EconIsLife

Oof, no scholarship for me. That's a tough sell...

Just got the Fin Aid email, but now I can't access the MYFAID system

Wow I'm pleasantly surprised! Accepted to MPA/ID. The HBS rejection stings a bit more now...

Hey all I'm applying for joint/dual degrees w/ MBA and was pointed here from a more B-School focussed forum. Had no idea this forum existed but there's tons of great info! Y'all are super helpful and I'm hoping to get some opinions on my profile. Candidate: White Male, U.S. Citizen Applying to: HKS MPA-ID, SAIS MA, (maybe) Harris MPP. These all have joint/dual degree options with the B-Schools I'm applying to (HBS, GSB, Wharton, Sloan, Booth), and they all accept the GMAT lol. If I end up taking the GRE I'll also add WW. My goal is to end up at either the IFC or at a consulting firm focused on international development. Undergrad institution: Private religious Undergrad Major: Economics and Statistics double major; Math minor Undergrad GPA: 3.99 Years out of undergrad: 3.5 Quant/Econ Background: Calc I, II, and III; Linear Algebra; Differential Equations; Real Analysis; Intro and Advanced Econometrics; Intermediate Micro/Macro; Many other Econ and Stats classes. I also have extensive data analysis experience in STATA, R, and Python in my professional work. Relevant Work Experience: 4 years at enrollment - Research assistant for stats prof and internship w/ state policy think tank in undergrad -1.5 years econ consulting -1.5 years corp. strategy at "unicorn"-type tech company (Uber/Lyft/Airbnb/etc.) -(current) .5 year research analyst at international org. (WB/IMF/OECD/etc.) International experience: Spent a couple years in Sub-Saharan Africa GRE: Haven't taken the GRE yet, but took the GMAT and have a 730 (Q:49, V:40) which was lower than I was expecting, so I'm considering taking the GRE. Strength of LOR: Should be strong. Recommenders will be a principal at econ consulting firm (Harvard econ PhD), supervisor at tech company, and the last one will probably be an econ prof I worked for. Will it be a red flag that I'm not using a recommender from my current job? I've had two supervisors so far and don't feel like either knows me well enough (especially since we've been working remotely since I started). Strength of SOP: Should be pretty good. Will talk about my time in Africa sparking my interest in the region and tie into my desire to help facilitate digitalization and technology innovation in SSA. Thanks for your help!