MPP/MPA 2011 Applicants

[achiamop]

Thanks for the reply. Out of curiosity where'd you see that info. posted?

I believe the applicants that were offered funding had a fellowship letter that was attached in the email.

[bzcww3]

Some of the forum members posted it here. Can't remember which topic it was off the top of my head, but they said the fellowship letter came together with the admission letter sent by Mary Mead.

Thanks for the reply. Out of curiosity where'd you see that info. posted?

[skeedy]

Some of the forum members posted it here. Can't remember which topic it was off the top of my head, but they said the fellowship letter came together with the admission letter sent by Mary Mead.

I was one of the forum posters - I received a La Follette fellowship letter attached to my application status email. I don't know if they have contacted all accepted students about funding, however!

[lmvg123]

Just an FYI, all LBJ UT AUSTIN decisions will be entered by the end of this week!

[bzcww3]

Man...I am gonna get hammered by people if the admissions office dont stick to their words

Just an FYI, all LBJ UT AUSTIN decisions will be entered by the end of this week!

[mpptobe2011]

Does anybody else think it's kind of cruel when schools send an email with a subject line like "Application Decision Available" and make you click though to a website to get the actual decision? In the time between clicking on the link and actually seeing the letter pop up, my heart rate increases about 800% and it's absolute agony! It kind of makes me miss the days of fat and thin envelopes.

[Nimesis]

Haha that's the modern day version of "walking the line" to the mailbox and seeing your big or small envelope isn't it?

[mpptobe2011]

Sigh... I suppose! It just feels like with the old-school mailbox system, you found out that your decision had come *and* what the decision was at the same instant. I think drawing that out into two parts just makes it worse than it has to be.

My first two acceptances were the "click through" kind and the third was an email that said "Welcome to [school]!" right in the subject line... the latter felt sooooo much more humane.

Haha that's the modern day version of "walking the line" to the mailbox and seeing your big or small envelope isn't it?

[GVB]

Anyone know when the Evans School plans to contact applicants? Based on last year's posts, I assume we'll hear something next week. Any idea?

[Nimesis]

Anyone know when the Evans School plans to contact applicants? Based on last year's posts, I assume we'll hear something next week. Any idea?

I called Evans to find out yesterday when they were planning on sending out acceptances and they gave a very generic "decisions are forthcoming" statement which is kind of annoying. I tried to get a better idea of their time frame but they said this week or next week... I'm not sure they've gotten through all of them yet.

[M G]

Update

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, and IR

Schools Applied To: American University, U Denver, Michigan, Syracuse(MPA/IR), Duke, George Mason, Johns Hopkins IPS, U Chicago, U Texas

Schools Admitted To: U Denver, U Texas, Syracuse, Johns Hopkins IPS, Duke(waitlisted)

Schools Rejected From: None yet

Undergraduate institution: Georgia State University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.02

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.26

Undergraduate Major: Business Economics

GRE Quantitative Score: 730

GRE Verbal Score: 610

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4

Years of Work Experience: 3

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2 Online Banks and a Management Logistics Firm for two years

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I tried to focus on the fact that I did well in econ and international Business classes. I also reiterated the fact that my last job was relevant to what I wanted to do(international trade and monetary policy). I made it a point to mention at least 3 faculty members with similar interests for each school. It was strong enough to get into to schools so far.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two economic professors and the VP of the logistics company I worked for.

[mdhutson]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP/MPA

Schools Applied To: Cornell (CIPA), Chicago, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison, Brown, SUNY-Albany, Carnegie-Mellon,

Schools Admitted To: Cornell ($28,000), Brown ($5,000), Wisconsin-Madison

Schools Rejected From:

Still Waiting: Chicago, Minnesota, SUNY-Albany, Carnegie-Mellon

Undergraduate institution: University of Edinburgh (UK)

Undergraduate GPA:

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable):

Undergraduate Major: Economics (minor in Economic History)

GRE Quantitative Score: 660 (61%)

GRE Verbal Score: 620 (89%)

GRE AW Score: 5.0 (84%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): (just graduated 2011)

Years of Work Experience: <1 year

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 3 month Assistant Economist/ 9 months Research Assistant: Worked as Assistant Economist intern at Ministry of Justice (UK) with modelling brief. Also did part time research assistantship at policy think tank on education/small government.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc):

Good luck to everyone!

