LeadTheTurn

If I'm reading the article correctly, it's main argument seems to be: Premise 1: Our system of federal government is broken as both parties appear "antagonistic and hopeless." Premise 2: HKS (and I would guess similarly run programs by implication) have stressed quant classes, invited big name practitioners to give lectures, and encouraged students to look at non-profit and for-profit employment in addition to the public sector positions it had traditionally advocated. Conclusion: Because many graduates work for private businesses such as consulting firms, HKS (and similar programs) has neglected its obligation to contribute to the public interest and its graduates have behaved in their own self interest rather than in the public interest. In doing so, they are locking in the problems of the status quo. As a couple of you point out above, this argument seems as though it can be weakened by pointing out that neither HKS nor its graduates have control over the size of the federal government nor its hiring process. HKS did not shut down the federal government in 2013, nor did it impose federal pay freezes in 2011-13 and then hiring freezes in 2017. The author does not stop to consider whether it would be irresponsible for the program to push 100% of its graduates toward a terrible job market. I tend to see premise 1 as valid. However, I find it amusing that while the author of this article seems to blame HKS for a significant share of that issue, a professor from the midwest seems to see another school as having influence over public policy that the author may have overlooked. From an address to graduates of Chicago Booth in 2016: "Ten to 20 years down the road, you will be leaders within the business community. As such, you will also be leaders within your relevant civic communities. And for many of you, your wealth—through your bribes, or “lobbying” as we tend to call it—will give you a tremendous amount of influence over policy makers. And when you exert that influence, you will tend to view the world through the lens of your circumstances and your experiences. When you do so, I want you to remember that you are rare relative to the typical American. Only a little over 30 percent of people your age ever get a bachelor’s degree. Less than 10 percent get a master’s degree or more. Very few of those get it from prestigious institutions such as the University of Chicago. As we have talked about, your labor-market experiences on average will be dramatically different from those of the bulk of the American population. Technology and other economic forces have affected others differently from you. Keeping that in mind will allow you to have a broader perspective on the world that you are trying to influence, and hopefully it will improve your decision making." http://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/2016/article/video-killed-radio-star?adbsc=social_20160905_65598496&adbid=772816206399025153&adbpl=tw&adbpr=1702155980

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Univ of Massachusetts Previous Degrees and GPAs: 3.8 GPA in Pol Sci. GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 162/159/5.0 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 6.5 years of experience as a military intelligence officer. Deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as tours in Korea and Germany. Math/Econ Background: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Calculus were gen ed requirements for my college. Also took International Policial Economy and a course in the Resource Economics department. Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Had taken two courses of Modern Standard Arabic in college. Also had completed five years of Spanish between high school and college. Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Relations Long Term Professional Goals: Pretty unsure at this point; could be state deparment, could be a think tank, could be several other organizations within the US govt. Schools Applied to & Results: Applied: Harvard Kennedy School, Princeton WWS, Yale Jackson Institute, JHU SAIS, Tufts Fletcher, Columbia SIPA, Univ Texas LBJ School, Georgetown PPI. Rejected: HKS and WWS. Ultimate Decision & Why: Yale Jackson. I was impressed by the number of seasoned practitioners the school had brought in over the last two years and felt that the director was moving the program in a good direction. Although I was a bit concerned with the small size of the program for alumni connection opportunities, I did consider the fact Yale's career services office has had a great record of putting people into important jobs within the US government for a very long time. I was also very happy with the flexibility of the program and the opportunity to pursue joint programs. The location of the school also factored in positively, since it is 90 minutes away from the town where I grew up. Advice for Future Applicants: Knock out the GRE very early so that you'll have a chance to re-take if you are not satisfied with the results of your first attempt. Be careful about which materials you buy to prepare for the test -- check out this two star review for 1,014 GRE Practice Questions. http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Questions-Edition-Graduate-Preparation/dp/0307945383/ref=pd_sim_b_4 I can personally say that it is a well-deserved low mark, since that book posts an unacceptably high number of incorrect answers to their problems. When asking for a recommendation, make sure the writer knows you pretty well and can speak intelligently to your favorable qualities. This is especially true if the writer is a graduate of the school to which you are applying; schools will not be impressed if they think you selected the writer simply because he/she is an alumni. Give the writers plenty of lead time to draft up a good letter before the respective deadlines, and do not be afraid to remind them of these dates as they approach. It is generally a good idea to inform the writers about the narrative you are trying to create throughout your application, and which aspect of your background you want that respective writer to emphasize. You do not want all three of them saying the same thing, but you do want them all to speak to a theme that shows you are a good fit for your intended school. As others have mentioned, do not tie your self-worth to the results of your application cycle. Realize that schools are not necessarily picking the best 60/160/700 applicants for their program, but are instead filling 60/160/700 roles with the individuals that best fit those roles for them. If a great percentage of those roles happen to be people with overseas NGO experience and your background is in campaign politics and domestic issues, then you might be out of luck. No one can be sure how many soft factors are involved during the selection process, so do not think that a rejection is based purely on aspects that were within your control.

Thank you all for your input. Anybody else on the forum considering this choice right now?

