wasistdas

seriously, whenever I feel like I actually have a chance at the top tier schools, I read through those bios and realize I probably do have as good of a chance with a quick pick or scratchers.

I am guess that is an acceptance then, since there was no sad face? Congrats!

from my experience, trimming your 1000 word essay down to 500 is not only possible, but will probably make you wish you submitted your 500 word essay instead of the 1000 word one. For example, one of the programs I am applying to asked for 1200 words and another for 500. After trimming the 1200 word essay down, i realized I was saying exactly the same thing as the longer essay, just more clearly and concisely. Too bad I had submitted the 1200 word essay before this little exercise

I contacted numerous schools asking to be put in touch with local alumni. I am in Istanbul, so that proved to be a problem, but a couple of schools were very gracious and alumni in the region. I was able to have a coffee with a couple, and ran in to another at a conference. All were great people and very encouraging, and showed me just how diversely qualified the students that are admitted are (gpa's, gre's, work history, etc). Unfortunately, this also just continued to strengthen my belief that after a point, a lot of this process is simple blind luck.

i don't know about the analytical writing section, but I think your quantitative score is what you have to worry about.....

this thread is making me nervous and i didn't even apply for early notification. best of luck to all of you, and major props for being so organized to get your applications in early. I hope everyone gets an early christmas present!

whether I like it or not, I will be submitting different SOP's for each school. One asks for 1200 words, one asks for 500, one asks for 800, not a single school is the same. Writing the longer sop's is much easier in my opinion.

because the school is so regionally focused, I don't think that internships will be a problem at all. in fact, the feeling I get from the graduates I know is a general... ummm... disdain for DC-centric businesses and organizations. Also, their language requirements are really strict, so make sure to brush up on your japanese/cantonese/whatever.

it is an extremely well-known program, albeit a very specificly program to the "niche" level. I've known a few grads, and all of them make absurd amounts of money. Very competitive, so I would think twice about it being a safety school.

during a recent fletcher online chat session, the admissions folks from the school recommended one from a past professor, one from a professional source and third from what you think will be the strongest recommendation.

I wouldn't be be worried about your degree, as long as you maintain excellent grades and work closely with a few professors that will be strong recommenders down the road. More importantly, I would focus on solid, long-term internships that will set you apart from the crowd. You should look for professional growth opportunity at any internship, especially the potential for escalating levels of responsibilities. A lot of undergrads have 1-3 month internships at a time, but in my work experience after undergrad, they were pretty much coffee fetchers and data entry drones. From personal experience, I got a degree in History, worked in sales/marketing for an online start up for 4 years, moved abroad for a couple of years and am now applying for masters programs in IR. Having a compelling personal story to relate in your statement of purpose as well as strong recommendations are, in my opinion, where the meat of your application will be. other than that, the fact that you are already planning and thinking about this means you are so far ahead of the game you can graduate with an extremely impressive resume/cv.

I completely understand your thinking, and I don't think that it is faulty at all. However, you might actually make employment harder for yourself in the long run for a few reasons. First, it will be hard to get into a top tier school with little to no experience, but will be most likely paying tuition just the same. After you graduate, if you take on loans, you now have to take those loan payments into consideration when applying for jobs. The best thing I ever did was take on a sales role in an advertising start up. Hard, frustrating work, but I got experience from the ground up. Went from employee number 20 to a 200+ person organization that was sold to a multinational media corporation. Even better, especially for a SOP for a MBA program, might also be to experience a start-up that failed. Unless you want to focus on finance, a lot of MBA programs are looking for future entrepreneurs. Finally, I would recommend looking overseas for work/volunteer experience. A lot of places will pay your room/board and you will get an experience like no other. Which candidate is a school going to pick, a person with 2 years of standard boring experience, or someone that helped run an orphanage/school/ngo in some far-flung corner of the globe?

not to be a debbie downer, but i would HIGHLY recommend you get some work experience before even considering any "practical" graduate degree, especially a MBA. What value would you bring to an organization with no experience and high salary expectations due to your degree?

such a hard question. It is on the Texas A&M app via applytexas.com. To be honest, the funding is playing a huge role in which school I select as I am not going with any safety schools, only schools that are exact fits for what I want to do. That being said, attending georgetown with minimal scholarship is still more expensive than TAMU with none. Because of this, I am answering the questions different by school. Georgetown, GW, Tufts... no way I am going there without financial aid.

