MPA/MPP/IR 2012 Applicants

[charlotte_asia]

All of my decisions are in, so I'll finally post this. Reading these helped a lot when I applied so I will provide as much as I can in hopes that this can help others:

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

Schools Applied To: GWU-Elliot, American- SIS, Tufts-Fletcher, Princeton- WWS, Georgetown- Government, Johns Hopkins- SAIS

Schools Admitted To: All except Princeton

Schools Rejected From: WWS

Still Waiting:

Undergraduate institution: Top 10 LAC

Undergraduate GPA: 3.38 (~3.7 major)

Undergraduate Major: Political Science, South Asian Studies

Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: 3.6

GRE Quantitative Score: 690 (94%)

GRE Verbal Score: 640 (56%)

GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 when applied

Years of Work Experience: 3.5 (as in, real work experience, not counting summer internships in college)

Describe Relevant Work Experience: .5 years in Southeast Asia doing microfinance, 2 years with progressive experience at international human rights/democracy NGO, 1 year freelance/consulting in South Asia for human rights/democracy NGOs, contributor to major international democracy review.

Languages: English (native), Spanish (intermediate)

Quant:Intro to Econ (oped to pass/fail it-- passed it), realized that was a mistake if I wanted to go to grad school, took International Political Economics, Statistics/Methods of Political Science my junior year (B+s in both), took Micro and Macro after graduation at night school (As in both)

Strength of SOP: I know some feel they inflate the quality of their SOP, and if they think that about my self- analysis then so be it.But it was really, really strong and it's what made me stand out amid my fine-but-not-outstanding GRE and GPA.

I wrote about my passion for democracy work, included an overall vision I have for the field and my role in it. My SOP tied my application together-- where I have been in the democracy field and where I want to go... and more importantly, how I wanted to positively improve my field and why I needed X Grad School to do that.

I wrote a separate SOP for each school, and I wrote very specifically about that school's comparative advantage and why me + that school = a public servant with leadership and contribution to my field. I wrote what I would do with my degree from X Grad School- why investing in me was good for them. I started writing in October and revised each (as in, fully revised drafts, not just edits) upwards of 9 times. My fiance, an MPP grad, reviewed all multiple times and provided harsh (and helpful) feedback. Other friends edited as well.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 1 professor from undergrad who advised my thesis on democracy, 2 supervisors from work- one who could speak to my analytic abilities and one who could speak to my programmatic/management/democracy expertise. The latter was outstanding (in part because the referrer is an outstanding LOR writer), the other two would have been strong.

Other: My application told a very clear story: commitment to the field of democracy/governance/human rights. I have been passionate about this topic since I was a junior in undergrad and made this clear. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, not just career-wise, but the impact I wanted to make on my field, the specific ways I wanted to contribute to it and improve it.

I spent a LOT of time on my supplemental essays for SAIS, WWS, and Fletcher. Took a lot of time revising my undergrad paper for my 20-page writing sample from Georgetown. It's my one chance to show them I am actually a strong writer (damn the GREs) so I did it. Took several months to work on all of them.

My GPA was "fine" and my GREs were "fine." It was my work experience and my SOPs which made me stand out. I have always firmly believed these are the most important parts of the application- to prove you have thrived in your field and that grad school would enable you to continue that impact.

Edited March 14, 2012 by charlotte_asia

[Questionforyou]

Hi all! So I heard back from Harvard and Princeton within 4 minutes from each-other. I did not get into either -- does anyone else think that timing is strange? Did anyone else hear back from both of those today?

[readyornot]

Check out the Official Admitted Thread - looks like a lot of people had the exact same timing as you

[state_school'12]

Hey Charlotte, I think you accidentally swapped the GRE scores and percentiles between quant and verbal:

GRE Quantitative Score: 690 (94%)

GRE Verbal Score: 640 (56%)

GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%)

I got a 640 on verbal, too. Congrats on your admits!

