CreamTea

Can you be more specific fenderpete? Does WWS secure interview slots exclusively for their students? (i.e. get the recruiter to come on campus and devote a day or two just interviewing WWS students) If so, which organizations are participating this year?

I know this is an old thread but I just looked at the career statistics for 2011 and I was very concerned. The average age for most of the top programs is around 27 (HKS MPP is a bit lower) but the salaries that the SIPA MIA grads reported are low for 29 year olds. If they started SIPA at 27, they should have 3-5 years of work experience and they shouldn't be at entry level positions, right? Also, even the private sector salaries seem low for late twenty somethings with masters degrees. I worked for a bank (but not in investment banking) and the base for second year analysts (one year out of undergrad) was $65,000. I don't understand why their average salaries seem low. I would think it should be at least in the upper 80-90,000 for private sector jobs on average. The top performers would be getting over $100,000. For the multilateral government jobs, it seems like a lot of people entered fellowships or consultant positions. Any updates from current/former SIPA students? How was the career services office?

I work for an NGO and our CEO agreed to write a LOR for me. He asked me to provide him with key points to include. I believe this is common practice but I've never had to provide key points for someone in the past because my professor and previous boss preferred to write the letters completely on their own. I have no idea what they wrote on their letters for me. Does anyone have a resource (preferably online because it would take too long to ship a book to Beijing) where I can see some great sample LORs for policy school applicants? That will give me an idea of what the basic form of the letter is. I know what the specifics should say: I can just pick snippets from my career reviews, but I need to know the ingredients necessary to make a good, well rounded letter. PS. I've never seen the link that policy schools (Gtown, Columbia, etc) send to recommenders. Am I correct to assume that they will have to answer several sub questions and it's not a matter of just pasting a letter and hitting send?

I visited GWU when I was trying to come up with a list of schools to apply to. I got a strong sense that students were expected to work while they study (since the classes were at night) to make up for the very limited financial aid available. It's not the environment I want. Also, if you are always interning/working during the day, it would be difficult to build close relationships with your professors. They can really help open doors for you, if they know you well enough.

Congratulations! That's really great of Goldman. I wish more schools can follow their example

Love this topic I could have used it myself! Fletcher is very generous. The offer up to the full cost of tuition (but nothing over). I was offered 80% tuition. Maryland SPP offered a half fellowship. I forgot how many hours I was suppose to work. I was hoping for full fellowship (you can get more details online) but they said they did give any full fellowships that year because they wanted to spread the money to as many people as possible. This was in 2010 so this could have changed.

Fletcher's MALD program seems very flexible (I went to the open house) so I think you can avoid a lot of quant

Well, I took the revised GRE recently. No PhD for me but I might do another masters degree. Salamat po

I'm sorry if I sounded entitled. I didn't mean to come off that way. If I had been accepted by either KSG or WWS, I would have thanked my lucky stars for such a miracle! I didn't apply thinking that I was going to be accepted but I just posted the first post because I wanted to learn from my application mistakes. Yes, even my colleagues at IFC in Asia do not know about Fletcher. I work in an NGO in Beijing now and my colleagues don't know the schools outside the Ivies (plus Stanford, Duke, etc) too. To put it in another way, would an American ID professional know the top programs for international development in China or the UK except for the top 3? A friend of mine told me that when she sorts through CVs, she screens out the CVs of students who went to schools she's never heard of. I think the practice is quite common in that particular (development) organization as they get hundreds of CVs for a job and they have to make the first cut quickly. As for name recognition: It varies from field to field. Employers in China who take JDs and MBAs will probably know more names than just the top 5, but for my field, the range of view is still quite limited. It also partly has to do with the fact that MPA degrees are a lot less common than MBA degrees especially in Asia. I didn't explain earlier that the reason that I did not apply to Columbia and Georgetown is because they offer very little funding (this is based on my own observation and data collection only). When I quit Citibank to return to Manila, my salary dropped to $18,000. Even if you factor in the reduced cost of living, it was not enough money to pay off student loans, save for grad school, pay for living expenses and save for retirement. Columbia is a great name but I did not want to have to go back to banking just to pay off student loans. I want to study development and work in development. It was a simple decision. The other reason why I don't want to just go to the first school with a famous name is because I want to get the most out of my two years of graduate education so that I come out better equipped for my field. The name is for the employers and for the job interviews but the knowledge and skills are for me and (hopefully) for our program beneficiaries. I'm applying again this year as I didn't defer from any program so I need to restart the process. I just took the revised GRE and got a 161 (770) on Q and 163 (650) on V. The ability to return to previous questions helped a lot as I had a bad problem of running out of time on the Math sections of the previous GRE. (I tried to pace myself but I couldn't break out of it). It's strange how my verbal dipped down a lot. I think 650 is alright. It's not too low, correct? I'm not applying to IR programs. I am applying to public affairs/policy programs focusing on international development. I want to specialize in private sector development/PPP (due to my background) and regional integration (i.e. the ASEAN-as a tool for development). Actually, the Math training in the Philippines is nothing like the northeast asian countries. There is a huge gap and the Philippines is way behind. I was a B+ math student and I scored in the top 2% in the national high school exam because the general pool was overall weak. Compared to China, the emphasis on sciences and math in the Philippines is nonexistent. A little bit of longer term perspective to wrap it all up I once had a scary situation while were doing field work overseas. We were very worried that we put ourselves in a very dangerous situation by ***(I'm deleting the specifics for security reasons). Instead of just dropping the project like a hot potato as was suggested by my understandably jittery colleague, I found myself weighing the risks to myself and the benefits to the beneficiaries (should we properly understand this problem and find measures to stop it). Other people doing the same work had actually been attacked (either physically or the exterior of their office was damaged) but the risk, if contained, seemed warranted. It reminded me of why I wanted to work in development in the first place. Sure, a great masters program will help me do a better job someday just as my undergraduate education really helps me with my current job but whether I get into a program I want to or not, wherever I graduate from, I'll still go back to doing what I like. That won't change no matter where I go. So in conclusion, I will apply to MPA programs again this year. I'll give it my best shot and go to the school where it makes most sense to attend. Wherever it might be, I just hope that the caliber of specialized training they offer will be as good as the general education that Notre Dame gave me because I want to be much better in my work so that I can target beneficiaries more effectively (and not make the situation any worse!)