[M G]

Update

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, and IR

Schools Applied To: American University, U Denver, U Michigan, Syracuse(MPA/IR), Duke, George Mason, Johns Hopkins IPS, U Chicago, U Texas

Schools Admitted To: U Denver, U Texas, Syracuse, Johns Hopkins IPS, Duke(waitlisted), U Michigan

Schools Rejected From: None yet

Undergraduate institution: Georgia State University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.02

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.26

Undergraduate Major: Business Economics

GRE Quantitative Score: 730

GRE Verbal Score: 610

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4

Years of Work Experience: 3

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2 Online Banks and a Management Logistics Firm for two years

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I tried to focus on the fact that I did well in econ and international Business classes. I also reiterated the fact that my last job was relevant to what I wanted to do(international trade and monetary policy). I made it a point to mention at least 3 faculty members with similar interests for each school. It was strong enough to get into to schools so far.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two economic professors and the VP of the logistics company I worked for.

[julia9109]

Update

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MIA

Schools Applied To: SAIS at John Hopkins, Fletcher at Tufts, SIPA at Columbia, GSPP at Berkeley, WWS at Princeton

Schools Admitted To: SAIS, Fletcher, GSPP

Schools Rejected From: WWS

Still Waiting: SIPA (on the waitlist)

Undergraduate institution: top 20 liberal arts college

Undergraduate GPA: 3.4

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.7

Undergraduate Major: Political Science

GRE Quantitative Score: 700

GRE Verbal Score: 660

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5

Years of Work Experience: 3.5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: During college, two summer internships with international sustainable development think tanks. Immediately after school I spent two years at a management consulting company. I then moved to China where I interned with an environmental NGO, doing clean tech market research, while also freelancing as an environmental policy analyst. I now work full time as an environmental analyst, focusing on climate change adaptation and mitigation policy with variety of clients, mainly governments or development agencies like the African Development Bank and UNDP.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I've been working on them for a while (since August!) so I think they've gotten pretty decent. I have a compelling personal reason for why I'm interested in my field of study (climate change/ development) and I talk about some interesting work experiences and professors I want to work with. However, I'm not quite sure how to explain those two years I spent in a job that was completely unrelated to my policy interests so that might hurt me, particularly with WWS. In terms of the process, writing the SOP was the hardest part of the application process for me and I'm really glad that I gave myself a lot of time to do it.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I have letters from a professor, the founder of the ngo i worked with in China, and my old boss. The process was easy, I emailed them all in the summer to give them a heads up and then again a few weeks ago I told them which programs I'm interested in and why. I tried to give them as much guidance about what the schools are looking for in a rec letter as I could. I think the first two letters will be good, the last one from my old boss is flattering but not very thoughtful or in depth. Not sure how useful that will be.

Other: Fluent in French. Basic Mandarin. Did a semester in Strasbourg, France during which I also interned for a human rights ngo. Grew up in Morocco, have experience living in rural impoverished regions which relates well to my sustainable development focus.

Honestly, I'm stressing out over this whole process! I don't think I have a chance at WWS, Goldman or SAIS due to my weak quant background and average gpa/gre but I think Fletcher and SIPA are possible. I guess I'll give it a shot and if I don't get in somewhere, just spend next year taking classes, doing the GRE and try again.

-----Update: I used this forum a lot during the admissions process so I'll write a bit about my experience, hopefully it will help someone out next year. Now that the whole process is finally done, I'm really happy with the schools I got into and little surprised. I didn't think I had the quantitative background to get into either SAIS or GSPP (I got a B- in my one and only college econ course. gross.). However, I think my work experience helped to offset that a bit. I wasn't expecting to get into Woodrow Wilson but it was definitely worth a try given their generous funding. Plus, their application was the most intense so it made drafting the others a lot easier.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken some additional math and econ courses before I applied. I talked to the admission people at WWS and Berkeley and they definitely encourage people with weak quant background to take extra classes and said they don't look down on courses taken at a local community college (which might be the cheaper/more convenient option). I was lucky in that I had the opportunity to compensate for my poor quant background with some development/climate change related work but if that's not an option then I think taking extra classes could help. I would have liked a better GRE score but I asked admissions people at SIPA and Berkeley if my quantitative score was okay and they said it was good, so don't stress if you get around a 700. I also spent A LOT of time my SOPs. I researched the curriculum and professors in each program and tried to integrate that into my SOPs and was very clear about my future goals. The only school I didn't put that much effort into my SOP was Columbia and not surprisingly, I was wait listed there.

So that was my experience with the admission process. Hope it helps!

