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

[Sorawit]

Wow, these are quite intimidating I'm applying to MPP programs as well but coming from natural science background, I don't have much experience in public work.

Edited November 26, 2012 by polaromonas

[leon32]

Schools Applying To: Fletcher School at Tufts, Elliott School at GWU, SIS at American, Korbel at DU

Undergraduate institution: Appalachian State University - 2008, Two online Masters classes, both A's

Undergraduate GPA: 3.2 Cumulative

Undergraduate Majors: Political Science with a concentration in International Relations

Study Abroad: A month long course in Greece

GRE: Verbal-166 Quant- 156 Writing- 6

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4

Years of Relevant Work Experience: 1 Year working for an Australian Education portal/agent as an administrator/admissions agent where I was responsible for managing partner agencies in India, Pakistan and Nepal, two years teaching English in Korea, 6 months working as a team building and leadership facilitator in Singapore

Languages: Advanced Korean and Intermediate Spanish

Quant: A in my statistics course in undergrad

Strength of SOP: fairly strong, worked hard on it, and had lots of unique international experiences that are relevant, so that helped

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): 1 strong one from my boss at the Australian education agency. He is also the founder and director, and talks about how much he trusts me and responsibility he gives me. One from a professor I had for a online grad course that I got an A in, and one from an old undergrad professor that I had 6 classes with that should be strong.

Other: I feel like my application is strong, but I'm just stressing out about my 3.2 GPA

[jrwhitehill]

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

Schools Applying To: UW Evans, Seattle U, University of Colorado - Denver, Willamette

Undergraduate institution: University of Washington

Undergraduate GPA: 3.15 (3.44 in last 60 credit hours)

Undergraduate Majors: International Studies - Latin America

GRE Quantitative Score: 161 (83rd percentile)

GRE Verbal Score: 168 (98th percentile)

GRE AW Score: 5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):5 years

Years of Work Experience: 5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English, then three years of doing education research and evaluation for a private company. Collecting data, doing focus groups, analyzing work and writing reports

Languages: English, Russian, very rusty Spanish

Quant: Micro and macro economics. Calculus credit from high school AP classes,

Strength of SOP: Fairly strong, based on Peace Corps experience, undergraduate focus on international development, and goals based on current work experience

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): The executive vice president of my current company (who loves my work) and the Country Director from my Peace Corps work

I'm really pushing for Evans school, and am hopeful that I'm competitive for that. I feel like I am. I'm also wondering if I have potential for tougher programs (and any recommendations). I know my GPA is somewhat low, but I think my GRE and Peace Corps experience can offset that (it took me a couple years to get going in undergrad, but once I found something I liked, I worked hard at it). Thanks for any advice.

[sherpa07]

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

Schools Applying To: UW Evans, Seattle U, University of Colorado - Denver, Willamette

Undergraduate institution: University of Washington

Undergraduate GPA: 3.15 (3.44 in last 60 credit hours)

Undergraduate Majors: International Studies - Latin America

GRE Quantitative Score: 161 (83rd percentile)

GRE Verbal Score: 168 (98th percentile)

GRE AW Score: 5

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):5 years

Years of Work Experience: 5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English, then three years of doing education research and evaluation for a private company. Collecting data, doing focus groups, analyzing work and writing reports

Languages: English, Russian, very rusty Spanish

Quant: Micro and macro economics. Calculus credit from high school AP classes,

Strength of SOP: Fairly strong, based on Peace Corps experience, undergraduate focus on international development, and goals based on current work experience

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): The executive vice president of my current company (who loves my work) and the Country Director from my Peace Corps work

I'm really pushing for Evans school, and am hopeful that I'm competitive for that. I feel like I am. I'm also wondering if I have potential for tougher programs (and any recommendations). I know my GPA is somewhat low, but I think my GRE and Peace Corps experience can offset that (it took me a couple years to get going in undergrad, but once I found something I liked, I worked hard at it). Thanks for any advice.

