omoon
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Posts posted by omoon
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2 hours ago, limabeans08 said:
Interesting... may I ask why? Is it the name brand for you? And are you based in the states?
Majorly because HKS and Jackson are a tier higher than Maxwell, and I felt it would open more doors than Maxwell. The question is really about whether you could afford 50k debts and how long it would take for you to repay those debts. All of those factors are personal so I would encourage you to consider your own situation.
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I would take HKS or Yale over Maxwell even if I have to pay $50k out of pocket.
I know someone might disagree with me but I think it's worth it. Wish you all the best! -
2 hours ago, mildlyconfusedmar said:
SAIS told me the 5th! A Fletcher admission reached out and told me they had read my app and that decisions would be out "in early March" -- not sure what that means.
I applied to a joint program offered by Fletcher, and got the acceptance yesterday!!
Y'all should hear back soon. Wish you all the best! -
Thanks for starting this post. So how "optional" is the video interview?
It said it's optional but highly recommended, I wonder if not doing it would ruined my chance. -
On 12/1/2020 at 12:28 PM, GradSchoolGrad said:
This goes back to we don't have enough data about you to give you meaningful insights.
1. GRE scores??? You need good ones to compensate for bad grades
2. Compelling story about bad grades? - did something happen (illness, death, etc.)? That can further mitigate
3. Leadership experience / potential? --> lead anything?
4. Diversity - got it you are a data guy, that helps you... got anything else? Veteran? 1st to go to College in your Family?
You can overcome bad grades if you can sew some element of that together.
Right now, your only real advantage is that you are decently unique as a data/psych/kind of sciences guy, and I could potentially see a school that prizes diversity to view you as a diversity add in terms of background. You might want to figure out your actual value proposition first so you can more accurately figure out what schools are for you --> especially when you are basing your school choices on rather surface level assumptions.
As for your top schools
1. They make zero sense.
a. U. Chicago isn't exactly a tech haven... It has a great brand and great career stuff... Its one thing to go analytical. It is another to do tech with them when they don't exactly have a strong tech network built in or geographically located.
b. MIT, CMU, and GA Tech are essentially engineering/science based policy programs. Although you may have some academic capability for it, you don't have the background for it. They like people who at least tangentially come from engineering or cyber respectively. Notice how it isn't run by government or policy department, but a hard sciences departments. You are a quant psych guy... that is a rather large stretch.
2. Other schools you mentioned. In my mind, Brown, William and Mary, and Lehigh also make zero sense. It doesn't matter how much the Professors may have researched an area. Unless you are going into academia or research (which you may), professors don't exactly help you get into jobs. Also, those schools may have great brands due to their undergrad, but they are essentially seen as cash grab players in the higher ed space (because MPP programs deliver profits for schools) with little real meaningful return on investment in regards to job success if you attend a programmatically challenged and under-resourced program. .
3. GWU MPP now begins to make more sense, because they are all about having people do a lot of internships while going to school. Assuming COVID subsides, you can truly benefit from that by marketing yourself as having sciences experience (because GPA doesn't matter anymore non-science application policy space once you get into school).
4. Fletcher starting a Cyber Security program is actually concerning for me. It is one thing for Georgia Tech to do coming from an engineering angle. Fletcher has lately gone wild trying to do expansion Masters to compensate for their weaknesses in Tufts not having other professional schools to collaborate with (except for Medicine, but that is downtown Boston). Generally speaking, you don't want to be a person joining a new program --> stuff isn't figured out yet, and being a guinea pig is never fun.
5. Okay SAIS - MEPP makes sense now. I really hope you love Europe don't regret being siloed with Europe. Also let me warn you, it is a one year program, and those fly by fast and often don't give you sufficient experential learning opportunities to truly boost you resume as a 2 year program would.
6. Duke Terry Sanford specializes in State and Local Domestic Policy (I mean they do lots of other things well too, but that is what they are really good at). I think you would find yourself rather lonely as a tech guy there.
