization I do have a kind of familiarity with the political process (from the non-profit side) as it pertains to environmental legislation in the conservation and energy sectors. My top two programs are currently Syracuse University (MPA) and Carnegie Mellon (MPP). I would take the environmental policy concentration at either school if accepted. I am thinking about taking an intro to stats course to bolster my resume since I lack the quantitative background. I am also planning on retaking the GRE to improve my quant score about 5. My GRE scores were 150 Q (ugh), 161 V and 4 W. I could definitely get the writing score up, but most of the programs I've looked at don't seem to care about this score. Are the "top" programs a pipe dream for me? Outside of my quantitative score, my GRE and GPA scores are decent among accepted students, but I'm worried that my academic background and lack of truly (rather than tangentially) related work experience will hurt me.