I wouldn't be too nervous. I think you're pretty set for those schools, and might even consider reaching to some more competitive programs (maybe Berkeley?). I think your GPA is well compensated for by strong GRE's and excellent work experience.

I'm only an applicant, but that's my two cents!

[CBRrr]

I wouldn't be too nervous. I think you're pretty set for those schools, and might even consider reaching to some more competitive programs (maybe Berkeley?). I think your GPA is well compensated for by strong GRE's and excellent work experience.

I'm only an applicant, but that's my two cents!

This, don't sell yourself short.

[av260987]

Hi,

I'm in the processing of applying to MAIR programs at JHU SAIS, Syracuse Maxwell, Elliott GWU, SIPA Columbia, Korbel Denver, SFS Georgetown and SIS American.

I'd really appreciate it if anyone could tell me whether I have a shot at any of the aforementioned schools.

Here are my stats:

Previous University: University of Mumbai, India (highly regarded in the country)

Undergrad Degree: Bachelor of Engineering(Information Technology)

UG GPA: We don't have the GPA system in India but from what I gather mine is a little below 3.0

GRE: 600V, 740Q, 4.0 AWA

Math/econ background: Five semesters of math including statistics and calculus, no econ background except a basic course in Industrial economics

Other education: After my undergrad degree, I changed tracks and got into journalism. I received a post-graduate diploma in journalism from one of the top 10 journalism schools in India, top of my class with a GPA of 3.7 or so

Work exp: By the time I enroll, I will have 2 years experience working with two of India's top national dailies The Indian Express and Hindustan Times as a reporter writing on environment, wildlife and civic issues. While in undergrad, I did a three month internship with a youth magazine and wrote on lifestyle and entertainment.

I don't have much in the way of international experience other than reporting on a two-week international meeting of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in which about 170 countries participated. I wrote on sustainability, biodiversity governance with an international perspective.

I've traveled abroad to the UK, France, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey but haven't lived anywhere other than India.

Languages: Fluent in Hindi and English. Did three years of French in school but don't remember much. Planning to take a Spanish class over the next year.

Field of interest for grad: Foreign policy, comparative and regional studies

Work in future: I want to continue in journalism but write on regional issues with an international perspective

I would be so grateful to anyone who can tell me if I stand a chance at all.

Thanks in advance!

[Goose1459]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MA/MALD/MIA

Schools Applying To: SFS, SAIS, SIPA, Fletcher

Undergraduate institution: Ivy

Undergraduate GPA: 3.2 (3.5 in last 60 credit hours)

Undergraduate Majors: Political Science, minor in Economics (Major GPA 3.5)

GRE Quantitative Score: Taking next week - practice tests point to ~160

GRE Verbal Score: Taking next week - practice tests point to ~165

GRE AW Score: Taking next week

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1 year

Years of Work Experience: 3(?)

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Internships at a U.S. Senator's office, a small microfinance organization (small, but with a lot of clout) and a large international human rights organization. 1 year fellowship abroad (currently in progress) in a developing country providing consulting services to low-cost private schools.

Languages: English, Spanish

Quant: Economics Minor - did fairly well but not stellar.

Strength of SOP: Very strong based on multi-sector experience in development and tying in lessons learned as an NCAA Division 1 student-athlete.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Senior seminar professer, supervisor at human rights organization, current fellowship field manager.

[Goose1459]

*Senior seminar professor.

[clove75]

Hey all, I want to apply to some of the big IR programs (SAIS, Tufts, Georgetown, etc.), but I have some reservations on whether I will be considered seriously (more on that in a second)

GPA: 3.8 from an Ivy

Major: Neuroscience

GRE: 168 Quant 168 Verbal

Experience in IR: Lacking (Was Pre-med for most of my college career)

Foreign Experience: Served for a year in the Israeli army after my junior year of college before injuries cut it short and I returned to school - I am fluent in Hebrew. Also lived in Israel for a year between high school and college

I'm interested in Middle Eastern Studies and Conflict resolution (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a major focal point).

