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

[petitegirl]

Program: MPP and similar programs 

Schools Applying To:  HKS (MPP), Chicago Harris (MSc CAPP), Wisconsin-Madison (MPA), UMich (MPP), McCourt (MPP), etc.

Interests: Mostly interested in poverty and children development work, social policy and welfare

Undergrad Institution: Local university in Singapore

Undergraduate GPA: 4.48/5 

Undergraduate Major: Social Work

GRE:  V 158 / Q 162 / AW 5.0

Age: 22 (in final year of undergraduate) 

Languages: English, Mandarin

Work Experience:  Nil, only part-time work and internship experiences

- 1 year as part time programme associate: running reading prog for low-income children (developed and was involved in initiating this new program)

- ~ total 3-4 months of internship experience in the local public service in Education and Social Issues

LORs: 2 current professors who have supervised my quantitative research work and internship supervisor currently working in the local Ministry.

SOPs: Not finalized, but will be talking about my motivations and hopes to promote equal opportunities regardless of family background, sharing experiences for my many years of volunteering, and highlighting contributions in the social sector and internship work that I have had.

Concerns: 

1. Lack of quantitative coursework (have done basic statistics courses and tried to boost quantitative experience with 2 research projects)

2. Inadequate working experience

 

Hi, would appreciate any advice/help on whether I'm competitive for the current range of school currently! If anyone has similar pathways of going from social sciences tract to MPP, would also love to hear from you.

Thank you!

Edited October 3, 2017 by petitegirl

[venkatbhargavs]

On 10/2/2017 at 12:04 AM, hopeful88 said:

I would not worry about age, at all. These are professional programs. More work experience is a positive. Depending on the school, you might find yourself to be a bit on the older end of your cohort, but I guarantee you won't be the only one.

For U.S. programs, being an international student IS international experience. Take this with a grain of salt, because my area of specialty is domestic policy. But you say you are interested in finance policy in developing economies, and you have grown up in and worked in a developing economy. Maybe you can use grad school as an opportunity to become more familiar with other developing economies, but I think you need to sell your background as a positive when applying, rather than viewing it as a negative.

Your experience seems fine. For professional programs like these, it's good to have a niche. You have a clear vision about what you want to do, and relevant experience to back up. Make sure your SOP expresses your passion for the field, and pulls together all the pieces of your background and work experience into a coherent narrative explaining where you've been, what you want to get out of grad school, and how you want your career to progress after school.

Really, you are overthinking this. You seem like a solid candidate. Decent test scores, solid work experience, clear mission/area of focus. Your undergrad GPA is a bit low, but nothing too concerning. You don't mention a GPA for your grad diploma, but it's definitely a plus if that is higher. And your test scores help make up for the GPA. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances worth explaining regarding your undergrad experience (maybe your state university graded on a curve, or the engineering major was particularly challenging), I would consider explaining that in your application. U.S. admissions officers may not have the context to fully understand your educational background. But I wouldn't make too much fuss over that. Get to work on your applications, and you should be fine. Really take your time to write a solid SOP. Run it by one or two trusted advisors (but not too many people--it should express your voice and your vision, not anyone else's).

Thanks for the feedback! Now I'd better get started on those SOPs!

[wanderwhale]

Hello, would be grateful for some feedback! Also, if you have any ideas for schools that would be a good fit for me, I am making my decisions inarguably last minute and could still be swayed to different programs. A program that tends to a more critical/less conservative direction is a huge plus.

Program: MA International Affairs or Human Rights (making last minute decisions atm)

Interests: Human Rights and US Foreign Policy, Latin America

Schools Applying To: Fletcher, Korbel, AU, SIPA (and open to suggestions)

Undergrad Institution: UCLA

Undergrad GPA: 3.87

Undergrad Major: Anthropology with a minor in Public Policy

GRE: Have not actually taken it yet, but my practice tests are looking around 152Q 163V

Age: 25

Languages: English, Spanish (conversational), French (basic)

Work Experience: Here is where I am most confused, honestly it's allover the place. My main work for the past few years has been in Outdoor Education and Tour Guiding. However, during college I interned for 3 years with the American Cancer Society on a state proposition campaign, I also interned post-college with a digital media strategy firm for political clients in DC. I volunteered full time for a while with a humanitarian group that works on the US/Mexican border (and is majorly controversial, I feel like it could be a big bonus or a big negative depending on who looks at it), am currently very involved (Executive Assitant to the President) in a new anti modern slavery NGO in Geneva, and have done volunteer work with refugees in Greece. I've also spent very large employment gaps traveling.

