Chances of getting accepted

[latamstudent]

Hi everybody,

I just applied to HKS (MPA ID), SIPA (MPA) and LSE (MPA ID) and would like to know if someone could give me an opinion about my chances of being accepted in any of these schools.

My GRE scores are 800 (quant) and 560 (verbal) and got 108 in the TOEFL, so here comes my first doubt: Are those scores ok for an international student whose mother tongue is spanish?

I have passed the 3 CFA exams on my first try, so I'm currently a CFA Charterholder. I have 8 years of experience but more focused on the private sector (2y in a local advisory firm, 2y in the government supervizing pension fund's portfolios, 2 years as ING's CIO (managing mutual funds), 1 year at Citibank (working with derivatives) and I'm currently working on a pension fund structuring investments in infrastructure (that's why I'm interested in international development). As you can see, my experience fits better for an MBA, but I'm interested in an MPA.

Also, I don't have very good undergrad grades but maybe my CFA degree and my working experience could compensate.

I would really appreciate if you could give me some opinions!

[latamstudent]

Hi everybody,

I just applied to HKS (MPA ID), SIPA (MPA) and LSE (MPA ID) and would like to know if someone could give me an opinion about my chances of being accepted in any of these schools.

My GRE scores are 800 (quant) and 560 (verbal) and got 108 in the TOEFL, so here comes my first doubt: Are those scores ok for an international student whose mother tongue is spanish?

I have passed the 3 CFA exams on my first try, so I'm currently a CFA Charterholder. I have 8 years of experience but more focused on the private sector (2y in a local advisory firm, 2y in the government supervizing pension fund's portfolios, 2 years as ING's CIO (managing mutual funds), 1 year at Citibank (working with derivatives) and I'm currently working on a pension fund structuring investments in infrastructure (that's why I'm interested in international development). As you can see, my experience fits better for an MBA, but I'm interested in an MPA.

Also, I don't have very good undergrad grades but maybe my CFA degree and my working experience could compensate.

I would really appreciate if you could give me some opinions!

I forgot to mention that I majored in Economics!

[fso2k11]

It depends on the program. I understand that HKS is much more interested in public service and leadership, in fact they are somewhat pissed when a Kennedy School grad takes jobs at Goldman or something. I don't think they necessarily want to be known as the hot recruiting spot for McKinsey & Co...that wasn't President Kennedy's message, his message was one of public service and sacrifice in the name of the public interest. So its all in the messaging. Obviously your GRE scores are great and certain programs are very interested in your private sector quant work and what I assume are your private sector quant aspirations. Look at Carnegie Mellon, they're very quant heavy, in a good way. SAIS or SIPA are also good picks. But if HKS stayes true to what they desire in a candidate, and every indication from the people I talk to there tells me that they will, you're going to have a tough time getting in there even if you had a 1600 and 15 years on wall st. They take aspiring congressmen, chiefs of staff, foreign financial ministers, political campaigners, non-profit leaders, mid-sized city mayors and people of that nature.

I forgot to mention that I majored in Economics!

[latamstudent]

It depends on the program. I understand that HKS is much more interested in public service and leadership, in fact they are somewhat pissed when a Kennedy School grad takes jobs at Goldman or something. I don't think they necessarily want to be known as the hot recruiting spot for McKinsey & Co...that wasn't President Kennedy's message, his message was one of public service and sacrifice in the name of the public interest. So its all in the messaging. Obviously your GRE scores are great and certain programs are very interested in your private sector quant work and what I assume are your private sector quant aspirations. Look at Carnegie Mellon, they're very quant heavy, in a good way. SAIS or SIPA are also good picks. But if HKS stayes true to what they desire in a candidate, and every indication from the people I talk to there tells me that they will, you're going to have a tough time getting in there even if you had a 1600 and 15 years on wall st. They take aspiring congressmen, chiefs of staff, foreign financial ministers, political campaigners, non-profit leaders, mid-sized city mayors and people of that nature.

Thank you very much for the honest answer......with your information I am confirming my previous thoughts.......I know I'll have a hard time getting into HKS....

So, maybe I have higher chances of being accepted into SIPA. If not, next year I'll apply to a joint degree (MBA/MPA) or an MBA.