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Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): University of Minnesota Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. French Studies; 3.75 GPA; 3.9 degree GPA GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 680V/730Q/5.0AW Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year Arabic-English news translation; 2 years security and political consulting (all in the Middle East). Math/Econ Background: Micro, Political Econ, Stats...all very basic. Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Fluent French, Fluent Arabic, Intermediate Farsi Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Public Policy & the Middle East Long Term Professional Goals: Policymaking position in the US Government (DoD, DoS) or private sector work overseas. Schools Applied to & Results: Harvard Kennedy MPP (Accepted; $0), Yale Jackson MIA (Accepted; $25k/year); Tufts Fletcher MALD (Accepted; $12k/year); Cornell CIPA MPA (Accepted, $30k/year); Columbia SIPA MPA (Accepted, $0), Princeton WWS MPA (Rejected) Ultimate Decision & Why: The Kennedy School. I'm still not sure whether I want a professional or an academic program (much less career path) and think Harvard's name at the very minimum would make me competitive whatever direction I choose. While I received very generous offers from other schools, it's surprisingly easy to turn anyone down for Harvard. Even friends who are alumni of Fletcher and Yale conceded that, whether it's fair or not, the name carries disproportionate weight. Advice for Future Applicants: There is no reason not to crush the GRE. If you study words for a month straight and the "tricks" behind the math (both of which I wish I had done) you can really boost your chances. Other than that, it's crucially important to show (with your personal statement) that your life has direction. Find some way to connect all the dots and then have arrows pointing directly at [insert school here]. Also, do a bit of research into the professors and the course offerings, weaving that into the narrative. (i.e. ...Professor x's research interests in a, b, and c overlap with my own...). Beyond that, if you don't have an extensive quant background, take a community college or online course to shore that up (or at least say you're going to).

I'm sitting on a big 0 as well here. Thoughts on this dilemma: Cornell CIPA with $30,000/year Fletcher with $14,000/year Yale Jackson with $20,000/year Harvard with $00,000/year I was also wondering if it'd be worth trying to leverage the above offers with Kennedy. I expect they'll tell me to go to hell, but have any of you seen a successful extortion of HKS in the past?

In: Yale Jackson, Harvard Kennedy, Tufts Fletcher (MALD) Out: Princeton Wilson Waiting: Cornell CIPA, Columbia SIPA

Also in with 12k. Great news!

@Piquant Not sure. This is the first program I've heard back from. I hope they send it to my house in the States, because if they send it to Lebanon...well...it's not got much of a chance. If you're worried about the letter, I'd just say call them. That's what it said at the bottom of the acceptance. I've got to say- Yale intrigued me from the start, and I've always done better when working closely with an advisor, so that's definitely a draw. I think if I can tailor the program to what I want to do both academically and professionally, it may be one of the best of the bunch just due to that aspect of mentorship. I'm not sure if a comparable experience is possible at a behemoth like SIPA. Another advantage is that getting an IR MA at Yale fast-tracks you for a PoliSci PhD at Yale (one of the best out there). So that's always in your back pocket... Question: I know the incoming classes are 30-35, but how many do you think they actually accept? Twice as many? They're drawing from the WWS/HKS pool, after all.

In at Yale Jackson. Funding letters sent out in 10 days or so.

@sietval Keep in mind that Yale is a much much different program. They only accept like 35 students per year. It's almost more of a PhD like program. To answer your question, I'm sure people get into all those programs and get rejected by Yale.

I'm in at Jackson as well. In my case, I'm guessing it helped that my research/work interests and previous employment (violence in post-conflict Arab states) match up pretty exactly with the Program on Order, Conflict, and Violence. My stats: 3.7/3.9/4.0; 680v 730q; Fluent French, Fluent Arabic, Persian; Three years abroad in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt; Two years work experience for an Iraq-based consultancy. Good luck, kids!

FYI Kids: SIPA's admissions blog just posted that they're 39% done reviewing applications and that decisions should start rolling out on March 14.

All right guys, thoughts on this: -3.8 GPA in French Studies, Magna Cum Laude, with distinction (2009), full academic scholarship to a top-20 public school -680V/730Q/5AW -Fluent French, fluent Arabic, passable Persian -Study abroad in Beirut, Cairo, Damascus -Been living and working in the Middle East since graduating in 2009 -Current job is full-time consulting for a Dubai-based firm working with energy and security companies in Iraq -Past jobs included volunteering at an orphanage in Lebanon, grant writing for an int'l NGO, media translation, and legal translation (Arabic and French to English) -Solid SOP -Solid LORs, especially from my current employer -Utter lack of quant background, but enrolling in stats and econ classes in the Spring Applying (or thinking of applying) to HKS (MPP), WWS, Fletcher, SIPA (MIA), and UChicago. Any ideas? Things to accentuate? Things to omit? My chances?