[blah25982]

Program Applied To : MPP, MPA

Schools Applied To: Univerysity of Maryland SPP, UC Berkeley GSPP, UCLA SPA, USC SPPD, UT Austin LBJ, NYU Wagner, Carnegie Mellon Heinz

Schools Admitted To: UMD (half graduate assistantship), Berkeley, UCLA ($1k fellowship), USC (full tuition scholarship), UT Austin, NYU

Schools Rejected From:

Still Waiting: CMU Heinz

Undergraduate institution: University of California

Undergraduate GPA: 3.67

Undergraduate Major: Public Policy

GRE Quantitative Score: 790

GRE Verbal Score: 580

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2.5

Years of Work Experience: 2.5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: During college, one research assistantship and one internship with mayor's office. Working as a paralegal since, work experience is mostly unrelated to area of study.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Worked on them for about two months, sending to a few friends for review. I found visiting a few schools during the application season to be helpful. Mainly wrote about the policy area I am interested in, interspersing with family and work history. The statement was written, keeping in mind that it was in lieu of an in-person interview.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I have a letter from 2 professors, both of which were very supportive of the MPP idea since university. Not sure how strong the letters were since I did not speak to them much in the 2 years since graduation. Another letter from the boss, who was very supportive of my ambitions.

[wenttojschool]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP

Schools Applied To: Wisconsin-La Follette, Indiana-SPEA (Bloomington), American-SPA, George Washington (Trachtenberg)

Schools Admitted To: Wisconsin, Indiana, American (31K), George Washington

Schools Rejected From: None

Still Waiting:

Undergraduate institution: Top-20 Public University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.478

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable):

Undergraduate Major: Journalism

GRE Quantitative Score: 710

GRE Verbal Score: 530

GRE AW Score: 5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2.5

Years of Work Experience: 2

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Two terms of Americorps

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc):

Other:

[Application_Overwhelmed]

Program Applied To :MPA

Schools Applied To: NYU Wagner, AU SPA, GW Trachtenberg, UW Evans School

Schools Admitted To: NYU Wagner ($3,000), AU SPA ($33,000 + Graduate Assistantship), GW Trachtenberg ($5,000 plus waitlisted for "more generous funding awards")

Schools Rejected From:

Still Waiting: UW Evans

Undergraduate institution: University of Washington

Undergraduate GPA: 3.86

Undergraduate Major: International Studies

GRE Quantitative Score: 720

GRE Verbal Score: 630

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5

Years of Work Experience: 3.5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: AmeriCorps VISTA in refugee resettlement, Academic Coordinator for nonprofit serving refugees and immigrants

Very pleasantly surprised by the Graduate Honor Award given to me by American University. I will most likely end up there until GW gets back to me soon and has a better offer. Good luck to everyone out there! Phew, this whole process is practically over!

[kwhitegocubs]

UPDATE******************************* In at Fels, out at WWS.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): JD/MPA (Am already doing my JD at William and Mary, and want to get a better MPA than the TJ school at W&M.

Schools Applied To: Princeton MPA (Done), Penn Fels MGA (TBA), Syracuse Maxwell (Maybe)

Schools Admitted To: Penn Fels MPA (Yeah, they changed it from MGA to a regular MPA on New Year's) - 10K for 8 Courses plus possible additional scholarship and/or GA

Schools Rejected From: WWS (Not even wait-listed, must have been the lack of coursework)

Still Waiting:

Undergraduate institution: Western Illinois University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.75 (Cum Laude)

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.95

Undergraduate Major: English

GRE Quantitative Score: 800

GRE Verbal Score: 650

GRE AW Score: 5.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2-4 (Long Story)

Years of Work Experience: 2

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Rare Coin Grader, Authenticator, Appraiser

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Pretty Decent. It's a modified version of my law school SOP.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Academic Recs will be awesome, Professional rec is probably only decent.

Other: I have no idea if I have any shot, because my undergrad record is entirely lacking in relevant subject matter. Even with the 800 Quant, I only took one intro math course in 2003, took no econ courses, and passed my Poly Sci requirement with a proficiency exam. So I'm really relying on my policy memo (which I think was rather good), my GRE, and my GPA alone. If anyone has any idea what my realistic chances at any of the schools are, I'd welcome predictions.

[compost&recycle]

Here is my update:

Program Applied To: MPP, MAIR, MEM

Schools Applied To: Berkeley GSPP, Duke Nicholas MEM and Sanford MPP, Johns Hopkins IPS, Georgetown GPPI and MSFS, Fletcher, Stanford IPS, HKS, Yale FES,

Schools Admitted To: Berkeley GSPP ($), Duke Nicholas ($), Johns Hopkins ($$), Georgetown GPPI and MSFS ($ next week), Fletcher ($$$)

Schools Rejected From: HKS, Yale FES, Duke Sanford

still waiting on Stanford...(apparently tomorrow)

Undergraduate institution: first two years – relatively mediocre German University, second two years - middle tier U.S. State University and study abroad in Sydney

Undergraduate GPA: 3.95

Undergraduate Major: International Relations

GRE Quantitative Score: 740

GRE Verbal Score: 500 (English is not my native language - can you tell?

