Harpreet

got the good news today!

I'll jump in as well! Schools Applying To: NYU, SIPA, Georgetown PPI, GW - Trachtenberg, AU, HKS Undergraduate institution: St. John's New York (not a top tier) Undergraduate GPA: 3.6 Undergraduate Majors: Economics, Philosophy Study Abroad: Italy GRE: 155 Verbal (65th); 161 Quantitative (83rd), n/a Analytical Writing - Thinking of re-taking to increase the quant to at least 160 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5 Years of Relevant Work Experience: Teach For America, Peacecorps type program for Indians, Teach For All organization recently for two years Quant: Business stats, Econometrics, Microeconomics Strength of SOP: First generation college graduate Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Professor, Principal of school where I taught, and current supervisor -all great things!

I'm in the same boat: 161 quant and 155 verbal. Advice from others so far has been to re-take next month. I'm still unsure..

The new test still emphasizes vocab but it uses new test item types. I memorized the top 200 words but still encountered new words on the test. In fact, I had 3 minutes left on the clock and the only questions I had marked to review were the ones with vocabulary words I hadn't encountered before. So I just sat there and looked at them! Ended up scoring 155 but I know it could've been better had I known more words. I'd recommend you know the top 500 words and the root word list. Vocab is the key!

Prior to the test, I was looking at Columbia SIPA MPA, NYU, American, and Georgetown. I'd like the curriculum to have a significant quant focus. I have 3.6 GPA from undergrad in Economics/Philosophy and 5 years of strong, international work experience. The verbal score is extremely low and so I need to add/modify the list of schools. What do you guys think? What can I do about the low verbal score? re-test?

I'm preparing to apply to a few schools for International Education Policy for next year 2012. If anyone else has applied or is thinking of applying, let us work together! I'm starting with the list of best policy schools (US World News) and looking at individual websites to learn more about each program. I'm looking for a school that focuses on researching how policy can impact student achievement in developing countries. What's your take?