Seeking input on chances/recommendations

[charlotte_asia]

Basic background:

Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts, 3.4 GPA in Political Science/South Asian studies, major GPA of around 3.6 or 3.7 I think. Studied abroad in remote areas of Asia, did an independent study on democracy and governance, research grant to do democracy and governance research in Asia for a summer

Work: 3 years work experience (will be 3.5 by the time I apply), 1/2 year fellowship in microfinance in Asia, 2 years democracy and governance work at major DG/human rights organization, 1 year living in Asia working on short-term contracts with NGOs and one research consultancy with major human rights organization

GREs: 690 V/640 Q/4.5 AW (was completely floored by the AW, though I had a 5 or 5.5. Not sure how much better I can do on quant :-/)

Econ/Quant experience: Took Into to Econ in college (opted to pass/fail it, passed it), International Political Economics in college (B+), Statistics and Methods of Political Science (B+), took Micro (A) and Macro (A) at the Graduate School in D.C. Took AP Calc in high school (4), able to place out in college.

SOP: Will focus on my observations/experience with democracy and governance promotion in US foreign policy and the role I want to play in its future

LOR: Two professors, one of whom oversaw my independent study, should be strong, and one executive from the org I worked for for 2 years.

Language: Will have intermediate Spanish by the time I apply, beginning Hindi

Dream School: Stanford IPS because of their Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law program (Larry Diamond!) and strong Asia program.

Other Top Choices: Columbia SIPA (Weatherhead center for Asian studies), Fletcher (esp because of Political Systems and Theories offerings), Georgetown SFS or MA in Government (Center for Democracy and Governance), SAIS (for SEA program)

Safeties: No clue. I really, really don't want to go to any other school besides the ones I listed though, admittedly. I know i need some- I'm not a shoe-in at any of the schools I've listed.

What are my chances at these schools?

Should I retake the GRE?

Which safeties should I consider?

Thanks everyone!

[charlotte_asia]

Bumping! I would love some thoughts guys

Thanks so much!

[disintegrate]

I don't think you should write GRE again. You stand a solid chance for the schols that you've mentioned.

[SaraDC]

I don't think you should write GRE again. You stand a solid chance for the schols that you've mentioned.

I agree - at least for Fletcher, Georgetown and SAIS (I don't know enough about Stanford's program to say one way or the other). After quickly reading through your description, I think your selling points will be your time spent abroad and relevant work experience. Potential weaknesses might be your quant score - but I think you've addressed that weakness with the USDA classes (or the "Graduate School" - I can't stop calling it USDA). Since improving your quant score on a retake isn't a sure thing, I'd spend your time on application essays, informational interviews, scholarship research, school visits and, if time allows, maybe another language/quant class at the Graduate School.

The major variable (IMO) to focus on in your applications is what you want to do after you graduate. Make sure that you convey to admissions that your experience/interests/abilities + their degree = your career goals.

As far as safety schools go - you might want to pick a safety if you're 100% convinced that have to go to graduate school next year. Just make sure you ask yourself the question - "If this is the only school I get into, would I actually be willing to attend? Or would I want to wait a year and reapply at my top choice programs." If you aren't actually willing to attend, don't apply. A safety school makes a lot of sense for a high school student applying to college who is on a set timeline, or maybe if you're applying to programs which are all long shots (which doesn't seem to be the case here). But when it comes to grad school, it's such a huge commitment in terms of time and money you need to make sure that you're going to a place that will provide you with sufficient returns on your investment.

[greendiplomat]

I agree - at least for Fletcher, Georgetown and SAIS (I don't know enough about Stanford's program to say one way or the other). After quickly reading through your description, I think your selling points will be your time spent abroad and relevant work experience. Potential weaknesses might be your quant score - but I think you've addressed that weakness with the USDA classes (or the "Graduate School" - I can't stop calling it USDA). Since improving your quant score on a retake isn't a sure thing, I'd spend your time on application essays, informational interviews, scholarship research, school visits and, if time allows, maybe another language/quant class at the Graduate School.

The major variable (IMO) to focus on in your applications is what you want to do after you graduate. Make sure that you convey to admissions that your experience/interests/abilities + their degree = your career goals.

As far as safety schools go - you might want to pick a safety if you're 100% convinced that have to go to graduate school next year. Just make sure you ask yourself the question - "If this is the only school I get into, would I actually be willing to attend? Or would I want to wait a year and reapply at my top choice programs." If you aren't actually willing to attend, don't apply. A safety school makes a lot of sense for a high school student applying to college who is on a set timeline, or maybe if you're applying to programs which are all long shots (which doesn't seem to be the case here). But when it comes to grad school, it's such a huge commitment in terms of time and money you need to make sure that you're going to a place that will provide you with sufficient returns on your investment.

I'm going to disagree with the first point with the above two posters in that your profile (regional focus and relevant work experience) are strong enough that you'll stand a decent chance despite your above-average-but-not-excellent GRE scores at all of the above programs. As a rule of thumb, your standardized test scores are weighed more heavily the less known the rigor of your undergraduate program is (the whole point of standardized tests, that is, to standardize the figurative playing field). Given that you're coming from a top 10 LAC, I'd say that your GRE scores aren't going to make or break you.