LoRs: President of NGO I'm working with now & college professor (who I am not still close with and can't guarantee an out of this world letter, I screwed this one up, and didn't stay close to my college professors)

SoP: Not yet done, but I think I can weave my odd experience into a pretty compelling story that directly relates to my academic interest

Concerns: Basically no quantitative coursework, low GRE quant score, unusual mix of experience, not stellar academic LoR

 

Edited October 3, 2017 by wanderwhale

[went_away]

5 hours ago, wanderwhale said:

Hello, would be grateful for some feedback! Also, if you have any ideas for schools that would be a good fit for me, I am making my decisions inarguably last minute and could still be swayed to different programs. A program that tends to a more critical/less conservative direction is a huge plus.

Program: MA International Affairs or Human Rights (making last minute decisions atm)

Interests: Human Rights and US Foreign Policy, Latin America

Schools Applying To: Fletcher, Korbel, AU, SIPA (and open to suggestions)

Undergrad Institution: UCLA

Undergrad GPA: 3.87

Undergrad Major: Anthropology with a minor in Public Policy

GRE: Have not actually taken it yet, but my practice tests are looking around 152Q 163V

Age: 25

Languages: English, Spanish (conversational), French (basic)

Work Experience: Here is where I am most confused, honestly it's allover the place. My main work for the past few years has been in Outdoor Education and Tour Guiding. However, during college I interned for 3 years with the American Cancer Society on a state proposition campaign, I also interned post-college with a digital media strategy firm for political clients in DC. I volunteered full time for a while with a humanitarian group that works on the US/Mexican border (and is majorly controversial, I feel like it could be a big bonus or a big negative depending on who looks at it), am currently very involved (Executive Assitant to the President) in a new anti modern slavery NGO in Geneva, and have done volunteer work with refugees in Greece. I've also spent very large employment gaps traveling.

LoRs: President of NGO I'm working with now & college professor (who I am not still close with and can't guarantee an out of this world letter, I screwed this one up, and didn't stay close to my college professors)

SoP: Not yet done, but I think I can weave my odd experience into a pretty compelling story that directly relates to my academic interest

Concerns: Basically no quantitative coursework, low GRE quant score, unusual mix of experience, not stellar academic LoR

 

Ehh, I don't know. You have a great GPA and went to an amazing undergrad. Sounds more like you should get serious about life and try to find and keep a grown up job before jetting off to some lesser, but expensive grad school program. You are a far more attractive job applicant right now than you will be 3 years from now when you are 3 years older and graduating from that expensive, lesser grad school program. 

[wanderwhale]

4 hours ago, went_away said:

Ehh, I don't know. You have a great GPA and went to an amazing undergrad. Sounds more like you should get serious about life and try to find and keep a grown up job before jetting off to some lesser, but expensive grad school program. You are a far more attractive job applicant right now than you will be 3 years from now when you are 3 years older and graduating from that expensive, lesser grad school program. 

I appreciate the feedback. Out of curiosity though, which schools are you referring to as lesser, still expensive schools? Not disregarding the advice,  I just really don't know where I stand a shot at (ideally with some funding) right now, and I feel like I need a better idea to make a fully informed decision. 

[midastwentytwo]

Program: MPP/MPA

Schools Applying To:  HKS MPP, DUKE Sanford MPP, Georgetown MPP, American SPA MPP, WWS MPA, Cornell MPA, LBJ MPA, (possible NorthWestern MPA and Hopkins but thats way too expensive in more expensive areas), and (unrelated kind of) LSE MSc Social Research

Nationality  Caucasian American

Interests: I'm interested in social policy in relation to housing, healthcare, and criminal justice reform. 

Undergrad Institution: top 20 public university

Undergraduate GPA: cumulative (transferred to state uni, had some credits at CC) 3.95/4.00; state uni GPA 3.902/4.000

Undergraduate Major: Healthcare Management and Insurance Studies

Certifications - n/a

GRE:  not taken yet. aiming for low 160s/high 150s but ideally would like mid-160s

Age: 22

Languages: English, elementary Italian and Spanish

Work Experience:  1 year but two summer internships and countless extracurricular leadership involvements at uni:

-currently working for a healthcare consulting company providing process solutions for health service companies at the technical level. hoping to work on population health and policy projects moving forward but we will see. I have applied to some jobs and internships in DC but that is easier said than actually achieving. 

- 3 month internship at a green energy startup researching for a business plan in accordance with environmental policy regulations

- 3 month internship at a fortune 100 health insurance company in the operations department shadowing call operations and auditing/analyzing claim management problems

-director of corporate sponsorship for dance marathon for local children's hospital that raised over $836,000; largest student-run philanthropy in New England actually

-minor involvements with dance marathon before this position

-vice president of membership development for all of Greek-life running education programs regarding sexual assault and alcohol awareness

-peer mentor to first-year, first-generation minority college students advising them on classes and campus involvement. took mentoring class to pair with this. 

