I created an account just to respond to this! @swiggles, you remind me of me from seven years ago . I graduated from a tiny (not super well-known) LAC with a 3.0ish GPA in IR. Like you, I had a slew of painfully bad grades, including several Cs, Ds, and Fs in primarily my math and quant-heavy econ classes. Unfortunately, I had no one to blame but myself. I just slacked off too much, prioritized the wrong things (like partying and drinking), etc. While I finally got things together by the end of college, I only barely managed to get my GPA above a 3.0. Needless to say, it was really demotivating. I didn't think I had a chance of getting into ANY graduate school, so I decided to pour my heart into my career and learning from past mistakes. For the next six years, I worked really hard to address my weaker points (like quants). I re-took Macro and Micro at a local community college (received As in both). I took a ton of data analysis classes over a period of 3 years and eventually became so strong in Excel and R that I was asked to conduct trainings on both at work. I volunteered to take on research projects at work that exercised these skills until I was comfortable enough to lead in these areas. I also took a giant risk at the end of 2015 and moved to a country I'd never been to in Sub-Saharan Africa to help lead a major RCT research project for a small health NGO. And finally, I moved to the UK in 2017 to work closely with a professor (himself a Rhodes Scholar) at a well-known institution (think Oxbridge) to conduct research for his project portfolio.
When I finally decided I was ready and strong enough to apply for graduate school last year, I worked hard to crush the GRE (eventually got a 334, with a 170Q & 164V). I asked my recommenders (the professor I worked with and my two previous bosses) to highlight my strength in research and quants, which I think may have helped alleviate concerns that AdComms would have had upon seeing my college transcript. I also spent countless hours positioning myself as the "quant person" through my essays and made sure that I had 3 close friends and family members review them until we all felt that they conveyed this successfully.
Last year, I applied to:
- UChicago Harris MPP
- Tufts Fletcher MALD
- Duke Sanford MPP
- HKS MPP
- Columbia SIPA MPA
- WWS MPA
I got into every school except for WWS where I was waitlisted. I got into Harris, Fletcher, Sanford, and SIPA with substantial scholarships as well (including some full scholarships). HKS didn't offer much money but if you told me seven years ago that I could get into Harvard, I would have laughed in your face.
I'll be honest with you- it won't be easy. You're going to have to work really, really hard but if you're up for it and truly intent on learning from your past mistakes and becoming a stronger version of yourself, then you CAN do it. I'm proof that schools truly are holistic in their review process.
Good luck! Feel free to message if you have any questions.