Yet I took at most 2 classes that could be considered IR-related at school - Am I in big trouble?

(Also, was succesful in my former pre-med career. I was the fifth co-author of a paper in a major research journal and did a service-learning program in South Africa for 6 weeks).

Thanks!

[skeedy]

Hey all! I'm a second year at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW Madison, and if you're searching for strong social and education policy programs I would check it my school. It's not hard to get funding (through assistantships) and it's #12 in the public affairs rankings (and #3 in social policy). Feel free to ask me questions.. I figure I'd put in a plug

[Fletcher17]

Hey, I am a Senior, applying to just a few schools this time around for IR/ International development : Brandeis (they're waving my application fee), Korbel School, and Tufts MALD - Map Your Future (eliminates the work requirement and asks the applicant to acquire 2 years of work experience before actually coming to study). I figure I don't have a shot at the big ones like Georgetown, SAIS, etc. considering my lack of full-time work experience. Anyway, here are my stats:

Applying to: Fletcher, Korbel, Brandeis

Type of Undergrad: Large state school

Field of Study: Majors in Political Science, International Studies, and Spanish. Minors in History and Economics

GPA: 3.82 (will be a 3.83 after this semester), definite upward trend

GRE: 170V, 162Q, 5.0Aw

Relevant Experience: Studied abroad in Spain, lived in Myanmar for 2 years as a child, Interned in the Education Office of a U.S. Senator, In leadership for my University's college Democrats, 4 years of involvement with a small 501c3 non-profit called Hope 4 Africa (very small, but it has done tangible things: we have 10 clubs at different schools and universities across the country, have raised more than $40,000 for schools in Kenya) - I have always been very high up in the leadership of this organization, which I think is unique, despite its small size

Letters of Recommendation: Strong, I believe. One from a Board Member of Hope 4 Africa, 1 from my Honors Senior Project Advisor (project is on education and development), and 1 from a current Korbel professor in International Development who taught me at my undergrad.

Statement of Purpose: Still writing these, but I am quite confident in this regard.

Language: Native English and Very advanced Spanish

Quantitative: Decent GRE Quant score, minor in Economics (4.0 GPA), Calculus

Other Achievements: National Merit Scholar, Phi Kappa Phi, Member of my college's Honors Program

Any input on what my chances are would be great. Am I right to forego applications to programs like Georgetown and SAIS this time around? I was planning on applying there if I don't get in to schools now; I would work for 2 years then apply to all of the bigwigs, I suppose.

[Steve Wirawan]

Dear All,

 

I am also applying to international affairs program. My choices of school are Columbia- MIA, NYU-Global Affairs, Tufts - MALD, Harvard - MPP and USC - MPA.

 

My profile is:

Undergrad GPA: 3.3 in Economics and Marketing from Penn State University

GRE V: 149, Q: 157

Work experiences: 3+ years in Citigroup

Language: Indonesian, Chinese, Spanish (basic) and Japanese (basic)

 

Accepted: NYU - Global Affairs

Rejected: N/A

 

I was wondering if you guys have any thoughts about the difference between MPA/MPP concentration in international vs. Global Affairs? I saw that masters in global affairs have many classes with non-quants vs. MPP/MPA which has some quants and public management courses which might balance out. If my goal is to work at the United Nations, which degree would you prefer?

 

Thanks

Steve

[pendyal]

Hi,

 

I am a post graduate from India and I am applying for PhD programs. Given below is my profile

 

Program Applied To: Ph.D. (Economics and Public Policy)
Schools Applying To: Princeton, CMU, Stanford GSB, Wharton Business School, Univeristy of Chicago, Cornell University

Undergraduate institution: Indian University
Undergraduate GPA: 72/100
Undergraduate Majors: Commerce, Accounting

Business School: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

GPA: 2.59/4.33

GRE Quantitative Score: 169
GRE Verbal Score: 167
GRE AW Score: 4.5

 

TOEFL Score:  109 (30 - Reading, 30 - Listening, 24 - Speaking, 25 - Writing)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 7
Years of Work Experience: 4
Describe Work Experience:  Did internship at American Express during business school. Post-Business School worked with Ernst & Young for 2 year in their investment banking division. Started my own education services company training students for campus recruitment for over 2 years now.

