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

[ivanleterrible]

Hello Government Affairs,

 

I am a rising undergraduate senior who is interested in applying to a multitude of graduate school programs to pursue a Masters in International Relation/Development. I wanted to share my statistics and experiences on here to see if anyone had any advice for strengthening my application, any program/school suggestions based on my interest, and any of advice if it would be best to take some time off after undergraduate to gain more experience.

 

Considering applying to: HKS, Tufts Fletcher, JHU Sais, Columbia Sipa, Georgetown SFS, American SIS, GW Elliot

 

Profile:

Undergraduate Institution: Top 20 Public University(USA)

Major: Political Science Minors: Human Rights, English

GPA: 3.80 (should increase once I receive Spring 2014 grades)

GRE: Will be taking in September(Kaplan GRE PREP class this summer)

University Honors Scholar(Honors College)

Undergraduate Thesis on refugee education(2014-2015 Academic Year)

Graduating in May 2015

 

Awards:

College of Liberal Arts and Science Deans List: All semesters(six)

University Leadership Scholarship:1/2 tuition scholarship for all 4 years

University Scholar Award:Maintaining at least a 3.7 GPA for two consecutive semesters

University Social Science Research Grant(Spring 2014): $2000

Human Rights Research Grant(Summer 2014): $1000

Political Science Honors Department Research Grant: $1250

Alpha Lambda Delta National Freshman Honor Society(Fall 2011)

Golden key International Honour Society, which signifies that I am in the Top 15 % of my class (Spring 2012)

Sigma Alpha Lambda National Leadership and Honors Organization (fall 2012)

American Political Science Association(APSA) National Conference:Poster Presenter

 

Activities:

Research Intern and Project Lead at respected Foreign Policy Think Tank(Washington DC, Summer 2013)

Honors Research Assistant for Professor In Poli Sci Department (Fall 2013-Present)

Research Assistant for well-known Political Public Opinion Institute(Fall 2014)

Research Intern at HKS(International Development)(Summer 2014)

Research Intern at International NGO in Middle East(Summer 2014)

University Model United Nations Director(UNICEF and Human Rights Council)

University Newspaper - Staff Writer

Political Blog:- Foreign Affairs Staff Writer

University Student Government- Senator

Residential Hall Association: Vice President

University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Student Representative on Board of Directors

Community Outreach: Alternative Spring Break Trips to New Orleans, Louisiana and Tampa, Florida

University Medical Center- Volunteer

International Relations Organization: Secretary

 

Many more unrelated extracurricular activities such as freshmen mentoring and intramural sports. 

 

Quantitative Courses:

Micro Economics(A) Macro Economics(A) Calculus 1(A -) Statistics 1010(A) Statistics 2215(A) Poli Sci Quantitative research methods(A) Graduate Statistical Analysis Course at Duke University(A)

 

Additional skills:

Languages: English(Native), French(Fluent), Arabic(Beginner)

Computer Skills: Microsoft Office, Minitab, R, STATA, and I will be learning SPSS this summer.

Saxophonist: Have played for seven years with Concert and Jazz Bands including performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

 

Future Career Aspirations: Political Officer in the Foreign Services at the U.S. State Department, NGO worker in International Relations, or possibly work at an IR think tank abroad.

 

If anyone has any suggestions about what schools I should be looking at with my credentials thus far, I would love to hear them.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for skills, programs, or experiences that I can improve or participate in to strengthen my application for the upcoming cycle?

 

Also would anyone recommend me taking time off prior to graduate school in order to strengthen my application? (Peace Corps, International Volunteer, Teach English Abroad).

 

Thank you for reading this and I can't wait to hear from you all.

 

I hope the end of your semesters and application cycles are treating you well. Have a fantastic summer!

[ty487]

As long as you have decent GRE scores, you should be a very strong candidate for Georgetown, LBJ, Tufts, and OSU [disclaimer: I know little about the latter 2 programs]. HKS is a crapshoot as always, but with very high GRE scores, you've got a good chance. If your GREs are great, then maybe apply to Princeton as well--worth a shot in my opinion. If you're wondering what "decent" or "great" mean, I'm not entirely sure myself, but I'd imagine anything above 158 would be decent, anything over 163 would be great...probably. 

 

This is all under the assumption that you can tie your work experience together, write good statements, blah blah, but I think we all understand that. 

 

Thanks! I'm nervous about the GRE but shooting for 160 and above.

[Bombaygunner]

Man, this thread is so useful! Thanks to everyone for contributing.

 

- I'm applying for Fall 2015 admission to: Columbia SIPA MIA, JHU SAIS MA/MAIA, Yale MAGA, Cornell MPA, NYU MA IR.

- I've got 2 years work exp, writing for Forbes Magazine and I've lived/interned across Asia and Europe.

- Got 325 / 340 in my first GRE attempt (163 V 162 Q awaiting AW score)

 

I've got a few questions:

- Is 325 good enough for the GRE or is it worth trying again to score better in Quant?

- I did my undergrad in the UK (BSc Business & International Relations from a decent uni with a great business school) and got 66% which is classified as a 2:1. I've read that my mark equates to a 3.5 GPA in the American system. Is this about right?

- I'll be 24 when I apply and 25 when I join (with 3 years work exp). You reckon that's too young?  

-  Should I consider Princeton WWS or is my GPA (assuming it is 3.5) probably too low?

- Is there any advantage to applying early? ie a day after the application portal opens in August? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Kalaba]

Hey everyone,

 

This thread (and the entire forum) have been so useful to me as I've begun my search and prep work.  And now, of course, I want to know if I'm qualified for the programs I'm looking at.

 

Applying for: International Development, hopefully with a concentration in human rights/human trafficking/humanitarian affairs

Prospective schools: University of Denver (Korbel, human rights and human trafficking), American, Georgetown Global Human Development, and all the usual others.

