HKS et al. with an F on my transcript?

[tigertigertiger]

Hey All,

Looking for some brutally honest feedback regarding my grad school chances with an F on my transcript. I missed a number of classes in a literature elective my junior year due to illness (unexcused, so I was technically in the wrong), my professor was unforgiving, and he flunked me for the course. Trying to overcome what I assume is a pretty costly blemish in the eyes of admissions officers, so please let me know if you have any insights-- will this keep me out of MPP programs generally?

Program: MA in IR, MPA

School Applying to: HKS, Yale Jackson Institute, Stanford MA, SIPA, SAIS, Harris

Undergrad Institution: H / P / Y

Undergrad GPA: 3.5 (with the F..., ~3.63 without)

Major/Minor: Major in International Affairs, with a focus on International Trade. Thesis Topic: WTO / GATT Accession for Middle-Income Countries

GRE: 170 V, 170 Q, 6 Writing

Age: 24

Years of Work Experience:  Two years

Languages: Spanish

Work Experience: Internship with a public sector banking group (think Bank of America, JPMorgan, Citi) after sophomore year. Spent ~five months working for the White House Council of Economic Advisers as a research analyst in the trade policy concentration, then spent two years working for BlackRock's Financial Markets Advisory Group in New York (advises government institutions like the Federal Reserve, Her Majesty's Treasury, ECB).

Quant Experience: Introductory micro + macro. Intermediate micro. Introductory and intermediate political statistics. Econometrics. Latin American political economy.

Strength of LoR 1: Dean of the College, with whom I've taken three seminars. Likely best LoR.

Strength of LoR 2: Managing Director from BlackRock, who has extensive policy experience from working at the NY Fed. Quite close with him, so I'm hopeful this will be cogent as well.

Strength of LoR 3: Thesis advisor-- likely good recommendation, as I did well on my thesis, but I'm not as close with her personally.

Concerns: Lack of work experience and the obvious transcript blemish. Post grad school, I'm interested in banking regulation and the macroeconomy. Are my expectations too lofty? 

 

[Guest SIPA_MPA18]

Aside from the F, you have a pretty stellar profile and background. Your test scores are perfect and you have a few years of relevant work experience. I only applied to SIPA on your list so I didn't do much research on the other schools, so take my advice for what it's worth. If you haven't spoken with any admissions counselors, I would first do that and explain your situation. It always helps them to hear it personally rather than seeing it for the first time on your transcript. It shows maturity and allows you to get your side of the story out there. The counselors will advise the adcom if they aren't on it already and can fight for you. Second, address it directly in your optional essay and double down on what you told the counselors. It only reinforces your narrative and is a place where you can be a little more calculated and articulate, especially if you are an excellent writer. Everyone is likely to have some sort of blemish or negative factor in their profile so you just have to be able to talk your way out of it -- prove that it was an abberation in your habits and is not indicative of your future performance. It helps that you have relevant work experience and that the course was an elective so use that to your advantage when crafting your narrative. It's all about how you sell yourself. 

[hedong123]

I had an F on my transcript and got into both SFS and SAIS.  I just had other strengths that made up for it.  

Did you really get a perfect on the GRE?  Not many people pull that off.

[Ben414]

7 hours ago, tigertigertiger said:

Hey All,

Looking for some brutally honest feedback regarding my grad school chances with an F on my transcript. I missed a number of classes in a literature elective my junior year due to illness (unexcused, so I was technically in the wrong), my professor was unforgiving, and he flunked me for the course. Trying to overcome what I assume is a pretty costly blemish in the eyes of admissions officers, so please let me know if you have any insights-- will this keep me out of MPP programs generally?

Program: MA in IR, MPA

School Applying to: HKS, Yale Jackson Institute, Stanford MA, SIPA, SAIS, Harris

Undergrad Institution: H / P / Y

Undergrad GPA: 3.5 (with the F..., ~3.63 without)

Major/Minor: Major in International Affairs, with a focus on International Trade. Thesis Topic: WTO / GATT Accession for Middle-Income Countries

GRE: 170 V, 170 Q, 6 Writing

Age: 24

Years of Work Experience:  Two years

Languages: Spanish

Work Experience: Internship with a public sector banking group (think Bank of America, JPMorgan, Citi) after sophomore year. Spent ~five months working for the White House Council of Economic Advisers as a research analyst in the trade policy concentration, then spent two years working for BlackRock's Financial Markets Advisory Group in New York (advises government institutions like the Federal Reserve, Her Majesty's Treasury, ECB).

Quant Experience: Introductory micro + macro. Intermediate micro. Introductory and intermediate political statistics. Econometrics. Latin American political economy.

Strength of LoR 1: Dean of the College, with whom I've taken three seminars. Likely best LoR.

Strength of LoR 2: Managing Director from BlackRock, who has extensive policy experience from working at the NY Fed. Quite close with him, so I'm hopeful this will be cogent as well.

Strength of LoR 3: Thesis advisor-- likely good recommendation, as I did well on my thesis, but I'm not as close with her personally.

Concerns: Lack of work experience and the obvious transcript blemish. Post grad school, I'm interested in banking regulation and the macroeconomy. Are my expectations too lofty? 

 

Assuming you have a solid SOP and essay(s), you're in with $$$ at SIPA, SAIS, Harris.  I don't have any empirical evidence to back it up, but it seems like HKS loves econ backgrounds so I'd say you have a strong shot there.  No idea about Stanford since their MPP is only available to Stanford graduates, and I didn't look at their other programs.  Not sure about Yale, either; they seem more academic-oriented than the vast majority of other IR schools, so I'm not sure how they'll weigh your professional experience.  I would say you have at least a decent chance at Yale, but I wouldn't try to be more specific than that.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Ben414

[tigertigertiger]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Pleasantly surprised by my GRE as well, as I had only prepped for the GMAT (770). Would love to hear more about Yale-Jackson and HKS-- opinions/perspectives/advice welcome!

[CurrentJackson]

Hi tigertigertiger, I'm a current Yale Jackson student. I imagine the admissions committee will be understanding if you supply an explanation of the situation. Your background and interests seem like a good fit for Jackson - feel free to shoot me a message so we can discuss more about the program directly.