Evaluate profile for SIPA,Kennedy pls

[londcand]

Schools Applying To: SIPA - MPA, SAIS - MA, Potentially Harvard MPA

Undergraduate institution: Top 3 UK

Undergraduate GPA: 2:1

Undergraduate Major: Economics

GMAT: 690

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3+

Years of Work Experience: 3+ years top 10-15 investment bank. Fixed Income Research

Do you think with 690 GMAT i will be competitive for SIPA/SAIS/Harvard? I didn't do well in quantitative part (44) so considering resit. I was hoping to avoid it and balance it out with strong LOR but I dont want to risk it.

any other advice will be appreciated.

Regards

[MYRNIST]

Your undergraduate GPA was a 2.1? Is that on a different scale than the 4.0 American system?

[TypeA]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 2:1 is upper second class honors in the UK system. Roughly translated, I would say it falls between A-/B+, based on my semester abroad. So, 3.5ish?

[beefmaster]

2.1, and its GPA conversion, depends on the exact percentage. The boundary is 60% (sometimes 59%) - 69%

[Clay Made]

I didnt know SIPA, HKS took the GMAT in lieu of the GRE.

[greendiplomat]

I didnt know SIPA, HKS took the GMAT in lieu of the GRE.

In general, the majority of the more professionally-oriented policy programs do. As a matter of fact, I don't think either of SIPA and HKS make it at all ambiguous.

http://sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/admissions/apply.html

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/admissions/apply

[londcand]

yes lets say 2:1 is 3.4-3.5 equivalent from strong UK uni.

so no one has a view on the gmat score?