The 'Am I competitive' thread - READ ME BEFORE POSTING

[MAAHF]

I am an international student from the Middle East

Programs: MPA2

Schools: HKS

Undergraduate institution: Top university in My country

Undergraduate Major: Pharma and Biotech

Undergraduate GPA: 3.83 overall

Post Graduate Major: Public Policy - Concentration: Regulatory Policy

Post Graduate GPA: 3.36 ( full time student , working full time and travelling 15% of my time)

GRE: Verbal: 150; Quant: 154 (AW 5) - wasn't my day :-(

Years Out of Undergrad: 5 years

Years of Work Experience: 6 years

Describe Relevant Work Experience:

1 year Military in its medical services section

5 years at a UN agency in its Regional HQ in the Middle East. Travelling in the region and providing healthcare/pharmaceutical policy Advisory services to Governments

several internships in multinational companies such as Bristol Myers, Novartis and P&G

Have an extensive event organization experience both locally and internationally

received various academic, service and leadership awards locally, regionally and internationally

Won several apprenticeship like competitions (business case like with several multinational corps)

Languages:

English:Academic IELTS 8

French: elementary

German: Conversational

Arabic: Native

Quantitative: at Under and post graduate levels

Calc 1 (A-), Macro economics (A-) Microeconomics ( B+ ) Statistics ( Quanttiative Analysis (A)

SOP: Focus on my strengths, working closely with governments on a policy level, UN circles exposure, extensive duty travel history , robust future plans in one of the 6 policy areas and related to political change at my country

LOR: 1 from Thesis supervisor , 1 from ex work supervisor currently leading very important work on IP and patents globally in HQ and one from an internship supervisor who later turned to a work colleague

Questions:

-Do I have a chance with my substandard GRE? I can't take it again due to time factor as HKS are pretty strict with deadlines Or should I save my money , face and work on getting a 160 in quant the least and apply next year? Does HKS look down at re-applicants? Also do you think my MPP would give me an edge considering the pre req courses of MPA2 or it will be a double sided weapon since several core courses are common between the two degrees? My MPP was regulatory focused and less quant.

I am starting to feel heebies jeebies as the deadline is approaching!

I appreciate your advice!

[MAAHF]

NPR Junkie ...I am really interested in your views on my thread above. Much appreciated in advance

Edited November 27, 2013 by MAAHF

[NPRjunkie]

 

I am an international student from the Middle East

 

Programs: MPA2

Schools: HKS

 

Undergraduate institution: Top university in My country

Undergraduate Major: Pharma and Biotech

Undergraduate GPA:  3.83 overall

Post Graduate Major: Public Policy  - Concentration: Regulatory Policy

Post Graduate GPA: 3.36 ( full time student , working full time and travelling 15% of my time)

 

 

GRE: Verbal: 150; Quant: 154 (AW 5) - wasn't my day :-(

Years Out of Undergrad: 5 years

Years of Work Experience: 6  years

Describe Relevant Work Experience: 

 

1 year Military in its medical services section

5 years at a UN agency in its Regional HQ in the Middle East. Travelling in the region and providing healthcare/pharmaceutical policy Advisory services to Governments

several internships in multinational companies such as Bristol Myers, Novartis and P&G

Have an extensive event organization experience both locally and internationally

received various academic, service and leadership awards locally, regionally and internationally

Won several apprenticeship like competitions (business case like with several multinational corps)

 

Languages: 

English:Academic  IELTS 8

French: elementary

German: Conversational

Arabic: Native

Quantitative: at Under and post graduate levels

Calc 1 (A-), Macro economics (A-)  Microeconomics ( B+ )  Statistics ( Quanttiative Analysis (A)

SOP: Focus on my strengths, working closely with governments on a policy level, UN circles exposure, extensive duty travel history , robust future plans in one of the 6 policy areas and related to political change at my country

 

LOR: 1 from Thesis supervisor , 1 from ex work supervisor currently leading very important work on IP and patents globally in HQ and one from an internship supervisor who later turned to a work colleague

 

Questions:

-Do I have a chance with my substandard GRE? I can't take it again due to time factor as HKS are pretty strict with deadlines Or should I save my money , face and work on getting a 160 in quant the least and apply next year? Does HKS look down at re-applicants? Also do you think my MPP would give me an edge considering the pre req courses of MPA2 or it will be a double sided weapon since several core courses are common between the two degrees? My MPP was regulatory focused and less quant.

