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I agree with fuzzylogician. You can email them and attach your essay in a .pdf and ask them to replace it. But I can see how you are freaking out! I would be too if it was in the first paragraph. However, a lot of times AdComms just glance at each paragraph for key words and they might just skip the typos in their haste (as one would hope). Tell us how it goes though.

I'm almost there. I need to do one more fellowship essay and I'll be good until I hear back at the end of February. Ah!!!

I've just finally finished my application for Columbia SIPA! Is this the situation for other gradcafers?

If the stars do not align this year, I will try next year. I will pump up my application with more public service leadership experiences through using my new position with a large non-profit here in Minneapolis. And does Yale Jackson fully fund a large portion of admitted students? I haven't heard or read anything about it yet.

I don't know how people are doing it, but I was unemployed for 1.5 months (scary) and so I had a lot of time to work on applications. But now that I'm (happily) employed 40 hours a week with a ~40 minute commute (I take public transit) each way, I am exhausted and don't want to do anything besides eat and watch Modern Family after work. I have so much respect for people who have to work full time and apply at the same time

@wildchartermage Your research project does sound interesting. It's something that I never even thought about, and I'm sure it will keep the committee reading until the very end of your proposal! I wish you luck in the upcoming months.

I think this published magazine on some Harvard Kennedy School's Fellows will shine some light on this topic for everyone.

@MaxwellAlum Beautifully rationalized. I think other than just purely the cost, the network and social benefits of going to a top tier university is also a significant factor for me. I went to a mid-sized college without a name outside of Minnesota, and I am ready to open up my networks so that I can help future students in my own state if they wanted to connect with leaders from different fields in different states. I know that when I was growing up, there weren't many mentors around besides academic ones who were also white and didn't look like me, so this is an issue that keeps me moving forward in my career and education. I am ready for a bigger challenge than just working at a non-profit (which I greatly enjoy), and it seems like an expensive big name graduate school education is the key, so I'm just reasoning out if it's worth the cost if I don't get substantial fellowships. Which, from the board, it is clear that it indeed is doable if I'm ready to make the sacrifices, but it won't be the best financial decision in the short/mid/long-run.

Wow. $75,000?! That's amazing! Congratulations! And yes, I concur that it is crazy because Columbia SIPA is amazingly international and is very comparable to HKS in many ways, but in this case, funding is most likely not as generous.

@awayfromhere Haha, I feel you on the "I really want to be a Foreign Service Officer. So, can I get in?" But I'm glad we can tell our stories and have a chance to make our case. I actually didn't take any economics courses either. Though I think a main part of it is to see if you can handle upper level math. So if you've done other quantitative coursework then it should tell them that you're capable of succeeding in graduate school. Also, an FSO has many other qualities besides Information Integration & Analysis. Just show them that you have a lot of the other qualities also. I see that you're a Fulbrighter to Austria? That's awesome! Did you just graduate?

@mrs12 I'm working on the essays now. I thought I was almost done with the extracurriculars and things on the rest of the application, but Patricia on one of the webinars said we should write EVERYTHING, so I'm going to fill it in a little bit more. But I want to send it in early too. I hope to send it in on December 15th. Should we read each others essays?

@shrimps I saw that you are applying to several programs from another post that you made, and that we both applied to HKS. I hope we both make it! I'm very excited at the prospect of being back in school and advancing my career with graduate school, and I'm praying to the good Lord that I get funding to doing so. I've been thinking about the whole process and how much potential I have in just two years, but then I also wonder if I'm too idealistic of what post-graduation looks like. Thankfully I didn't wrack up a lot of student debt in college (even though I took five years and got two bachelor degrees), but after reading the stories on studentdebtcrisis I am mortified of taking out loans to invest in a dream of a bright future (which some other people did also, but it ironically turned out dark and dim). Don't get me wrong though, I'm very optimistic when it comes to our future. It's just I'm a bit more realistic now about the issues.

I hope things work out. What program are you currently in, and what do you hope to do after graduation?

@StyLeD I'll have to take a look at those programs. I am currently in the application process for the Pickering and Rangel, so I hope that works out. Or else, it is just not financially smart to get an MPP degree. And do you have a Rangel or Pickering? It seems like you got a lot of funding for Columbia (congratulations!). I'd love to know what I can do to help get more funding for that program also. I'm applying for some smaller fellowships, but nothing too substantial.