Undergraduate institution: Big state school, decent but not known for anything

Undergraduate major:  Political Science

Undergraduate GPA: 3.75ish

GRE:  I haven't taken it yet, I expect average-to-slightly-higher scores.  I'm taking an intensive study class over the summer.

Work Experience:  1.5 years as an Executive Assistant (not related), 2 years as a Health Education Specialist in Peace Corps (West Africa), 1 year as a health systems strengthening advisor/program manager on a maternal health project (Peace Corps, Southern Africa), 1 year as a program coordinator for an international public health consultaing firm.  Clearly I have a health background, but it's just more accesible and where I've fallen.  I am quite interested in this, but it's not where my main interest lies.

Overseas Experience: Peace Corps (3 years), plus travel throughout Europe and Africa

Language:  Beginner/intermediate French, a local language from my first PC stint.  I plan on taking French classes this fall.

Quantitative requirements: I just finished an online community college micro class (A) and I'm taking macro now (A expected). 

 

Aside from Denver, which is my top choice (at the moment, anyway), I'm still trying to identify schools that offer what I'm most interested in.  It only seems to be the top schools, which may not offer any funding, and places I'm not interested in (mainly for weather reasons: Minnesota, etc).

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Karoku_valentine]

 

Hey guys, Id appreciate it if could I get any insight on my profile for these schools I'm currently working on :

 

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 articles for Asia-oriented IR magazine + teacher assistant 

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" do not particularly help me 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.

 

You were probably admitted. IRPS admits everyone. I would recommend you to go somewhere else.

[hmmmmmmmm]

One thing I found helpful was to look at LinkedIn profiles of current students at programs that I was considering.

 

See what they did in college/after graduation and what kind of honors they received. Most people don't list their test scores, but as it has been hashed over many times on this website, GRE/GPA don't matter nearly as much as experience and personal narrative.

[ajak568]

Hey y'all! I wanted to post, too, to get some feedback. I think I could get in some places, but I don't know if that's false confidence. Whaddya you guys think? What are my odds? ALL criticism is more than welcome, people. I want to get into a good policy analysis program that can give me a strong international focus. My dream is to get into the Foreign Service after completing an MPP/MPA. I'll also be applying for a Pickering. (Think I could be competitive for that? Any of you guys have ANY IDEA how competitive it is to get a Pickering?) If there are schools that I missed that would also fit well with the program I just loosely described, please give me shout and let me know! Good luck to all of you!

 

Applying for Fall 2015 to: Goldman MPP (UC Berkeley, top choice), Ford MPP (UMichigan, I would also be very happy here), Maxwell (Syracuse, MPA), WWS (Princeton MPA), Harvard (HKS MPP)

 

Undergrad: UNC Chapel Hill 2012

Major/GPA: Spanish/International Studies double major, Chinese minor

GPA: 3.54 (distinction)

GRE: Verb- 163 (91%)

          Quant- 161 (83%)

          Writing- 5.5 (96%)

 

Languages: Spanish (fluent, advanced), Mandarin Chinese (intermediate)

 

International Experience: Southeast Asia (study abroad Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Summer 2009), Spain (study abroad, Spring 2010), China (study abroad summer 2011), Panama (Peace Corps 2013-present)

 

Coursework: I've taken coursework in single and multi-variable calculus (back in the day as an undergrad), statistics (even longer ago. . .but I got college credit for it and it's on my transcript so it counts, right?) and economics (intro, calc based micro, international, developmental). And, ya know. . .international studies type classes that are less technical and maybe less relevant to mention here. I've also been taking some online calc and macroecon policy courses to brush up since I've been in Peace Corps and haven't been using my academic brain as much.

 

Work experience: Really my only relevant experience would be my current Peace Corps service (I'm mid-service, one year under my belt, will have finished my second year before my degree program would start). I'm an Education Volunteer in Panama and I'm also involved in several gender/women's/youth development initiatives and HIV/AIDS awareness activities. Nothing too technical, but I'll be trying to sell it for all it's worth in my SOP!

 

SOP/Personal Statement: Working on these. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to mention to you all here. I want to be an FSO. I also have interests in education policy and immigration policy (more or less in that order). More than anything, like I said earlier, I want a program that is strong in policy analysis, has an international focus, and is very practicum-based rather than theory/thesis-writing focused. I gotta little bit of a sob story about some obstacles I've overcome, but I don't want my personal statement to sound like a sob story, so if you have tips on how to strike that balance, please let me know!

 

Recommendations:

 

*Pretty well-known political science professor from my undergrad days. I haven't talked to him in about a year, but he knows me pretty well and we've had a relationship all throughout undergrad, so I'm confident I could get a pretty good recommendation from him. I'm thinking this recommendation could speak to my academic merits.

 

*A pretty senior Peace Corps staff member here in the office in Panama. My idea for this recommendation is to have a rec that speaks to my work experience.

 

*A staff member at Community School of the Arts, where I was once a student and have been volunteering for years ever since. There's a program director there that jokingly calls my sisters and I her daughters, so I'm wondering if that relationship may be too familial for a good recommendation? My idea with this recommendation was to get a rec that speaks to my committment to public service.

 

Alright y'all. Thanks for reading my novel of stats, here. Any advice you all have would be more than welcome. If there's anybody that's up for trading personal statements and statements of purpose, I am always looking to peer-edit. I'd like to get some feedback before my essays hit the desk in admissions at Berkeley and Michigan, so I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine.

Paz y amor, chic@s!

Aja

[Aspirant#3]

Hi everyone,

 

Can you please evaluate my profile?