 

I am starting to feel heebies jeebies as the deadline is approaching!

 

I appreciate your advice!

 

 

I think your work experience is very impressive. I think you'll need to explain the curve with your post-grad degree, and/or why your GPA was so much lower (working while studying is certainly a good explanation). HKS provides a separate essay for that, I think.

 

You are at the experience threshold where GPA and GRE scores matter less, but I'd say you're on the cusp. I think you'd have to weave an outstanding narrative in your personal statement to stand out, as there will be many other students with similar profiles who are also on the margins/cusp. You have an experience threshold where you have expertise; I'd recommend asserting it and being authoritative in what your goals are, the problems you identify, etc. Illuminate the theme of your application with your experiences and they may ignore the scores. That said, both your GRE scores are very low for HKS. I'd recommend taking it again.

 

I've heard that if HKS feels you are more appropriate for their MPP, they'll tell you somewhat early-on in the application process and they'll allow you to switch. I could be confusing this with Columbia, though.

 

Good luck!

[gradphil]

International student from Pakistan

 

Programs:  MPP/MPA

Schools: HKS, WWS, UM C-Park, LBJ Austin and Bush School,

 

Undergraduate institution: Top University in My country

Undergraduate Degree: Law

Undergraduate GPA:  53.70% (3.05/4.00 as per WES)

Post Graduate Degree: LLM

Post Graduate Major: Int’l Law, Int’l Economic Law and Jurisprudence

Post Graduate GPA: 68.58% (4.00 as per WES)

 

Masters’ Thesis: on nuclear disarmament

 

GRE: Verbal: 153; Quant: 158 (AW 3.5)

Years Out of Undergrad: 2.5 years

Years of Work Experience: 2.5  years

Describe Relevant Work Experience:

 

1 year as legal intern in the prosecution department, 3 months internship as research assistant at a local research institute specializing in international law and the rest as a lawyer.

 

Languages:

English: TOEFL IBT 102/120  (R-26; L-26; S-28; W-22)

Urdu: Native

Arabic: Elementary

Quantitative: at UG level.

Calc 1 ( B ), Macro economics ( B )  Microeconomics ( C ) 

Enrolled in Statistics & Probability, Linear Algebra and Calculus (multi-variable)

SOP: Focus on nuclear order and international security and career goals in research and academia.

 

 

LOR: 1 from Thesis supervisor, 1 from another professor and 1 from an internship supervisor.

 

Questions:

-Given my low scores in GRE, do I have shot at these policy schools? Besides admission, what are the chances of financial aid, including merit and TA-ships if any?

 

 

I appreciate your advice!

[gradphil]

"NPRJunkie" and "Swedishcofee"! I look forward to have your comments on my profile above.I appreciate your time and consideration!

[alexander.f]

International student from France

 

Programs:  MIA SIPA, SSP GTown, Elliot Intelligence, MPIA UCSD
 

Undergraduate institution: SciencesPo

Undergraduate Degree: Bachelor in Social Sciences - No Major

Undergraduate GPA:  3.2 (I don't really know, I used an online software) ranking top 30 though.

Study Abroad experience: 1 year in top university in Beijing

 

GRE: Verbal: 155; Quant: 165 (AW 5)

Years Out of Undergrad: 1 year (just starting my "gap" year)

Years of Work Experience: 1 year

Describe Relevant Work Experience:

- 3 months -political- internship at US Embassy 

- 3 months internship at consulting/think-tank in France focused on minorities, human rights, and countries "in transition"

- 6 months internship -cultural affairs- at French Embassy

- Wrote two articles for Asia-oriented IR magazine

A lot of college community commitment. 