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3

Years of Work Experience: 10 (worked before I went to school and in between)

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Media planning, marketing, consulting, translation, energy regulation

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I started in July and reviewed/edited it at least 50 times. I had it proofread by a few friends for grammar purposes; I put a lot of effort into telling a cohesive story and clearly expressing my passion/goals

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): my undergrad IR professors, my old boss and my current boss (used them alternatively 3 out of 4). Didn’t read them but I assume they were very good. I believe it is important to ask the recommenders if they feel comfortable writing a strong recommendation to make sure they don’t feel obligated and write you a mediocre one, which can severely hurt your chances. I heard of horror stories where professors wrote "I was asked to write this letter. I honestly don't remember the student at all....(that cannot be good!)

[abogs78]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, and IR

Schools Applied To: NYU Wagner (MPA), Berkeley (MPP), Chicago (MPP), U Michigan (MPP), WWS (MPA), HKS (MPP), Columbia SIPA (MIA), CMU (MSPPM), LSE (MPA), UMD (MPP)

Schools Admitted To: NYU Wagner (MPA) - $, Berkeley (MPP) - $, U Michigan (MPP) - waiting and hoping for fellowships, WWS (MPA) - waiting for packet, Columbia SIPA (MIA) - no funding, CMU (MSPPM) - $$, UMD (MPP) - no funding.

Schools Rejected From: HKS (MPP) and LSE (MPA)

Waiting to hear: Chicago (MPP),

Undergraduate institution: Hobart College

Undergraduate GPA: 3.42

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.7

Undergraduate Major: Economics and Public Policy

GRE Quantitative Score: 730

GRE Verbal Score: 610 (English is my second language )

GRE AW Score: 3.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5

Years of Work Experience: 4

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Two internships in college (one with a financial regulatory firm in DC and a summer economics research project focused on economic development, urban planning and industry analysis with a professor), 3 years at an investment bank and 1 yr working with a state governor on an initiative to improve the level of infrastructure facilities available in for rural communities in a West African country.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I thought it was very good since I started writing them a year before I submitted my applications. My writing professor in college took a look at them and she gave me a very positive remark (judging that I always had to revise my essays at least three times while I was in college with this professor) and my cousin who has a PhD in English helped me with proof reading/editing. I focused on my background as an international student having worked in both developed and developing countries however I highlighted my interest in working with people in the rural locales of developing countries so that they can achieve the same level of economic and social advancement like their counterparts in urban areas. I stressed my transition from an investment management role at a bank to the current work I do in economic development programs in Africa (which I think a lot of people find very interesting since I was going from a high paying job to a very low paying one).I spoke about my extracurricular and volunteer activities both in college and post college and my international travels/dancing/cooking skills (maybe this sealed the WWS deal! ). .

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I did not get a chance to look at them but I think they were strong: Three professors from my undergraduate school (I worked with one of them on a summer research project and he also supervised my Honors Thesis in college - still stay in touch with him even though I left the US), a supervisor from the banking firm and a current cabinet member in my country whom I worked with at the banking firm.

Edited March 17, 2011 by abogs78

[laserjpb]

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Univ of St. Thomas (liberal arts)

Previous Degrees and GPA's: BA Int'l Relations, BA Spanish Linguistics, Minor in Arabic Linguistics , 3.65 overall

GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 590/510/5.5

Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year Emergency Room medical interpreter, 3 years export grain trading w/Latin America largest US ag firm (significant in country exp. in Mexico, Peru, Colombia)

Math/Econ Background: Stats, General Math, Micro/Macro/Trade Econ

Foreign Language Background: Spanish, Arabic, some French, (native English speaker)

Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Political-economy type content, Latin America and/or MidEast

Long Term Professional Goals: Either State Dept. or Emerging Markets Investing/Trading

Schools Applied to & Results:

SIPA - MIA (Accepted, no $)

JH SAIS - (Waitlisted)

Georgetown - MSFS (Accepted, wtng on $)

GWU Eliott - (Accepted, no $)

Worked hard on the statement of purpose and think my letters of rec. were very strong.

Emphasized volunteer work, study abroad experience in Spain & Egypt & tied together with professional projects in business and future career goals.

Not surprised of the lack of funding (so far) due to not having top numbers.

Back and forth between SIPA & MSFS as both are strong ; SIPA has NYC advantage, avenue to private sector/Wall St work, MSFS obviously stronger in DC but with some private sector connections. Money wise I like SIPA because although likely more costly in the end, looks like I could defer a year out and save more $. Does not look like MSFS does deferrals except for "extreme cases".

