MYRNIST

1) US News and World Report rankings for MPA schools are, in a word, awful. Don't pay too much attention to a source that claims Syracuse is better than Princeton, Harvard, etc.

As long as it's a reputable program I wouldn't worry about accreditation.

2) Prestige does matter in terms of getting a job, but it depends a lot on the field you're in. People with consulting experience have said it is a massive factor in even getting an interview. For the federal government, not so much. That said, I think you're putting the cart before the horse in how you're thinking about this issue.

Do rankings, in and of themselves, matter for finding employment? Yes, but not that much.

Do an institution's alumni network, brand name, career services, renowned/well-connected professors, and overall depth and breadth of education matter for finding employment? Hugely. And top-ranked schools are top-ranked because they objectively perform better on those metrics than lower-ranked schools.

woot woot! In at SAIS! Nice email to wake up to!

Aaaand back to normality. Off to work on a rickshaw.

Both of you are wrong, it's a British school so clearly they send wizarding owls.

Both of you are wrong, it's a British school so clearly they send wizarding owls.

All of my decisions are in, so I'll finally post this. Reading these helped a lot when I applied so I will provide as much as I can in hopes that this can help others:

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR, MPA
Schools Applied To: GWU-Elliot, American- SIS, Tufts-Fletcher, Princeton- WWS, Georgetown- Government, Johns Hopkins- SAIS
Schools Admitted To: All except Princeton
Schools Rejected From: WWS
Still Waiting:

Undergraduate institution: Top 10 LAC
Undergraduate GPA: 3.38 (~3.7 major)
Undergraduate Major: Political Science, South Asian Studies
Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: 3.6

GRE Quantitative Score: 690 (94%)
GRE Verbal Score: 640 (56%)
GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 when applied
Years of Work Experience: 3.5 (as in, real work experience, not counting summer internships in college)
Describe Relevant Work Experience: .5 years in Southeast Asia doing microfinance, 2 years with progressive experience at international human rights/democracy NGO, 1 year freelance/consulting in South Asia for human rights/democracy NGOs, contributor to major international democracy review.

Languages: English (native), Spanish (intermediate)

Quant:Intro to Econ (oped to pass/fail it-- passed it), realized that was a mistake if I wanted to go to grad school, took International Political Economics, Statistics/Methods of Political Science my junior year (B+s in both), took Micro and Macro after graduation at night school (As in both)

Strength of SOP: I know some feel they inflate the quality of their SOP, and if they think that about my self- analysis then so be it.But it was really, really strong and it's what made me stand out amid my fine-but-not-outstanding GRE and GPA.

I wrote about my passion for democracy work, included an overall vision I have for the field and my role in it. My SOP tied my application together-- where I have been in the democracy field and where I want to go... and more importantly, how I wanted to positively improve my field and why I needed X Grad School to do that.

I wrote a separate SOP for each school, and I wrote very specifically about that school's comparative advantage and why me + that school = a public servant with leadership and contribution to my field. I wrote what I would do with my degree from X Grad School- why investing in me was good for them. I started writing in October and revised each (as in, fully revised drafts, not just edits) upwards of 9 times. My fiance, an MPP grad, reviewed all multiple times and provided harsh (and helpful) feedback. Other friends edited as well.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 1 professor from undergrad who advised my thesis on democracy, 2 supervisors from work- one who could speak to my analytic abilities and one who could speak to my programmatic/management/democracy expertise. The latter was outstanding (in part because the referrer is an outstanding LOR writer), the other two would have been strong.

Other: My application told a very clear story: commitment to the field of democracy/governance/human rights. I have been passionate about this topic since I was a junior in undergrad and made this clear. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, not just career-wise, but the impact I wanted to make on my field, the specific ways I wanted to contribute to it and improve it.

I spent a LOT of time on my supplemental essays for SAIS, WWS, and Fletcher. Took a lot of time revising my undergrad paper for my 20-page writing sample from Georgetown. It's my one chance to show them I am actually a strong writer (damn the GREs) so I did it. Took several months to work on all of them.

My GPA was "fine" and my GREs were "fine." It was my work experience and my SOPs which made me stand out. I have always firmly believed these are the most important parts of the application- to prove you have thrived in your field and that grad school would enable you to continue that impact.

Just waiting on Georgetown SFS now. Get on with it already, ad-com!

In at SAIS and WWS. Really hoping everything I've heard about Princeton financial aid is true... Turning this down would suck.

@MYRNIST--when I was talking to a current student at ESIA about funding, she said that it really varied by department within the school because each department has its own pool of dedicated funds (presumably from grants/foundations/alumni) so if you're applying to a different track than the people who have gotten notifications, that might be why you haven't heard yet.

@disintegrate @wantgrad--I definitely agree with needing to look at the total cost package. For example, if I get into SIPA with no funding it's a hard choice, because $150k in debt for total cost of attendance for two years (can't forget to include housing/living costs in that calculation!) is a lot of money. You have to look at projected earnings, estimated monthly loan payment (including undergrad debt), etc to see if the math adds up. Pretty sure that at the very least, the Direct Loan site has a student debt calculator so you can see what your monthly payment will be like.