 

I want to apply to MPP program in the top schools and HKS is a dream. Please evaluate my profile and give a realistic idea of the chances I may have of getting selected for Spring 2014:

 

Done Bachelors in Engineering for four years and have a GPA of 3.0

Organised Non-Profit clubs in college.
Worked in an IT company but decided to follow my passion and work in the non-profit sector.

Worked in an NGO for 2 years (this Nov will be completing two years) that aims for grassroots Leadership. Organised and facilitated a number of projects under the Community leadership domain.

Been a blue cross volunteer and also facilitated Youth Empowerment Seminars in my city for three years.

Extra curricular activities- Travelled quite a bit, have been a dancer since 5 years.

 

I got good scores in GRE and TOEFL. What are my chances with a strong SOP to get into HKS, University of Chicago, Berkeley?

 

Thank you 

[pavlik]

Cocote--some of your schools may be reaches, and they may be longer reaches if your GREs aren't great. Your internships are good, but getting some professional experience (are you still in undergrad?) would really help your chances and give you direction. A year or 2 as an entry-level research assistant or program assistant with an organization that synchronizes with your interests (and a LOR from your supervisor there) would go a long way to balancing out less-than-ideal GRE scores. Lots of students apply for MPA/MPP programs straight out of undergraduate, lots of them have great GPAs and GREs, some of them get in, even fewer get reasonable levels of funding. How will you stack up against your peers? I'm a big proponent of not going to grad school straight from undergrad, so keep that in mind. You're just a much more attractive candidate to grad schools with 2-3 years of work experience after undergrad, whether it be entry-level NGO/nonprofit/gov't agency work, Peace Corps, other international work, etc. 

 

Aspirant #3--Given that it's spring 2014 now, I assume you mean fall 2015 matriculation? At any rate, it depends largely on your GRE scores and how your GPA compares to a U.S. university's system, assuming your undergraduate was in India (if it was in the U.S., disregard that). Your experience is interesting, and if you can tie it into what your interests are long-term, that will certainly help your chances. However, to be honest, without a GRE score in the 160s in both math and English, I don't see much of a shot at HKS. People with 4.0 GPAs and 16+0 GREs get rejected from HKS, just as people with lesser numbers but a more compelling direction/background/focus get in. If you want to get an MPP in the U.S., then definitely consider Harvard, but you should broaden your search as well. 

[pavlik]

Hey y'all! I wanted to post, too, to get some feedback. I think I could get in some places, but I don't know if that's false confidence. Whaddya you guys think? What are my odds? ALL criticism is more than welcome, people. I want to get into a good policy analysis program that can give me a strong international focus. My dream is to get into the Foreign Service after completing an MPP/MPA. I'll also be applying for a Pickering. (Think I could be competitive for that? Any of you guys have ANY IDEA how competitive it is to get a Pickering?) If there are schools that I missed that would also fit well with the program I just loosely described, please give me shout and let me know! Good luck to all of you!

 

Applying for Fall 2015 to: Goldman MPP (UC Berkeley, top choice), Ford MPP (UMichigan, I would also be very happy here), Maxwell (Syracuse, MPA), WWS (Princeton MPA), Harvard (HKS MPP)

 

Undergrad: UNC Chapel Hill 2012

Major/GPA: Spanish/International Studies double major, Chinese minor

GPA: 3.54 (distinction)

GRE: Verb- 163 (91%)

          Quant- 161 (83%)

          Writing- 5.5 (96%)

 

Languages: Spanish (fluent, advanced), Mandarin Chinese (intermediate)

 

International Experience: Southeast Asia (study abroad Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Summer 2009), Spain (study abroad, Spring 2010), China (study abroad summer 2011), Panama (Peace Corps 2013-present)

 

Coursework: I've taken coursework in single and multi-variable calculus (back in the day as an undergrad), statistics (even longer ago. . .but I got college credit for it and it's on my transcript so it counts, right?) and economics (intro, calc based micro, international, developmental). And, ya know. . .international studies type classes that are less technical and maybe less relevant to mention here. I've also been taking some online calc and macroecon policy courses to brush up since I've been in Peace Corps and haven't been using my academic brain as much.

 

Work experience: Really my only relevant experience would be my current Peace Corps service (I'm mid-service, one year under my belt, will have finished my second year before my degree program would start). I'm an Education Volunteer in Panama and I'm also involved in several gender/women's/youth development initiatives and HIV/AIDS awareness activities. Nothing too technical, but I'll be trying to sell it for all it's worth in my SOP!

 

SOP/Personal Statement: Working on these. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to mention to you all here. I want to be an FSO. I also have interests in education policy and immigration policy (more or less in that order). More than anything, like I said earlier, I want a program that is strong in policy analysis, has an international focus, and is very practicum-based rather than theory/thesis-writing focused. I gotta little bit of a sob story about some obstacles I've overcome, but I don't want my personal statement to sound like a sob story, so if you have tips on how to strike that balance, please let me know!

 

Recommendations:

 

*Pretty well-known political science professor from my undergrad days. I haven't talked to him in about a year, but he knows me pretty well and we've had a relationship all throughout undergrad, so I'm confident I could get a pretty good recommendation from him. I'm thinking this recommendation could speak to my academic merits.

 

*A pretty senior Peace Corps staff member here in the office in Panama. My idea for this recommendation is to have a rec that speaks to my work experience.

 

*A staff member at Community School of the Arts, where I was once a student and have been volunteering for years ever since. There's a program director there that jokingly calls my sisters and I her daughters, so I'm wondering if that relationship may be too familial for a good recommendation? My idea with this recommendation was to get a rec that speaks to my committment to public service.

 

Alright y'all. Thanks for reading my novel of stats, here. Any advice you all have would be more than welcome. If there's anybody that's up for trading personal statements and statements of purpose, I am always looking to peer-edit. I'd like to get some feedback before my essays hit the desk in admissions at Berkeley and Michigan, so I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine.