-teaching assistant/tutor for students in a psychology class 

-research assistant in psychology department

-three total spring break service trips (one being a leader for migrant workers break in FL, two others being participants for human rights in WV and then hurricane relief in MS)

LORs: Two professors I had: one with two classes and the other was the class I had and then became a tutor for. Professional reference would be the advisor that worked at the hospital and helped us out with the dance marathon. If I take another job next year (may apply for Americorps VISTA, CityYear, or teach english abroad) I will have them be my professional reference.

SOPs: How my experience in healthcare tied with my experience on my service trips fuels my passion to perform research and help those in need. 

Concerns: I'm worried about the following aspects:

1. Work experience

2. Cost - really want some aid but I understand the more you work the more aid you will get 

3. GRE score obviously - need to get on this. I am trying to apply by Fall of next year. 

It seems that the cost could be supplemented with a high GRE and more work experience. I eventually want to pursue a PhD  but have no writing samples, academic connections, or research experience. I pride myself on my ability to network and plant to start building it aggressively wherever I end up getting my masters in order to foster connections for research assistantships, further LoR, and possible advisers. 

I'd appreciate any feedback on this from the people here. Thanks!

[went_away]

7 hours ago, wanderwhale said:

I appreciate the feedback. Out of curiosity though, which schools are you referring to as lesser, still expensive schools? Not disregarding the advice,  I just really don't know where I stand a shot at (ideally with some funding) right now, and I feel like I need a better idea to make a fully informed decision. 

IMHO, all of the grad schools you listed are less prestigious and competitive to get into than UCLA undergrad.

[hopeful88]

23 hours ago, venkatbhargavs said:

Thanks for the feedback! Now I'd better get started on those SOPs!

Good luck

[petitegirl]

On 10/3/2017 at 1:39 PM, petitegirl said:

Program: MPP and similar programs 

Schools Applying To:  HKS (MPP), Chicago Harris (MSc CAPP), Wisconsin-Madison (MPA), UMich (MPP), McCourt (MPP), etc.

Interests: Mostly interested in poverty and children development work, social policy and welfare

Undergrad Institution: Local university in Singapore

Undergraduate GPA: 4.48/5 

Undergraduate Major: Social Work

GRE:  V 158 / Q 162 / AW 5.0

Age: 22 (in final year of undergraduate) 

Languages: English, Mandarin

Work Experience:  Nil, only part-time work and internship experiences

- 1 year as part time programme associate: running reading prog for low-income children (developed and was involved in initiating this new program)

- ~ total 3-4 months of internship experience in the local public service in Education and Social Issues

LORs: 2 current professors who have supervised my quantitative research work and internship supervisor currently working in the local Ministry.

SOPs: Not finalized, but will be talking about my motivations and hopes to promote equal opportunities regardless of family background, sharing experiences for my many years of volunteering, and highlighting contributions in the social sector and internship work that I have had.

Concerns: 

1. Lack of quantitative coursework (have done basic statistics courses and tried to boost quantitative experience with 2 research projects)

2. Inadequate working experience

 

Hi, would appreciate any advice/help on whether I'm competitive for the current range of school currently! If anyone has similar pathways of going from social sciences tract to MPP, would also love to hear from you.

Thank you!

anyone? 

[yellina122]

On 9/21/2017 at 3:17 PM, yellina122 said:

Hello, internet people! Any guidance, advice, or other encouragement would be much appreciated.

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

Schools Applying To: Columbia SIPA, NYU Wagner, CUNY Baruch, Princeton WWS, and Harvard HKS

Undergraduate institution: Large, private Top-40? research school

Undergraduate GPA: 3.46

Undergraduate Majors: Psychology

Study Abroad: 9 months in London interning at a Hospital School; 6-week education/immersion program in Israel

GRE:  169 V, 159 Q, 5.5 W

Years of Work Experience: 4+ if I count full-time summer internships

Age: 25

Describe Relevant Work Experience: As an undergrad, I did 2 years of part-time research looking for neurological markers for Autism and other disorders in kids. I interned for one summer in a children's psychiatric ward and spent 9 months at a hospital school in London that supported kids with a wide range of disabilities.

Professionally I've had 1.5 years in cancer research management, and now about 2.5 years working in fundraising, communications, and advocacy at a nonprofit that provides services for people with disabilities (mental and developmental).

Languages: French (intermediate), Hebrew (beginner)

Quant: Statistics II - B; a couple of neuroscience classes- also B's; I took a Macroeconomics course at a community college this summer to bolster my application and got an A. I'm hoping that my professional experience in research and financial management will help make up for the lack of coursework.