[charlotte_asia]

Yep, I did switch my GRE scores accidentally. Thanks for catching that. It should be 640Q and 690V. Would have loved a 690Q though

Thanks for your congrats... and many kudos to you too. Looks like a terrific range of options for you to choose from!

[smirrah]

I was wondering if anyone knows how LSE stands in the States? I'm heavily considering the two-year MPA in Intl Dev at LSE, which is very quant & econ focused (in comparison to their one-year MScs in IR topics). I'm in at SAIS as well as GW ($$), but my sig. other is English and will be in London for the next couple of years.

I know SAIS has a much stronger rep. and better network, but is it that much better than LSE if I were to come back to the States once I'm done? I don't want to go into a potentially disastrous long distance relationship if the difference isn't that major.

Thanks for any insight.

[state_school'12]

I can tell you something from a slightly different perspective. LSE has one of the few economics masters programs in the world that is viewed as first-rate. Many econ departments award masters degrees only to those that drop out of the Phd program, so there's a not insignificant stigma attached to Econ MAs. However, an Econ masters (MsC, or whatever) carries no stigma. And "London School of Economics" will impress quite a few folks in the private sector consulting. No idea about IR/Dev though. I know the LSE places very strongly in the European Union, and is sort of the melting pot for future leaders. Funding is difficult, I've heard.

In my current job (small U.S. consulting firm), we hired someone largely because he came from LSE (and fit all of our other requirements of course).

[smirrah]

I can tell you something from a slightly different perspective. LSE has one of the few economics masters programs in the world that is viewed as first-rate. Many econ departments award masters degrees only to those that drop out of the Phd program, so there's a not insignificant stigma attached to Econ MAs. However, an Econ masters (MsC, or whatever) carries no stigma. And "London School of Economics" will impress quite a few folks in the private sector consulting. No idea about IR/Dev though. I know the LSE places very strongly in the European Union, and is sort of the melting pot for future leaders. Funding is difficult, I've heard.

In my current job (small U.S. consulting firm), we hired someone largely because he came from LSE (and fit all of our other requirements of course).

Thanks very much, I really appreciate having an employer insight. I know its econ courses are world famous and that its IR courses are Europe famous, so I wasn't sure where my program might come in being a mix of the two. It is definitely difficult to get funding whatsoever, which is a shame as I'm sure that deters some really quality students that get merit awards from great programs. I didn't get a penny based on need, not surprising as a US student, but they don't even announce their few and far between merit scholarships until past US decision deadlines.

Anyways, as I'm not sure if I want to work in Europe (much easier said that done) or the US and have non-academic factors to pull me to London, I have lots of thinking to do. Grateful for the help!

Edited March 15, 2012 by smirrah

[Helpplease123]

I know SAIS has a much stronger rep. and better network, but is it that much better than LSE if I were to come back to the States once I'm done? I don't want to go into a potentially disastrous long distance relationship if the difference isn't that major.

LSE is a brilliant school and well known all over the world... plus long distance relationships really, really suck...

[sengpatt]

Just received all of my decisions as well! This will probably be of particular use to those applying just out of undergrad.

***

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

Schools Applied To: American SIS, George Washington ESIA, Georgetown SFS, Seton Hall Whitehead, Syracuse Maxwell, Tufts Fletcher, UCSD IR/PS, University of Denver Korbel

Schools Admitted To: American, George Washington, Seton Hall, Syracuse, UCSD, University of Denver

Schools Rejected From: Georgetown, Tufts

Still Waiting: none

Undergraduate institution: Top 40 liberal arts college

Undergraduate GPA: 3.80 (at time of application)

Undergraduate Major: French Language and Literature (Chinese minor)

Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: n/a

Study abroad: France (1 semester), China (6 weeks)

GRE Quantitative Score: 163 (88%)

GRE Verbal Score: 167 (98%)

GRE AW Score: 4.0 (48%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 0

Years of Work Experience: 0

Describe Relevant Work Experience: English teaching internship while abroad

Languages: English (native), French (advanced), Mandarin Chinese (advanced)

Quant: Intro to Macroeconomics , Intro to Microeconomics [b+]

Strength of SOP: By my standards, written clearly and to the point (although not without typos, as I later discovered). Really tried to tie my primarily language-based studies and abroad experiences to what I wanted to pursue in grad school (minority rights, human rights interventions, and democratization). As good as I could make it in the limited time that I had for applications.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): All letters from professors who knew me well and who came from different academic departments. Presumably good.