Paz y amor, chic@s!

Aja

Aja, I think you have a very good shot at most of those schools. If you want to be an FSO, then you should apply for the Pickering or Rangel fellowships. Anyway, Michigan <3s RPCVs, so you are guaranteed $10k in funding should you be admitted (I absolutely don't see why you wouldn't be...I was admitted with similar stats this year), and possibly more. I don't know much about Berkley, so disregard everything I say, but I think you would definitely be competitive there. 

 

EDIT: I didn't see you already mentioned Pickering. It's very competitive. I'm not really sure what their criteria are. I didn't get it this year, but a friend of mine from my PC program did get it in the previous year, so it's not impossible. HKS and WWS are similarly competitive. You have a shot with your decent GRE/GPA/work experience, but you may not get in after all.

 

I would also maybe look into Tufts or Texas LBJ as not-quite-safety-but-pretty-sure-bet schools. Good programs, great towns, etc., especially if you get Pickering--you'd be guaranteed a job after graduation anyway, so why not live somewhere fun and with good weather (Tufts doesn't match the latter I guess)?

 

Also, props on not being one of the undergraduate students who wants to apply their senior year and has their heart set on Harvard. 

[Aspirant#3]

Does a two month internship at Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, help have an edge over other applicants while applying for MPP in Ivy league universities like HKS, University of Chicago, Berkeley etc?

[pavlik]

Does a two month internship at Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, help have an edge over other applicants while applying for MPP in Ivy league universities like HKS, University of Chicago, Berkeley etc?

Chicago and Berkeley are not Ivy League, but I imagine that it helps. Internships are not the same as actual work experience, though, and you're competing against lots of people with that.

[StarkResilient89]

If anyone could give me honest feedback about these credentials and whatnot, it would be much appreciated. 

 

Undergrad: top 30 US News private university, class of 2011 

Major: History

Minor: International Studies

GPA: 3.3 (Major GPA ~3.5). Mostly due to to bad freshman year grades. 

GRE: 160 Math (78th percentile), 163 verbal (91st percentile), 5.5 AW (97th percentile)

Quant-related coursework: Intro to Macroecon (B-, took it the summer after my freshman year), Intro to Microecon (took this online via coursera; got the equivalent of a 96% and passed with distinction), and about to take intro to statistics this fall via coursera again. 

Work Experience: Here's where things get a bit tricky. I had two city govt.-related internships during college, and after I graduated I worked for a federal agency as a paralegal. Currently, I also work as a paralegal for a large law firm. It may seem like a mismatch at first glance, one of the cases I've been working on for a long time now involves environmental remediation and CERCLA-related lawsuits, and a big part of that entails compliance with EPA and state environmental regulations. Even though this isn't as good as actually working for EPA or NRDC and such, I'd still like to think that it's at least adequate exposure to environmental policy & sustainability. The work I do is substantitve also: lots and lots of document review, drafting memos and production indices and whatnot. This ties directly into....

Desired Program: An MPA/MPP in environmental policy (surprise!) for fall 2015. I'm hoping that my exposure and work in environmental litigation outlined above at least offsets the fact that I don't have enough public policy/non-profit/govt. work experience as other candidates. 

Schools I'm looking into: NYU Wagner, Columbia SIPA, Upenn Fels, Cornell CIPA, Carnegie Mellon Heinz, SUNY Albany, University of Maryland, Syracuse Maxwell, Georgetown McCourt, American University

SOP: I'll tell you when I figure all this out, but most likely it'll be something along the lines how my exposure to environment litigation led me to become interested in environmental public policy. 

Letters of Recommendation: I can probably get about 2-3 letters from the attorneys I work for, but it's getting letters from my professors that I have the biggest issue with. I mean, I haven't seek/spoken to them in more than 3 years by now. I doubt many of them even remember me.  

 

Thoughts and suggestions? As I've stated above, it's my somewhat subpar work experience that worries me the most (I was actually let go from my fed job, so that's another problem right there). Do I still stand a decent chance of getting into these programs AND getting good financial aid? 

 

Thanks. 

Edited June 29, 2014 by StarkResilient89

[chocolatecheesecake]

If anyone could give me honest feedback about these credentials and whatnot, it would be much appreciated. 

 

Undergrad: top 30 US News private university, class of 2011 

Major: History

Minor: International Studies

GPA: 3.3 (Major GPA ~3.5). Mostly due to to bad freshman year grades. 

GRE: 160 Math (78th percentile), 163 verbal (91st percentile), 5.5 AW (97th percentile)

Quant-related coursework: Intro to Macroecon (B-, took it the summer after my freshman year), Intro to Microecon (took this online via coursera; got the equivalent of a 96% and passed with distinction), and about to take intro to statistics this fall via coursera again. 

Work Experience: Here's where things get a bit tricky. I had two city govt.-related internships during college, and after I graduated I worked for a federal agency as a paralegal. Currently, I also work as a paralegal for a large law firm. It may seem like a mismatch at first glance, one of the cases I've been working on for a long time now involves environmental remediation and CERCLA-related lawsuits, and a big part of that entails compliance with EPA and state environmental regulations. Even though this isn't as good as actually working for EPA or NRDC and such, I'd still like to think that it's at least adequate exposure to environmental policy & sustainability. The work I do is substantitve also: lots and lots of document review, drafting memos and production indices and whatnot. This ties directly into....

Desired Program: An MPA/MPP in environmental policy (surprise!) for fall 2015. I'm hoping that my exposure and work in environmental litigation outlined above at least offsets the fact that I don't have enough public policy/non-profit/govt. work experience as other candidates. 

