Rate my chances

[twip25]

I have a BS in electrical engineering with a GPA of 3.2 My GRE scores are 600 verbal 650 quantitative

What are my chances of getting into a public policy program, specifically George mason university.

Getting a 3.2 in EE is extremely difficult, obviously I have a brain that must work somewhat.

However I am afraid I would be rejected due to my technical background switching to a social science.

If I had a low chance of getting in why would it be?

Is there any one here on a graduate committee?

I don't want to spend hours preparing my essay and be rejected and ashamed.

I see so many retards get accepted in graduate school, but I am sooooo afraid of rejection

thanx

[iamuberpro]

you should email them and ask them, someone nice

[firecolon]

I am currently finishing my undergraduate degree at George Mason University. The public policy program is very strong at George Mason, but the admissions is a bit weak. My guess is that you have a 50% chance of acceptance. I think the reason I have been so successful with the graduate school admissions process is because I made a very strong statement of interest.

I don't want to spend hours preparing my essay and be rejected and ashamed.

You shouldn't be worried about that. Even if you are rejected, you can re-use it the next time you need to write an essay for admissions.

The main concern you should have is that George Mason University is run by a lot of stupid people (many of which can't speak English but have jobs which require them to do so), the cost of living is enormous, and the traffic is the worst in all of the United States (outside of California). George Mason University is strong on academics and research, and if that's all that really matters to you then you should go there.

[snowcapk]

Twip, did you visit their website? The admitted class profile is here - your GPA and scores are near the mean, so you should be okay there. The fact that your undergrad major is EE is not a problem as long as you also took courses in economics, statistics, and political science. I assume you must have taken some of those courses, or else how would you know you want to study public policy? But if not, enroll at a local college and take them in the evenings or on weekends. (Unfortunately, having "a brain that works somewhat" will not make you competitive, even if all of your recommenders attest that you are a fast learner with critical thinking skills.)

At any rate, it would be preferable to have recommendations from professors in the social sciences. An EE professor would have nothing intelligent to say about your chances of success in a public policy program. If that means you need to take some more courses and make some contacts, then get on that right away.

[Minnesotan]

Rating someone's chances based only on numbers is something of a fool's errand. I think bad numbers can get you put into the early cut pile, and good numbers could help you get your foot in the door, but after that, the SoP and LoRs are quite important, as well as your fit with the program.

[twip25]

snowcapk: I want to study social sciences to get away from ee, computer science or math. the ppl are crazy and obssessed over details instead of looking at the big picture. I'm tired of being a robot in the IT/ engineering world where automation and outsourcing are here to stay forever I want to major in a social science where there is more human interaction. I miss that aspect of life. that was good advice you gave me, I will use it. I like ee but the ppl in the field are weirdos.

btw.. I was also thinking of applying for a MA in conflict resolution: they want 3 LOR - one must be from a professor of my EE undergraduate major. I too believe my ee prof would have nothing valuable to contribute. would they possibly throw my application out if all 3 LOR were from social science professors?

firecolon: that is true - gmu has a lot of stupid people. I saw lazy morons get into graduate school at gmu and most likely a hard working person that slaved thru school to get my gpa will be rejected but I want gmu cuz its in state and its programs are highly rated. I must admit I learned a lot of that school, boy did I work hard there and it is not an easy school, if u want an A in math / cs / ee be prepared to slave for it at gmu.

thanx ppl for your responses

[snowcapk]

btw.. I was also thinking of applying for a MA in conflict resolution: they want 3 LOR - one must be from a professor of my EE undergraduate major. I too believe my ee prof would have nothing valuable to contribute. would they possibly throw my application out if all 3 LOR were from social science professors?

Well, what I would do is ask director of graduate studies (DGS) in that department. He/she probably set the regulation that you need a prof from your undergrad major, so that's who you should ask for an exception. My advice is to ask whether you can submit a fourth recommendation from a SS prof, instead of asking whether you can skip the EE prof rec letter. That way it doesn't look like you're trying to hide something :wink: Bonus: if one of the four profs forgets to send his letter, your application won't get thrown in the garbage.

[twip25]

i got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[liszt85]

Excellent! Congratulations. I myself got into Psychology (zero prior experience) and linguistics programs due to strong SOPs and LORs and research work. So its definitely possible.