FrightenedProspectiveMPP

Hi Lulu, sorry I'm just now seeing your post. I see you just too the GRE! How was it? Answers to your questions: I've done research part time for about a year and a half. I speak Urdu. I'm working on French through Rosetta Stone, which is an awesome program. Hoping to have that up to a semi-conversational level by the summer. My quant grades are all over the place, as are all of my grades. Between econ, stats, and other quantitatively oriented classes, it looks to be just above a 3.0 average :/ I'm actually assisting with research, rather than writing my own stuff. Without being too specific, the research is on elections in sub-Saharan Africa. It's really good stuff; I expect it'll be published in a great journal. Not something I can use for my CV, but it'll be nice to be mentioned as a research assistant in a footnote Thanks for the tip about Minnesota! I'll read up on their program, but a concentration in economic development sounds fantastic. And I know they have a great econ department there. I'd love to get funding somewhere, but I like NYU enough that I'd take on some loans to go there.

Hi everyone. A simple request: could you rank these schools in order of the difficulty of gaining admission? If it's tough to be precise, a rough tiered list would be great too. I have my preferences, but can't afford too many applications, so I'm trying to find the best application scheme to hedge my bets. Thanks! NYU Wagner GWU Trachtenberg UWashington, Evans CMU Heinz Georgia State AYSPS UChicago Harris Georgetown GPPI UGA's PADP Columbia SIPA American SPA UMD SPP UCLA SPA I am applying for MPP programs, or the closest MPA I can find in places like NYU that don't offer them.

Thanks for your reply maeisenb. I was actually being semi-facetious about being old. I am only 23, which is young enough, though a little on the old side to still be in undergrad. The reason I want to start grad school immediately is because I don't qualify for jobs in my field yet -- or less everyone has a masters at least. The best I could do is probably to work without pay for a while, which I'd like to avoid because, well, I'm not rich. Like I said, if I can't get into grad school, I'll bite the bullet and work somewhere -- anywhere -- until I can improve my profile somehow. As for deciding what I want to work on, I've been interested in economic development since I decided on my major 5 years ago, so I don't anticipate that changing. Thanks again for your help. I really do appreciate it.

Thanks for your reply Dee Dee. Congrats on your admission to Georgia State! It looks like a very good program. My last 60 hours paint a much better picture than my overall GPA, so it's nice to hear they'll take that into account. The political scientist I worked under is actually looking forward to writing letters/making calls for me. I'm very lucky to have someone like him around; so many professors I meet are completely aloof and uncaring. Thanks again for your reply!

Could someone let me know if I should have posted this in a different board?

@joe Sorry about that, I got completely mixed up and thought this was a board for just MPP/MPA applicants. Somehow I managed to jump right over that line in your OP. Still, best of luck to you.

Thanks for your reply emmm. I like to think it does, but because this is a family business, I figured it would be discounted somewhat.

I have a pretty weak application. If I'm rejected everywhere, I'll happily go off and work for a few years. But if I can get in now, I'd love to start graduate school. I'm getting old Here's the deets: Undergraduate institution: Large, non-flagship research university. Degree: Major in economics, minor in political science. Pretty standard stuff. GPA: Below a 3.0. Not by much, and with a considerable upward trajectory. But I know this could be the end of me. GRE: 650-700Q, 700-750V. I wish I could flip them around. Oh, and 5.0 AWA. Experience: Applying straight out of undergrad. I have one (quantitative) research assistantship in political science, another (qualitative) RA job in public policy. One of these was in the exact area I want to go into. Maybe that will help me sell my limited experience? I have also taken time off from school for financial reasons and worked in sales. Neither term was for longer than 4-5 months, and sales experience is obviously not valuable in and of itself. That said, I was hoping some full-time work experience, however meager, might show I'm not quite as green as the average kid applying out of undergrad. In addition to this, I've more or less run my family business for the last 4 years Recommendations: One professor for whom I've done research and built a close personal relationship. Has a very high opinion of me and says openly that he cares very much about me getting into a good graduate school. Besides this (strong) letter, I can pick one out of a few professors with whom I've maintained good relationships, a couple of whom have offered to write for me before. Leadership: Another spot in which I'm lacking. I've never won any fancy awards or led an on-campus group. I am the editor of a modest website that gets a couple hundred hits a day, but I don't think that means anything. Overall, I'm relying on my letters to point out any "exceptional" characteristics I might possess, some of which might be related to leadership potential. Additional: Bilingual, and working on a third language in my spare time. Have done work in most of the major statistical software packages. My dream school is NYU Wagner. There are a ton of faculty there that I'd give more than one limb to work with. I would also love to attend any of these schools: CMU Heinz, UMD, UM Ford, UCLA Luskin, University of Washington (Evans), Georgia State, American University, GWU, Wisconsin, Syracuse Maxwell, Indiana, or UGA. Please let me know if I have a chance at any of these places. Also, do feel free to suggest schools that are better matches for my profile than these. Thanks!

@joe490 Do note that for NYU, submitting the GRE is not mandatory. They suggest that if you DO submit your scores, that they be above the 50th percentile. Your strategy for this school at least should be clear -- don't submit your GRE scores! I am not knowledgeable enough to assess the other aspects of your application, but I wish you the best.