Schools I'm looking into: NYU Wagner, Columbia SIPA, Upenn Fels, Cornell CIPA, Carnegie Mellon Heinz, SUNY Albany, University of Maryland, Syracuse Maxwell, Georgetown McCourt, American University

SOP: I'll tell you when I figure all this out, but most likely it'll be something along the lines how my exposure to environment litigation led me to become interested in environmental public policy. 

Letters of Recommendation: I can probably get about 2-3 letters from the attorneys I work for, but it's getting letters from my professors that I have the biggest issue with. I mean, I haven't seek/spoken to them in more than 3 years by now. I doubt many of them even remember me.  

 

Thoughts and suggestions? As I've stated above, it's my somewhat subpar work experience that worries me the most (I was actually let go from my fed job, so that's another problem right there). Do I still stand a decent chance of getting into these programs AND getting good financial aid? 

 

Thanks. 

 

Your profile sounds pretty great, I think. To address what you feel are some of your weak points -- your work experience doesn't seem so subpar to me.  The internships and the paralegal job make a great story to tell in your SOP, and it sounds directly relevant to why you want to go to grad school for environmental policy. I think many people who apply to policy school in fact lack direct work in policy, and this degree is how they're getting their foot into that door, so don't worry that you haven't done what you're trying to do: if you were already working for the EPA, why would you even need a policy degree? The part where you said you were let go from your Fed job - if it was for budgetary or bureaucratic reasons, I think there would be no harm in mentioning it, but maybe someone else with experience in describing these kinds of things in cover letters should chime in, because you're following very similar rules in writing your grad school app.

As for your recommendation letters, since the fall is the time to apply, you still have some time now to reach out to some of your favorite professors, maybe the person who advised your undergraduate thesis, etc. etc. and strike up a quick conversation just to let them know you're exploring the possibility of having them write you a letter. My professors have told me that it's been done before by people six or seven years out who barely interacted with them in undergrad, so there re much more awkward stories. Don't feel bad about it, since you're only three years out. A good academic reference will really go a long way. Just make sure subtly that they'll be able to give "a positive reference". 

Something I noticed is that you took both Intro to Microeconomics and are doing Statistics via Coursera. I'm not familiar with that particular brand of MMOC, but if they don't grant transcripts, some schools will not count it as a credit-bearing college level course. For example, I'm heading to Duke this fall, and did Intro to Microeconomics at UCLA Extension, which is pretty cheap ($595) and completely online, all exams and everything. It wasn't hard at all. But it is credit bearing and I can send them my A- to prove I took it. A MMOC equivalent like OpenCourseWare at MIT wouldn't have worked. Either check ahead of time or hedge your bets by signing up for some cheap community college courses or UCLA Extension if you need good online classes before you apply to school. It's certainly something I wish I would have done.

 

Finally, your work experience (3+ years) puts you in a really good place as far as aid goes, I believe. Work experience seems to be an overriding factor in giving aid, from all the stories I've read on here, and from my personal experience (got half aid and full aid at the two schools I was accepted at). Your GRE scores sound pretty good, and if you write a great SOP and have great recs, I think you'll have an excellent shot at getting in and getting aid. Most schools list the range of GRE scores of their accepted cohorts, so check on that for some schools. Also read the "Final Decisions" threads here on the forum to hear about how people with varying stats/qualifications did in terms of programs and aid throughout the year. It is super helpful to hear about the diversity of experiences and aims that grad schools are looking for. One last note - consider Yale's environmental policy school, as I had a friend who just got accepted and are attending their program in environmental policy. It was her number one choice, and she's really loving it already, because she got a summer RA position over there. Best of luck!

[Gov2School]

I agree with chocolatecheesecake, if any of the schools you're applying to require that you have macro/micro they probably won't see Coursera courses as sufficient.  That being said, if the programs you're interested don't state that it's mandatory for you to have those courses, then you can probably still list your Coursera courses as evidence of your overall background in these subjects, but just be aware that most schools won't count them as seriously as if you took a course (even an online course) through an online extension program or community college. If you're based in DC, you can look into taking courses through Graduate School USA, which are very affordable and they provide official transcripts for school.  The classes meet once a week at night so it's easy to do after work. 

 

And don't worry about your professor recommendation.  Do start reaching out now, when they're likely to be less busy than in the fall.  It might be helpful if you could dig up one of your old college papers to help remind them of who you are.  But ultimately, you shouldn't be embarrassed. Professors understand that this is part of their jobs and most of them are good spirited about it. You should offer to do an outline for them if they want or else to send them your statement of purpose (good motivation to help you get started on your SOP!) so they understand what you want to highlight and what your goals are for school. And don't forget to send a thank you note!  

[StarkResilient89]

 

Your profile sounds pretty great, I think. To address what you feel are some of your weak points -- your work experience doesn't seem so subpar to me.  The internships and the paralegal job make a great story to tell in your SOP, and it sounds directly relevant to why you want to go to grad school for environmental policy. I think many people who apply to policy school in fact lack direct work in policy, and this degree is how they're getting their foot into that door, so don't worry that you haven't done what you're trying to do: if you were already working for the EPA, why would you even need a policy degree? The part where you said you were let go from your Fed job - if it was for budgetary or bureaucratic reasons, I think there would be no harm in mentioning it, but maybe someone else with experience in describing these kinds of things in cover letters should chime in, because you're following very similar rules in writing your grad school app.

As for your recommendation letters, since the fall is the time to apply, you still have some time now to reach out to some of your favorite professors, maybe the person who advised your undergraduate thesis, etc. etc. and strike up a quick conversation just to let them know you're exploring the possibility of having them write you a letter. My professors have told me that it's been done before by people six or seven years out who barely interacted with them in undergrad, so there re much more awkward stories. Don't feel bad about it, since you're only three years out. A good academic reference will really go a long way. Just make sure subtly that they'll be able to give "a positive reference". 

