Confused about Grad school and doubtful of my chances. Need advice

[MishaS]

Hey there, 

So I need some advice from people more experienced here. I just finished my undergrad degree in political science from Canada. Have a pretty bad cgpa (3.37) and my major gpa isn't that much higher at 3.4. 

I have 4 internships (one at an embassy, one at an urban planning government department, one at a newspaper and one was research work in organizing a conference) I will be building on my work experience in the coming year and a half before applications go out. I'm in interested in MPA, MIA and development programs. 

Still have to give my GRE but I'm very weak at math and so far the scores I'm getting are in the 140s. Hopefully, that will improve by the time I give my final GRE next year. 

For personal reasons, I will have to apply for the 2019 cycle and not after that, so I'll only have a year and a half (max) of work experience. 

With these stats I feel like it'll be impossible to get into the programs I want to go for like SIPA, Georgetown Mccourt, LSE let alone something better like HKS. Is it stupid of me to be aiming for these programs? Should I aim at less prestigious places? 
And I'm an international student so aid is going to be another issue. Anybody know of ways to increase chances of getting aid from universities for masters with stats like mine? 

Any advice will be highly appreciated. 

Thanks!

 

 

[samman1994]

Well there are a few things to keep in mind. One, master programs definitely have lower requirements than PhD, like significantly lower. Secondly, it is a little more competitive for international students. Finally, GPA isn't everything, and previous experience in the field can make a huge impact on your application. I don't know about your particular field, so I don't know how much of an impact it'll make and what type of experience you'll need; however, there are practically forums for every subject on here, so you could direct your question to them, and people in your same major/department will be able to help you (although they could help you here too). Most of these even have a section that states "Application of said year", and you can put your stats there and schools you want to apply to, and you might find someone in the department you're looking for at that school that'll be able to help you out. Finally, you could also email the school grad coordinator and ask them what is the average GPA/GRE of a student entering their graduate program for a Masters. Anyways, hope this helps! 

Edited September 8, 2017 by samman1994