 

Languages:

English: TOEFL 108

French: Native

Chinese: Bilingual

Korea: Advanced

Japanese: Intermediate

German: Intermediate

 

Quantitative: Took macro, micro, quantitative methods, financial statistics

 

SOP: I have a story...

 

LOR: 2 professors (politics+defense), 1 former employer.

 

Questions:

- Given my low GPA and the fact that I will only have a year of experience, do I have shot at these IR programs ? 

- Thing is, you can do very little in France with a bachelor's degree, and it is very common for student to further continue studying right after undergrad. You can't get a proper "job" and swinging between internships or "special contracts" doesn't particularly stabilize my wallet. I know it is not the case in the US, but I am really trying to escape from the French system (new perspective, escape from elitist -go to this school to work for the gvt- kind of approach).

 

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it.

[ZZZZZ]

On 11/24/2013 at 2:44 PM, MPPgal said:

Your aw is more than enough, especially for a non native English Speaker, however your quant is the problem, you, sadly are compiting against a lot of people from your country (India I assume), many with engineering degrees that have at least a 165, you do not need that much as you might not be a math person but you need to increase it to at least the median for that school, aka a 160 ish should be ok a 162+ ideal, this will also compensate for your lack of quant background. Also, if your argument is Im good at English just bad a t math then your verbal should be higher, I would say at least a 160 (i am bad at verbal good at math and that's how much I got), especially for tufts and GT. Also, you are applying for a professional degree, you have work experience and yet you only have academic LOR, you need at least 1 from your boss or direct supervisor or your intern coordinator etc.

 

MPPgal, noted your advice viz. quant background and score. Taking this into consideration, it would seem Georgetown is a real stretch for me. I might drop it all together and focus on Washington University Evans. Besides the US application system is so lengthy and time-consuming, i'd rather focus on colleges where i do stand a realistic chance. 

 

Also - I am originally from India but did all my schooling in Singapore. I guess my competition will be kids from here and elsewhere in SEA. Thank god I am not competing with the Indian students! 

[MPPgal]

Sadly they dont really see where you did your schooling, apply to both, I thought I didnt have a chance and I got into most places. Remember, one extra pplication has a small marginal cost in time and can giv eyou one more place to decide.

[NPRjunkie]

MPPgal, noted your advice viz. quant background and score. Taking this into consideration, it would seem Georgetown is a real stretch for me. I might drop it all together and focus on Washington U Evans. Besides the US application system is so lengthy and time-consuming, i'd rather focus on colleges where i do stand a realistic chance. 

 

Also - I am originally from India but did all my schooling in Singapore. I guess my competition will be kids from here and elsewhere in SEA. Thank god I am not competing with the Indian students! 

 

You know the Evans School is part of the University of Washington in Seattle and not Washington University in St. Louis, right?

[ZZZZZ]

You know the Evans School is part of the University of Washington in Seattle and not Washington University in St. Louis, right?

 

Well NPRjunkie what was it that indicated otherwise? 

[ZZZZZ]

In any event, let's keep this discussion board free of pedantic remarks. thanks. 

[hj2012]

On 11/27/2013 at 11:40 PM, V1988 said:

Well NPRjunkie what was it that indicated otherwise? 

 

You referred to the school as "WashU/WUSTL," (the common moniker for Washington University in St. Louis) whereas University of Washington-Seattle is usually referred to as "UW/UDub." 

 

It is a bit pedantic, but I've seen people mix up the two schools all the top, both IRL and on these forums. 

[Amsh_Aust]

Indian Applicant with Masters in Urban Development

 

Programs:  LBJ- MGPS, Bush School- MPIA (Geographically restricted to Texas; please suggest other Schools/ Good Programs)
 

Undergraduate institution: Mumbai University (India)

Undergraduate Degree: Bachelors of  Engineering (Information Technology)  

Undergraduate GPA:  Probably less than 3.5 (not sure)

Study Abroad experience: none other than India

 

Masters Degree:  

Institution:  Top Rated Social Sciences Univ in India (TISS)

Degree:  Masters in Habitat Policy and Practice

GPA:  (4.44/7) 

Relevant Coursework:  Public Policy and Governance, Political Economy of Urbanisation in the South, Sustainable Development and Climate Change

 

GRE: Verbal: 154; Quant: 160 (AW 4.0)

Years Out of Undergrad: 5 years

Years of Work Experience: 2 years (in a Govt. Software Firm) + 1.5 years (Govt. Funded Development organisation)

 

Describe Relevant Work Experience:

+Headed entire project for data collection, validation, analysis and reporting for Benchmarking for services delivery (Water Supply, Sanitation) indicators for city of Mumbai

+ Designed the Capacity building program for a small state in India

+ Involved in training, consulting, project monitoring, report writing for Urban local governments in India.