Something I noticed is that you took both Intro to Microeconomics and are doing Statistics via Coursera. I'm not familiar with that particular brand of MMOC, but if they don't grant transcripts, some schools will not count it as a credit-bearing college level course. For example, I'm heading to Duke this fall, and did Intro to Microeconomics at UCLA Extension, which is pretty cheap ($595) and completely online, all exams and everything. It wasn't hard at all. But it is credit bearing and I can send them my A- to prove I took it. A MMOC equivalent like OpenCourseWare at MIT wouldn't have worked. Either check ahead of time or hedge your bets by signing up for some cheap community college courses or UCLA Extension if you need good online classes before you apply to school. It's certainly something I wish I would have done.

 

Finally, your work experience (3+ years) puts you in a really good place as far as aid goes, I believe. Work experience seems to be an overriding factor in giving aid, from all the stories I've read on here, and from my personal experience (got half aid and full aid at the two schools I was accepted at). Your GRE scores sound pretty good, and if you write a great SOP and have great recs, I think you'll have an excellent shot at getting in and getting aid. Most schools list the range of GRE scores of their accepted cohorts, so check on that for some schools. Also read the "Final Decisions" threads here on the forum to hear about how people with varying stats/qualifications did in terms of programs and aid throughout the year. It is super helpful to hear about the diversity of experiences and aims that grad schools are looking for. One last note - consider Yale's environmental policy school, as I had a friend who just got accepted and are attending their program in environmental policy. It was her number one choice, and she's really loving it already, because she got a summer RA position over there. Best of luck!

 

 

I agree with chocolatecheesecake, if any of the schools you're applying to require that you have macro/micro they probably won't see Coursera courses as sufficient.  That being said, if the programs you're interested don't state that it's mandatory for you to have those courses, then you can probably still list your Coursera courses as evidence of your overall background in these subjects, but just be aware that most schools won't count them as seriously as if you took a course (even an online course) through an online extension program or community college. If you're based in DC, you can look into taking courses through Graduate School USA, which are very affordable and they provide official transcripts for school.  The classes meet once a week at night so it's easy to do after work. 

 

And don't worry about your professor recommendation.  Do start reaching out now, when they're likely to be less busy than in the fall.  It might be helpful if you could dig up one of your old college papers to help remind them of who you are.  But ultimately, you shouldn't be embarrassed. Professors understand that this is part of their jobs and most of them are good spirited about it. You should offer to do an outline for them if they want or else to send them your statement of purpose (good motivation to help you get started on your SOP!) so they understand what you want to highlight and what your goals are for school. And don't forget to send a thank you note!  

 

Thanks to the two of you for your advice. I'll guess have to overcome the awkwardness situation when contacting professors for recommendations sooner or later. 

 

But to be clear re: the coursera microeconomics class, it's not just a run-of-the-mill online class; they provided a verified certificate of achievement that links back to my online identity and all-but-serves as proof that it's a legitimate economics course. It was even provided and graded by an established professor at UC Irvine and has his signature on the certificate to boot. Not that I'm trying to discount/gainsay your insights, but is this still insufficient? I'd dread at the thought of doing Microeconomics over again when I put so much effort into it in just this class trying to pass with highest honors. 

Edited June 30, 2014 by StarkResilient89

[Gov2School]

Thanks to the two of you for your advice. I'll guess have to overcome the awkwardness situation when contacting professors for recommendations sooner or later. 

 

But to be clear re: the coursera microeconomics class, it's not just a run-of-the-mill online class; they provided a verified certificate of achievement that links back to my online identity and all-but-serves as proof that it's a legitimate economics course. It was even provided and graded by an established professor at UC Irvine and has his signature on the certificate to boot. Not that I'm trying to discount/gainsay your insights, but is this still insufficient? I'd dread at the thought of doing Microeconomics over again when I put so much effort into it in just this class trying to pass with highest honors. 

 

You should definitely contact the schools that you're most interested in to find out.  I would be surprised if they said they would treat the Coursera courses like a regular university course, but different schools may have different policies. Generally, universities want to see official transcripts from accredited institutions in order for your course to "count".  Whether a school chooses to recognize a certificate of achievement from Coursera or not is up to them. 

[WWSJingoist]

Caveat: Don't have any Micro/Macro Econ. I will take courses online.

 

Schools Applying to: Georgetown SSP, Korbel Int'l Security

 

Overall: Combat Veteran, 4 years Army Officer Experience, Ranger, Infantry, deployment to Afghanistan at Strategic Level

Language: Pashto, some college Arabic

 

GPA: 3.61

GRE: 160Q/163V, 5.0

 

LORs: 3 from Generals

SOP: Extremely Strong- unique perspective in working with Foreign Security Forces

 

Feedback from Veterans or anyone currently accepted to the programs would be great. I'm going to be rolling the dice on my career and want to make sure I make the most informed decision possible.

[StarkResilient89]

Caveat: Don't have any Micro/Macro Econ. I will take courses online.

 

Schools Applying to: Georgetown SSP, Korbel Int'l Security

 

Overall: Combat Veteran, 4 years Army Officer Experience, Ranger, Infantry, deployment to Afghanistan at Strategic Level

Language: Pashto, some college Arabic

 

GPA: 3.61

GRE: 160Q/163V, 5.0

 

LORs: 3 from Generals

SOP: Extremely Strong- unique perspective in working with Foreign Security Forces

 

Feedback from Veterans or anyone currently accepted to the programs would be great. I'm going to be rolling the dice on my career and want to make sure I make the most informed decision possible.

Except for the military experience and language skills, your stats and overall situation are strikingly similar to mine. From what I've heard previously and have heard from my message thread with others above (#s 468-472), you seem to be in pretty good shape in terms of numbers and such. Also, from looking at Georgetown SSP's admitted students' statistics, you're either at or above the median for GPA and GREs. Your LORs and SOP look pretty neat too. 