Strength of SOP:  Hopefully pretty strong! I think I framed my reason for going back to school well- essentially that after working in research, direct care, and nonprofit administration for people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities, I realized that even the most groundbreaking research and effective treatments couldn't curtail the fallout of indifferent, inadequate policymaking. 

My goal is to create policy that better serves people with disabilities, who aside from needing access to affordable and effective healthcare (should be obvious, right?) also need someone pulling for them in talks about transportation, supported employment, and- of great interest to me- political engagement.

I launched an initiative at my nonprofit to train people with disabilities and the staff that support them in civic participation/voting, and I really want to expand it citywide by partnering with local government and nonprofits, wherever I end up for school. 

My experience has been pretty varied, but it has all been in support of the same population, so I hope that counts for something!

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I know that the letter from my direct supervisor, the Director of my department, will be glowing and assert that she thinks I could be elected President tomorrow.

My CEO is also writing me a letter and I think it will be strong- I work directly with him frequently and recently pulled off a very large tech conference that got him in a room with state officials who could fund our projects. He's been hugely supportive of my career development.

My last letter will be from an old English professor- one of my favorite classes and also the last I took before graduating early. I was most nervous about this one, but luckily, he was enthusiastic when he said he'd write my letter and claimed to remember me and my work well.

Other: My top, top, top, TOP choice is Columbia. The director of my intended track at SIPA is actually working on a program that is aimed at increasing voter turnout for New Yorkers, and I see a huge opportunity there to expand her work to support the needs of people with disabilities. (Don't worry- I made sure to mention that in my SOP!).

Unless I magically get into Princeton (there would have to be sorcery involved), my second choice is NYU, where they just started an Advocacy and Political Action track, lining up pretty exactly with my career goals.

Bueller?

[queenjaneapprox]

Hi everyone! I'm a senior in undergrad getting ready to apply for graduate school. Looking for public administration programs, just took the GRE today so I have my unofficial scores.

Applying to: Indiana U, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Georgia, UT Austin - any recommendations for "back-up" choices?

Program: All public administration/public affairs. Specifically AVOIDING policy because I have a very weak math/econ background.

Undegrad institution: Top 5 public university; top 20 overall.

Undergrad GPA: Around 3.2, majors in political science and Latin American history

GRE: unofficially, as of today, 168V and 150Q

Age: 21

Work Experience: not many jobs that are actually relevant or impressive. However I did spend 6 months working full-time, while in 12 credit hours that I managed a 4.0 in, for a state legislator who has an MPA from UNC and is writing a strong recommendation for me!

Letters: I'm expecting all of these to be glowing. 

Currently working on statement of purpose.

Concerns: 

-low GRE quant score. I am already scheduled to re-take in about a month. I am hoping to get to 155, but is even that too low for these programs? It looks like at Indiana a typical score is more like 153/154. What happens if my verbal decreases? Will that hurt me?

-low/mediocre undergrad GPA. No story here, I just took a while to adapt to college and have essentially been a B/B+ student the whole time. As here and there in my major. Best semester was this past one during my internship at another university.

-No Econ or statistics coursework in undergrad. 

 

I chose an MPA over a master's in public policy or political science partially because I know I'm not good at math. I also have no idea how to evaluate programs. I just picked ones that are well-regarded but also not too far from family. Should I be applying to safer schools and if so what would those look like??

 

Thanks so much!

 

 

 

[ExponentialDecay]

@queenjaneapprox

Seeing as you don't even identify your complete lack of work experience as a concern, I think you need to spend much, much more time researching these programs and the career path in general, especially if you intend to go into debt to pay tuition. 

[queenjaneapprox]

I should have made more clear that yes, I think that's a weakness of mine. UNC's website says 83% of students have less than 2 years of work experience. I guess I should not have been so comforted by that number!

[ExponentialDecay]

3 hours ago, queenjaneapprox said:

I should have made more clear that yes, I think that's a weakness of mine. UNC's website says 83% of students have less than 2 years of work experience. I guess I should not have been so comforted by that number!

I'd call them up and ask them how many students have 0 years of work experience (internships don't count for admissions, I'm sorry). That's a vastly different situation from even having 1 year of it.

But broadly these are not competitive programs and you'll get in somewhere, especially if you aim low, especially if you're not looking for funding. Virtually all of these programs are looking for tuition-paying warm bodies. I'm more telling you this because, without any work experience in the field, the MPA is unlikely to have any positive effect on your employability, and if you are taking out student loans, that's a concern.

[went_away]

10 minutes ago, brown queer said:

First time poster!

Applying to: Harvard Kennedy School, (probably NYU too)

Program: Masters in Public Policy

Undegrad institution: BA (Hons) Applied Psychology from University of Delhi, the best in India (year of graduation: 2017)

Undergrad GPA: 81% out of 100 so above 3.9 GPA, have had 2 courses in Statistics in my curriculum, one in formal logic too. I have two research papers in psychology published in the International Journal of Indian Psychology, both of which are quantitative (and I am the primary author). 