 

 

 

Languages:

English: TOEFL- Yet to take

German: Basic

Hindi, Marathi: Native

 

Quantitative: Took macro, micro, quantitative methods, financial statistics

 

SOP: working on it, should be fine with the courses taken in Masters and Work experience.. Biggest issues is how to justify the shift from Urban Dev/ policy to IR/ Global Policy Studies

 

LOR: 1 professor at Masters; 2 @work- one is a Director of the Dev Institute i'm currently working in; other is the retd. City Engineer and 

 

Questions:

- Given my low GPA, and relatively low GRE scores, do I have shot at these IR programs ? 

- I am restricted to applying to colleges in Texas due to personal reasons. If anyone knows, please suggest some other good programs. 

All feedback is appreciated.

Regards,

Amruta

[MPPgal]

As a current LBJ student, you should be more than ok, even if not for scholarships but it sounds like you would pay instate tuition anyways. Feel free to ask any questions.

[MPPgal]

Also MGPS is not really an IR program, if that is what you are looking for then this might not be the program for you as it is a little more practical than the theoretical IR.

[NPRjunkie]

In any event, let's keep this discussion board free of pedantic remarks. thanks. 

That's pedantic? They're completely different schools and mixed up all the time. Schools with names "University of X" are never called "X University." You even have it in your signature incorrectly. It'd be like calling UPenn Penn U.

[B-612]

Hi everyone,

 

I had two questions. I'm a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt who, after a few years working in the church, has realized that he does not feel a call to ordained ministry but instead a call to work internationally. I'm interested in security, human development and international business (some dual international affairs and MBA programs are especially appealing) and am trying to choose one. I wanted first to ask if there are jobs in these fields and if anyone could direct me to a site that might list some available ones. I'm hesitant to accumulate more debt until I know the job market can be navigated and that debt might be paid off.

 

The other question is whether I need to do anything to improve my chances of getting accepted to a program. In undergrad I majored in English, writing, philosophy and religion (all four) and minored in global studies. We had a global perspectives program that shifted students' gaze from a national level to weigh the ripple out effect all of our actions had on an international one. I graduated cum laude and went on to Vanderbilt where I received my Master of Divinity, graduating with a 3.57 GPA and receiving "honors" for all of five courses in which it was available as well as an "honors" for my thesis. The M.Div. is a moral leadership degree and during this time I developed strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, as well as a concern on the issue of global poverty. A lot of the top programs in international affairs and business have explicit statements on ethics, so I think my background could factor in here.

 

I've served in various student leadership positions, especially for LGBTQ organizations. I've been appointed by the dean to personnel and policy committees to work on the school's constitution and diversity statements. Professionally, I have served as a minister in a church, a chaplain on a university campus, a worker in various university student life offices and a consultant for a human rights agency within the government of a major metropolitan city. Human freedom and dignity is especially important to me and I try to work toward it both in my professional life and outside of it.

 

For my GRE I made a 151 on the quantitative, a 162 on the verbal and a 5.5 on the analytical writing. I'm not a test taker. My other fear is that I don't have a lot of business or politics courses to my name in my undergraduate learning. Should I shell out the dough to take a few community college business classes without the guarantee of getting into a program? I'm hoping my theological/ethical background makes me an interesting candidate but I don't want to be so interesting they're scratching their heads as to why I'm applying. I'm confident I can write a stellar statement of purpose and that my references (an undergrad professor/boss who can explain the global perspectives program of my university and how it shaped me, my mentor during grad school who is also the assistant dean and the first reader of my thesis, and the person who oversaw my work within the human rights commission of the city in which I attended grad school) can do a good job. I'm just wondering what the rest of the "on paper" part looked like.