One thing to remember is that your federal loan debt can be forgiven after 10 years in NGO/gov't work so if you're planning to go into the Foreign Service etc, and are willing to bet that the PSLF program will be around in a decade, you can write off half your loan payments when calculating affordability (and enroll in the Income-Based Repayment plan to make sure you don't starve). However, I need to double-check and make sure that Grad PLUS counts for PSLF eligibility.

If you haven't heard from SAIS yet, you definitely didn't get in. They're admitting a class of 1 this year, hadn't you heard?

trollface.jpg

You would do well to drop the "insider", "those of us in the know" routine. You clearly work in academia, and perhaps in the ivory tower, USNWR rankings actually correspond with general reputation. But among DC professionals (at least in my experience), equating Kansas or Indiana or whatever with WWS, HKS, etc. will get you laughed at. A school's reputation in the academic tribe =/= reputation in the working world.

The fact that you included "faculty that are publishing in the major journals" as a major criterion of school quality is telling. I personally don't give 2 hoots whether, say, Madeleine Albright or Paul Pillar get published in the major academic journals, since their professional accomplishments speak for themselves.

That viewpoint isn't inherently any better or worse than yours, but I am quite sure it is one more commonly held on this forum, and among people who actually practice public policy. And by that perspective USNWR rankings are laughable - find me multiple Cabinet members, World Bank execs, think tank heads, etc. who went to Kansas or Indiana, and then I'll start believing they are ranked correctly.

You would do well to drop the "insider", "those of us in the know" routine. You clearly work in academia, and perhaps in the ivory tower, USNWR rankings actually correspond with general reputation. But among DC professionals (at least in my experience), equating Kansas or Indiana or whatever with WWS, HKS, etc. will get you laughed at. A school's reputation in the academic tribe =/= reputation in the working world.

The fact that you included "faculty that are publishing in the major journals" as a major criterion of school quality is telling. I personally don't give 2 hoots whether, say, Madeleine Albright or Paul Pillar get published in the major academic journals, since their professional accomplishments speak for themselves.

That viewpoint isn't inherently any better or worse than yours, but I am quite sure it is one more commonly held on this forum, and among people who actually practice public policy. And by that perspective USNWR rankings are laughable - find me multiple Cabinet members, World Bank execs, think tank heads, etc. who went to Kansas or Indiana, and then I'll start believing they are ranked correctly.

You would do well to drop the "insider", "those of us in the know" routine. You clearly work in academia, and perhaps in the ivory tower, USNWR rankings actually correspond with general reputation. But among DC professionals (at least in my experience), equating Kansas or Indiana or whatever with WWS, HKS, etc. will get you laughed at. A school's reputation in the academic tribe =/= reputation in the working world.

The fact that you included "faculty that are publishing in the major journals" as a major criterion of school quality is telling. I personally don't give 2 hoots whether, say, Madeleine Albright or Paul Pillar get published in the major academic journals, since their professional accomplishments speak for themselves.

That viewpoint isn't inherently any better or worse than yours, but I am quite sure it is one more commonly held on this forum, and among people who actually practice public policy. And by that perspective USNWR rankings are laughable - find me multiple Cabinet members, World Bank execs, think tank heads, etc. who went to Kansas or Indiana, and then I'll start believing they are ranked correctly.

You would do well to drop the "insider", "those of us in the know" routine. You clearly work in academia, and perhaps in the ivory tower, USNWR rankings actually correspond with general reputation. But among DC professionals (at least in my experience), equating Kansas or Indiana or whatever with WWS, HKS, etc. will get you laughed at. A school's reputation in the academic tribe =/= reputation in the working world.

The fact that you included "faculty that are publishing in the major journals" as a major criterion of school quality is telling. I personally don't give 2 hoots whether, say, Madeleine Albright or Paul Pillar get published in the major academic journals, since their professional accomplishments speak for themselves.

That viewpoint isn't inherently any better or worse than yours, but I am quite sure it is one more commonly held on this forum, and among people who actually practice public policy. And by that perspective USNWR rankings are laughable - find me multiple Cabinet members, World Bank execs, think tank heads, etc. who went to Kansas or Indiana, and then I'll start believing they are ranked correctly.

Hey Stefania!

Doing poorly on the GRE is never good, but as you correctly identified, the damage can be mitigated by composing a really awesome statement of purpose, writing sample, etc. I recommending having a professor who is a native speaker of English (more accurately, is a native speaker of IvoryTower-ese) look over all your stuff, because going solely off your post I can see why you got a 2.5 on the AWA. Forgive me if that is harsh, since you clearly do speak English at a quite good level (and far better than I can speak Italian), but there are a number of grammatical errors and awkward constructions. If these mistakes were also present on the GRE, then the 2.5 was honestly earned. Luckily, for writing samples and SOPs you have the advantage of time for revision. Getting some quality editing from an educated native speaker, if you haven't already, will hopefully smooth out the linguistic bumps and let your actual ideas shine through.