I have been very lucky with experience overseas and have been working at a couple of places that directly relate to my planned field of study. Here is my problem: I think a letter of rec from the director of either of these programs would be great for my application, but basically I am the only native english speaker at either place. While their english is obviously good enough to make themselves understood and keep the office running, I am worried that the level of writing in the letter or rec might not reflect the quality of the work and the organization. Has anyone run into this problem before? Is it ethical to edit strictly the grammar/spelling of the letter before it is sent? I doubt that the committee would be too happy receiving a letter in turkish, french or italian. Would it look bad to have this work experience on my resume, but not have one of my LOR's from them? Any help is greatly appreciated.

that is brutal, especially with a legit medical reason. the were very strict about what went in to the actual room with the computers (I had to take my watch off and spit my gum out), but didn't really care about what went into the lockers. I kept a coke, a water and a granola bar for the short break. I would definitely recommend using the break, just to clear your head if nothing else. I really doubt they will care about you having medical supplies/equipment, especially since it is a fairly common condition.

If i was on the admissions team, the actual roles and responsibilities that a candidate took on matters a lot more than the title of the job or employer. Leading a team, spearheading a project and generally taking initiative would seem to mean a lot more than filling a coffee cup at a fancy pants job. which job will give you the opportunity to take on a leadership role or make a significant change? If the answer is equal, then the answer is still just as tough. Is more experience in your planned field of study a good thing? of course, but breadth of knowledge and experience is perhaps just as important. sorry for being absolutely no help.

The funding seems to be different by school. For some, it seems to be a holistic look at the student, for others it seems to be a simple math equation of GRExGPA=$. Obviously the more competitive schools are more selective with their money. For the mid-west/west schools that I have heard of giving good funding are: Cal, UCLA, Michigan, Wisconsin, the Texas Schools, University of Denver. I would say that your experience is very unique and would give you an excellent chance of receiving some aide. However, from reading this board, not all decisions that are made by schools seem to be logical. Some of the amazing stats that people post about themselves and still don't get into various schools make this whole process a bit nerve-wracking.

for funding, I would look for schools outside of the DC/Boston/NY metro area. For whatever reason, schools in the midwest and west coast seem to come through with much stronger financial aid packages. Unfortunately, those three metro areas are where many of the top schools are located. Where were you in Egypt during the revolution? I was on a flight to Luxor the day after everything started and got stuck down there for a week until flight started back up (plus none of the ATM's were working, so ful and kushari for every meal).

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): changes depending on program, focused on security studies Schools Applied To: Georgetown, Tufts, George Washington, American, UT-Austin, Texas A&M Schools Admitted To: Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: Undergraduate institution: St. Mary's College-CA Undergraduate GPA: 3.7 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Undergraduate Major: History GRE Quantitative Score: 780 GRE Verbal Score: 650 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): almost 6 Years of Work Experience: 6 Describe Relevant Work Experience: worked for four years at an internet start up in San Francisco. Got tired of the work, decided to move to Istanbul for the adventure. Have been here two years teaching, working for an NGO (project manager) and volunteering at a camp for Iraqi refugees. Languages: English (native), Spanish (intermediate), Turkish (beginnger) Quant: Macroecon, stats, calc Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): a lot of experience abroad Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): as long as I can use at least one of my professional references I expect very strong recs. being that I am so far removed from college, it is a bit gamble that the profs will write really stellar recs. Other: any feedback would be appreciated.