[Jufarius87]

Hi everyone,

 

I had two questions. I'm a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt who, after a few years working in the church, has realized that he does not feel a call to ordained ministry but instead a call to work internationally. I'm interested in security, human development and international business (some dual international affairs and MBA programs are especially appealing) and am trying to choose one. I wanted first to ask if there are jobs in these fields and if anyone could direct me to a site that might list some available ones. I'm hesitant to accumulate more debt until I know the job market can be navigated and that debt might be paid off.

 

The other question is whether I need to do anything to improve my chances of getting accepted to a program. In undergrad I majored in English, writing, philosophy and religion (all four) and minored in global studies. We had a global perspectives program that shifted students' gaze from a national level to weigh the ripple out effect all of our actions had on an international one. I graduated cum laude and went on to Vanderbilt where I received my Master of Divinity, graduating with a 3.57 GPA and receiving "honors" for all of five courses in which it was available as well as an "honors" for my thesis. The M.Div. is a moral leadership degree and during this time I developed strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, as well as a concern on the issue of global poverty. A lot of the top programs in international affairs and business have explicit statements on ethics, so I think my background could factor in here.

 

I've served in various student leadership positions, especially for LGBTQ organizations. I've been appointed by the dean to personnel and policy committees to work on the school's constitution and diversity statements. Professionally, I have served as a minister in a church, a chaplain on a university campus, a worker in various university student life offices and a consultant for a human rights agency within the government of a major metropolitan city. Human freedom and dignity is especially important to me and I try to work toward it both in my professional life and outside of it.

 

For my GRE I made a 151 on the quantitative, a 162 on the verbal and a 5.5 on the analytical writing. I'm not a test taker. My other fear is that I don't have a lot of business or politics courses to my name in my undergraduate learning. Should I shell out the dough to take a few community college business classes without the guarantee of getting into a program? I'm hoping my theological/ethical background makes me an interesting candidate but I don't want to be so interesting they're scratching their heads as to why I'm applying. I'm confident I can write a stellar statement of purpose and that my references (an undergrad professor/boss who can explain the global perspectives program of my university and how it shaped me, my mentor during grad school who is also the assistant dean and the first reader of my thesis, and the person who oversaw my work within the human rights commission of the city in which I attended grad school) can do a good job. I'm just wondering what the rest of the "on paper" part looked like.

 

Your situation sounds quite a bit like mine (YDS MAR '11). From the (admittedly little) I have seen thus far, those with ministry backgrounds are looked upon favorably *so long as you can tie your work in ministry into skills that will translate into secular public service*. Really, there are quite a few, budgeting, counseling, public speaking, event organizing... etc.

 

That said, while I cant speak to the MBA side of what you want to do, you absolutely need to work on your Quant score and get some math/econ courses in to be competitive to the best MPP/MPA schools. They don't have to be from a big name school. As a Math undergrad (weird jump to divinity school I know) I will tell you that calculus/Stats/Econ core at a community college is essentially the same as at a 4 year. They will know this too. Aim to get your quant score up to at least a 160+, though a 157+ will work for many places as well.

 

Best of Luck 

 

[B-612]

Your situation sounds quite a bit like mine (YDS MAR '11). From the (admittedly little) I have seen thus far, those with ministry backgrounds are looked upon favorably *so long as you can tie your work in ministry into skills that will translate into secular public service*. Really, there are quite a few, budgeting, counseling, public speaking, event organizing... etc.

 

That said, while I cant speak to the MBA side of what you want to do, you absolutely need to work on your Quant score and get some math/econ courses in to be competitive to the best MPP/MPA schools. They don't have to be from a big name school. As a Math undergrad (weird jump to divinity school I know) I will tell you that calculus/Stats/Econ core at a community college is essentially the same as at a 4 year. They will know this too. Aim to get your quant score up to at least a 160+, though a 157+ will work for many places as well.