 

The one caveat you mentioned (re: online econ classes, again the same type of situation as mine) has a bit of a catch (see the above posts): from what others have just told me, the institution that you're taking the classes with generally needs to provide transcripts for the classes to count. In my case, I took microecon via coursera, and they only grant verified certificates of achievements as opposed to transcripts. While I'm also looking to take statistics via online classes that grant transcripts, I'm going to try to hedge my bets and use both the coursera certificate and hopefully upcoming transcript to bolster my application; at this point I feel like it's too late to turn back in that regard due to time and $ constraints. Hope this helps!

[chocolatecheesecake]

@StarkResilient -- just a note, the time restraint isn't limited to when you apply. If you take a credit-bearing transcript-granting course in microecon, say, in the fall semester or even the winter, you can mention it on your transcript and it'll still count for your prerequisites. I was accepted even without having taken it, but they just wanted me to do it before I enrolled and send them a transcript by August 1. If you don't have time this summer, I imagine you can do it as late as next summer, but it all depends on your schedule. Not all institutions have the same policy as Gov2School noted but as long as you take it and get a transcript before you start your program, that's the important part.

[StarkResilient89]

@StarkResilient -- just a note, the time restraint isn't limited to when you apply. If you take a credit-bearing transcript-granting course in microecon, say, in the fall semester or even the winter, you can mention it on your transcript and it'll still count for your prerequisites. I was accepted even without having taken it, but they just wanted me to do it before I enrolled and send them a transcript by August 1. If you don't have time this summer, I imagine you can do it as late as next summer, but it all depends on your schedule. Not all institutions have the same policy as Gov2School noted but as long as you take it and get a transcript before you start your program, that's the important part.

Thanks again. Have a good July 4th weekend! 

[kmj-c09]

Hey all, 

 

hoping to apply to Harvard's JD/MPP. Already accepted in the JD program and entering this fall (we can apply for the dual degree at the end of our first year. So wondering about my competitiveness for HKS' MPP. 

 

GPA:
UG GPA 3.90 at top 5 public university (with well-known merit scholarship).

GRE score:
No GRE to date. Can apply with LSAT score (166, 93rd percentile) but I know that my LSAT score was very on the low side for HLS, so I'm wondering if it's worth taking the GRE this summer. 

 

Work experience:
1 year out of undergrad. Spent that year working with human rights rights in Latin America (my region of interest). Solid WE in undergrad -- different internship every summer abroad in my area of interest (human rights, generally speaking); internships during the year in that area, pretty significant leadership in campus organizations. Several publications, but not peer-review. Undergrad thesis in area/region of interest. Currently a summer research assistant in area of interest. 

Language skills:
English (native); Spanish (professional fluency); French (~B2 on common European scale); Arabic (low-intermediate MSA); Portuguese (beginner). 

 

Quantitative requirements:
Applying for the MPP, which has no specific quantitative requirements that I know of. My qualitative courses in UG were pretty limited (1 course in ECON -- covers micro and macro but at a more superficial level -- and one course in STAT). Will this hurt me? 

Overseas experience (work, study and teaching):
Multi-national, 1 year working abroad post-grad, 3 internships abroad in UG, 1 semester study abroad, 2 month-long study abroad fellowships post-grad; extensive travel experience. 

Any thoughts re: taking the GRE? 

Also, is funding ever a possibility for someone with as limited post-grad experience as me? (i.e. only one year when most people have more than that).

Edited July 3, 2014 by kmj-c09

[chocolatecheesecake]

Hey all, 

 

hoping to apply to Harvard's JD/MPP. Already accepted in the JD program and entering this fall (we can apply for the dual degree at the end of our first year. So wondering about my competitiveness for HKS' MPP. 

 

GPA:

UG GPA 3.90 at top 5 public university (with well-known merit scholarship).

GRE score:

No GRE to date. Can apply with LSAT score (166, 93rd percentile) but I know that my LSAT score was very on the low side for HLS, so I'm wondering if it's worth taking the GRE this summer. 

 

Work experience:

1 year out of undergrad. Spent that year working with human rights rights in Latin America (my region of interest). Solid WE in undergrad -- different internship every summer abroad in my area of interest (human rights, generally speaking); internships during the year in that area, pretty significant leadership in campus organizations. Several publications, but not peer-review. Undergrad thesis in area/region of interest. Currently a summer research assistant in area of interest. 

Language skills:

English (native); Spanish (professional fluency); French (~B2 on common European scale); Arabic (low-intermediate MSA); Portuguese (beginner). 

 

Quantitative requirements:

Applying for the MPP, which has no specific quantitative requirements that I know of. My qualitative courses in UG were pretty limited (1 course in ECON -- covers micro and macro but at a more superficial level -- and one course in STAT). Will this hurt me? 

Overseas experience (work, study and teaching):

Multi-national, 1 year working abroad post-grad, 3 internships abroad in UG, 1 semester study abroad, 2 month-long study abroad fellowships post-grad; extensive travel experience. 

Any thoughts re: taking the GRE? 

Also, is funding ever a possibility for someone with as limited post-grad experience as me? (i.e. only one year when most people have more than that).

 

Some quick thoughts -- you're in a very unique situation, and I'd say the competitiveness/likelihood of admission for dual-degree JD/MPP students just can't be deduced from general admission statistics. You'd be better off asking the admissions office about how many students get accepted from the law school, but I get the sense that it's a pretty small amount.  As always, have a strong portfolio, and I'd say, yes, take the GRE if you feel like your quantitative courses weren't very thorough or impressive (if you got a B or below). Don't give them a reason to say no -- that's how I think of it. I do think you may not be as strong a candidate for funding as a result of the limited work experience, but there's not much you can do about that at this point.

