Applying to these schools but GPA problem

[113]

Hello all

I'm just wrapping up my junior year in college at a Florida Atlantic University. This is my first year at this new school after having to transfer from Arizona State (due to high out-of-state tuition costs). Over the past two weeks or so I've started to seriously look into graduate school because I finally feel like I have a direction I want to go in terms of a career path. It took changing my major 3 times, 2 schools, and countless introductory elective courses to get to this point but I now feel like I'm on a solid path towards a clear goal.

During my ASU days I did too much partying and not enough studying. I was uninspired by school and didn't work hard and as a result I left that school with a 2.4gpa. Which I make no excuses for. Since I transferred I increased my gpa to 2.7 the first semester and I expect it will be 3.0-3.2 this semester because of consistent A's and B's on assignments, papers, and exams.

I am currently double-majoring in Political Science and Philosophy which have both helped guide my decision to seek a Master of Public Administration (MPA) or Master of Public Policy (MPP). I will be taking summer courses in microeconomics, intro to statistics, and some more poli-sci and philosophy courses and in the next year of undergraduate study I plan on working hard to keep my gpa above 3.0

Despite the future effort I will put in I am still working off the assumption that I will have a 2.75gpa come application time. I know I can get solid LoRs from 2 professors at this school and 2 great LoRs from a non-profit organization that i interned with for the past two summers. I also am starting to study for the GRE's and plan to all summer and hope to get in the 1100-1300 range.

My initial list of grad schools with the MPA/MPP programs that I am very very interested in include...most interested are underlined. Can anyone help me with giving me a clearer idea of my chances of being accepted into this list of schools given what I stated above.

Reaches:

-Indiana University-Bloomington -SPEA sounds like my dream program

-NYU - i was born and raised in nyc and would love to be home

-Columbia (does legacy count for grad school?...sister just got her MPH last year)

-GWU

-SUNY-Albany -

-George Mason -my first impression is that their program is much more flexible to suit the students' interest

Greater Chance?:

Arizona State (since i went there previously do you think that will count for anything?)

Florida State (if i got in this would be in-state tuition which could be a game changer)

Ohio State sounds like a solid program from a recognizable school

Shoe-in?

CUNY-Baruch - i never really thought of the cunys as good schools but Baruch is ranked 57th, higher than OU, FAU, and tied with Brown.

Florida Atlantic University (school i'm currently in for undergrad)

University of Oklahoma -program sounds straight forward and it would be nice to experience the midwest for a couple years

If anyone reads this whole thing thanks ahead of time

[sommelier]

You should probably be taking summer classes, so you can take less of a course load next year. Take the gre in the early fall, so you can have time to re-take if need be. The GPA needs to be above 3.0 and gre needs to be high in order to have a choice of schools, otherwise you might be confined to FAU, S FL, FL State or a lower tiered school.

I did my undergrad a SUNY Albany, and I know they are ridiculously competitive for their MPP program... it is their best by far.

Is a CUNY school going to be worth the debt? (when factoring in NYC living)

When you write a few good papers for upper level poli sci, make contact with some professors at the school you want to attend and stay in contact with them, maybe send them a solid writing effort for review.

Others on this board, who are a lot more well versed than me in PP programs, will be able to help as time goes on.

[113]

thanks for the reply...that info about suny-albany really helps because I assumed they were not going to be that competitive...i might take it out of the reach-schools i apply to...and i am definetely hoping that the GRE studying will pay off...i took a practice test and managed a 6 something on verbal 4 something on math with absolutely zero practice (haven't taken a math course since high school either) so i just need to do some GRE prep book problems to get back in the game i think...1300 sounds feasible in my mind

[younglions]

I didn't see much in your post about career goals. As long as you're not out for one of the "sexier" public policy careers, there shouldn't be any problem with going to a school like ASU or Oklahoma. I have a friend who graduated from the ASU school of public affairs and he is now working in local government pulling in a bigger salary than I expect to for a very long time.

I don't know what it takes to get into some of the less-well-known schools you mentioned, but I caution you against setting the bar too low for yourself. College grades are often the result of effort, and not necessarily classroom intelligence. If you can get an above average score on the GRE, you're obviously intelligent, so all it will take is the effort. I recommend you not to just shoot for a GPA above 3.0, but a GPA above 3.5. Also, I would really work hard to get your cumulative GPA over 3.0. The psychological difference between a 2.95 and 3.01 can be huge.