 

Best of Luck 

 

 

Gah, I was worried about that pesky quantitative score. I'm worried I won't have appropriate time to take the GRE again/study super hard and raise my quantitative score by the time applications are due. But I'm glad to know how they weigh the GRE score... I know some programs just kind of shrug it off, so good to know my money went to something important. Maybe it'll be in the cards for me next year, though I feel super hurried because I'm only getting older and we're not guaranteed a set amount of time on this earth. But if I need to be taking math classes to get in perhaps I'm better off applying next year. Part of me wants to chance it and see if I can nail it with my SoP and demonstrate how my work experience has made me effectual in all the right areas. We shall see, we shall see. Thank you so much for your advice! 

Edited December 2, 2013 by besixdouze

[Jufarius87]

Gah, I was worried about that pesky quantitative score. I'm worried I won't have appropriate time to take the GRE again/study super hard and raise my quantitative score by the time applications are due. But I'm glad to know how they weigh the GRE score... I know some programs just kind of shrug it off, so good to know my money went to something important. Maybe it'll be in the cards for me next year, though I feel super hurried because I'm only getting older and we're not guaranteed a set amount of time on this earth. But if I need to be taking math classes to get in perhaps I'm better off applying next year. Part of me wants to chance it and see if I can nail it with my SoP and demonstrate how my work experience has made me effectual in all the right areas. We shall see, we shall see. Thank you so much for your advice! 

 

It really depends on what you are looking to do. Can you accomplish your goals with a degree from American/GWU/NYU etc.? A lot of *good* schools would accept you as you are I think. The year to take Calc/Econ and get your GRE-Q up would be for places like HKS/WWS/SIPA

[filipinotnoir]

Programs:  GTown SSP, GWU Elliot IA, UCSD MP IR PS, American SIS, NYU Global Affairs, Monterey Institute
 

Undergraduate institution: George Mason University

Undergraduate Degree: MS Health Science, concentration in Health Systems Management

Undergraduate GPA:  3.14

 

GRE: Verbal 156, Quantitative 154 (AW 4.0)

Years Out of Undergrad: 4

Years of Work Experience: 5 years full-time, but I worked part-time throughout undergrad

Describe Relevant Work Experience:

- Summer internship at international health organization

- about 3 years of working for the federal government

- 4 years working at a security firm

 

Languages:

English: Native

French: Intermediate

Tagalog: Intermediate

 

 Quantitative:  During undergrad and HS: calculus, microecon, chaos theory, and intro to stats

 

 S OP:  I have a compelling story to tell.

 

LOR: 1 from my project manager, 1 from a fed gov't administrative director, and 1 from a professor

 

Questions:

- With my GPA and GRE scores, do I have a chance to get into these programs? 

- Is retaking the GRE worth it? My last opportunity is next week.

- Is it worth mentioning that I'm an Asian female who is the first to receive a graduate degree in her family and the first in her immediate family to receive an undergraduate degree?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

Edited December 2, 2013 by filipinotnoir

[wahkho]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MA in International Relations/MBA - Dual Degree
Schools Applying To: SAIS/INSEAD, Fletcher/IE Madrid, Oxford MBA/MPP, LSE

Undergraduate institution: Kenyon College
Undergraduate GPA: 3.16 (3.33 in major)
Undergraduate Majors: Political Science 

GMAT Quantitative Score: 47 (70th percentile)
GRE Verbal Score: 40 (90th percentile)
GMAT total: 700 (89th percentile)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5 years
Years of Work Experience: 4.5
Describe Relevant Work Experience: High-level Advance Staffer on Both Obama Campaigns, Producer for a 1+ year at Al Jazeera English, project manager at mid-sized USAID contractor. Worked as counselor at Seeds of Peace International Peace Camps as well. Personal Projects: Raised $340k for Palestinian students to come to my school. Worked on creating an "Arab Spring" music label. 
Languages: English, Spanish

Quant: Micro,  macro economics and statistics 

Strength of SOP: Fairly strong, based on my experiences growing up as an Arab-American and how that translated into a career of high-level campaign politics and international news and development work. transitions nicely into IDEV work, and the dual degree. I talk about wanting to get into Impact Investing. 