GRE: 161 Verbal, 164 Quant, still expecting AWA but i'm sure that'll be good

Age: 21 (DOB: 14th may)

Work Experience:  LAMP Fellowship (Legislative Assistant to Member of Parliament) which is for a year, joined in June 2017 and will finish it by May 2018. The work is so so vigorous, right from the Union Budget to analysing bills to making bills. Worked as a A Million for A Billion (1M1B) Fellow for six months during college wherein I travelled to a remote location away from my college which was affected by floods, and built three models of social entrepreneurship there to revive employment and tourism. The first was a telemedicine health center where i trained workers in the region, the second was a teddy bear making model where we trained women in the region to make and market teddy bears, and the third was a rural tourism model where we took volunteers from the city to the region to impart their skill sets (most important skill set imparted was the art of street play, for community mobilisation ). I presented this project at the United Nations Population Fund headquarters in NYC and UN Women Headquarters in NYC this year, and attended the UN CSW Youth Forum too. My second published research paper was also done on this flood affected population I worked with, and it was a personal initiative not part of the fellowship.
[In addition I have been a volunteer at Teach for India, intern at leading dailies of India but those dont count into work ex right?]
Not sure how my work experience will be quantified as though?

Letters: My two professors who absolutely know me well and will vouch for my competency, and my mentor at A Million for A Billion who also knows me well and will vouch. Should I replace any of these with a recommendation from my Member of Parliament? She does not know me THAT well and I am not sure if it'll be as good as the professors... My professors are both PhDs and one has been a fullbright scholar too  

Others:  I am a spoken word poet. I won the National Youth Poetry Slam in India last year and went to feature at the International slam CUPSI in Chicago this year. I have several other laurels in spoken word poetry, have judged and won many many slams, performed at major events in the country. I write mostly for social change.. poems on empowerment, of my gender, my community, my people, or mental health. I have also done and won few MUNs in my college life. Have been a speaker at TEDx-es and been nominated for several Woman awards change through spoken word poetry. The experience of working with an MP who also hails from an artistic career but chose public service is deeply humbling because I aim to do that too: to choose public service over a career in spoken word poetry.

Concerns: too young for HKS MPP, not enough work ex, won't get funding.

I do want to apply this year. My bigger career motive is politics, wherein I plan to utilise my skill at spoken word and my knowledge base in policy to usher in well-informed social transformation, especially as a woman leader in India. (Languages are English, Hindi, Sindhi)

Please help!

If your education and work experience are as impressive as you make them out to be you should be able to land a respectable/good/elite entry-level job in public policy in India or abroad (Europe, etc). I would therefore *strongly* encourage you to do that and work for 1-3 years before applying to the Kennedy school. In addition, I would strongly recommend you also apply to Princeton and Oxford. Good luck. 

[ExponentialDecay]

@brown queer

Do I know you?

Anyway, I don't know the Indian context enough to comment on the work experience/education/whatever. My advice to international students is always to seek out other international students with a background as similar to theirs as possible (in terms of credentials and citizenship/financials) and look at their trajectory/ask them for advice. In the admissions process you will be ranked against other international students rather than against Americans (and if you are from a particularly popular country, i.e. China or India, you will be ranked against other Chinese and Indians), and this random white person's opinion on how impressive you are therefore doesn't count for much. I can only say that no amount of impressive experience will counteract lack of work permit when it comes to finding work in the US or Europe (especially the latter, which effectively only hires EU citizens for development roles), unless that's via the Indian embassy. You can try for work experience at the UN or the WBG (especially if you have a master's). 

idk about the MPP, but the Harvard MPA is pretty strict on its 2+ years of professional experience requirement. And, of course, I wouldn't count on funding, no matter how much experience you have. 

[2018Hopeful]

Program: MPA/MPP and similar programs 

Schools Applying To: Harvard-HKS (MPA/ID), Cornell-CIPA (MPA), Columbia-SIPA (MPA-EPM), Michigan-Ford (MPP), NYU-Wagner (MPA), others

Interests: Mostly interested in economic development, economic/finance policy

Undergrad Institution: Top National Public University (Argentina)

Undergraduate GPA: 7,96/10 

Undergraduate: Economics (it’s a 5yrs degree in Argentina)

Graduate Institution: Top Private University (Argentina)

Graduate GPA: 8,5/10 

Graduate: Master in Public Policy

GRE:  V 163 / Q 161 / AW 3.5

Age: 27 

Languages: Spanish (native), English

TOEFL: 105 (R27, L28, S23, W27)

Work Experience:  +5yrs

- 1 year as research economist at a top local economic consultancy

- 4 years (ongoing) at the national public pension fund of Argentina. I have experience in the design/implementation of housing and social policies and in investment and financial analysis

Scholarship: Fulbright Argentina Commission (leadership program)

LORs: 2 current bosses (my direct boss since 4yrs ago and the Fund Chief) who have supervised my work in different areas and my graduate thesis director (and professor in my economics degree).