Other: Frankly, coming straight out of undergrad, I didn't think I had much of a shot at any good IR programs. I definitely had the language preparation, and my GPA and GRE scores were competitive for a lot of places, but I didn't have a ton of quant/polisci background or the work experience I thought I needed to have a real strong chance. As a result, I ended up applying to places that were a little easier to get into as well as some more name-brand places. I was clearly rejected at Georgetown and Tufts (#1 and #5 in the most recent rankings), but that was to be expected, I think. The more important part is that I got into way more places than I was anticipating, and now I have some really great options for next year. As others have reiterated elsewhere in the forums, I think adcoms are really looking for focus and direction in an application. Obviously it's good to show that you have the ability to succeed at the graduate level (through college GPA and GRE scores), and foreign language skills are a plus, but it's really about the SOP and explaining how your background is closely linked to your grad school and career plans. I'm sure I could've benefited from a couple years abroad/working, but in my current situation, this is probably my best option, and now I have real, viable way to pursue what I want to do.

Edited March 17, 2012 by sengpatt

[AlphaDon]

Has anyone heard from University of Washington Jackson School of international studies? Its middle of March and I haven't heard anything. Should I be concerned?

[Rexbocker828]

Dinged at Wagner, USC looking very unlikely. Hello Malibu!

Congrats all!

[method]

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

Schools Applied To: Ford, Heinz, Sanford

Schools Admitted To: Ford, Heinz, Sanford

Schools Rejected From:

School Attending: Ford

Undergraduate institution: Big 12

Undergraduate GPA: 3.22

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): unsure, but also hold a recent masters in accounting with 4.0 GPA for trending purposes

Undergraduate Major: Management Information Systems

GRE Quantitative Score: 169 (98%)

GRE Verbal Score: 167 (98%)

GRE AW Score: 4.5 (72%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 11

Years of Work Experience: 11, but I'm 31 years old which I think is young(er) for this much experience

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 100% private sector; transferable skills in technology, management, and innovation. Social sector leadership: founded an K-12 urban education community service program that serves 200 minority children now.

Languages: Spanish - intermediate reading/writing

Quant: As in calculus, finance, statistics, microeconomics

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): very strong sop detailing interest in the impact of technology and business in K-12 education

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): very strong academic recommendations from an assistant dean and Harvard MBA teaching at a top 30 business school

Other:

[clover123]

What have you all heard about Milano's New school in NYC? Just got accepted this morning, and would love to hear any input!

[Helpplease123]

Have all my decisions now so thought I’d post a profile!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Schools Applied To: USC Price, NYU Wagner, Columbia SIPA, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT Austin LBJ

Schools Admitted To: USC Price (1/2 tuition), NYU Wagner (haven’t heard about funding yet), UT Austin LBJ

Schools Waitlisted: Columbia SIPA

Schools Rejected From: UNC

Attending: USC

Undergraduate institution: Top 10 in the UK

Undergraduate GPA: 3.5 (I guess, we don’t get GPAs – 2:1 in English terms)

Undergraduate Major: Psychology

Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: no clue..