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Should be top notch. One of my recommenders is a professor who is well-respected at SAIS, and the other is my boss from both Obama Campaigns.  

 The SAIS/INSEAD combo is my top choice, followed by LSE. My GPA is low but I thought my GMAT score would mitigate that. How are my chances? Thanks for your input

[MPPgal]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MA in International Relations/MBA - Dual Degree

Schools Applying To: SAIS/INSEAD, Fletcher/IE Madrid, Oxford MBA/MPP, LSE

Undergraduate institution: Kenyon College

Undergraduate GPA: 3.16 (3.33 in major)

Undergraduate Majors: Political Science 

GMAT Quantitative Score: 47 (70th percentile)

GRE Verbal Score: 40 (90th percentile)

GMAT total: 700 (89th percentile)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5 years

Years of Work Experience: 4.5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: High-level Advance Staffer on Both Obama Campaigns, Producer for a 1+ year at Al Jazeera English, project manager at mid-sized USAID contractor. Worked as counselor at Seeds of Peace International Peace Camps as well. Personal Projects: Raised $340k for Palestinian students to come to my school. Worked on creating an "Arab Spring" music label. 

Languages: English, Spanish

Quant: Micro,  macro economics and statistics 

Strength of SOP: Fairly strong, based on my experiences growing up as an Arab-American and how that translated into a career of high-level campaign politics and international news and development work. transitions nicely into IDEV work, and the dual degree. I talk about wanting to get into Impact Investing. 

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Should be top notch. One of my recommenders is a professor who is well-respected at SAIS, and the other is my boss from both Obama Campaigns.  

 The SAIS/INSEAD combo is my top choice, followed by LSE. My GPA is low but I thought my GMAT score would mitigate that. How are my chances? Thanks for your input

Sadly LSE and Oxford ONLY look at your GPA, but I would say you have a good shot at SAIS or any other American school for sure.

[B-612]

It really depends on what you are looking to do. Can you accomplish your goals with a degree from American/GWU/NYU etc.? A lot of *good* schools would accept you as you are I think. The year to take Calc/Econ and get your GRE-Q up would be for places like HKS/WWS/SIPA

 

I think I could accomplish my goals with a degree from American, GWU or NYU. I'm a GWU legacy. I'm not sure how much of a role that plays these days when it comes to admissiosn (and there's certainly no way of mentioning it nonchalantly that wouldn't make me feel like a--well, not very nice word). Would that really hinder my job opportunities do you think or are those schools still well-respected?

[Jufarius87]

I think I could accomplish my goals with a degree from American, GWU or NYU. I'm a GWU legacy. I'm not sure how much of a role that plays these days when it comes to admissiosn (and there's certainly no way of mentioning it nonchalantly that wouldn't make me feel like a--well, not very nice word). Would that really hinder my job opportunities do you think or are those schools still well-respected?

They're definitely well respected schools. Especially when it comes to the "brand name" (looking at the university you attended opposed to the program studied). The issue is that Public Policy is a VERY competitive field in some regards. The degree will not have as wide-ranging an employment base as its private counterpart the MBA. So alot of time it pays to try to get into THE best school possible. An example, I posted a topic about Cornell's Public Policy program. I'd still love to go there and I am applying, but I was shocked to find the response on these boards was "Cornell isnt high on the radar" and "Have you considered Columbia?" Cornell is an Ivy league institution! At the end of the day, we seek political jobs, prestige and networking factor highly.

But again, it really and truly depends on what you want to do with a degree. The skills you learn at any program might outweigh connections if you want to start your own NGO or do humanitarian work, but alot of people on these boards are looking at Foreign Service, Three Letter Agencies, World Bank, Elected Office... etc etc etc

I guess to an extent I am the one encouraging you to work the math angle, because your profile is excellent. Unless you feel particularly weak at math (which is a problem since most programs have a mandatory economics core) a few weeks worth of high school refresher material and some test taking strategies can get your quant score to the desired threshold. Also given you come from a different academic background, this will help you make sure you really want to invest two years in this degree