Kepp the peece its still on......................................
The Reading and Decision Process - Post 10
Posted: 06 Mar 2014 09:01 PM PST
We do not use a matrix to determine admission decisions at HKS, but this time of year I feel like I live in a matrix. Similar to the Matrix movie, codes cascade by my eyes daily and manipulating Excel spreadsheets makes me feel like I am living in a different reality. If you were to stare into my eyes you might see something like the following:
Finalizing a class is a torturous task. We have a lot of historical data and we can make projections, but each year is different and each applicant pool is different. This time of year I spend a lot of time staring at formulas, coloring cells, calculating estimated yields, averaging, counting, dividing, summing, and contemplating. I know I am engaged in serious work because I have caused Excel to freeze multiple times in the past week. Thanks to a bad experience in high school when I lost a paper on my first computer (a PCJr) when it froze, I compulsively hit Ctrl-S on my keyboard.
Admission is not an exact science. In a laboratory you can control for different factors, but in admissions many factors are completely out of my control. I am certainly not an artist, but I do feel like there is an art to enrollment planning. It is not art that I engage in single-handedly, but I hold primary responsibility for putting the projection models together to help lead discussions.
I know all those who have applied are waiting anxiously for a decision, and I am anxious to get all of the decisions out. The process is more like an art than a science so I cannot publish particular dates. Thank you for your patience and please, don’t stare at your email account too long waiting for an email regarding your decision - turn away often and examine other things. Easy for me to say I know.
Previous Degrees and GPAs: Double major in Political Science and Russian Studies. 3.8 GPA.
GRE Scores: V 800 / Q 770 / AW 4.5
Previous Work Experience: 2 years (by fall 2012, when school starts). 1 year unrelated corporate stuff, 1 year teaching English in China, multiple analytical internships throughout both years. I assume we're not counting undergraduate stuff, because I did a boatload of IR-relevant things then as well.
Math/Econ Background: Stats, Micro, Macro, some data modeling courses
Foreign Language Background: Russian (professionally fluent), Mandarin Chinese (intermediate)
Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Security Studies
Schools Applied to & Results: Princeton WWS MPA (rejected), Yale Jackson MA (rejected), Georgetown MA Security Studies (rejected), Tufts Fletcher MALD (accepted + $), SAIS MA Strategic Studies (accepted + $), Pittsburgh GSPIA MA Security + Intelligence Studies (accepted + $), GW Elliot MA Security Policy Studies (accepted + $)
Ultimate Decision & Why: GW Elliott. Why? I got a full ride + stipend to go there. It has a dedicated Security Policy Studies degree, which is more in line with my interests and goals than a generalist IR degree. It's in DC. Literally the only option that could have competed with GW would have been a fully-funded Georgetown admit, which didn't happen (not even close, haha). Very easy decision.
Advice for Future Applicants: Get started early (like a year ahead of time). The more time you allow yourself to research your schools, get recommenders, polish your SOP, and double-check that all admission materials have been received, the better your chances are.
On that note, double-check EVERYTHING - GRE scores received by university, transcripts received, pre-reqs met, recommenders submitted their stuff, fin-aid deadlines, etc. Then triple-check it. There are horror stories of people on this forum whose stuff got lost, and application thrown out. As much as you care about your application, the people handling it (low-level university functionaries, often recent grads) do not. I highly recommend making a spreadsheet to keep track of all this stuff.
Bust your butt studying for the GRE. There really is no reason not to. It's a highly masterable test - all it measures is your ability to prepare for the questions they ask. Based on an admittedly small sample size of 1, it makes you more competitive for fin-aid. I got significant funding at every school I was admitted to (including several full rides), and I think the GRE was a major part of this.
Get work experience before you apply. Get work experience before you apply. Get work experience before you apply. Ge... okay I'll stop now, but based on what admission representatives have said, and the admission results of people on this forum, WE is a vital part of your package. Don't neglect it. It doesn't have to be 100% relevant (if you were already doing what you wanted to, why would you want to leave the field to go to grad school), but it should improve your skill set in some way. Could be foreign language, could be budgeting + management, whatever.
Spend at least 100 hours on your SOP. Preferably more. Write them, polish them, have others edit them, personalize them to each school. Show your commitment to the field by highlighting relevant experiences, instead of telling them about it.
I personally found it very useful to make every sentence in my SOP belong to one of three baskets.
1) What you have already accomplished and why. My work at Alphacorp directly engaged my interest in international development. Experiences like managing a project to create accessible drinking wells in drought-ridden areas of Mali confirmed my belief that public service, not fame or riches, must be the axis of my career.
2) What you want to do in the future and why. Although my work in the field was invaluable education in the realities of international development, it also left me wanting more. Creating high-level policy would allow me to address more of the issues facing Mali than working in the field. I want to transition from a practitioner to a planner in order to create widespread change.
3) How University X will SPECIFICALLY build upon past experiences (point #1), and prepare you to achieve your future goals (point #2) University X's curriculum closely matches my professional plan. Development-focused classes such as X and Y will give me a more focused and relevant education than a generalist degree. I particularly relish the chance to work with Professor John Doe, whose experience leading the Africa section of USAID is exactly the sort of career I hope to achieve.
No stories about when you were 8 and how thuper thuper passionate you have been about the field since then.
No hokey inspirational quotes ("excellence is a habit, not a virtue...").
No "Webster's Dictionary says 'public service' has this meaning but really I think it's this."
Where you've been, where you want to go, how University X will get you from point A to point B. That's it.
Gurkha got a reaction from sylark in Welcome to the 2013-2014 Cycle
Gurkha got a reaction from ecm07e in Welcome to the 2013-2014 Cycle
Gurkha got a reaction from anna_M in Welcome to the 2013-2014 Cycle
Gurkha got a reaction from deltaqsquared in Welcome to the 2013-2014 Cycle