That being said, given that your quantitative preparation is apt but not extensive, you might want to retake the GRE if you have the time and think that you can make substantial strides by studying (a wise poster put it well a while ago when saying that you don't want to minimize the admissions committees' excuses to reject you). If not, just focus on improving your statement of purpose and getting strong recommendations, as SarahL suggests.

As for safeties, I'd be surprised if Fletcher didn't accept you (you seem like a great fit for the program). Though they're an excellent program, they don't focus on the quant as much in their core (though they do require a certain baseline knowledge of it), and, again, your work experience and regional+disciplinary focus seems very desirable. I think this brings me back to my original point (sorry for sounding like a broken record).

[nz32n]

I agree with SarahL that the safety schools are not like those for high-school student applying to college. But what if someone who really wants to go to grad school right after college? Would go to a mediocre program and get the master degree better, or work for a while and come back to grad school better? Seems to me that maintaining the momentum for studying is more preferable.

I agree - at least for Fletcher, Georgetown and SAIS (I don't know enough about Stanford's program to say one way or the other). After quickly reading through your description, I think your selling points will be your time spent abroad and relevant work experience. Potential weaknesses might be your quant score - but I think you've addressed that weakness with the USDA classes (or the "Graduate School" - I can't stop calling it USDA). Since improving your quant score on a retake isn't a sure thing, I'd spend your time on application essays, informational interviews, scholarship research, school visits and, if time allows, maybe another language/quant class at the Graduate School.

The major variable (IMO) to focus on in your applications is what you want to do after you graduate. Make sure that you convey to admissions that your experience/interests/abilities + their degree = your career goals.

As far as safety schools go - you might want to pick a safety if you're 100% convinced that have to go to graduate school next year. Just make sure you ask yourself the question - "If this is the only school I get into, would I actually be willing to attend? Or would I want to wait a year and reapply at my top choice programs." If you aren't actually willing to attend, don't apply. A safety school makes a lot of sense for a high school student applying to college who is on a set timeline, or maybe if you're applying to programs which are all long shots (which doesn't seem to be the case here). But when it comes to grad school, it's such a huge commitment in terms of time and money you need to make sure that you're going to a place that will provide you with sufficient returns on your investment.

[SaraDC]

I agree with SarahL that the safety schools are not like those for high-school student applying to college. But what if someone who really wants to go to grad school right after college? Would go to a mediocre program and get the master degree better, or work for a while and come back to grad school better? Seems to me that maintaining the momentum for studying is more preferable.

This is just my preference - but I think that working for a while before going back to grad school is almost always preferable, particularly for these types of professionally oriented programs (maybe less so for a phd - I have no idea). Yes, work experience will help you get into a better school. It's also going to help you get a job after grad school (a fact that grad schools know and take into account during their admissions process). But perhaps even more importantly, (IMO) time spent working helps you shape your understanding of exactly what you want to do.

I know a fair number of people who rushed back to grad school after undergrad (some without taking any break at all) and many of these people realized several years later that they needed another (sometimes completely unrelated) degree to do what they really wanted to do. Grad school is expensive and takes a long time (I know... stating the obvious). And being in the workplace really does help you refine your own career goals - it also gives you a chance to grow up a bit (at least it did for me). By the time I go back to school in the fall, I will worked for 4 years. As a result of the experiences I've had during these 4 years, I know exactly what I want to get out of school - which skills I need to develop, which internships I want to apply for, and which employers I'm going to target. If I'd have gone to school straight out of undergrad I wouldn't be able to bring the same level of perspective and focus to the experience.

Having said this, when I was in my last semester of college I distinctly remember being petrified that I wasn't going to get a job. I was also somewhat envious of my friends who were going straight to grad school because they knew exactly where they were going to be for the next 2+ years. But now, I definitely I'm better for it.

I think one counter-argument might be the job market. If you really don't think you'll be able to get a job in anything remotely related to what you want to do because the economy is seized up, that could be an argument for going straight to grad school. But how can you really know your chances in the job market unless you try?

[JAubrey]

I agree with SarahL that the safety schools are not like those for high-school student applying to college. But what if someone who really wants to go to grad school right after college? Would go to a mediocre program and get the master degree better, or work for a while and come back to grad school better? Seems to me that maintaining the momentum for studying is more preferable.

Going from undergrad directly to a master's, especially in IR / Gov, is an utter and unmitigated error in judgement.

A) You will get into better programs with relevant work experience (some firms / the gov may even pay for it!)

B ) Employers post master's MASSIVELY prefer if you have work experience prior to attaining one's masters

C) You will be better prepared to select what degree is right for you with work experience

D) You will be able to actually add some value to class discussions vs pure academic knowledge

Edited June 8, 2011 by JAubrey

[charlotte_asia]

Thanks all for your input!

[charlotte_asia]

Updating this in case it's helpful for future applicants--

Ended up applying to GWU- Elliot, AU- SIS, Tufts- Fletcher, Johns Hopkins- SAIS, Georgetown- Government, Princeton- WWS

I was accepted everywhere except for Princeton. Strong SOPs that I spent months working on (answered not only the question why school + me = my career goals for ME, but also for my field... in other words the contributions I could make to my field with a degree from X school... what X school investing in me yields.) I think this plus really strong, substantive professional work experience and nearly 2 years living overseas is what got me in to some of the more competitive programs at SAIS and Fletcher.

Thanks to everyone for your help and good luck future applicants