Building an App

[neverever]

Hi guys --

I'm switching my focus from the entertainment industry, and I need to know how to give myself a shot at getting into a reasonable MPP (so far, I'm hoping for Ford) with funding. If nothing else, my stats are going to make you all very happy with your own application package

A lot of this might only be applicable for me, but hopefully it'll also be helpful for other people trying to make career shifts?

Undergraduate Institution: top 20

Undergraduate GPA: 3.8 general, 3.9 major

Undergraduate Major: English & Creative Writing

GRE Quantitative Score: 650

GRE Verbal Score: 780

GRE AW Score: 5.0

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4-5

Years of Work Experience: 4-5

Describe Relevant Work Experience: none of it is relevant, so here's what I've been doing in general (extra points if you can spin any or all of this): property manager, assistant & coverage writer in entertainment industry, substitute teacher, legal assistant. Internship & study abroad (France and Russia/England, respectively) during college, and was also an intern and then guest lecturer for a writing workshop for ex-offenders.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): haven't started writing it yet (of course). I'm interested in issues relating to domestic poverty and I'm drawn to anything having to do with the penal system. I'd like to work for an advocacy organization, and maybe (much) further down the line, as a consultant.

Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): I still have a tight relationship to a professor from UG, and I'll have to think about the others.

Other: I'm a DC native, so I'm not *terrible* in terms of connections. My French is near-fluent and my Russian is...well, I can still read cyrillic, anyway. My customer service and mediation skills are top-notch . My strongest asset is probably my writing ability.

My story: I went to school for writing. Loved my political economy and law classes. Decided to become a lawyer, then worked for a (small, specialized in special needs trusts) firm and *hated* it (endless paperwork and little problem-solving nearly killed me), ended up never accepting my place at law school. Became a substitute teacher because it freed up my time for writing, moved to LA (from DC) for writing, worked in the industry for a bit (very low level), needed a break from the self-importance and desperation. Got blue collar jobs (property manager, waitressing) to pay the bills. All the while, obsessing over political economy blogs until I not only believed the bloggers' crackpot theories, I formed my own. Decided the industry wasn't for me -- it felt hollow -- but the blue collar work was driving me nuts from boredom. A friend, who does health policy for the federal govt, said I should think about going into policy, too. I think she's right -- not so much about going into policy per se, but about me going into work related to the public interest. I'm not sure yet what I want to do specifically, though, because I'm not sure what I *can* do.

Things I'm already planning on doing:

-Volunteering in a prison here (this is mostly just because I want to)

-Taking micro and re-taking macro econ (I got a fairly good grade, but I took it at age 17, so...)

-Considering volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, since I did a little house-building for them in college and am currently a property manager (8 mo) (?).

I'm also leaving for a 3-week-long (pleasure) trip to India next week, and I'd like to do some kind of research or *something* productive while there. Any ideas? (I'll be with grad students and a Fulbright who are all there to work, so being "productive" isn't totally off the wall).

I'd like to get a job that's more related to a public interest/policy field, but what kind of job could a BA like me even get? I also don't have a high standard of living, but I make roughly $50K and am nervous about tossing that aside.

Please don't beat me up for having such a weird and incomplete application. I know there's a limit to how much it can be salvaged, but what should I do to maximize my odds?

[state_school'12]

You'll be fine. Just keep doing prison/housing stuff over the summer, and organize it all into something coherent for your SOP. Work experience is good, but demonstrable passion is possibly better. Your GRE quant is a little low, but As in econ should nullify it. One caveat: I have a suspicion that schools use GRE scores for AID decisions more than anything else, so you might want to think about taking it again. What other schools are you thinking?

[neverever]

You're right, the quant is low. I was actually surprised at how low it was when I took the test, because I was a long term sub in math and generally know basic math pretty well. Maybe I've got a shot at doing a fair amount better at another go-around? You're probably right that I should retake it.

In terms of schools to apply to, so far, I'm thinking: UCLA, since I already live here in LA and can get in-state tuition...same for Berkley, as a reach...and I wanted to put in some DC schools since my housing situation would be a good deal (family, etc). I'm still figuring out which ones would be a good fit, though, so I'm open to suggestions...

[TypeA]

Coming from a different work background doesn't have to be a weakness--a professor told me that my "atypical" academic background (major in neuroscience) could set me apart from the political science/economics/etc majors as long as I could work it into a coherent narrative. So, think about how your work experience has shaped the way you approach problem-solving (as a property manager?) and your ability to distill large amounts of (esoteric?) information into accessible summaries (this is akin to policy briefs; I imagine your work as a writer and legal assistant could fit here).

I second the suggestion to consider retaking the GRE, since I also get the impression that aid offers are somewhat formulaic. The rest of your profile and plan looks pretty solid to me.