Hi! Been a lurker forever and would love thoughts and feedback.
Program Applying To: MPP and MSc programs, one MPA
Schools Applying To: Harvard Kennedy MPP (the dream, ugh); Berkeley Goldman MPP (also a dream); Georgetown McCourt MPP; GWU Tratchenberg MPP; UVA Batten MPP; Brown Watson MPA; LSE MSc in Politics and Communications, UCL MSc in Gender, Society and Representation; King's College London MSc in International Political Economy; SOAS MSc in Labour, Activism and Development. Might add on some additional MPP programs.
Undergraduate institution: Top 50 city school in DC Undergraduate GPA: 3.29. Major GPAs were 3.74 and 3.63. Last 60 hours was ~3.6, if you add my study abroad courses (which I think I need to for UK schools?), it's a 3.31. Undergraduate Major: Double major in International Affairs and Political Science GRE Quantitative Score: Expecting 161-164 range GRE Verbal Score: Expecting 160-162 range GRE AW Score: unknown yet! Test is scheduled for Sept 22nd
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 Years of Work Experience: 4 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Two and a half years at a well-known advocacy consulting firm w ties to HKS, staffer on a presidential campaign, policy writing fellowship program, experience on other campaigns (including management). Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Still working on it, but I am very confident in my writing skills. I think I will be able to tie in my personal story, professional background, and future goals well together. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Strong recommendations from a major school board president that I develop policy for, and a CEO of my former company w/ ties to HKS. 1 academic letter which will probably be good-ish. Other: Was dealing with some family and health issues freshman year of college, hence why my GPA is not great. I'm thinking about writing a supplementary letter about it? Also on quant experience, I took Intro to Statistics, Research Methods, Microeconomics, and International Economics in college.
Would love general thoughts on my school list given my GPA, as well as quant experience. Any takeaways or things I can do to set myself up for success would be great.