Languages: English, Telugu, Hindi

Economics & Quant:

Business School

Economics and Quantitative Methods: Economic Analysis (Theory of Microeconomics), Economic Environment and Policy I (Theory of Macroeconomics), Economic Environment and Policy II (Role of State in developing economies with examples), Quantitative Methods I (Use of quantitative methods in Decision Making), Quantitative Methods II (Probability), Quantitative Methods III (Statistical Analysis)

Undergraduate:

Economics and Quantitative Methods: Business Economics, Quantitative Techniques

High School:

Mathematics: Mathematics A (Advanced Algebra and Probability), Mathematics B (Co-ordinate Geometry and Calculus)

Strength of SOP:  I have expressed my passion for education and areas of rural economics. Have spoken about how my experience has given me better insights into these problems and how I would like to work towards resolving these issues

Strength of LOR : For  most schools 2 professors and 1 from my previous manager at E & Y. Have spoken at length with my professors about my research topics. They are aware of my academic credentials. Hope they highlight those points.

Other: 

Government Award:

1. Awarded the Pratibha Scholarship by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for outstanding academic achievement in the year 2000

The Institute of Cost Accountants (ICWAI) is a statutory body under an Act of Parliament

1. All India Rank 8 in ICWAI Intermediate Examination, June 2004
2. All India Rank 2 in ICWAI Foundation Examination, June 2003
3. Awarded the Sultan Chand Memorial Prize for 2nd Rank in ICWAI Foundation held in June 2003

Ranks in competitive examinations

1. Topper in Common Aptitute Test scoring 100 percentile overall and Quantitative Ability section, 2004
2. All India Rank 24 in The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Professional Education Examination - I , November 2003
3. All India Rank 29 in Indian Insitute of Technology – Joint Entrance Examination, 2000
4. All India Rank 21 in Roorkee Entrance Exam,  2000

Extra Curriculars

• Editor of afFINity, the student finance magazine published by the finance club, BETA
• Coordinator , Finance, Amaethon 2007 – Annual Agri-business festival of IIM Ahmedabad
• Coordinator, Security Cell (Nominated), Chaos 2007, Annual Cultural festival of IIM Ahmedabad
• Member of Logistics and Security team, Chaos 2006, Annual Cultural festival of IIM Ahmedabad
• Member of BETA (The IIM Ahmedabad Finance Club) responsible for organizing events (2005, 2006)
• Elected Head boy of the school in 1997 – ’98

Am worried that my lack of relevant work experience will hamper my chances of getting into these universities. Also I do not have any published papers.

Would appreciate your feedback on my chances of getting into these schools.

[muro0901]

Schools Applying/Applied To: USC (MPA), University of Washington (MPA), University of Oregon (MPA), Portland State University (MPA).

Schools Admitted To: n/a
Schools Rejected From: n/a
Still Waiting: All

Undergraduate institution: St. Cloud State University, MN
Undergraduate GPA: 3.9
Undergraduate Major: Double major in Sociology and Planning & Community Development

GRE Quantitative Score: 152
GRE Verbal Score: 158
GRE AW Score: 4.0

Age: 21

Years of Work Experience: 1 to 3 Depending on what you consider work experience
Describe Relevant Work Experience and International Experience: Throughout my undergraduate career I worked closely with a non-profit organization that raised funds for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Kenya so that they would be able to receive an education at a boarding school created by a profession at my undergraduate institution. I was president of a student organization (that I helped create) that was their main fundraising arm. I spent approximately 3 years working with this organization. For the last semester of my undergraduate work I interned at a regional foundation where I focused on assisting the 160 cities in our 14 county region with community and economic development programs and grants. Upon my graduation I was hired as a community development associate at this foundation, although because I will be attending graduate school in the fall this is set up as a temporary position that will run through the summer.