Study abroad: Austria (6 months)

GRE Quantitative Score: 159 (82%)

GRE Verbal Score: 165 (97%)

GRE AW Score: 5.5 (97%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 (I spent 6 months studying abroad and 6 months in Central America after graduating and before starting working)

Years of Work Experience: 3

Describe Relevant Work Experience: None of it is “relevant” really, except my current role but I started that after the application process... People here had me panicked about that but it turned out ok! I have 1 year w/e in events, 1 year in management (in retail) and 1 year in an operations type role, also in retail.

Languages: English (native), German (advanced), French (average)

Quant: Currently taking the following online: stats, Calculus Intro to Macroeconomics , Intro to Microeconomics…had only done stats otherwise and had a C in that from undergrad.

Strength of SOP: I thought it was good but then again, reading Gradcafe made me panic as the format didn’t seem to follow what other people had done…Basic structure was: why I’ve become interested in this particular nonprofit field, what I’m doing now that ties in with it, my specific short and long term goals, what skills I need to build still and how the school will help me do that. I feel like I should’ve talked about what I’ve achieved up until this point more but at the time thought I should look more to the future, having said that, who cares – I got in where I wanted to!

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I was pretty worried about these…had two work ones which I think were probably decent, albeit slightly old (as my most current supervisor mysteriously disappeared a couple of weeks before deadlines…) My academic reference was a big concern as undergrad is very impersonal here in the UK, especially at my very big University in one of the most populated majors. That being said, I decided to ask my professor from one of my online classes to do it and he agreed luckily, even though we’d only communicated via email and I was only half way through the class. I am incredibly thankful to him for doing that, as I obviously needed a third reference and specifically an academic one. My University had said the only information they could write in a reference was already including in my transcript essentially.

Other: Had a lot of stuff in my applications that worried me – less strong LOR, no mention of my successes so far in my SoP, almost no quant skills and I horror of horrors accidentally didn’t waive my right to view my recommendations, which posts on Gradcafe also led me to believe would spell my doom! Having said that, I had good GRE scores, decent GPA, I think my SoP was well written and I have quite a unique and specific end goal which may have been interesting to programs. Ultimately I wanted to get into USC and having done so with some funding to boot means I have come out of this experience a very, very happy person!

Edited March 21, 2012 by Helpplease123

[Madrilena25]

Woww laj168, congrats on your acceptance to SIPA!!! You should be on cloud nine...I think your stats are impressive and your profile quite interesting. I can see why you have been awarded a scholarship and admitted into IFP. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us!

[sprinkled.sentiments]

USC people, how/where/when did you find out about funding? I still haven't heard anything from them...

[Helpplease123]

USC people, how/where/when did you find out about funding? I still haven't heard anything from them...

Did you get an admissions packet from Price as well as from the general grad school? It was in that letter.

[Alamako]

Well, I'm having a bout of insomnia (=time to kill) and I've appreciated reading these entries from other people, so here are my stats for your perusal . . .

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

Schools Applied To: Tufts Fletcher, American SIS, Fordham IPED, Sciences Po Paris, Graduate Institute Geneva

Schools Admitted To: Tufts Fletcher ($), American SIS ($$), Fordham IPED, Sciences Po Paris ($?), Graduate Institute Geneva ($$$)

Schools Rejected From:

Still Waiting: Financial info from Sciences Po urg, ready to be out of graduate admissions purgatory, wish they would get back with me!

Undergraduate institution: Top 25 liberal arts

Undergraduate GPA: 3.7

Undergraduate Major: Anthropology

Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: I dunno . . . higher than the total GPA, though

GRE Quantitative Score: 690

GRE Verbal Score: 680

GRE AW Score: 4 (was unexpected given that I usually am considered a good writer by teachers and employers, etc.; however, I didn't feel like studying for the whole test again to improve the AW score plus I was really more interested in the international schools, which don't care about the GRE)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): Going on 6 (woah! I'm old!)