 

The real question is: can you provide a strong, compelling reason for why you need both degrees? Do you have a strong story? Do you know what you want to do when you leave in four years with those two degrees? You just made a case for your need/desire for a very particular kind of graduate school... why are you now thinking about doing an MPP too? They qualify you for working professionally in very distinctly different areas, and the resulting overlap is a fairly narrow band of occupations and jobs that really do require expertise from both degrees. If you want to work in law but for public policy organizations, it may be a good idea to supplement your law degree with as many classes about public policy as possible or to work/ intern/ volunteer for those sorts of organizations to acquire familiarity and experience with them. There's a lot you can do to open future career paths and broaden your interests without shelling out the extra time/money/effort just for another degree, so I think you owe it to yourself to investigate it thoroughly.

[J.Makarov]

Hello everyone,

 

I am seeking mainly advice, rather than evaluation of my profile, because I am going to apply in 2016 and some things may change by then. Here's my story.

 

I am an international student from Russia with journalism background. Since graduation from j-school I've spent 4 years working as a news reporter stationed in Japan. Now I'm thinking about the further direction of my career, and there are several options on the table.

 

The first thing is that after these years I realized that writing news is not quite my cup of tea. I am more interested in doing something research-oriented. At the same time after Fukushima, which was the biggest story so far in my journalism career, I developed a huge interest in energy security problems. Given all this and my international experience, I believe it is worth for me to consider jobs outside journalism.

 

Ideally I see my future in academia, so I am currently looking into some PhD programs. But the career in public policy or maybe some research job in private sector also look quite attractive to me. So, as I am narrowing down my choices, I want to ask your opinion - is it a good idea to aim for professional programs with the background and the profile (see below) like mine? More importantly, is there a good chance of landing on a job, say, in some international organizations like UN or IAEA?

 

So, here is my profile. 

 

Undergrad: Top-1 journalism school in Russia

Major: International journalism

Minor: New media

GPA: There is no such thing in my home country, but the grades in my transcript roughly translate into 3.82/4.0 GPA. My degree is marked "with distinction", although it is not a big deal, because my undergrad school has a grade inflation problem. The admissions office might be oblivious about that, though.

GRE: Haven't taken it yet, currently preparing. Also going to take TOEFL shortly after that. I am usually comfortable with standardized tests, so hope to get decent scores.

Languages: native Russian, fluent English, intermediate Japanese (had to learn it right at the workplace), intermediate Polish, beginner Spanish.

Quant-related coursework: I spent most of the time in college studying liberal arts (not my choice, because the syllabus was very rigid), but did take an intro to microeconimics (got A for it). I am going to take some more courses in econ before applying.

Work Experience: Right after my graduation in 2010 I took a job in a state news agency and went on a long-term dispatch to Tokyo. So, now I've got 4 years of working as a news reporter in Japan under my belt. We have a very small bureau here and so each correspondent has to cover news on all topics from culture to politics to relations between neighboring Asian countries. Recently our focus is mostly on economics (well, Abenomics to be precise :-) ).

Desired Program: My top choice are IR masters programs that leave me the choice between continuing on PhD (perhaps, in another institution) or going straight to work upon graduation. Such, in my opinion, are Yale Jackson, UCSD IRPS, Georgetown MSFS, Chicago CIR. Among others I am inclined towards HKS, SAIS and Columbia SIPA.

SOP: Since there is still a plenty of time, I am mostly collecting ideas for SOP right now. Probably the essays will take clearer shape when I finally make my choice with the desired programs.

Letters of Recommendation: I hope to secure a good LOR from my immediate boss. There is a couple of potential academic recomendees. One of them recently approached me with a proposal to write a research article on Japanese LNG market for a collection prepared under her supervision. The second one back in the undergrad years got my assistance with his research that recently resulted in a pretty successful book (although it is in sociology and not closely related to my current field of interest), so he is also likely to write a good LOR for me. On the non-academic side I believe I can also secure LORs from 3-4 people - mostly journalists, as myself.

 

To cut a long story short, what is the general feasibility of a person like me going to professional grad school and benefiting from that?

[kalinkamalinka08]

Hey everyone! I just made the decision to apply to schools for Fall 2015, and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions on schools.

 

Undergrad: Graduated in 2011 from state school, 3.4 GPA in International Relations, Minor French

Work experience: 1.5 years as a consultant for a NGO at the UN, currently working for the U.S government (since spring, so just started a few months ago) analyzing data--not super related to IR, and teach kids on the weekends as part-time job (for 2+ years)

Volunteer experience: Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, partnered with U.S Embassy and local community to focus on civics projects for youth, wrote a few grants for projects in village

Languages: Russian (Advanced--currently taking class), Ukrainian (intermediate), French (intermediate)

 

I still need to take the GRE (probably at the end of the summer), and I have not so great grades in econ from undergrad (B- in Macro, B+ in International Trade and Finance). However, my job right now is very quantitative (obviously in a different manner, but hoping this can somehow compensate?) I'd take another class in econ but I don't think I'll have time before January. Also, I understand my GPA is on the lower side, so trying to keep this in mind when applying to schools.

 

My goal is to work for an international development agency or organization, creating/monitoring/analyzing projects for youth (especially in Eastern Europe).

 

I'm looking into the "classic" schools like Georgetown, American (SIS), GWU, Korbel, UMaryland, and Columbia, but I'd also like to apply to a few schools that are good matches/"safeties" considering my low GPA--only applying to the big name schools makes me nervous.

 

What are all of your thoughts? Of course, it'll be hard to say until after I take the GRE, but assuming my scores are not absolutely terrible, what else should I consider? Also open to attending school abroad.

 

Cheers!