MPA Program Funding - What are the odds?

[hopeful2018]

I am new to this forum, so if there are other threads with a lot of replies, please feel free to direct me!

I am currently an undergrad at a top 50 private school, with a full-tuition merit scholarship. I am extremely fortunate to have received this award, however seeing as how I strategized in order to avoid taking on loans for undergrad, I would also like to find a way to limit my debt for graduate school. As of now, I plan to work for a few years before applying to dual MPA/MPH programs, but what can make my application more competitive? Would this be a competitive enough application to do a fellowship for the year following undergrad and then start these programs in the Fall following the year after I graduate? Below are my current stats/resume:

(Predicted Final GPA): ~3.6

Major: Human Services/ Public Health

GMAT/GRE: Not yet taken

* I do have more long-term volunteer experiences and extracurriculars, but I did not want to list too many

 

Volunteer

- Board of Directors of non-profit organization overseeing and partially funding a government public safety-net hospital ( 2 years)

- Mentor and Personal Care Assistant for persons of differing levels of physical and mental ability ( 5 years)

 

Student Extracurricular Activities

-Health Disparities Organization (Executive Board) - 4 years 

-Student Government Association (Chief of Staff) -3 years 

-Co-led campaign regarding institutional discrimination; co-developed diversity and inclusion curriculum implemented university-wide - 3 years

 

Work Experience (upon graduation)

-6 month internship at prominent healthcare improvement non-profit organization as a program assistant

-6 month internship at local non-profit organization (focus on community organizing and policy)

-6 month internship at Attorney General's Office 

- 4 month internship at the WHO

- Summer internship at USAID

 

Research

- Autonomous published research on the impact of drug prevention programs - 3 years

- Autonomous funded research on sex trafficking victims - 1.5 years

 

[Ben414]

The single best way you can make yourself more competitive is to work those few years that you were planning for.

Also,what do you mean by "autonomous published research?"  That sounds like you're trying to inflate the scope of what you did, when I think research assistant or published article in undergraduate research journal sounds more professional.  There's a fine line between selling yourself and coming across as pompous, and I think that crosses the line unless you were the lead author of a research article in a legitimate, non-undergraduate-level research journal.  I'm not saying you are pompous; I'm just saying your wording comes across that way.  Same deal with your "autonomous funded research on sex trafficking victims."

[kbui]

I think this published magazine on some Harvard Kennedy School's Fellows will shine some light on this topic for everyone.

[hopeful2018]

@Ben414

Thank you very much for your insight. I was paraphrasing what one of my mentors told me to write on my resume. I didn't mean to come across as pompous, but I did lead the research in both endeavors and published in a non-undergraduate research journal, however I did have faculty mentorship and guidance along the way (should I put that I was a research assistant? I didn't assist anyone but I don't want to come across as cocky). I also was a Research Assistant in labs prior to this research, which is partially how I garnered enough experience to execute these projects. 

[Ben414]

2 hours ago, hopeful2018 said:

@Ben414

Thank you very much for your insight. I was paraphrasing what one of my mentors told me to write on my resume. I didn't mean to come across as pompous, but I did lead the research in both endeavors and published in a non-undergraduate research journal, however I did have faculty mentorship and guidance along the way (should I put that I was a research assistant? I didn't assist anyone but I don't want to come across as cocky). I also was a Research Assistant in labs prior to this research, which is partially how I garnered enough experience to execute these projects. 

I would definitely reword it... though I wouldn't put research assistant for that.  It would depend on your exact role in the research, and how your resume was specifically formatted.  At the minimum, I would take off "autonomous."  I'm still unclear if you're saying you were the first author in the article.  If you were, I would indicate that.  If you led the research and are the fourth author, I would leave it as "Published..."

While it's great that you have strong research experience, this won't matter as much for an MPP/MPA program as it would for a PhD program.  Internships are nice, but full-time, professional work experience is invaluable for admission into top programs.  You still have a chance to make it into a strong program with funding, but--as I stated in the first post--getting some real world work experience is the best thing you can do.

Another factor that will strongly affect your admission chances is your quantitative background.  What economics/statistics/mathematics courses have you taken, and how much of your research involved quantitative analysis?

Edited December 8, 2015 by Ben414