What can I do to improve my chances?

[sisyphus1]

Hi all, quick rundown of stats (intend on applying for Fall 2013 admission)

Undergrad GPA: 3.9 in math from top 10

Masters GPA: 3.8 in statistics from Columbia (part time)

GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5 AW

Work experience: 3 years as a quantitative finance analyst at an investment bank in NY.

Recommendations/SOP: Will probably be average...

I'm looking to make a transition from finance to the public sector (or something like public policy consulting at a management consulting firm), and it seems like I can't do that without getting an MPA.

I think stats-wise I am OK but I am severely lacking in relevant work experience... the catch 22 here of course, is that to get relevant work experience I need to have shown some interest in the public sector (via getting, for example, an MPA degree), but to get into an MPA I would need work experience.

I volunteer regularly but what else can I do to improve my chances at top programs? I've read student bios at WWS and they almost always have some sort of public sector experience...

Edited December 20, 2011 by sisyphus1

[MYRNIST]

I think you have plenty of relevant work experience. Your financial analysis background would be highly useful in public policy consulting, which often boils down to "what should we do with our money, and what's the most efficient way to do so." Relevant work experience doesn't necessarily mean you have to already been doing what you want to - if you were, why would you be getting another degree? Just make sure to emphasize in your SOP (1) exactly how the skills you've acquired in finance will transfer to your desired public service career (2) what skills you DON'T have that a MPA from School X would teach.

Actually, I think the fact that you're coming over from finance without a ton of previous involvement in public affairs could make fora very compelling SOP. Fair or not, there's a certain popular perception of people who work on Wall Street and their concern for other citizens in this country. Spinning your SOP along the lines of "I'm giving up the $$$ and prestige to do good" could play very well.

Bottom-line, I would polish your SOP to get exactly the right point across. It also would not hurt to seek volunteer opportunities with roughly the role you want to play at a consulting firm.

Also, reading WWS student bios is a great way to question every life decision you've ever made. I assume there must be a factory somewhere churning out people with 4.0 undergrad GPAs, fluency in 6 languages, and a dual career of nursing crippled refugees to health + managing sovereign wealth funds. Just remember that out of a self-selected pool of elite applicants, WWS admits like 10%, and there is often no real distinction between those who got in and those who didn't in terms of competitiveness. If admission is essentially a lottery (which I would argue it is), there is no sense trying to make yourself into an "ideal candidate", since that concept doesn't actually exist in reality. There are just really qualified people who got in, and really qualified people who didn't.

[wasistdas]

Also, reading WWS student bios is a great way to question every life decision you've ever made. I assume there must be a factory somewhere churning out people with 4.0 undergrad GPAs, fluency in 6 languages, and a dual career of nursing crippled refugees to health + managing sovereign wealth funds. Just remember that out of a self-selected pool of elite applicants, WWS admits like 10%, and there is often no real distinction between those who got in and those who didn't in terms of competitiveness. If admission is essentially a lottery (which I would argue it is), there is no sense trying to make yourself into an "ideal candidate", since that concept doesn't actually exist in reality. There are just really qualified people who got in, and really qualified people who didn't.

seriously, whenever I feel like I actually have a chance at the top tier schools, I read through those bios and realize I probably do have as good of a chance with a quick pick or scratchers.

[mv0027]

your kidding right? Apply to the 2-3 tops schools. If your profile is what you say it is, there is no way you will get in to at least one, likely all of them. Student profiles are super over-inflated. I've worked with plenty of WWS graduates. On paper they tend to be pretty impressive, but there is nothing special about them. Just people that have been crossing every T and dotting every i their whole life...which, in my book, sounds kinda lame.