Anyways, congratulations on deciding on a career path. Your GPA isn't going to keep you out of a lot of programs, just make sure you can put together a good application package. Good luck!

[Godiva]

Hello all

I'm just wrapping up my junior year in college at a Florida Atlantic University. This is my first year at this new school after having to transfer from Arizona State (due to high out-of-state tuition costs). Over the past two weeks or so I've started to seriously look into graduate school because I finally feel like I have a direction I want to go in terms of a career path. It took changing my major 3 times, 2 schools, and countless introductory elective courses to get to this point but I now feel like I'm on a solid path towards a clear goal.

During my ASU days I did too much partying and not enough studying. I was uninspired by school and didn't work hard and as a result I left that school with a 2.4gpa. Which I make no excuses for. Since I transferred I increased my gpa to 2.7 the first semester and I expect it will be 3.0-3.2 this semester because of consistent A's and B's on assignments, papers, and exams.

I am currently double-majoring in Political Science and Philosophy which have both helped guide my decision to seek a Master of Public Administration (MPA) or Master of Public Policy (MPP). I will be taking summer courses in microeconomics, intro to statistics, and some more poli-sci and philosophy courses and in the next year of undergraduate study I plan on working hard to keep my gpa above 3.0

Despite the future effort I will put in I am still working off the assumption that I will have a 2.75gpa come application time. I know I can get solid LoRs from 2 professors at this school and 2 great LoRs from a non-profit organization that i interned with for the past two summers. I also am starting to study for the GRE's and plan to all summer and hope to get in the 1100-1300 range.

My initial list of grad schools with the MPA/MPP programs that I am very very interested in include...most interested are underlined. Can anyone help me with giving me a clearer idea of my chances of being accepted into this list of schools given what I stated above.

Reaches:

-Indiana University-Bloomington -SPEA sounds like my dream program

-NYU - i was born and raised in nyc and would love to be home

-Columbia (does legacy count for grad school?...sister just got her MPH last year)

-GWU

-SUNY-Albany -

-George Mason -my first impression is that their program is much more flexible to suit the students' interest

Greater Chance?:

Arizona State (since i went there previously do you think that will count for anything?)

Florida State (if i got in this would be in-state tuition which could be a game changer)

Ohio State sounds like a solid program from a recognizable school

Shoe-in?

CUNY-Baruch - i never really thought of the cunys as good schools but Baruch is ranked 57th, higher than OU, FAU, and tied with Brown.

Florida Atlantic University (school i'm currently in for undergrad)

University of Oklahoma -program sounds straight forward and it would be nice to experience the midwest for a couple years

If anyone reads this whole thing thanks ahead of time

I think that it is great that you have decided what you want to do. Some of us take a little bit of time for these things. I think the thing that you are missing is work experience. I know that, at least from what I've heard, is that Columbia likes work experience. It seems that you would need a couple of years of work experience. Also, a lot of grad schools allows space for you to comment on why you didn't perform as well academically -- that is really important. You said that you were majoring in political science -- I know that MPP programs depend a LOT on quantitative experience, I would suggest, if you can, minoring in economics.

Good Luck!

[113]

Thanks to both replies above...I am not so obsessed with the big name schools that are talked about here a lot like HKS, WWS, SIPA, Wagner etc...i will be applying to a few of the big name places but I make no illusions that my application will be weak compared to some of the applicants on gradcafe. I am concerned about just being at a school with broad name recognition though. That's why schools like Ohio State, Arizona State, Florida State, University of Oklahoma sound more promising to me than FAU and CUNY.

In terms of my career goals, I've become really interested in energy policy because of the renewed commitment to addressing climate change and energy independence. I've been following the budget hearings and energy hearings on c-span (weird I know) and I find it fascinating. When I decided on political science as my major I thought that this was the academic track to go down to have some impact on policies but that was before I even heard of Public Administration and Public Policy as academic and career paths.

I see myself being involved in evaluation and/or implementation of new energy projects like a new generation of photovoltaic solar panels, analyzing carbon sequestration (because this will be a huge debate in the coming years), geothermal, smartgrid technology etc. I see myself working at DOE evaluating proposals by green energy companies and finding out what impact these proposals would have on specific communities (i.e. wind turbines in the northwest and how zoning laws may or may not have to be changed, or figuring out how low income families could benefit or be harmed by green energy proposals, etc etc etc...). I also want an mpa/mpp degree because I could transition from a federal to state & local government to non-profit to think-tank jobs. With this degree (and a specialization in energy and environment) I could even work in the private sector as a consultant for companies that want or are required to change the way they make, distribute, or consume energy.