7. I can't speak to LBJ
Thank you for the comments! I wonder if you have any suggestions on less competitive/selective MPP programs? There are many discussions around the top programs, but those are super reach for my stats, and I am concerned about getting into any of them. I have some of the "cash grab players" programs on my list, because I assumed those are less competitive and could be a target or safety school for me.
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7 hours ago, GradSchoolGrad said:
It sounds like you are doing a shot in the dark strategy and honestly even if I was on a fly in the wall in every single admissions committee, I honestly don't think I could coherently tell you which schools would likely or not likely give you a shot. Your situation is just rather unique to begin with.
Here is what I recommend you do:
1. Rock the GRE (all 3 categories)--> Thiswill get rid of any concerns about your ability to graduate + you can more easier chalk up the less than stellar GPA to youth indiscretion. If you don't do stellar, you chances in an established reputable program may likely be game over.
2. Have a coherent story with why your undergrad GPA is so bad. If you don't have a compelling story, at the very least chalk it up to being young and dumb and how you have matured as an adult.
3. Figure out how the school is relevant to you. You seem to have done a scattershot of every single program and I struggle to see how some of these would even be relevant to you. Maybe I am missing here, but I fail to see how any IR program like Johns Hopkins SAIS or Fletcher is relevant your tech interests. You need to differentiate between how a class might have been relevant vs. how a program might be relevant. This is because though GDPR has international influence and ramifications, at the core of it, it is domestic public policy interest. That being said, from the outside looking in, a policy program is best suited for you.
That being said, you probably want a program that actually has some meaningful engagement in tech, so that in my mind kills of Brown, William & Mary, McCourt (ya they have a tech club, but beyond that, they don't really do anything in tech or collaboration in tech)
Lets be honest, you are not going to have recommenders send a dozen or so LORs. You are better off just applying to 4 schools which in your case would be a. super reach, reach, less reach, and target. Among the ones left, I would figure out what those 4 will be.
Thank you for your recommendations; I'd like to elaborate a bit more on why I am applying to some of the programs, and hoping to get more insight.
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To be honest, with my stats, I'd consider all the schools "super reach". So it's challenging to understand which one is less reach and target for me.
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My top schools are Chicago Harris MPP, MIT TPP, CMU EPP, GA-Tech MS Cybersecurity (Policy), but all of them are super reach even for applicants with stellar stats.
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SAIS, Fletcher, and Brown: I'm applying to Johns Hopkins SAIS's European Public Policy program to focus on GDPR, and European data regulation. For Fletcher, I'm applying to the new cybersecurity and policy programs not MADL. A few professors at Brown aligns with my interest in tech. While Brown is likely still a reach for me, I assumed the program is not as competitive as the top schools I'm applying to.
- Other schools: I plan to apply to some traditional/generic MPP programs like William & Mary, Lehigh, GWU. LBJ, Duke Sanford, and Brown, because being a non-stellar candidate with zero knowledge in public policy, I'd still gain a lot from a traditional MPP even without tech engagement.
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To be honest, with my stats, I'd consider all the schools "super reach". So it's challenging to understand which one is less reach and target for me.
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I'm interested in Technology Policy (privacy, data regulation, cybersecurity.) I know I'm likely an unusual candidate, and tbh, I felt embarrassed even to dream of getting into any of the schools.
Still, I hope for a realistic assessment of my chances at these programs or any suggestion on boosting my profile and other programs that I should consider. Thanks
Applying to: GWU Trachtenberg MPP, GA-Tech MS Cybersecurity (Policy), UT-Austin LBJ MGPP, Brown MPA, JHU SAIS MEPP, Tufts Fletcher MALD, MIT TPP, CMU EPP, CMU MSISPM, Georgetown McCourt MPP, Chicago Harris MPP, Duke Sanford MPP, Williams & Mary MPP, Lehigh MPP (new program starts 2021)
Undergrad institution: Large State School. (One of the Big Ten schools.)
Undergrad Major: STEM major with minors in Computer Science
Undergrad GPA: <2.5/4.0.
Grad GPA: Took a graduate level class at Fletcher over the summer and got 4.0/4.0
GRE: N/A
Years out of undergrad: 4-5 years
Quant Background: Took one econ, and a few math, and stats classes (Cs for math classes, B+ for stats and econ classes.) However, I have a lot of quant experience at work where I analyze survey and behavioral data using R, Python, and SPSS.
