Pardee RAND Graduate School Application

[dolson]

Hi everyone,

 

I’m planning on applying to the PhD in Public Policy at Pardee RAND for the Fall of 2018.  I noticed that they have really good data on the standardized test scores of the current students.  Has anyone seen any data on the applicants’ graduate GPAs?  Similarly, does the pre-application help in admissions?  I have a MS from MSU in their Ag, Food, and Resource Economics department with a GPA of about 3.65 and am wondering if I am competitive.  I also was a TA in my time at MSU and previously was an Army Officer who served in Afghanistan.  I’m hoping that the application committee takes all of these characteristics into account.  Any feedback or thoughts would be a help. Thanks

[jlamb]

Hi there. I was accepted to RAND for Fall 2017 so I can speak to this a little bit.

Although there is no explicit indication that it makes a difference, I would recommend doing the pre-application in addition to reaching out to the director of admissions and faculty/students that fit your interests. This will put you on their radar, and you can get a good sense of mutual fit. I was pleasantly surprised by the attention that everyone I interacted with at RAND.

After I submitted my pre-application, I received concrete feedback that I was considered competitive, as well as some guidance on areas to enhance or clarify. It's free and doesn't take too much time (you don't need references or anything), so it's the best way to gauge your profile versus asking for other peoples speculation! I respect that they do this since it technically makes their acceptance rate sound a bit more generous on paper (they are able to cut the applicant pool from hundreds to something like 150) but I suspect it lets them focus on a smaller set of candidates.

In terms of GPA I suspect it has a fair bit of variance; I had a slide from an online information session with a bit more nuance than they publish online but lost it with a hard drive failure. I can't recall if they had any GPA data on there, but I suspect yours would be competitive. I do sense that they care predominantly about your statement of purpose (ultimately being very applied), what your prior coursework and experience would contribute to RAND and the cohort, your compatibility with the program structure and mission, culture fit, etc. They were pretty outspoken about its differences from a traditional university setting; it's unconventional and the students there tend to seem to fit a strong but unconventional profile as well. 

Happy to try to provide other info if I can.

 

[rzutshi]

On 1/14/2017 at 9:26 PM, jlamb said:

Hi there. I was accepted to RAND for Fall 2017 so I can speak to this a little bit.

 

 

 

Wasn't the deadline January 5th? Did you apply much earlier and is that why you were accepted by the 14th?

[jlamb]

19 hours ago, rzutshi said:

Wasn't the deadline January 5th? Did you apply much earlier and is that why you were accepted by the 14th?

Sorry that was confusing; to clarify I was accepted last year and deferred to 2017.

[dolson]

On 1/14/2017 at 9:26 PM, jlamb said:

Hi there. I was accepted to RAND for Fall 2017 so I can speak to this a little bit.

Although there is no explicit indication that it makes a difference, I would recommend doing the pre-application in addition to reaching out to the director of admissions and faculty/students that fit your interests. This will put you on their radar, and you can get a good sense of mutual fit. I was pleasantly surprised by the attention that everyone I interacted with at RAND.

After I submitted my pre-application, I received concrete feedback that I was considered competitive, as well as some guidance on areas to enhance or clarify. It's free and doesn't take too much time (you don't need references or anything), so it's the best way to gauge your profile versus asking for other peoples speculation! I respect that they do this since it technically makes their acceptance rate sound a bit more generous on paper (they are able to cut the applicant pool from hundreds to something like 150) but I suspect it lets them focus on a smaller set of candidates.

In terms of GPA I suspect it has a fair bit of variance; I had a slide from an online information session with a bit more nuance than they publish online but lost it with a hard drive failure. I can't recall if they had any GPA data on there, but I suspect yours would be competitive. I do sense that they care predominantly about your statement of purpose (ultimately being very applied), what your prior coursework and experience would contribute to RAND and the cohort, your compatibility with the program structure and mission, culture fit, etc. They were pretty outspoken about its differences from a traditional university setting; it's unconventional and the students there tend to seem to fit a strong but unconventional profile as well. 

Happy to try to provide other info if I can.

 

Thanks for the great info.  I really appreciate it and plan on taking your advice with the pre-application.