 

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think my SOP turned out very well. I am committed to public service and have great passion for non-profit work which I believe I conveyed. The entire reason I chose the programs I did was because of their strong non-profit management specializations. I highlighted the work experience I have (limited though it may be) and spoke to the necessity of additional education and training to achieve my professional goals.

 

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I have only seen 1 of the 3 that I submitted (two are from professors, and one is from my current boss). The one that I was allowed to see was from a professor who I hadn’t had in class for awhile (although he is my advisor for my sociology major) which worried me, but he described me as being in the top 1% of students he has ever had in his social theory class. Being that this was the recommendation I was most concerned with I would say I am sitting very well in this category. My other professor and boss love me, and honestly I think that my recommendations will be one of the strongest aspects of my application.

 

Long story short: I didn’t go to the best undergraduate school and my GRE scores aren’t exemplary (although they meet all of the averages for each of the schools I have applied to), but I honestly believe that my applications will be successful because of my hard work, passion, and the amazing professional relationships that I have struck with my recommenders. That said, I am not so confident that this period of waiting is an easy one. I cannot wait until schools start to make their decisions. Good luck everyone.

 

My dream would be to go to USC. Any thoughts on my chances?

[RMT17]

Hi, I know this post may be premature as I won't be applying until fall of 2013, but I wanted to get a sense of what people thought I should be looking at, and whether I have a shot at the schools I want to go to... so here are some numbers/info.  Any advice would be appreciated!!

 

I am looking at mostly MPP, MIA and a couple PhD programs.  I am interested in international development particularly environmental concerns.  thanks for your help in advance!

 

I have a 3.4 GPA from a top liberal arts school, major in Political science-IR.  Graduated with honors and wrote a comparative politics thesis.

Practice GRE tests in the 90th percentile and up, so hoping that sticks around for the real thing.

 

At time of app will have 1.5 years working for a law firm, 1 year working for a non-profit doing community organizing political stuff, one summer doing environmental research on campus, a sememster in Ecuador (fluent spanish) and a one month internship with an Ecuadorian NGO doing environmental education and grant writing/translating. 

 

I'm taking a calc II course now, have basic stats and a few econ classes from college that I did pretty well in.

 

LORs: thesis advisor, advisor from summer envi job, and one lawyer.

 

I would love to go to Berkeley, SIPA, Duke, UMich or Chicago, but getting stats on what actually gets a person into those places is tough...

 

Am I just dreaming, or are any of those feasible options???

[MPPgal]

I would say sipa and u mich and probably harris are done deal, duke and berkeley depends...

[hualalalala]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP/phd/law school
Schools Applying To: im trying to get people's idea about what kind of program fits me well, but im definitely looking for top programs in prestigious schools

Undergraduate institution: Top 3 public university
Undergraduate GPA: 3.9
Undergraduate Majors: Economics, Interdisciplinary Studies (many classes in politics, some history, soc and psyc; thesis in political economy), minor in Mathematics (calc 1,2,liner algebra, differential equation, mathematical statistics, etc. GPA 4.0)

GRE Quantitative Score: 800
GRE Verbal Score: 750
GRE AW Score: 4.5 (didn't prepare at all and screwed this up)

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):1
Years of Work Experience: 1
Describe Relevant Work Experience: fulltime analyst in economic consulting; internships in finance that are not quite relevant

Languages: English, Chinese

Quant: very good. but i didn't take multi-calc and real analysis.(i can fix that if needed by taking classes in community college i guess)

Strength of SOP: im worried that i don't have much relevant experience other than coursework and thesis. internships and current job are all in private sector

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): two politics profs and one manager from work; one prof knows me very well, one i advised my thesis; the manager should be an economist

 

I am actually debating between MPP or PHD in public policy. Also considering law school seriously (since my job is pretty much about econ analysis in anti-trust litigation). Really don't have a clear idea what's the best for me, but ideally i like programs that have both qualitative and quantitative edge. I always thought I am going to get a PHD in economics, but recently I finally figured out that I can't do it if it's full of math and regression. Being able to talk about ideas means a lot to me. Please give me some honest opinions! Thank you so much!
 

