KSG Chances

[canesfan2011]

Hey guys,

I know HKS places a heavy emphasis on work experience and say on the website very few people get in straight from undergrad. On top of that I'm graduating a year early so I'll be 21 when I enter grad school. I was wondering if you guys could tell me how little of a shot I actually have... I've already been accepted to GWU (both the media/public affairs and MPA programs), GPPI, and UMaryland. No word on funding yet. Now I'm just waiting on HKS to reject me via low quant scores and no "real" work experience! Help me obsess a little more while I wait?

Undergrad: University of Miami

BS Communication Studies/Political Science, Minor in Economics (expected May 2011)

Current GPA: 3.9

Spent a semester doing the "semester in washington" program at American studying public policy and interning. stayed for the summer.

GRE: V: 680, Q: 620 (I know, it's low...)

My personal statement focused on my involvement with the urban debate league and how it helped me realize how dilapidated parts of the public education system are through personal experience.

Work experience: Kendrick Meek for Florida- Senate Campaign (Press Intern) Aug. 2010 - Nov. 2010 (present)

White House Internship Program (Speechwriting intern) Summer 2010

Office of Senator Bill Nelson (Press Intern) Jan. 2010 - May 2010

Office of Rep. Alan Grayson (Press Intern) Summer 2009

Recs: Have 2 professors and 1 former employer who have all promised me "superior" letters

Honors/Activities: Hurricane Policy Debate Team (Co-Captain)

Young and College Democrats (Secretary)

President's 100 (student ambassadors)

President's Honor Roll

Girls Nation 2007 (President Pro Tempore of the Senate)

Florida Girls' State 2007 (President of the Senate)

High School- Varsity Travel Debate, Student Congress Captain (70 members)

Forgot demos- female, 21, very white, from FL

Edited February 15, 2011 by ltrutledge

[kaka]

Hey guys,

I know HKS places a heavy emphasis on work experience and say on the website very few people get in straight from undergrad. On top of that I'm graduating a year early so I'll be 21 when I enter grad school. I was wondering if you guys could tell me how little of a shot I actually have... I've already been accepted to GWU (both the media/public affairs and MPA programs), GPPI, and UMaryland. No word on funding yet. Now I'm just waiting on HKS to reject me via low quant scores and no "real" work experience! Help me obsess a little more while I wait?

Undergrad: University of Miami

BS Communication Studies/Political Science, Minor in Economics (expected May 2011)

Current GPA: 3.9

Spent a semester doing the "semester in washington" program at American studying public policy and interning. stayed for the summer.

GRE: V: 680, Q: 620 (I know, it's low...)

My personal statement focused on my involvement with the urban debate league and how it helped me realize how dilapidated parts of the public education system are through personal experience.

Work experience: Kendrick Meek for Florida- Senate Campaign (Press Intern) Aug. 2010 - Nov. 2010 (present)

White House Internship Program (Speechwriting intern) Summer 2010

Office of Senator Bill Nelson (Press Intern) Jan. 2010 - May 2010

Office of Rep. Alan Grayson (Press Intern) Summer 2009

Recs: Have 2 professors and 1 former employer who have all promised me "superior" letters

Honors/Activities: Hurricane Policy Debate Team (Co-Captain)

Young and College Democrats (Secretary)

President's 100 (student ambassadors)

President's Honor Roll

Girls Nation 2007 (President Pro Tempore of the Senate)

Florida Girls' State 2007 (President of the Senate)

High School- Varsity Travel Debate, Student Congress Captain (70 members)

Forgot demos- female, 21, very white, from FL

Your internship experience in fantastic...don't worry about the GRE at all, you will be fine

[fso2k11]

- Internships are great

- Find some way to spend your time for the next year. Get a job (not on the hill, in my opinion, you already have that and good luck in this climate considering 2 of your 3 offices are now gone) Go WORK on a campaign....Virginia has state senate and house races this year, for instance.

- Get relevant/diverse volunteer experience: i.e. the Refugee Assistance Program (perhaps the most exotic/interesting/selfless volunteer opportunity available. But your pockets will always be full of those damn nepalese coins...)

- Take your GREs again, if you want. I got a 660 four years ago, then I studied my ass off for a week straight, took it again, got a 760. You can do the same, and you probably should.

- You should have 1 professor letter and 2 professional letters. I.e. Nelson's Chief of Staff and your direct supervisor in the WH.