SOPs: Not finalized, but will be talking about my motivations and hopes to promote economic development through economic and financial policies (investment promotion and financial inclusion in developing nations), highlighting experiences for my many years of working in the public sector of a developing country.

Concerns: 

1.       GRE Quant (and AW)

2.       I already have a MPP. It would be a problem?

3.       LORs: I should ask for 2 academic letters and only 1 professional?

4.       I need tuition grants, am I competitive? I should apply also to other school?

Thank you!!

[Future_Chem_Professor]

Program: M.S/PhD in Analytical Chemistry

Schools Applying To:  SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), University of Rochester, University of Maryland College Park, Tufts University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Rutgers New Brunswick 

Interests: Analytical Chemistry (HPLC)

Undergrad Institution: State School in Pennsylvania

Undergraduate GPA: 2.7/4.0 

Undergraduate Major: Chemistry

Undergraduate Minor: Mathematics

Major GPA: ~2.5/4.0

GRE:  V 148 / Q 154 / AW 5.0

Age: 23 

Languages: English, Spanish

Work Experience: 

- Summer internship in Pharmaceutical company

- 1 year of undergraduate research (nothing published)

-6 months working in an analytical R&D lab in the liquid chromatography department (currently working)

LORs: 1 great LOR from current lab supervisor, 1 great from Math professor who's known me my entire undergraduate career, 1 okay from professor I did research with (was upset I didn't publish, but still did good work)

SOPs: Still working on and revising

Concerns: 

1. Low GPA

 

I've been networking like crazy with professors of interest who've encouraged me to apply. I'm also voluntarily meeting with a few in person. My hope is that by traveling to see them, it'll demonstrate that I am in fact serious about graduate school. Also, I will also be taking the GRE Chemistry Subject Test in a few weeks to increase my chances. Please let me know of any approach I should take. Thank you!

[publicaffairs]

Am I competitive for MC MPA at HKS or does my profile not fit in?

Undergrad: Electrical Engineering, Top 10 in the US, GPA: 3.8 / 4.0

Grad School: MBA from top 10 b-school

Work Experience - 9 years in investment banking

GMAT: 740

 

Thanks!

 

 

[went_away]

6 hours ago, publicaffairs said:

Am I competitive for MC MPA at HKS or does my profile not fit in?

Undergrad: Electrical Engineering, Top 10 in the US, GPA: 3.8 / 4.0

Grad School: MBA from top 10 b-school

Work Experience - 9 years in investment banking

GMAT: 740

 

Thanks!

 

 

Nowhere near enough information to make a judgement on your suitability for an HKS degree. At first glance, yes you would be very competitive, but the immediate question would be why the heck would you want this degree? 

[lia.md]

 

Hi everyone! Any advice at all would be much appreciated - particularly on the GRE front. With early Dec deadlines coming up I'm getting a bit nervous.

Program: Masters in Security Studies, Master of Arts in International Relations, MPP

Schools Applying To: Georgetown Walsh SFS, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Columbia SIPA, Sciences Po PSIA/LSE (Dual), Yale Jackson, HKS, Boston Pardee 

Interests: Parameters of war, grand strategy, unconventional warfare, arms control, post-conflict reconstruction, national identity, migration studies

Undergrad Institution: Bard

Undergraduate GPA: 3.63/4

Undergraduate Major: Political Studies, concentration Global & International Studies

GRE:  Unofficial  166 V / 156 Q / AW TBD 

Age: 27 

Languages: English (native), French (Rusty but advanced), Arabic (Novice) 

Nationality: US

Quant Experience: Intro to Macro (A), Statistics (A-), Physics for Nonmajors (A) (is this relevant?), currently taking an Intro to Micro class at a nearby community college, A expected.

Work Experience:  4+ years full time experience in immigration law.  During undergrad, relevant internship/part time office assistance work.

Misc: Awarded best senior thesis in the PS department at Bard; during undergrad served as rep for my school at the SCUSA conference at USMA West Point.

LORs: 2 Political Studies profs from undergrad (multiple classes, one was senior thesis advisor, the other was on the evaluation board) with whom I've stayed close over the years. 1 from my current boss, the partner I work with closely at the firm where I work - my only concern with her is that she's very busy, but I'm sure it'll be at least good, if not great. 