I had NYU on my shortlist but ended up crossing it out. I felt like the admissions office couldn't care less about students. For me, the support students get throughout the program is very important. I was looking for something close to the level I got at my undergrad college. Also, I wanted a more international focus. For LSE- I did a semester abroad in London and my university had it's own school building. I would go to LSE for public events and you could tell that the university was strapped for financial resources to keep up facilities. I prefer to go to a school that can give me grant funding for research projects so I didn't consider LSE even though I love London.

I can't offer much but I hope this helps. The first time I applied to Fletcher was when I was less than a year out of school. I was a finance/poli sci/Chinese major so I had more quant requirements. I also did two study abroad semesters (London and China) and I was a research assistant for an economist. I categorized international trade agreements. During my interview, the interviewer remarked that usually people my age don't have very clear ideas of what they want but it seemed like I had a clear direction. I tend to do well in interviews because I had so much practice when I was applying for jobs/internships. Also, it was pretty easy for me to demonstrate my interest in international trade/development. Also, it seems to me that Fletcher loves international experience. I found it odd that they admitted people with non-relevant international experience (ex. teaching English in China) but it seems like the experience itself counts a lot at Fletcher. I'm not knocking English teaching. Public international law is also one of the reasons I applied to Fletcher. By the way, I ended up not going to grad school and working. I've been working for 4.5 years now and I'd say you should at least have 2 years before you go. I remember that one admissions officer told that the reason they require 2 is because if you have less than two, it will be very hard to get a middle management position when you graduate. She is so right. If you graduate with no experience, you might end up in an entry level job alongside recent college grads.

Thank you to everyone who replied, I really appreciate it. Thanks godlessgael- yes, if only I were planning a career in the US, I'd take Fletcher and run! I read somewhere that a 670 is enough for Fletcher but you need a 700 for WWS. Is that so? I mean, of course some people fall below the average but to be safe, do I need a 700? I took the GRE several times over the two application rounds and twice I didn't not finish the Math section. The scores were under 600. Thanks indiblue- yes, on the second try, I really tried to articulate in great detail why I left Citibank to work for IFC and what I plan to focus on in the future: microfinance, regional integration (ASEAN) and public partner partnerships. I have substantial volunteer experience. It's very common at Notre Dame to volunteer and it's actually one of the reasons I chose to go there as an undergrad. Nope, my work at IFC did not touch on government work. If I were on the advisory side, it might have but I was on investments. Also, 22 year olds don't get to be in the professional grade levels on the advisory side. However, both my colleagues (the KSG and WWS students) did not work with the government either. It's just very unlikely as an investment analyst that you'd talk to anyone other than a regulator and that's just to check if your company is complying with the law. I really appreciate your feeback. Thanks ajarn- no MBA for me, I had enough after majoring in finance. As for the MA in Public Policy, that is what I am applying for so I'm not sure I get the question. Thanks carpecc- I don't regret delaying twice. The IFC experience was worth it the first time and moving to China was worth it the second. Yes, it was numbingly dull to do all the finance bits but some parts were really interesting (for example: development outcome tracking, env&social standards, etc.) and it's really rare for entry level staff to have such great exposure in international development. I like my job now but I couldn't bear it if I have to do it for more than two years. I really want to springbroad to the international policy sphere. I don't want to stay at such a micro level working at individual PPP programs one at a time. I don't regret the time I spent as I learned a lot and now I am more valuable as a professional (at least I hope so) I don't really want to go anywhere else and I did a lot of research by talking to school reps and that's how I chose my schools. I chose them because they are the best schools most likely to give aid and I liked their concentration offerings. Thanks piquant- there is truth to the rumor. Yes, in China, it is sometimes suggested to get a Yale degree if you think you can't make it to the top MBA schools but I'm not attracted to the IR curriculum and I don't mind going to WWS even if it is less famous -at least people would recognize it more than Notre Dame. My questions are: Do you think that saying that I plan to focus on three things in my career (microfinance, regional integration and PPP) hurt my chances because it is too many difference things? I have background for each 1) Microfinance- finance background 2) regional integration- research assistant to trade economist and 3) PPP- IFC work I don't want to join Philippine politics. It's just so corrupt and nothing gets done. I'd probably get shot trying to keep my hands clean. I know a WWS alumna from the Philippines. She went to my high school. She went into local politics perhaps because her family is a political one. I stated in my SOP that I want to work for the ASEAN because I believe in the use of economic integration in furthering economic development. I think I stated the EU as an example. Do you think perhaps they weren't convinced? I mean, by then I was working in Manila. I had already gone to school in the US and back to the Phillipines. I didn't think I needed to prove I'd do it again but perhaps they wanted to see more grassroots work rather than IFC. My IFC colleagues are both older than me. I thought this mattered for WWS but not for KSG. The first time I applied, I was 22 (I graduated at 21) and the second time I was 24. Now I am 26, I think this might help a bit for WWS. Do you think so? For KSG students, I'm under the impression that KSG wants to admit future leaders. Given that I have not been promoted yet, how do I show that I am a future leader? The IFC colleague who went to KSG went to Harvard for undergrad so maybe she got a little boost. For all my volunteer work at school, I only spent a semester in student government and I was appointed and not elected to the position. I also stayed clear away from any domestic politics because of previously mentioned reasons. PS. I got a A in calc 108 not A+ (no A+ in college) my mistake

