laj168

[edit: reposting yet again to include the final everything] I'm hoping this will help future applicants as well. This is my first time posting, but I found these forums indispensable...for driving myself crazy This, I think, will most help those who are coming from a very different academic background (humanities) and are looking for a career change. Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, IR Schools Applied To: Harvard Kennedy MPP, Georgetown MSFS, UCSD IRPS MPIA, Columbia SIPA MIA Schools Admitted To: UCSD (full tuition scholarship plus modest living stipend per academic month), Columbia (first year scholarship of half tuition, International Fellows Program modest fellowship), Pickering Fellowship Schools Rejected From: Harvard, Georgetown, Rangel Fellowship Still Waiting: None Undergraduate institution: Ivy League Undergraduate GPA: 3.7 overall; 3.9 major Undergraduate Major: English Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: Study abroad: Ireland (one quarter); China (one summer) GRE Quantitative Score: 720/156 (74%) GRE Verbal Score: 720/168 (98%) GRE AW Score: 5.5 (96%) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4.5 Years of Work Experience: 3-ish Describe Relevant Work Experience: High school teacher to international students in the US (see below) Languages: English (native), Mandarin (native), Spanish (fluent), French (beginning) Quant: Literally none (see below) Strength of SOP:The narrative/literary qualities of the piece I think were solid: a former undergraduate admissions officer friend praised it for its compelling anecdotes. An MBA friend helped me focus on self-promotion and quantifying achievements and effects/impact. Various other trusted friends pushed me to tweak the language a thousand times and hit word-limits while economizing language for pithiness. I toned down jokes, self-effacement, narrative arcs, and style for demonstrated interest in and ability for international relations. The schools I got into, interestingly enough, were the ones that had essay questions that actually required analysis of a current event or policy, not the ones that just had space for a personal statement. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc):1 professor, 1 director supervisor (in my case, the chair of my department), 1 school dean; all solid and personalized. I thought the combination was fairly balanced and showed that I do have work experience. Other: I think I'm an anomaly on these forums. By looking at me on paper, there's definitely evidence for interest in something vaguely international and ability for theoretical analysis, but there is nowhere near the amount of evidence that I'm committed to the field. The typical applicant is a government/political science/economics/public policy major with a few years of experience in the public/nonprofit sector and some abroad work. I am none of those things. I was in a PhD program in literature (theory) for two years studying Marxism and pyschoanalysis and then became a teacher. I have solid knowledge of current events and have study abroad experience, but I know my profile is weak in comparison to most applicants. I supplemented this weakness by tailoring all my schooling and experience into narratives about how they relate to and prepare for international relations. I also said specifically that I want to apply for the Foreign Service and showed how I would fit there. One other major weakness of my application was a lack of quantitative training. I somehow took not a single economics, math, government, or policy course in college, but I tried to smooth over that with an average GRE quant score and focusing on my verbal/written strengths. I think the moral of my story is not to be discouraged if one doesn't fit the mold. The written statement portions of the application just need to be even more mulled over, massaged, reworked to make a specific case for oneself and tie up loose threads and lingering questions in ad-com's minds. And a last bit of advice is to avoid these forums like the plague! They are anxiety-producing vortexes that intensify individual existential crises during the application/admission process and turn them into collective existential disasters! Just kidding. But they do turn normal people into page-refreshing zombies: better to just wait for an email from the schools and live life without the feeling that the next F5 determines your self-worth. It's demoralizing and humiliating.

GOT IT :X !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quick response from Pickering: "The presentation should be based on the topic of your essay. If you choose to add or modify to what you’ve written that’s fine, but be mindful of the time limit and the fact that the committee will have read your essay." While it seems we should focus on the essays we've written, there is some space to improve upon them during presentations.

Haha that is a good point! And I think it's worth clarifying. I'll send an email to ask

Did anyone else get the email today with the surprise section about having to give a presentation on the essay we just wrote?

Hi PrattlAFF, Did Rangel actually tell you your two scores?

I hear ya. I definitely got two questions totally out of my area. My shout of joy is more just from the fact that it's over I've heard that final decisions come out within a couple of days of the interview. I'm guessing that we'll know by the following Monday after interviews, the 23rd. Frightening...but exciting.

True that. Just finished mine and want to shout out in joy!

Hi OregonGal, Thank you for that wonderful rundown of the DC admit session! It's good to hear that the career services at UCSD really are as strong as they say they are!

Hi Seaking, You can go to my profile where I posted somewhere my whole stats thing, but the short version is 3.7 GPA (English) from a top 10, 720/720/5.5 GREs.

Thank you; congrats to you, too!

I heard about fellowships today: full tuition/fees and a modest monthly living stipend. Good luck to all waiting! Now I have to make an incredibly painful decision.

Hi everyone, I'm late to the party, but I've been a longtime admirer from afar of many of you I'm also in at SIPA (found out last Wednesday), and I got a first-year fellowship of $25k and IFP for $3k. Relative to first-year funding, those amounts are astounding, and I'm really grateful. It does still amount to about $80k of loans over two years, though. I was pretty set on Columbia, but then today I found out that UCSD IR/PS is offering me a full ride with a modest monthly stipend to pay for living. That is more generous than I thought was possible. My nebulous future goals are to join the Foreign Service, but I know how difficult that career track is, which is why I also want to keep my options open in terms of job prospects coming out of these programs. Without going into quality of life/location/brand name issues (all of which comes out to a wash for me), I'm curious what everyone thinks about this comparison of schools based on the funding/loans issue I mentioned and on careers. While Columbia might open doors with its name, the consensus on these forums is that the career services there sucks. UCSD has less name recognition but has a very personalized, strong career services center. I know this is a lot to throw out all at once - and I'm sure people are tired of the X School vs Y School discussions - so please forgive me, but I'd appreciate any thoughts you all might have.