SOPs: Not finalized, but will focus on academic background in IR/security studies, work experience in US immigration, and hopes to study the connection/cycle of violent conflict -> national/regional istability -> migration (transnational refugees/IDP) -> further instability and increased likelihood of continuing violent conflict, and effects on conceptions of state identity and individual national identity. Aiming eventually for DOS as FSO and/or journalism.

Concerns: 

1. GRE Quant. Should I take this again? I'm worried about the time constraints of some deadlines, and I'm unsure how to weigh the cost ($200, less time for SOPs) and potential benefits of extra points. My highest quant score from practice tests was 161, so it seems feasible, but I'm still not sure (and if Q went up but V went down a bit, if there would be net benefit).

2. Volunteer experience. I don't have any substantial, recent volunteer experience. Between my job and some big personal matters over the past few years I just haven't had time for consistency. Is this an issue?

3. Quant experience. it's not a lot, but the grades are good. 

4. Financial aid. I know this requires a competitive level above the norm, and I'm not sure how high that is, and if I meet it.

5. I'm a little concerned that, given current events of the past year, my research interests will appear opportunistic. 

Thanks!

[went_away]

3 hours ago, lia.md said:

 

Hi everyone! Any advice at all would be much appreciated - particularly on the GRE front. With early Dec deadlines coming up I'm getting a bit nervous.

Program: Masters in Security Studies, Master of Arts in International Relations, MPP

Schools Applying To: Georgetown Walsh SFS, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Columbia SIPA, Sciences Po PSIA/LSE (Dual), Yale Jackson, HKS, Boston Pardee 

Interests: Parameters of war, grand strategy, unconventional warfare, arms control, post-conflict reconstruction, national identity, migration studies

Undergrad Institution: Bard

Undergraduate GPA: 3.63/4

Undergraduate Major: Political Studies, concentration Global & International Studies

GRE:  Unofficial  166 V / 156 Q / AW TBD 

Age: 27 

Languages: English (native), French (Rusty but advanced), Arabic (Novice) 

Nationality: US

Quant Experience: Intro to Macro (A), Statistics (A-), Physics for Nonmajors (A) (is this relevant?), currently taking an Intro to Micro class at a nearby community college, A expected.

Work Experience:  4+ years full time experience in immigration law.  During undergrad, relevant internship/part time office assistance work.

Misc: Awarded best senior thesis in the PS department at Bard; during undergrad served as rep for my school at the SCUSA conference at USMA West Point.

LORs: 2 Political Studies profs from undergrad (multiple classes, one was senior thesis advisor, the other was on the evaluation board) with whom I've stayed close over the years. 1 from my current boss, the partner I work with closely at the firm where I work - my only concern with her is that she's very busy, but I'm sure it'll be at least good, if not great. 

SOPs: Not finalized, but will focus on academic background in IR/security studies, work experience in US immigration, and hopes to study the connection/cycle of violent conflict -> national/regional istability -> migration (transnational refugees/IDP) -> further instability and increased likelihood of continuing violent conflict, and effects on conceptions of state identity and individual national identity. Aiming eventually for DOS as FSO and/or journalism.

Concerns: 

1. GRE Quant. Should I take this again? I'm worried about the time constraints of some deadlines, and I'm unsure how to weigh the cost ($200, less time for SOPs) and potential benefits of extra points. My highest quant score from practice tests was 161, so it seems feasible, but I'm still not sure (and if Q went up but V went down a bit, if there would be net benefit).

2. Volunteer experience. I don't have any substantial, recent volunteer experience. Between my job and some big personal matters over the past few years I just haven't had time for consistency. Is this an issue?

3. Quant experience. it's not a lot, but the grades are good. 

4. Financial aid. I know this requires a competitive level above the norm, and I'm not sure how high that is, and if I meet it.

5. I'm a little concerned that, given current events of the past year, my research interests will appear opportunistic. 

Thanks!

Good enough to get in, probably not good enough to get a scholarship. You'll have to decide it it's worth it. I would say no if you can't get at least 1/3 knocked off the tuition of any of the US schools you list.

You clearly have not given this future career enough thought and need to make your future goals statement much more sophisticated and cohesive - you're way, way WAY too high-level "I want to end war and save the world and immigration and law and violence and state identity and migration...." right now. Tighten it up, have a couple people in the field read your essays, do some substantive revisions, and you might have a shot at a relatively decent scholarship.

I would strongly suggest dropping Boston from your list and adding (roughly in order of preference) Fletcher MALD (decent shot at a scholarship), Georgetown School of Security Studies (almost no shot at a scholarship), GW Elliot (would need to network and intern like mad; scholarship chance I don't know), and NYU (they have decent, under the radar international affairs program; worthless without a scholarship, though).   

Edited October 23, 2017 by went_away

[doglover5]

Hi all, posting again since I didn't get replies to my last post back in August.

