ched

Talk a lot less about your personal viewpoints on current public policies. The purpose of grad school is to explore these questions and addressing all of your thoughts and opinions is not the purpose of a personal statement. They want to know that you will finish this program and do a great job in the field. I would ask, how have the qualities of refereeing football apply to public policies, that is leadership, taking initiative, etc? How have YOU demonstrated these qualities and what have you learned from them? What is it about public policy that ignites you? Its clear you enjoy talking about it, but why. What is your motivation behind this degree. Continue to question your motivations for both what you have done in the recent past that has led you up to public policy and why it is that you want to study policy. Discussing a little bit of policy analysis is good, at least to show that you understand what policy analysis means and that you understand it, but talk more about yourself and your aspirations/goals/motivations.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Huge public school from the UC's Previous Degrees and GPA's: Cell Biology, B.S.- GPA: 2.79 Relevant Coursework: Not sure.. GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V: 530/Q: 650/AW:4.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Lots of volunteer-type community work, but also a good amount of leadership in these orgs. Also, Microfinancing/business training internship and been working at a small private academic publisher Math/Econ Background: My math is pretty strong - Did really well in calculus. Not so well in econ, but I took it my first couple years of undergrad and was totally unfocused. I should have really taken them again before applying.. Foreign Language Background: Fluent in Spanish Intended Field of Study in Grad School: MPP with a focus in economic development, possibly social entreprenuership. Long Term Professional Goals: No idea... ? Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted: UMN (accepted), JHU, NYU (accepted), U of Wash(accepted), Ford (waitlisted), Syracuse (denied), Columbia (denied), GWU (denied). Ultimate Decision & Why: Johns Hopkins. I was pretty set on going to the East Coast and its unfortunate how big a factor funding was. I really wanted to go to NYU, but it was not feasible financially. Also, I was actually unimpressed with their program. I felt like I was going to be an undergrad all over again in 100+ classes. Even my electives would have been relatively large classes. The faculty were really amazing, but I could sense that their administrative staff were very outstretched (they would either take forever to answer my emails, or not answer them at all). I felt unwanted there. When I visited Johns Hopkins, I was given a really great tour of the city and the policy issues its been facing over the years. While I'm not super enthused about its timing, one of the very first classes you take is doing a project related to the City of Baltimore in trying to identify ways to make the city better--would be nice if we had more training before going into this class, but it still seems great. I really like that the programs seems invested in the city. I felt needed at Baltimore, and I felt like the education I would get was going to be more useful than in NYU. I'd be able to have a better connection with faculty. Any advice to Future Applicants? I came from a biology background and I was sincerely worried that I was not going to get in anywhere. I was very surprised. I think that as long as you understand the field and know what you want to accomplish after graduating, you have a pretty good shot. Just make sure you have decent grades in econ and math (and if you dont retake those classes!) and that you have the experiences they are looking for and tie it all together in your personal statement. Show that you are committed to the field and back that up with the experiences and emotions you have felt over the years about the problems you want to address, and what you have learned about yourself about these experiences.

Drats. Rejected. I could tell these people were very numbers-oriented based on their application length. It was wayyy too short.

Is anyone else still waiting to hear back about an admissions decision??

Thanks so much sterlingcooperdraperprice. I'm going to visit next monday on the 4th.. We'll see...

I think they are saying that if I was not offered funding and have 120K on hand, its not worth it. I'm still going to check out the orientation and ask around. Maybe some students have been able to make it happen.

Hey CC139: Its about 60K per year for cost of attendance, 120K total for a two year program, only im not getting a JD or MD! This is all according to their estimations. Sigh.. we'll see when I visit. I think Im leaning towards JHU if GWU doesn't work out.

Yes, this would be super helpful for me as well, as I have not received any funding and cost of attendance is 60K.. is it worth it? Thanks!

Program Applied To: MPP and MPA Schools Applied To: Syracuse (MPA), Columbia (MPA), NYU Wagner, University of Washington Evans, Ford Michigan, U Minnesota Humphrey MPP, Johns Hopkins IPS, GWU MPA Schools Admitted To: NYU Wagner, Johns Hopkins ($), U of Minnesota, Ford (Waitlisted) Schools Rejected From: Syracuse, Columbia Still waiting: GWU, Evans Undergraduate institution: University of California Undergraduate GPA: 2.79 (yep) Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA: 2.76ish (yep, lower than overall) Undergraduate Major: Cell Biology GRE Quantitative Score: 650 GRE Verbal Score: 530 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 Years of Work Experience: 4 plus lots of undergrad volunteer/internship work Describe Relevant Work Experience: Mostly volunteer/internship work both in and out of school. Tutoring, community clinics, health fairs, student organization/conference organizing, and a business training internship for low-income women. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): My SOP had to be extremely strong due my grades. My GPA was all over the place with no upward trend. I was able to tie in some very personal stories about what happened during undergrad (and my life in general) and tied it beautifully with what my career goals are--basically non-profit management with a focus on international development and healthcare. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): A good mix, I think. I got one letter from a professor from undergrad, chicano studies. I told him my story and pretty much told him what to write in the letter. Second letter was from an internship. They were really great and were super positive people. I have a feeling their letter was phenomenal. Third was from a clinic I worked at. Also very strong. For those of you worried about low GPA's, there is definitely hope! Just make sure you explain your grades and let the rest of your application shine like crazy! Also, I would recommend taking a stats and Microecon classes to boost your GPA if possible and even at a JC, if you can't afford it at a 4-year school. Syracuse pretty much told me that my application was great and that if I reapply next year, all I need to do was take a microecon class and get an A. I just don't want to wait another year tho....

Still waiting for even an acceptance I emailed them and they told me the faculty is out on spring break (picturing professors partying in cancun) and that they will hopefully have a decision when they come back, which I think is next week. I bet they are going to figure out funding situations for the rest of you after they finish going through all the applications...

Uy.. No funding. Although I've realized the part-time option may not be a bad idea. Might be able to ease off the overall cost. How do these financial aid packages work. Would there be a possibility for grants???

Till Midnight? Their process is so strange.. all cross-able appendages are currently crossed...

Waitlisted. Drats. I dont think its worth to wait till the end of April. I doubt there is any hope for funding as well... Congrats to those who got in, and best of luck for those who didn't. Hopefully you get other choices.

Just realized JHU with the tuition scholarship will cost about the same as total cost of attendance at UMN. So its really going to boil down which school is better for me and my interests... sigh. I thought all the hard work was done for me =/

Thanks SCDP! (great name btw.. ) I think my decision has just been made for me. Minnesota didn't give me any money Really wish I could go to meet potential future classmates. I'm technically still waiting to hear back from 4 more schools but its not looking good. Most people have heard back (except Evans) and usually those who are funded hear back sooner than the unfunded. May not necessarily be the case, so I'm going to wait it out...