irisave

Hi all, Please forgive me if this is not the proper subforum to post this thread... I am currently a graduate student at American University in Washington, DC. I will get my MPP in May of 2014, with roughly a 3.85 / 4.00 GPA. My undergraduate degree is a BA, double in Economics and Political Science, from San Diego State University with a horrible GPA (~2.70). I have very strong GRE scores (90th+ percentile in V and Q), and no published papers as of now. My question is this: Should I wait until next year with a degree in hand before applying to PhD programs, or should I apply this year? My issue being... I have accepted that my undergraduate grades are baggage, but have done very well in graduate school and like I said, I have very good GRE scores. I am trying to distance myself as much as possible from the BA. Obviously, my degree will not be complete if I apply in the coming months... Complicating the issue, I may have a research paper published in our school's peer-reviewed journal (nothing fancy or impressive, but good for the resume), but will not know for sure until after applications are due. All else being equal (research fit, work experience, etc), will a year off after the MPP help my chances? Or is it a positive to apply while still in school? Thank you in advance for any help, the forum is awesomely helpful. I feel like I am leaving out some helpful/relevant info, so please let me know if I can clarify my situation.

Hey everyone, Im looking to join an MA program, hopefully in Fall 2012. I have an undergrad BA from a state school (a fairly decent one, though) with a double in Econ specializing in Quantitive Analysis and Political Science, but only a 2.7ish GPA. Graduated in May 2010. There isnt really a trend in the grades either, all over the map with major GPA's around 3.0. My GRE scores from the one time i took it are 760Q and 600V. I got an email reply from an adcomm, and after reviewing some of the post here, it seems that my best course of action is to take some upper-level classes through open enrollment prior to appyling. So here is my question to you - What would be the best three courses to take before applying in Jan? I AP tested out of Calc I in high school, so I have credit for that. I signed up for Calc II my second semester of undergrad, but forgot I did, never went, forgot to drop it before the deadline, and have a nice, colorful F on my transcript (my first one!!) I also have intro to econometrics, grad-level class mathematical economics (which covered some linear and some multivariable calc), and the first stats class. I have one summer class, and two classes in the fall that i can finish before application time. Would I be best served to take all math? Or what i'm leaning towards now - two math and the first grad-level microecon course? And the bigger question I guess, would I be best served in the eyes of adcomms to take calc II and calc III, or intro to linear and linear? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I want to get into a decent (gpa, i know) school and have NO idea what would look best. Thanks!