Advice on SOP if with no WE?

[kaixinwawa]

Lacking WE is the my weak point in applying to these top MPP/IR programs directly from undergraduate. I wonder if my 4.0 GPA , one year study abroad, several internships(government, foreign bank, NGOs) could help the whole package? I have a clear idea and a specific issue I want to address in the SOP. P.S. I'm an international applicant. My GRE Verb can't compete with native students. Will there be a different criteria for international applicants?

Thanks for your advice.

[cosmike10]

no, a 4.0 GPA will only hurt your chances. seriously?

[cckrspnl56]

I wouldn't apply with anything less than a 4.3

[Batignolles]

kaixinwawa, it probably really depends on which programs you're thinking of applying to, and how you bring it all together in your application. I would focus on making your SOP really strong, including making the most of your internship experiences.

[zourah]

Lacking WE is the my weak point in applying to these top MPP/IR programs directly from undergraduate. I wonder if my 4.0 GPA , one year study abroad, several internships(government, foreign bank, NGOs) could help the whole package? I have a clear idea and a specific issue I want to address in the SOP. P.S. I'm an international applicant. My GRE Verb can't compete with native students. Will there be a different criteria for international applicants?

Thanks for your advice.

You don't mention where you're applying, but if you're looking at the handful of top programs most talked about here, you'll want a particularly articulate SOP laying out what you want to do and why you're ready to take on a Masters a few years before most of your peers. Go for it - I have classmates this year straight out of undergrad, and they're pretty impressively accomplished folks - but know that it will be your story, and not your stats, that will help most. (I say that as a stats-blessed applicant who DIDN'T have a particularly clear life plan and wasn't accepted straight out of undergrad but rather in a second round two years later.)