Fletcher is great. I'm very interested in public international law and it's the only program that offers it as a concentration. I just have two main concerns and the second is the primary reason why I hesitated. The first is that the Fletcher program is very unstructured. They have a lot of interesting classes but I don't think that is offers a very strong foundation in the fundamentals (sorry, I can't think of a better word) the way WWS does. I guess if you are very disciplined, you can make sure that you take a lot of economics classes to make up for that. The second reason is that Fletcher does not hold a lot of clout in east Asia. As a Notre Dame grad, it's really frustrating when I get a blank look after I tell people where I went to school. In China, where I am currently based, it's really important for your career prospects. I can tell that the fact that I didn't go to a better known school takes away some of my credibility. It's not personal vanity, I'm just trying to take the best course for my career. Yes, I don't think my SOP could have sucked that much since I had my professor who taught at WWS read it. He told me he was optimistic about my chances (the second time around). I am at a loss so I hope some WWS and HKS can give some insight. I really don't want to take the GRE Math again if that's not going to help.

Stats: Undergrad: 3.6 GPA from Notre Dame, majored in Chinese, Political Science and Finance Grades in selected courses: Calc 105: B+ Calc 108: A+ Micro econ: B+ Managerial econ (which is equivalent to intermediate micro): A- Macroeconomic Principles: B+ Business Statistics: A- GRE: Math scores were all over the map I've scored as low at the 500s when I didn't finish the test. Highest GRE scores: Math 670 Verbal 780 Other info: I'm a Filipino citizen, I grew up in Manila and came to the US for college when I was 17 I was in the International Scholars Program at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies (Notre Dame based institute) all that really means is that I got to work as a research assistant for an economist (he specializes in international trade) as an undergrad Work Experience: Citibank, financial analyst in New York for 1 year Volunteered for microfinance institution on the side International Finance Corporation 2 years in Manila and one year in Beijing (IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group) no volunteer work while I was working in Manila Recommendations: two profs (one Pol Science and one Economics) and my boss at IFC Manila I don't know what they wrote but I think they must have been good since I got into two programs Here's my problem: While I was at Citibank I applied to the following schools: Fletcher, Maryland, Kennedy, WWS Fletcher and Maryland- admit Kennedy and WWS - declined I took the job at IFC, moved back to Manila and took a huge pay cut to work in development. On my second year at IFC, I applied to the same four schools again Fletcher, Maryland- both offered scholarships (80 and 50% respectively) Kennedy MPP and WWS- decline The first time around, WWS provided a feedback letter upon request and the primary reason given was that they were concerned about my private sector background (this was when I was about to join IFC). They couldn't been sure about my commitment to the public sector. This makes sense as the majority of IFC analysts end up getting MBAs. The second time I applied, I was an IFC analyst and I wouldn't have been surprised if they declined me for the same reason except that my colleague was accepted! She was a couple of years older than I am. I asked for another feedback letter and assistant dean Templeton was swamped and asked if I could wait but he never got around to sending the letter even with my follow up emails. For Kennedy School- I don't know why I was declined. I'm particularly interested in the Business and Government Policy area so I thought I was a good fit. Another IFC colleague applied at the same time (the second time I applied) and got in. Math has never been my strong point and I dread taking the new GRE. I don't even know if that's the reason for the declines since WWS never mentioned it. I left IFC after three years- I found that my job was 90% investment and 10% development. I am now an associate with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) in Beijing. It's an international non profit that provides advisory services on sustainability issues. It's actually a very good use of the 10% I learned at IFC. I plan to apply again to graduate school again this year. Any advice? I really want to get into WWS and Kennedy. Thank you!