Application Advice..

[yoyo]

A couple of weeks back I was a pretty confident applicant..but I messed up my GRE and since then have been going through hell.

My stats are.

1. History Major ('09)..from top 10 liberal arts colleges in India. I dont know my GPA..but I did decently well..top 20-25 in a class of 60.

2. Two good internships during college..one as a research assistant for a Member of the Parliament. The other was public policy research during which I wrote two primary research papers.

3. Currently working for a small public health org. in an Indian city.

4. GRE:570V 560Q (horrible time management)

5. 1 very strong reco from my employer..2 pretty good recos from college professors

Before my GRE disaster I was looking at the usual.. SIPA,Fletcher,Michigan(ford school),Cornell,American, Univ of Washington..(looking at colleges with an international outlook and that allows considerable focus/research on South Asia)

I dont even have time to retake the GRE since deadlines are in jan and I cant bear the thought of going through prep books again.

I have never been too comfortable with math..though I did decently in high school and college level economics, but after these quant scores..I dont think i should look at Quant heavy programs..so that rules out SIPA and Ford school for me right?

What I really need advice about is the GRE... am i making a mistake by not retaking the GRE? thereby reducing my already slim chances since I have just a yr of work ex?

Advice on other schools that I should consider..will be really helpful!

[riz1]

On the 10th of December last year, I took the GRE to submit for January deadline, and somehow it worked out. I know it's much more difficult to arrange a GRE retest from abroad, but do everything in your power to make it this year. Otherwise I sadly recommend you not apply this year to grad school, especially considering you graduated from university barely six months ago. Get the power combination of 2-3 years unique & relevant work experience + GRE scores higher than the mid-600s, and I think you'll be in a very competitive position.