- Talk to a member of the HKS faculty (preferably the Admissions Committee) now to get a sense of the candidates who are getting through now. They have leadership experience, they're interested in being congressmen/women, or WH speech writers/journalists, etc. This conversation should shape (very directly) how you craft your resume & personal statement

But my main question is this: Why the $&%# do you want to go to HKS so quickly? Are you committed to getting an MPP from any institution? If not, HKS will see through you. Also, to put it bluntly, HKS is full of adults who know that they didn't know sh!t when they were 21 so they assume you probably don't either. Given that HKS can offer admission to 300 people per year (aka 3,000 people this decade, or 12,000 people during the remaining lifetime of Professor Larry Summers), they are prone to bet that you'll be just like every other 21 year old they know. In fact, they'll say, 21 year olds with impressive internships usually have rich helicopter parents and that fact would exacerbate the probability that you're just like every other 21 year old they know. I say apply now anyways, but don't count on it. Go be a GS-5 for the State Dept...they have an office in Miami...or invent something and file for a patent, then apply every year until you get in.

But if you want to go to any MPP school, you'll probably get in everywhere else but HKS and WWS. Just sayin'.

Your internship experience in fantastic...don't worry about the GRE at all, you will be fine

[smerd]

You've got great internships and some solid leadership experience, so you might have a real shot. That said, and I know you probably don't want to hear this (I wouldn't have), I strongly recommend against going directly from undergrad into an MPP. Not only will you be a stronger applicants in a year or two (which translates into more funding if not also more acceptances), you'll also get to spend some time in your early 20s exploring the world. These are golden years to try things and mess up--rack up some real-world success, failures, experiences. You really can't lose right now (hmm, unless you go into massive debt or develop some sort of debilitating addiction). Worst case scenario you get a year of experiences that, one way or another, will help you focus your interests in grad school.

I admit it, I'm biased. As someone who applied and didn't get into my top MPP programs right out of college, I am extremely thankful that I was forced to explore the real world for a few years before returning to school. I'm still going to get an MPP, but I have a much better idea of what I want to get out of the degree and have had opportunities over last couple years that won't come again. I really feel like my friends from college who went directly to grad school (many of them bright, interesting, superstars-to-be like yourself) really missed out on a big opportunity. Real, decades-long life comes after grad school--think hard about having some unstructured experiences before then. Grad school is always there, but this time you have now won't be.

- Internships are great

- Find some way to spend your time for the next year. Get a job (not on the hill, in my opinion, you already have that and good luck in this climate considering 2 of your 3 offices are now gone) Go WORK on a campaign....Virginia has state senate and house races this year, for instance.

- Get relevant/diverse volunteer experience: i.e. the Refugee Assistance Program (perhaps the most exotic/interesting/selfless volunteer opportunity available. But your pockets will always be full of those damn nepalese coins...)

- Take your GREs again, if you want. I got a 660 four years ago, then I studied my ass off for a week straight, took it again, got a 760. You can do the same, and you probably should.

- You should have 1 professor letter and 2 professional letters. I.e. Nelson's Chief of Staff and your direct supervisor in the WH.

- Talk to a member of the HKS faculty (preferably the Admissions Committee) now to get a sense of the candidates who are getting through now. They have leadership experience, they're interested in being congressmen/women, or WH speech writers/journalists, etc. This conversation should shape (very directly) how you craft your resume & personal statement

But my main question is this: Why the {:content:}amp;%# do you want to go to HKS so quickly? Are you committed to getting an MPP from any institution? If not, HKS will see through you. Also, to put it bluntly, HKS is full of adults who know that they didn't know sh!t when they were 21 so they assume you probably don't either. Given that HKS can offer admission to 300 people per year (aka 3,000 people this decade, or 12,000 people during the remaining lifetime of Professor Larry Summers), they are prone to bet that you'll be just like every other 21 year old they know. In fact, they'll say, 21 year olds with impressive internships usually have rich helicopter parents and that fact would exacerbate the probability that you're just like every other 21 year old they know. I say apply now anyways, but don't count on it. Go be a GS-5 for the State Dept...they have an office in Miami...or invent something and file for a patent, then apply every year until you get in.

But if you want to go to any MPP school, you'll probably get in everywhere else but HKS and WWS. Just sayin'.