[texjew21]

Schools I'm interested in so far: UT Austin-LBJ (MPA), University of Washington - Evans (MPA), Baruch-CUNY (MPA), University of San Francisco (MPA), University of North Texas (MPA), American University (MPA), still looking at more schools, but these are the ones that interest me the most right now.
Undergraduate institution: UT Austin 
Undergraduate GPA: 3.15
Undergraduate Majors: Government/History

GRE Quantitative Score: N/A - Studying for it now.
GRE Verbal Score: N/A - Studying for it now.
GRE AW Score: N/A - Studying for it now.

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2.5
Years of Work Experience: 2.5
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Interned for a U.S. Senator. Worked as an Account Executive for a political media firm specializing in PR work for political campaigns and public interest groups. Just accepted an internship position as a "Public Policy Intern" at a non-profit group for children's advocacy and education reform. 
 

Languages: English, Spanish (rusty).

Activities: Work/Travel program in Australia and New Zealand. Worked for an energy company, as well as volunteered at a earthquake relief in Christchurch, NZ. Member of Non-Profit for Cancer where I individually raised $6,700 which went to MD Anderson Cancer Center and rode a bike from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to educate people on getting screened for different types of cancer and spread awareness. Member of a philanthropy organization while in undergrad that helps the city of Austin in many different areas such as helping the homeless, to improving the environment. 

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Two non-profit directors and a U.S. Senator.

Other: Still trying to decide between MPA or a J.D.. More interested in going the MPA route, as I feel I can make more of a difference, and the market for attorneys is too saturated. 

 

I am obviously not as far in the application process as the majority of people who posted in this thread. However, this is where I am at now. I am going to try and take the GRE in a month or so, I doubt I will do well as standardized tests are not my forte. I am going to shoot for the fall 2014 enrollment. Baruch allows spring enrollment, so I may apply for that one earlier.

[jct329]

So I posted to this topic about a year ago, but my circumstances have changed somewhat.  I have become much more interested in doing an MPP in policy analysis focused more on domestic policy than IR stuff.  There really doesn't seem to be anywhere near as much on MPP programs here as there is on MAIR type programs.

Program Applied To : MPP

Schools Considering Applying To: Michigan Ford, NYU Wagner, Texas LBJ, Minnesota Humphrey, GWU Trachtenberg, American SPA, Maryland, Georgetown GPPI, maybe HKS though I feel like it would be a bit of a waste of time...I might also apply to SAIS and/or SIPA and/or the Security Studies Program at Georgetown
Undergraduate institution: Lower public Big 10 school
Undergraduate GPA: 3.9 (High Distinction - Top 5%)
Undergraduate Major: Double in Political Science and Economics (Honors in both) with a thesis in Poli Sci

GREs: 164v/162q/6w

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5

Years of Work Experience: 5
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Worked for an environmental non-profit right out of college for a few months as well as the state Democratic Party in 2006. Will complete a 5 year enlistment in the Navy in early 2014 (yes...enlistment...not an officer. Worried this may hurt me as I'm just an enlisted admin guy and I'm not sure if they will see it as very relevant experience.) Year in deployment Africa (including significant travel around the Horn of Africa), year total sea deployment. I also volunteered in Africa quite a bit doing an English discussion group at night with the locals. 

 

Quant: Calc 1 and 2, and a few stats classes along with Intermediate Micro, Macro and a bunch of other econ classes (but no econometrics).