I've been admitted to Yale Jackson, UT Austin's LBJ School, SAIS, Tufts Fletcher, and GPPI. Still waiting to hear from SIPA. At this point I lean toward Jackson, but wanted to ask for input from other applicants (anecdotal, stats, etc). I think this will be a pretty good fit for me based on a few things: 1. It seems to be well-regarded as an academic program, and I'm trying leave the door open for a PhD later in my life. 2. Although IR-focused, the program seems to allow several different tracks to follow as well as opportunities to connect with other grad schools. Seems to have a very inter-disciplinary approach. 3. The university itself seems well-invested in the school, gaining a number of notable senior fellows in a short time. 4. New Haven is 90 minutes away from the area where I grew up. 5. With the Post 9/11 GI Bill's Yellow Ribbon program, it appears as though the full $35k tuition is covered and I would receive $2200/month as a living stipend. I'm a little concerned by a few factors: 1. The small class size (25-30) may limit opportunities for me to learn from the diverse set of experiences I would see in a class of 200+ people. 2. The nascent status of the program and above-mentioned class size would seem to limit some networking potential due to a lack of alumni in the field (although on the other hand, Yale has always had a well-regarded ability to put their people into prominent roles within the US government, so does this even matter so much?). 3. They call their degree a "Master of Arts in Global Affairs" rather than a "Master of Public Policy" or "Master of Public Affairs." Any chance this label might be a disadvantage when looking for jobs traditionally sought by an IR-focused MPP/MPA? Is anyone else mulling over a similar decision? For anyone who has lived in/visited New Haven, is it a good place to live for a couple in their 20s? Please let me know your thoughts. Critique or confirm my assumptions, and let me know if you see a much stronger case for some of my alternatives. I know that this is a pretty good problem to have and I appreciate your time and perspective.

I share your sense of mystery regarding the admissions process. I know it has been said to be an "art rather than a science," and I do realize that in building a class an individual ends up more or less competing for slots assigned to his specific profile (i.e. international affairs, non-profits, campaign experience, etc). However, it does seem strange to go to the admissions results page and see several perfect or near perfect GPAs/GRE scores rejected while another candidate is accepted with a line of 3.17 GPA, 157 V 157 Q. It makes me wonder how low the cutoff is placed for hard stats before the soft factors come into play, and how largely they weigh those soft factors when completing their big picture/holistic approach. Is this a case where 40-60% of applicants have the numbers to be considered "qualified" or "competitive" and they simply take a third of those people based on how inspired they feel after reading their SOP and considering their work experience? How much can a candidate be hurt if they use a turn of phrase in their SOP that happens to be a pet peeve of the admissions officer? Would it be better to schedule interviews to more accurately account for these considerations? And I don't limit this just to HKS. I've seen this on other results pages as well. Even beyond MPP/MPA schools there have been curious examples of this; Poetsandquants emphasized the story of the 570 GMAT who found his way into HBS, and people speculated whether he or his parents were key donors to the school (I'm not implying that this is the case for any one of the HKS admits, just saying that funny things can happen whenever you have sub 20% acceptance rates and 50% or more who could be considered technically qualified). For me, the big takeaway from all of this is that no one should be too hard on themselves or lower their sense of self-worth after being rejected. If the school was looking for a very specific type of experience/career projection/skill, then one really shouldn't feel bad if they put forth their best possible application and didn't match those desires. It reminds me a little bit of physical attraction; if a woman is interested in men with body art at a particular moment, it doesn't make sense for the guy with no tats to feel bad about that rejection.

Schools Applying/Applied To: HKS, WWS, Yale Jackson, SIPA, Tufts Fletcher, SAIS, LBJ Schools Admitted To: n/a Schools Rejected From: n/a Still Waiting: All Undergraduate institution: University of Massachusetts at Amherst Undergraduate GPA: 3.79 Undergraduate Major: Political Science GRE Quantitative Score: 159 GRE Verbal Score: 162 GRE AW Score: 5.0 Age: 29 Years of Work Experience: 6 Describe Relevant Work Experience and International Experience: Military intelligence officer. Assignments in Korea and Germany. Deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jobs included operational analysis, unit level support, information operations. In addition to work, I have volunteered about 80 hours for a few groups in my local area. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Created a few drafts, gaining feedback from my own undergrad professors as well as a prof who teaches in my current local area. Wrote about the motivation I have toward my current job and public service in general, my approach toward leadership issues, courses/professors/programs at each university that were of interest to me, and my overall goals. Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): One letter comes from my former military commander, the second from a senior intelligence analyst at a three letter agency, and the third from an undergrad professor. All three know me pretty well and have made positive remarks about my work in the past. I read just one of the letters and was pretty happy about the format and content. Long story short: I am glad I started the application process early, because applying to this many schools has been a rather time-consuming exercise. Just gathering up records and contacting writers for LORs has been a headache. I was originally going to apply to Georgetown PPI and Maxwell as well, but at this point I think seven schools is enough. In any event, I'm pretty excited about getting back into acadamia for a couple years and then exploring the 2015 job market. Good luck to everyone else over the next few months.

Mongo, thanks for starting this thread. Dave, thanks for your reply. I am looking to apply for the Fall 2013 semester, and I have a couple questions myself: 1. What are some materials that you think are good to include in your package to describe your career? Did anyone include things like last five OPRs, copy of DG award, printout of your ribbon rack from vMPF, etc? I know that civilians without military experience can sometimes greatly overestimate what something like an OPR bullet is actually meant to signify; is that something to use to your advantage? 2. Has anyone experienced complications using the Post 9/11 GI Bill? I am wondering in particular about enrolling in the program to ensure that funding is available for Fall 2013. Their website mentions a cutoff of May to use the money for the Fall semester, and I will hit the three year beyond my obligation requirement on June 1st. Will this be a problem? 3. Will a previous online Master's degree from American Military University gain any respect from admissions boards at competitive programs? I've heard that a lot of places outside the government do not hold these degrees in high regard.