SubjectNotebook

Thanks Zourah! That's the best feedback I've heard! Like you say, I'm still not sure that I want that upper-level econ, and so I guess having some flexibility would make for a good course. SubjectNotebook

Zourah, Thanks for the feedback! I'm interested in the MPA/ID, but I also am worried I may not enjoy it as much if it is intense quant. Sigh... confusion. I may end up applying for the MPP. I do have introductory courses in macro and micro, so I guess that's not bad. (How much of those courses I remember is an altogether different issue... :-)) If I may ask - how solid was the GRE score? And I've taken the GMAT and have a 90+ percentile on the quant - so I'm wondering if I should kill myself on the GRE at all.

Thanks Rachaelski! I'm particularly worried about whether I'll be suitable for the intense programs at these policy programs, particularly Kenneydy's MPA/ID. Any thoughts on how to strengthen my case, as I'm interested in the programs, but worried about the quant side! Cheers!

I'm thinking of applying to MPP/MPA/MIA programs this year for Fall 2011 entry. How many folks there with similar plans? I'm interested in HKS, SIPA, SAIS and the Woodrow Wilson School in the US and LSE and Oxford in the UK I haven't given my GRE yet - it's in a week! However, I have decent GMAT scores (750) A few questions: 1) Quant: I don't have a quant background, though I have decent Math scores in Calculus, Algebra and trigonometry . Since I'm interested in the MPA/ID program at HKS, which requires fairly advanced quant skills, I'm wondering if there is any way to strengthen my application on this count. Courses? Recommendations? Or should I rely on my GMAT (and hopefully a decent Quant score in GRE) for this? 2) LORs: I will get decent LORs from my professional recommenders. However, the academic recommendation is somewhat doubtful. I have reached out to a professor about a recommendation, who will definitely write a positive recommendation - but he hasn't seen my work for about 4 years. Is that an issue? More generally, how do I think about LORs for these programs? 3) SOPs: This is the trickiest part! I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that can share sample SoPs or thoughts on how to think about this. I'm particularly concerned about how to talk about my professional experiences. I wrote SoPs out of college, but that was ages ago and focused exclusively on college coursework and volunteering. Now I'm wondering how to synthesize 4 years of work ex into a 1000 word (in SIPA's case 400!) word essays. 4) The Policy memo: How do I start thinking about this? Would love feedback on all these questions! SubjectNotebook

Hi, I'm hoping to apply to policy school for 2011 fall. Deadlines for most schools are between Dec - Feb. Would like to know: 1) How soon should I start 2) what is the best way to go about it - write the 1500 word SoPs and whittle down or the other way around? 3) Any other ideas? Thanks all! SubjectNotebook