PS - the GRE AWA is not graded solely by a computer. There are always at least two human graders as well.
Source: http://www.ets.org/g...ral/scores/how/

You would do well to drop the "insider", "those of us in the know" routine. You clearly work in academia, and perhaps in the ivory tower, USNWR rankings actually correspond with general reputation. But among DC professionals (at least in my experience), equating Kansas or Indiana or whatever with WWS, HKS, etc. will get you laughed at. A school's reputation in the academic tribe =/= reputation in the working world.

The fact that you included "faculty that are publishing in the major journals" as a major criterion of school quality is telling. I personally don't give 2 hoots whether, say, Madeleine Albright or Paul Pillar get published in the major academic journals, since their professional accomplishments speak for themselves.

That viewpoint isn't inherently any better or worse than yours, but I am quite sure it is one more commonly held on this forum, and among people who actually practice public policy. And by that perspective USNWR rankings are laughable - find me multiple Cabinet members, World Bank execs, think tank heads, etc. who went to Kansas or Indiana, and then I'll start believing they are ranked correctly.

^ LULZ don't be silly undegrad. Everyone knows that the Stene program at Kansas is one of the oldest and most respected MPA programs in the country. They have a heavy focus on city managment, but have several first-rate scholars that you would do well to read. See H. George Frederickson, Steven Maynard-Moody et al.

I suspect that those of you who will trash these new rankings are a little upset that the program(s) that you are considering are not as highly ranked as you would like.

Like it or not, the US News public affairs rankings are reputation based.Those of us who are active researchers in this field know what programs are good and what they are good at. We know who attracts the best students, produces the best students, and has faculty that are publishing in the major journals.

Dear God, thank you. I don't know how the perception got created that good SOPs involve some "touching" story from your childhood, using the word "passion" about 50 times a paragraph, and acting like a MPA/MPP degree is an emotional fulfillment quest rather than pragmatic professional training. I'm not arguing against fleshing it out with personal touches, but fundamentally you're saying I have skills/experience X, want career Y, and think [institution] has Z classes/professors/programs to make it happen.

Not to mention the importance of "show, don't tell" - you want to tell the adcoms in flowery language how passionate and invested you are about your field, or point to specific real-world accomplishments that speak for themselves about your commitment?

I think Yale is great for people who want to go into academia, and pretty much not ideal if you want to do anything else. If you want practitioner skills, Gtown, SAIS or Fletcher would all be far better options. I only applied to show interest in a joint degree there, and the minute I found out I wasn't getting the $100 fee waiver I almost regretted hitting submit (but by that time had already finished the whole app, so it seemed petty...)

If you haven't heard from SAIS yet, you definitely didn't get in. They're admitting a class of 1 this year, hadn't you heard?

trollface.jpg

Wait, so you guys are telling me my "One score and 8 years ago, my parents brought forth into this a world a child destined to work passionately in the service of the United States government in an unglamorous but steadily progressing career. In my early fetal development my infinite passion for...." might be over the top?!?!

Dear God, thank you. I don't know how the perception got created that good SOPs involve some "touching" story from your childhood, using the word "passion" about 50 times a paragraph, and acting like a MPA/MPP degree is an emotional fulfillment quest rather than pragmatic professional training. I'm not arguing against fleshing it out with personal touches, but fundamentally you're saying I have skills/experience X, want career Y, and think [institution] has Z classes/professors/programs to make it happen.

Not to mention the importance of "show, don't tell" - you want to tell the adcoms in flowery language how passionate and invested you are about your field, or point to specific real-world accomplishments that speak for themselves about your commitment?

Dear God, thank you. I don't know how the perception got created that good SOPs involve some "touching" story from your childhood, using the word "passion" about 50 times a paragraph, and acting like a MPA/MPP degree is an emotional fulfillment quest rather than pragmatic professional training. I'm not arguing against fleshing it out with personal touches, but fundamentally you're saying I have skills/experience X, want career Y, and think [institution] has Z classes/professors/programs to make it happen.

Not to mention the importance of "show, don't tell" - you want to tell the adcoms in flowery language how passionate and invested you are about your field, or point to specific real-world accomplishments that speak for themselves about your commitment?

Dear God, thank you. I don't know how the perception got created that good SOPs involve some "touching" story from your childhood, using the word "passion" about 50 times a paragraph, and acting like a MPA/MPP degree is an emotional fulfillment quest rather than pragmatic professional training. I'm not arguing against fleshing it out with personal touches, but fundamentally you're saying I have skills/experience X, want career Y, and think [institution] has Z classes/professors/programs to make it happen.

Not to mention the importance of "show, don't tell" - you want to tell the adcoms in flowery language how passionate and invested you are about your field, or point to specific real-world accomplishments that speak for themselves about your commitment?