Strength of SOP: Who knows...I think I'm a good writer, but I imagine everyone thinks the same thing. I'll have some pretty good experiences to talk about, though and will make sure to draft it through the better writers I know.

Strength of LOR: Should be pretty strong. I keep in contact with a couple profs and my bosses all love me (I've worked directly for two O6s, one of whom is a Poli Sci PhD. I'll probably get both of them to do a LoR.)

Negatives: So the reason I enlisted instead of getting a commission was due to the fact that I had two underage drinking tickets and a public intoxication ticket while an undergrad (the public intox and one of the underage drinking tickets happened during the same incident). All of the incidents happened in 2005. My parents were thrilled... I thought I would come in the Navy for a year or two and put in a commissioning package, but decided against it. I'm colorblind so the only field really open to me would have been supply, and I really didn't want to do that. I'm more than a little worried about the tickets, but I feel like a 5 year stint in the military with absolutely no issues and glowing LoRs will help make up for it.

One thing that's great about my situation is that I figure I can afford to go anywhere I get in, even if I get no additional funding. The GI Bill will help out with 17.5/year (plus pretty generous housing allowances and book stipends) and I have no UG debt, car is paid off, and I'm not married/no kids.

 

[Damis]

I think you're being too hard on yourself jct! I think you have a very solid background! All of those schools should be on your radar, but acceptance is dependent on variables out of your control. If your SOP and LOR are as solid as your background, you'll be surprised come admissions time!

 

Best of luck, and thank you for serving!

[Donk]

So I posted to this topic about a year ago, but my circumstances have changed somewhat.  I have become much more interested in doing an MPP in policy analysis focused more on domestic policy than IR stuff.  There really doesn't seem to be anywhere near as much on MPP programs here as there is on MAIR type programs.

Program Applied To : MPP

Schools Considering Applying To: Michigan Ford, NYU Wagner, Texas LBJ, Minnesota Humphrey, GWU Trachtenberg, American SPA, Maryland, Georgetown GPPI, maybe HKS though I feel like it would be a bit of a waste of time...I might also apply to SAIS and/or SIPA and/or the Security Studies Program at Georgetown

Undergraduate institution: Lower public Big 10 school

Undergraduate GPA: 3.9 (High Distinction - Top 5%)

Undergraduate Major: Double in Political Science and Economics (Honors in both) with a thesis in Poli Sci

GREs: 164v/162q/6w

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5

Years of Work Experience: 5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Worked for an environmental non-profit right out of college for a few months as well as the state Democratic Party in 2006. Will complete a 5 year enlistment in the Navy in early 2014 (yes...enlistment...not an officer. Worried this may hurt me as I'm just an enlisted admin guy and I'm not sure if they will see it as very relevant experience.) Year in deployment Africa (including significant travel around the Horn of Africa), year total sea deployment. I also volunteered in Africa quite a bit doing an English discussion group at night with the locals. 

 

Quant: Calc 1 and 2, and a few stats classes along with Intermediate Micro, Macro and a bunch of other econ classes (but no econometrics).

Strength of SOP: Who knows...I think I'm a good writer, but I imagine everyone thinks the same thing. I'll have some pretty good experiences to talk about, though and will make sure to draft it through the better writers I know.

Strength of LOR: Should be pretty strong. I keep in contact with a couple profs and my bosses all love me (I've worked directly for two O6s, one of whom is a Poli Sci PhD. I'll probably get both of them to do a LoR.)

Negatives: So the reason I enlisted instead of getting a commission was due to the fact that I had two underage drinking tickets and a public intoxication ticket while an undergrad (the public intox and one of the underage drinking tickets happened during the same incident). All of the incidents happened in 2005. My parents were thrilled... I thought I would come in the Navy for a year or two and put in a commissioning package, but decided against it. I'm colorblind so the only field really open to me would have been supply, and I really didn't want to do that. I'm more than a little worried about the tickets, but I feel like a 5 year stint in the military with absolutely no issues and glowing LoRs will help make up for it.