Years of Work Experience: 5.5ish

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Peace Corps, research assistant at an NGO, program coordination for the government

Languages: French, Bambara, Russian

Quant: High school calculus and took a couple of intro econ courses a few years ago

International Exposure: Study abroad during college and then 2 years in PC

Strength of SOP: I worked on it on and off for 6 months or so. I never got it to the point where I felt totally inspired by it, but I did get it to the point where it covered everything it needed to (experience, motivation, why interested in each school) and was well written. In retrospect, I wonder if SOPs are supposed to be inspiring . . . food for thought.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Probably fine - don't know bc I didn't see them myself. Getting these was probably the most stressful part of the process for me, though. I hate asking people for letters though I know it's a totally reasonable request.

Other: Probably going to Geneva next year. Pretty excited!

Now, off to putz around the internet for another hour and then head out for a giant cup of coffee and another long work day.

Edited March 28, 2012 by Alamako

[laj168]

[edit: reposting yet again to include the final everything]

I'm hoping this will help future applicants as well. This is my first time posting, but I found these forums indispensable...for driving myself crazy

This, I think, will most help those who are coming from a very different academic background (humanities) and are looking for a career change.

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

Schools Applied To: Harvard Kennedy MPP, Georgetown MSFS, UCSD IRPS MPIA, Columbia SIPA MIA

Schools Admitted To: UCSD (full tuition scholarship plus modest living stipend per academic month), Columbia (first year scholarship of half tuition, International Fellows Program modest fellowship), Pickering Fellowship

Schools Rejected From: Harvard, Georgetown, Rangel Fellowship

Still Waiting: None

Undergraduate institution: Ivy League

Undergraduate GPA: 3.7 overall; 3.9 major

Undergraduate Major: English

Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA:

Study abroad: Ireland (one quarter); China (one summer)

GRE Quantitative Score: 720/156 (74%)

GRE Verbal Score: 720/168 (98%)

GRE AW Score: 5.5 (96%)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4.5

Years of Work Experience: 3-ish

Describe Relevant Work Experience: High school teacher to international students in the US (see below)

Languages: English (native), Mandarin (native), Spanish (fluent), French (beginning)

Quant: Literally none (see below)

Strength of SOP:The narrative/literary qualities of the piece I think were solid: a former undergraduate admissions officer friend praised it for its compelling anecdotes. An MBA friend helped me focus on self-promotion and quantifying achievements and effects/impact. Various other trusted friends pushed me to tweak the language a thousand times and hit word-limits while economizing language for pithiness. I toned down jokes, self-effacement, narrative arcs, and style for demonstrated interest in and ability for international relations. The schools I got into, interestingly enough, were the ones that had essay questions that actually required analysis of a current event or policy, not the ones that just had space for a personal statement.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc):1 professor, 1 director supervisor (in my case, the chair of my department), 1 school dean; all solid and personalized. I thought the combination was fairly balanced and showed that I do have work experience.

Other: I think I'm an anomaly on these forums. By looking at me on paper, there's definitely evidence for interest in something vaguely international and ability for theoretical analysis, but there is nowhere near the amount of evidence that I'm committed to the field. The typical applicant is a government/political science/economics/public policy major with a few years of experience in the public/nonprofit sector and some abroad work. I am none of those things. I was in a PhD program in literature (theory) for two years studying Marxism and pyschoanalysis and then became a teacher. I have solid knowledge of current events and have study abroad experience, but I know my profile is weak in comparison to most applicants. I supplemented this weakness by tailoring all my schooling and experience into narratives about how they relate to and prepare for international relations. I also said specifically that I want to apply for the Foreign Service and showed how I would fit there.

One other major weakness of my application was a lack of quantitative training. I somehow took not a single economics, math, government, or policy course in college, but I tried to smooth over that with an average GRE quant score and focusing on my verbal/written strengths.

I think the moral of my story is not to be discouraged if one doesn't fit the mold. The written statement portions of the application just need to be even more mulled over, massaged, reworked to make a specific case for oneself and tie up loose threads and lingering questions in ad-com's minds.