Relevant Work Experience: In undergrad, I have 3.5 years of experience as a research assistant at a quantitive psychology lab. Post-grad, I have worked for a few well-known tech companies as a mixed-method researcher conducting both quant and qual research.
International experience: Born and raised in different countries (Japan, Hong Kong, China) before I came back to the States for college.
Strength of LOR: One is from a professor who I worked with for 3.5 years as an undergrad. He mentioned he's going to write me a strong letter—another from a professor at Fletcher who I took classes with this summer, unsure if it's strong since I have not and probably would not get a chance to see it. The last one is from my ex-manager, who has a PhD, and is now a principal researcher for a tech company. Assumes it's going to be strong too.
Strength of SOP: While I do not have the final version yet, I plan to write about my reason for pursuing an MPP. I will walk through my personal experience of dealing with data regulation (GDPR) in 2018 and how the experience helped me developed an interest in tech policy (privacy, regulation...etc) and decided to pursue an MPP. After MPP I would like to assist the private sectors in preparing for any future tech policy and assisting the general public in understanding the policy related to them.
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thank you for taking the time to do this! Similar to you, although I have 4 years of experience and strong LORs, I have a sub 2.X GPA and it scares me.
- I wonder what do you see as your strength?
- How did you structure your SOP to demonstrate what you're capable of doing and your potential despite your low GPA?
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thank you for taking the time to do this! Similar to you, although I have 4 years of experience and strong LOR, I have a sub 2.X GPA and it scares me. I wonder how did you structure your SOP to demonstrate what you're capable of doing and potential despite your low GPA?
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I graduated in 2016 with a Cognitive Science B.S. (GPA:2.2) from a public research university after working in a research lab during my four years as an undergrad. I was lucky to receive a job offer from one of the top tech companies and have been doing research in the industry since then. I was also fortunate to work with many talented peers that often hold advanced degrees. After working in the industry for 3 years, I am planning to go back to school to advance my skill because I felt I have a more definite goal of the topics I want to study. Instead of psychology/cogsci, I am looking into a few MS/MA programs with courses in advanced social analysis and qualitative research.
But after my terrible performance in undergrad, I am really concerned about getting into grad school.
I wonder, how much will my industry experience boost my chance of getting into one? I also took the GRE in my junior year without preparing for it, and I wonder should I either apply for Fall 2020 with my old scores or retake it and apply for Fall 2021.My Stats:
GPA: 2.2
GRE: 151 quant 149 verbal, 50% (Took it in 2015)
RA experience: 4 years in a developmental psychology lab
Industry experience: 3 years in a tech company.
Thank you all for reading. Any advice is appreciated. -
After my terrible performance in undergrad, I am really concerned about getting into grad school.
I graduated in 2016 with a Cognitive Science B.S. (GPA:2.2) from a public research university after working in a research lab during my four years as an undergrad. I was lucky to receive a job offer from one of the top tech companies and have been doing research in the industry since then. I was also fortunate to work with many talented peers that often hold advanced degrees.After working in the industry for 3 years, I am planning to go back to school to advance my skill to the next level. Instead of psychology/cogsci, I am planning to apply to MS/MA programs with courses in advanced social analysis and qualitative research.
But I'm incredibly concerned about my chance due to my unimpressive undergrad performance. I wonder what I can do to boost my chance? I took the GRE in my junior year without preparing for it, and I wonder should I either apply for Fall 2020 with my old scores or retake it and apply for Fall 2021.
My Stats:
GPA: 2.2
GRE: 151 quant 149 verbal, 50% (Took it in 2015)
RA experience: 4 years in a developmental psychology lab
Industry experience: 3 years in a tech company.Thank you all for reading. Any advice is appreciated.
Tufts Fletcher 2021
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
Congrats!!! I also got accepted to a joint program. I guess the results of joint programs are released earlier than MALD.
I found a Facebook group for the 2021 incoming class at Fletcher, not sure if the admin is active, but you could give it a try.