Also, thanks for that suggestion about minoring in economics, I don't know if I can fit that into my course schedule (it's already pretty full with the two majors) but I think now at the least I will take 2 or 3 courses in economics to get some quantitative skills which I have absolutely zero of at the moment. Thanks for that suggestion.

Again, long post. thanks for reading

[113]

bump

does anyone here have any experience with FSU (Askew school), OSU (John Glenn school), or ASU mpa/mpp programs? Is anyone else here applying to those state schools? What kind of reputation do they have in this field? They rank 27, 36, and 25 in USnews respectively so they must have very good programs even if they're not at the syracuse, HKS, or WWS level....what's everyone think?

I'm starting to lean more towards those schools because I think I have a real shot at getting in to a state school and tuition is generally more manageable; i'm trying to keep undergrad + graduate school debt under 100k...more specifically, i'm thinking FSU might be the perfect fit because tuition for in-state is 7k a year and it's an easily recognizable school.

Also, does anyone think I could qualify for in-state tuition at ASU since I spent two years there as an undergrad?

[throwaway]

I was in a very similar position to you when I applied to grad schools. I had a really terrible GPA my freshman and sophomore year because I started out in a difficult field that wasn't right for me, but once I found my focus, switched majors and began getting better grades, I pulled my GPA up to a 3.1 by senior year. And you know what? I got accepted into most of the schools I applied to, including some top tier ones like SIPA and SAIS. So don't feel discouraged by your grades - use them to your advantage! In an admissions essay, explain how switching schools made you figure out what you really wanted. Make sure you dominate the GRE and take your time getting your essays right.

But if you have a notsogreat GPA, I've got to say that work experience becomes incredibly necessary. I had about 3 years between undergrad and g-school, working in my field. I think that's the only reason I got in anywhere.

[tribesdude]

I do not know too much about those lower tier schools so I cant really comment on them, but I'll give you a more general opinion on your chances and what you may be able to do in order to improve your chances. So I'll start of by saying that when I was applying to grad schools I was applying straight out of undergrad (I was still in my 4th year when I applied). When I was going through forums and doing research, the general idea I got was that one had a very low chance of getting into a school (at least the ones I was looking at) without work experience (granted I had done internships and volunteering, but if you look at forums as well as the admission websites of the schools they generally say that 2-3 years of work experience is recommended/required), unless if that person had amazing grades (so I am guessing 3.7+) and well my GPA was a 3.5 plus I had failed one course. Anyway I was going into it extremely discouraged and frankly thought I wouldn't get in anywhere, but that was not the case. The point I am trying to make is that you should not get discouraged and you should still try and apply to both top schools and lower tier schools, nothing wrong with applying, better than regretting not applying somewhere. 

 

That being said, your GPA is low, and I do understand partying can affect grades badly, especially when you are not motivated at a certain school and well partying is fun (hell I would know, Im a frat guy). If you show an upward trend then the ADCOM may look more positively towards your grades. However, you need to ensure that you get very good grades from now on (getting good grades is all about putting the work in imo), so as long as you go to class and study and well put the work in, you will be able to get good grades. With a GPA below 3.0 it will be a challenge, especially if you lack work experience. A lot of schools require a minimum of 3.0, however of course they may make exceptions (if you say have great work experience, or amazing GRE's and etc), but you really have to work hard to get to that 3.0. Also, try and get involved at your University, so try and join (by join I mean by an executive) of various student run organizations. Furthermore, if you can, try and get a job as a research assistant, I firmly believe that graduate schools like that, as well as maybe even a teaching assistant. Through doing these things (RA, TA) you should be able to get great recommendations (much better than asking some prof whose class you took and who may know you a bit, but not enough to write you a truly great rec). In terms of GRE, aim for 160Q and 160V, those should be enough in your case imo (someone please correct me if I am mistaken). Lastly work experience, try and intern somewhere (in my own personal experience it does not have to be related to public policy work or what you want to do, although of course it would be better if it is). 

 

Hope this helps, and good luck!