From what I've heard on graduate school seminars and reading articles on it, it seems that graduate school admissions understand that we're human, and that we sometimes make mistakes. What's important for them to know is that you learned something from that experience and that you've grown from it. Appeal to their human side as I'm sure they've done things they regret at 19 years old. I mean, unless they're the immaculate Mary. But I'm pretty sure she won't be reviewing your application. And to be honest, your candor may give them a little tilt of the head or a little "hmm," but if the rest of your application is stellar it won't be this small mistake that will bar you from giving them $140,000+ in tuition money. Your money is as good as any other's!

I was doing some math (or as I refer to it in my personal statement, "quantitative analysis"), and I just realized something horrific. If we get into our choice of Public Policy programs at a private school, the grand total of direct and indirect costs for two years would amount to approximately $140,000. Now, if we are "fortunate" and get all of it in subsidized and unsubsidized loans, which have a current and respective 4.29% and 5.84% annual interest rates, with a standar payment plan, we would have to pay at least $1,100 a month for 15 years (180 months) to be able to pay it all off--with a total of $201,000 once we're finished! Now, I don't know what type of career you want to get into after an MPP/MIA/MPA/MPx degree--but is it worth it? Please, take caution my fellow GradCafenians. I am strongly reconsidering the way I approach graduate school after this intensive post-graduate quantitative analysis experience.

@RCtheSS I had somewhat of the same problem with my recommendation writers. One of my writers is a physician and another one is the head of a department at my university. And the other one is undertaking a super intensive masters program. I felt bad applying for even just three programs, so I cut it down to just two so I could spare them the extra time submitting so many recommendation letters around such a busy time of the year (holidays and finals). But I hope things go well for you. There's still almost two weeks left. Do you have a backup plan just in case somehow he is too busy to write one?

I've also just submitted my first MPP application to the Harvard Kennedy School. I'm feeling really good about my application, but we will have to wait to see results. In the meantime, I am applying to fellowships and Columbia SIPA too.

I hear you @haltheincandescent! I was applying for UC Berkeley and they wanted me to do too many things compared to other programs (write an extensive personal statement and history), and then the tipping point was when they wanted me to send in official GRE scores instead of self-reporting (an extra $27). I'm so over it, lol. But good luck to your Michigan application though. We're here to support you through those little things.

@mrs12 Thanks! I was debating between making my essay more personal or professional. I was leaning towards professional because my personal background is too dramatic and I don't know if they want that. It would be great to get a sense of what types of essays they want, but all I've been going off of have been successful essays for undergraduate institutions, and most of the high-school applicants are more like telling a story about one insightful moment instead of making a persuasive argument. Maybe the admissions' readers do want me to summon up some drama. Lol.

@justinhayes1982 The good: I like the intro because it gives you some personality. You're going for humor with the "pay the bills" line, which is great. I would consider what is the field that you're applying for, and how "serious" are they? If you wanted to connect the to cognitive science and research, go with another anecdote that shows how you were curious but that curiosity along wasn't going to pay the bills. Like, "I was curious on why my sister made it a goal to pull my hair and annoy at all times--but curiosity alone couldn't solve anything, muchless pay the bills. That led me to..." As for the rest of the essay, I like that you named specific experiences that you had with your professors, and that you are looking to publish and seeking ways to further your impact on the field. The can be changed: The essay is too disengaged from who you are as a person. An SoP should focus on what you want to do and how you're qualified, true, but it reads too robot-like. And some parts are not as well written like "I was drawn to Dr. _____’s research while writing a philosophy paper which I eventually won an award for"--which, in all honesty can be written in a more convincing and humble way. It's great that you've done your research and that they've impacted your education, but maybe writing it in a different way would be better. And the last sentence is trite and doesn't add to your SoP. Try stringing something from the beginning/middle of your essay into the last sentence, to give it one last punch to get them nodding their heads. Also, the second to last paragraph is too scrambled. Maybe try to pick fewer professors and to hone in on your interests. Overall I would give it: Clarity: 7/10 Structure: 6/10 Depth: 5/10 Hope you found this useful. We're all in this together!

I found this Decision Criteria file from the Foreign Service that explains the 13 Dimensions in detail. I'm currently applying my stories to fit into these dimensions to give it a more relevance and structure. It might be useful!

@Yanders Thanks for your answers. I'll have to keep that in mind to not just list and explain each quality. If you think of any specific tips later, we would really appreciate it also. :)