And a last bit of advice is to avoid these forums like the plague! They are anxiety-producing vortexes that intensify individual existential crises during the application/admission process and turn them into collective existential disasters! Just kidding. But they do turn normal people into page-refreshing zombies: better to just wait for an email from the schools and live life without the feeling that the next F5 determines your self-worth. It's demoralizing and humiliating.

[IRToni]

Figured I might as well also contribute.

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

Schools Applied To: Tufts Fletcher, Graduate Institute Geneva, JHU SAIS, Columbia SIPA, Yale Jackson, Berlin MAIB, Oxford MPhil IR, WWS MPA, HKS MPP

Schools Admitted To: Graduate Institute of Geneva ($$$$), Oxford MPhil IR ($$$), JHU SAIS ($$), Yale Jackson

Schools Rejected From: Tufts Fletcher (told to reapply), Columbia SIPA (told to reapply), WWS MPA, HKS MPP, Berlin MAIB

Still Waiting: DONE!!!

Undergraduate institution: Solid university abroad

Undergraduate GPA: 3.9

Undergraduate Major: East Asian Politics and Economies

Last 60 hours of undergraduate GPA: No idea

GRE Quantitative Score: 166 (94)

GRE Verbal Score: 164 (94)

GRE AW Score: 5.5 (96)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 0

Years of Work Experience: 0, but internships

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Internship with Association for International Cooperation, Foreign correspondent for major newspaper, Microcredit organization, all abroad

Languages:German, Chinese, some French, some Japanese

Quant: Minor in math with ok grades; Intro and Intermed Micro; Intro Macro

International Exposure: Study abroad during high school and college; Kung Fu School abroad; Internships abroad

Strength of SOP: I feel my SOP was fairly strong, though it was definitely weaker for some than for others. I basically worked on it for a couple of months and had a couple of paragraphs that were "template"-like that I'd just rearrange to fit the school. I usually included at least two original paragraphs for every school and wrote an entirely different SOP for Oxford, as the program is much more academic than most.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I had one really strong one that I saw, one that I didn't see but should have been fairly strong and then one where I wrote the template myseld and then just gave it to the professor (I had it checked by another one of my LOR writers). In the end, one of my writers bailed after 4 applications (even though I told her about the number beforehand), so I had to scramble to get another letter within two weeks (from abroad), which was very stressful.

Other: I was quite surprised by my results. I knew that having no work experience would hurt me. However, I didn't get into my safety school (Berlin), which I can only attribute to them feeling I wasn't a good fit (which is true) and the weakness of my SOP (it was def. one of my weakest). Got into two of my reaches (JHU and Oxford).

I'm heading to Geneva, which to me seems like a really good fit and the school that will keep both an academic and a professional career open for me. Excited to see some of you guys there.

[greendiplomat]

I made a thread for final decisions and leave-behinds for future applicants a few threads down ("Wrapping It Up").

[Bamse]

Hey folks! I’m applying in the upcoming cycle and was wondering if I have a chance to get in anywhere. I don’t know what schools/programs to apply to (if any) since I don’t know if I am competitive.

General: I am a Swedish citizen but came to college in the US on a scholarship.

Undergraduate institution: Large public university (top 30)

Undergraduate GPA: 3.98

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

Undergraduate Major: Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies (Summa Cum Laude) dual major

GRE Quantitative Score: 146 on last practice test (Kaplan)

GRE Verbal Score: 162 on last practice test (Kaplan)

GRE AW Score: No idea but hopefully between 5 and 6

Years Out of Undergrad: 1

Years of Work Experience: 1

Describe Relevant Work Experience:

I’ll start working for a big Swedish NGO in the fall that seeks to influence public policy to make Swedish industries more competitive on a global scale. They’re basically a union for Swedish industries and want to lobby politicians to make it easier to hire/fire people etc.

Languages: Swedish (native), English (fluent), Arabic (taken 3 years = up to advanced at my univ.), German (elementary)

Quant: I took macro and micro in high school and got those credits with me to college. I did really well in those classes but on my college transcript it says “Grade: P”.