Program: MIA-type programs with a security focus

Schools Applying To:  Georgetown MSFS & SSP, American SIS, GWU Elliot, Tufts Fletcher, Uppsala Masters in Peace and Conflict

Interests: Conflict analysis and security studies, but I'm not sure I want to pigeonhole myself with a security-focused degree

Undergrad Institution: Top 50 university

Undergraduate GPA: 3.75

Undergraduate Major: International Relations, French

GRE: 165 V, 168 Q, 5.0 AWA

Quantitative Courses: 3 honors calc classes (A, A-, B+), stats for polisci majors (A-), intro to economics (A), intermediate microeconomics (C),  taking an intro to micro course online for credit at the moment to replace the C

Years of Work Experience: 4 years full-time experience

Age: 26

Languages: English (native), French (fluent), random West African language (conversational)

Work Experience: 2.5 years working in West Africa at a large well-known NGO in the security department, supporting security management and doing analysis of regional issues (terrorism, organized crime, civil conflict). I've worked my way up from an intern to an important member of the office. Before this, I worked with small local NGOs in the same country in various development sectors (health, microfinance) for 1.5 years. I've been living in West Africa for 4.5 years.

LORs:  1 from my current supervisor who is the director of the security department. 1 from a French professor in college that I was somewhat close with during undergrad. A third for Georgetown SSP from an IR professor I didn't really keep in touch with but who still agreed to write me a letter.

SOPs: Exploring a link between poverty/underdevelopment and conflict through my various experiences working with refugees, in the development sector, and with the current conflict contexts that I work on in West Africa.

Concerns: Is this a good range of schools? Am I reaching to high here? I'd like to include at least one school where I know I can get decent scholarships in case nothing else works out. Any schools I should add or remove?

I'm also getting a lot of conflicting feedback from my recommenders and friends on how the structure and format of my SoP should be. Some say it should read more like a basic job cover letter, discussing experiences and qualifications, others say I should talk more about my academic and research interests and career objectives. Since many of these programs have such short word limits for SoP, I find I can't really do both of these effectively. Any advice from anyone here?

[yellina122]

On 10/13/2017 at 10:26 PM, ExponentialDecay said:

I'd call them up and ask them how many students have 0 years of work experience (internships don't count for admissions, I'm sorry). That's a vastly different situation from even having 1 year of it.

But broadly these are not competitive programs and you'll get in somewhere, especially if you aim low, especially if you're not looking for funding. Virtually all of these programs are looking for tuition-paying warm bodies. I'm more telling you this because, without any work experience in the field, the MPA is unlikely to have any positive effect on your employability, and if you are taking out student loans, that's a concern.

100% agree! @queenjaneapprox unless you've spent the last 21 years of your life working towards and dreaming of one day getting a Masters in Public Administration, which seems unlikely, you should avoid going straight to graduate school at all costs. 

The reason virtually all competitive MPA programs, but most govt affairs programs in general, require or prefer several years of professional experience is because they want people who have a very firm and specific idea of what they want to do professionally, and who know that an MPA is the way for them to get there.

Jumping into the workforce can be scary. Interning or volunteering at a dream organization or with a professional you admire might not seem ideal. But I guarantee that when you come out the other side, you will have a much better idea of what you want to do with your career, and whether or not you really need a masters to get there.

[Future_Chem_Professor]

Hi everyone! I'm posting this again to hopefully get some replies. Anything helps!!!

Program: M.S/PhD in Analytical Chemistry

Schools Applying To:  SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), University of Rochester, University of Maryland College Park, Tufts University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Rutgers New Brunswick 

Interests: Analytical Chemistry (HPLC)

Undergrad Institution: State School in Pennsylvania

Undergraduate GPA: 2.7/4.0 

Undergraduate Major: Chemistry

Undergraduate Minor: Mathematics

Major GPA: ~2.5/4.0

GRE:  V 148 / Q 154 / AW 5.0

Age: 23 

Languages: English, Spanish

Work Experience: 

- Summer internship in Pharmaceutical company

- 1 year of undergraduate research (nothing published)

-6 months working in an analytical R&D lab in the liquid chromatography department (currently working)

LORs: 1 great LOR from current lab supervisor, 1 great from Math professor who's known me my entire undergraduate career, 1 okay from professor I did research with (was upset I didn't publish, but still did good work)

SOPs: Still working on and revising

Concerns: 

1. Low GPA

 

I've been networking like crazy with professors of interest who've encouraged me to apply. I'm also voluntarily meeting with a few in person. My hope is that by traveling to see them, it'll demonstrate that I am in fact serious about graduate school. Also, I will also be taking the GRE Chemistry Subject Test in a few weeks to increase my chances. Please let me know of any approach I should take. Thank you!