One thing that's great about my situation is that I figure I can afford to go anywhere I get in, even if I get no additional funding. The GI Bill will help out with 17.5/year (plus pretty generous housing allowances and book stipends) and I have no UG debt, car is paid off, and I'm not married/no kids.

 

 

Hey, you know you might be able to get those tickets expunged/nondisclosed, right? It depends on the details and the laws of the state they happened in, but they are pretty routine. Check into it. Might be worth the money if they really worry you.

 

Also, if you reached a petty officer rank or held any kind of leadership position at all while enlisted, focus on that. No need to go into why you enlisted rather than commissioned.

 

Your GRE and GPA are great. Focus on the positives of your work experience rather than what else you might have done.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Donk

[ridofme]

I think that you will be fine with the drinking tickets. Those pretty much just show that you were a normal college student who was unlucky enough to get caught. The fact that you got drunk a couple of times in undergrad does not suggest that you are depraved, immoral, or potentially violent, which is what they are screening for, I think. I personally know three people who got into grad school with DUIs, a much more serious offense (one got into a number of top 50 law schools, another is currently attending an Ivy that is a top 5 program in her field, and the third is attending a solid regional program after applying to local schools due to family constraints).

[ridofme]

Oh, and even if you do get them expunged, I would be careful about saying 'no' to any questions that ask about your criminal history. Some may want to know about expunged offenses.

[Donk]

Oh, and even if you do get them expunged, I would be careful about saying 'no' to any questions that ask about your criminal history. Some may want to know about expunged offenses.

For sure. On the bright side, though, most people will not be able to randomly check up on you once they are no longer public record.

[greenythebeast]

Schools I'm interested in so far: Georgetown - Security Studies Program (Intelligence), still looking for others (your recommendations are appreciated!)
Undergraduate institution: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Undergraduate GPA: 3.8
Undergraduate Majors: B.A. Political Science and History (double major), magna cum laude with distinction (undergrad thesis topic: American Redistricting: Trends and Calls for Reform)

GRE Quantitative Score: 159
GRE Verbal Score: 155
GRE AW Score: 5.0

Going to retake the GRE most likely. I took the old test so those scores are the estimated scores I'd get on the new test according to ETS.

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1
Years of Work Experience: 1-2
Describe Relevant Work Experience:

• Interned for a Governor's election campaign (~3 months). Helped design/maintain the website. Ran the social media network for the campaign. Did research on campaign issues. Helped maintain the computer hardware that the campaign was using.
• Interned for a State Senator at the Minnesota State Capitol (~5 months). Assisted constituents with case work. Did lots of research on issues for Senator. Kept constituent datebase updated with information about the Senator's constituents and their stances on topics.
• Interned for the Liberal Democratic Party in London, UK (~2 months). Worked vetting potential parliamentary candidates for elections. Redesigned the department's website. Assisted with editing the Party newspaper.
• Currently working at a mortgage bank (~7 months). Review documents for federal and state compliance issues.

Languages: English, Spanish (can read and write well, speaking is another story however, haha!)

Activities:

• Students Today, Leaders Forever “Pay It Forward” Tour - Community service trip traveling to Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, and D.C.
• Studied abroad in Paris, France for a month during the summer. Took a class on the political and cultural history of Paris as well as traveling to various important sites in France.
• Studied abroad in London, UK for 2 months during the summer. Took a class on European politics and did the internship already mentioned.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Haven't even begun working on this yet. Will have to do some research on what they expect, etc. Any help is appreciated!

Other: I always wanted to go to Georgetown for undergrad but it never worked out unfortunately. I'm looking to get an MA in security studies or similar focusing on intelligence. I know Georgetown's SSP program is one of the most well known of that type of program but I'm not sure what else is out there. Any suggestions? Thanks for all your help everyone.

Edited April 3, 2013 by greenythebeast