Strength of SOP: Haven’t written it yet but I have a lot of diversity that I want to incorporate. I have lived in 4 countries and have traveled a lot.

Strength of LOR:

1) Senior thesis advisor. Should be good.

2) Random professor who has taught 2 of my classes. Should be decent.

3) Boss at work (hopefully – I haven’t asked yet). Should be good.

Other: Study abroad semester in the Middle East, senior thesis for which I got a stipend and went to some conferences, some minor awards and elected member of Phi Beta Kappa.

So, where can I get in? Can I get any funding anywhere (I am super poor!). As mentioned above, I haven’t taken the GRE yet but I’m guessing they will be close to my practice results. I do hope to improve my rather abysmal Quantitative score though.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

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[OregonGal]

Well, your academics look strong and it sounds like you've lined up a good work experience. However, if you haven't started that Swedish NGO job then you won't have much experience in it to point to when you're submitting applications in January. That would be my primary nitpick with your CV--your job experience will still be a little thin when you're applying to grad schools.

I don't know about merit-based aid, but if you're not a US citizen/permanent resident you aren't eligible for the need-based financial aid (mostly relatively cheap loans) from the US government that most of us are depending on. That would be your main financial issue--I don't know how Sweden handles student loans (especially for internationally based schools), but if you're a young professional without a lot of assets trying to secure a private loan for an expensive grad school ($100K+ for two years study) it can come with a sky-high interest rate.

[Lud]

This thread looked funny so I thought I'd give it a shot!

I haven't applied to anything yet since I'm just considering options for next fall, 2013. I'm just quite sure I want to apply for Geneva. Besides this first weird comment, a weirder thing is that I'm actually holding 3 degrees at the moment, including 1 undergrad and 2 grad ones. This odd situation has to do with the fact that 1. in my home country an undegrad degree lasts for 3 years and a grad one technically lasts for 1 year which made it possible to get all those degrees while still being relatively young 2. Degrees are free or virtually free here so it never bothered me from that perspective.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): None but thinking of MA in IA at Geneva, at least. Unsure about other US universities for now, I'll make my mind within a few weeks I guess.

Schools Applied To: None yet

Schools Admitted To: Dunno

Schools Rejected From: None... yet

Still Waiting: Absolutely not

Undergraduate institution: Supposedly famous French university, then a couple of Ms degrees taken in Sweden and in Paris while living in the UK -complicated uh-

Undergraduate GPA: Not sure how to convert my European grades. Let's say I have an undergrad' degree just "passed", a first ms degree "with high honors" and a second one "with honors".

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Not sure to get you!

Undergraduate Major: Law degree. I also got two MS degrees, one in laws and the other one amounts to social sciences.

GRE Quantitative Score: None for now

GRE Verbal Score: None for now

GRE AW Score: None for now

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 years

Years of Work Experience: 2 years, actually 3 by next summer

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 1 academic year as a teaching assistant in the UK, 1 year working for an international agency in South America -first as an intern then as an actual employee-, 2 months volunteering in Nicaragua for a local NGO.

Languages: French (native), English (Fluent), Spanish (Fluent), Portuguese (Fluent), Swedish (Beginner), Arabic (should have a beginner's level by late 2012).

Quant: Nope

International exposure: Intialliy studied in my home country, France, then studied 1 year in Sweden, lived and worked 1 year in the UK, volunteered 2 months in Central America, worked 1 year in South America, probably 2 years by next summer.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): ... Still to be written

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): ... Likewise. I am thinking though that 2 should come from former Professors, one being particularly "fond of me" if I may say and a third one from an international public servant who's currently my boss.

Other: Many extra-curricular activities and certificates ie. acting running onlines courses from UNITAR and so on.

I guess I must sound like a crazy candidate so I hope my SOP will shed some rational light on that.