The choice may come down to MSFS this fall with only $14-15k of savings going in (rest in loans) or SIPA next fall with more like $26-27k of savings (rest in loans).

Edited March 17, 2011 by laserjpb

[SportsFan]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, IR, Security Studies

Schools Applied To: HKS, Georgetown (MPP/MSFS and Security Studies), Elliott, SAIS

Schools Admitted To: Georgetown (MPP - $10k/year, MSFS, Security Studies), Elliott ($7.5k/year), SAIS ($20k/year)

Schools Rejected From: None

Waitlisted: HKS (MPP)

Undergraduate institution: West Point

Undergraduate GPA: 3.3

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.7

Undergraduate Major: Political Science

GRE Quantitative Score: 740

GRE Verbal Score: 670

GRE AW Score: 5.0

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 6.5

Years of Work Experience: 6.5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Army intelligence officer, experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at the Pentagon

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Who knows, but I thought it was solid; I described seeing foreign policy failures firsthand, and how that inspired me to study the US national security policymaking process and how one could reform it to lead to better foreign policy outcomes

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I saw 2 of 3, which were good, I'm sure the third was good as well

[ched]

Program Applied To: MPP and MPA

Schools Applied To: Syracuse (MPA), Columbia (MPA), NYU Wagner, University of Washington Evans, Ford Michigan, U Minnesota Humphrey MPP, Johns Hopkins IPS, GWU MPA

Schools Admitted To: NYU Wagner, Johns Hopkins ($), U of Minnesota, Ford (Waitlisted)

Schools Rejected From: Syracuse, Columbia

Still waiting: GWU, Evans

Undergraduate institution: University of California

Undergraduate GPA: 2.79 (yep)

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA: 2.76ish (yep, lower than overall)

Undergraduate Major: Cell Biology

GRE Quantitative Score: 650

GRE Verbal Score: 530

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4

Years of Work Experience: 4 plus lots of undergrad volunteer/internship work

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Mostly volunteer/internship work both in and out of school. Tutoring, community clinics, health fairs, student organization/conference organizing, and a business training internship for low-income women.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):

My SOP had to be extremely strong due my grades. My GPA was all over the place with no upward trend. I was able to tie in some very personal stories about what happened during undergrad (and my life in general) and tied it beautifully with what my career goals are--basically non-profit management with a focus on international development and healthcare.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): A good mix, I think. I got one letter from a professor from undergrad, chicano studies. I told him my story and pretty much told him what to write in the letter. Second letter was from an internship. They were really great and were super positive people. I have a feeling their letter was phenomenal. Third was from a clinic I worked at. Also very strong.

For those of you worried about low GPA's, there is definitely hope! Just make sure you explain your grades and let the rest of your application shine like crazy! Also, I would recommend taking a stats and Microecon classes to boost your GPA if possible and even at a JC, if you can't afford it at a 4-year school. Syracuse pretty much told me that my application was great and that if I reapply next year, all I need to do was take a microecon class and get an A. I just don't want to wait another year tho....

[M G]

Update

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, and IR

Schools Applied To: American University, U Denver, U Michigan, Syracuse(MPA/IR), Duke, George Mason, Johns Hopkins IPS, U Chicago, U Texas

Schools Admitted To: U Denver, U Texas, Syracuse, Johns Hopkins IPS, Duke(waitlisted), U Michigan, American University

Schools Rejected From: None yet

Undergraduate institution: Georgia State University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.02

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.26

Undergraduate Major: Business Economics

GRE Quantitative Score: 730

GRE Verbal Score: 610

GRE AW Score: 4.5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4

Years of Work Experience: 3

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 2 Online Banks and a Management Logistics Firm for two years

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I tried to focus on the fact that I did well in econ and international Business classes. I also reiterated the fact that my last job was relevant to what I wanted to do(international trade and monetary policy). I made it a point to mention at least 3 faculty members with similar interests for each school. It was strong enough to get into to schools so far.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two economic professors and the VP of the logistics company I worked for.

[dearestpriya]

Update

Program Applied To (MPA, MA)

Schools Applied To: HKS, SAIS, Columbia

Schools Admitted To: HKS, SAIS

Schools Rejected From: None yet

Undergraduate institution: University of Kentucky

Undergraduate GPA: 3.9

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 4.0

Undergraduate Major: Economics, Biology

GRE Quantitative Score: 790

GRE Verbal Score: 610

GRE AW Score: 4.0

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4

Years of Work Experience: 4

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Research in Public Health

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Talked about my experience with poverty in India.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): very strong ones from my managers.