Applying To Colleges

[Kushahontas]

about to begin my senior year at UT San Antonio, looking to go into a graduate program in Public Administration...so far, a first draft list consists of:

-University of North Texas
-UNC Chapel Hill
-University of Texas at Arlington
-Texas State
-University of Illinois - Chicago
-Syracuse
-Carnegie Mellon
-LSU

combination of reaches, bit more realistic shots and an in-state safety or two...what worries me is that I am not too stellar of a candidate at the moment (at least not in comparison with my competition, I can only imagine) so I definitely need to work extra hard and be super productive these next 16 months or so (i'll be graduating in December of 2012).

[Kushahontas]

The law school application process, on the other hand, is fantastic. Basically all the schools care about is your GPA and your LSAT, the applications are basically all identical, and it's very easy to confidently predict which schools will accept you and which will reject you. Plus studying for the LSAT is fun.

Is this sarcasm?

[Kushahontas]

I'm applying to MPP and MPA programs at five schools:

SUNY Albany (Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy)
University of Minnesota (Humphrey School of Public Affairs)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (La Follette School of Public Affairs)
George Washington University (Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration)
University of Maryland (Maryland School of Public Policy)

I've been working on my statement of purpose for days. It's killing me! For two years I expected that I would be applying to geography programs now; it was only a month ago that I changed my mind. I've been more excited about starting grad schools since I did, but re-working my career goals and approach to further studies has required a total paradigm shift.

I am only applying to one program in this discipline this year (University of Texas' LBJ School), but if I don't make it (which I suspect I may very well not as GRE scores were AWFUL), this looks like a nice list off schools to consider next Autumn if I can improve my stats a bit.

[Kushahontas]

I am only applying to one program in this discipline this year (University of Texas' LBJ School), but if I don't make it (which I suspect I may very well not as GRE scores were AWFUL), this looks like a nice list off schools to consider next Autumn if I can improve my stats a bit.

Are you applying straight out of college? I get the impression that GRE scores matter very little if you have a non-academic record to brag about.

I'm somewhat confident in my chances at these schools. I'm working with a 3.7 GPA and solid GRE scores (170V, 159Q, 5.0 AW), and I'm sure that I'll have great letters of recommendation. What I don't have is a strong record of community service and involvement in extracurricular projects that demonstrates the kind of interest and passion that so many of these programs seem keen on. I spent most of my time as an undergrad expecting that my future was in academia, so I was a lot more focused on building relationships with professors, completing research projects, and being active within my department (geography). That's why writing my statement of interest has been stressful; I have the sense that I have a lot to prove.

What kind of focus interests you? For the moment, I'm torn between local government management and policy research.

I, on the other hand, don't have the best academic stats, but I (hopefully) make up for that with strong community involvement and volunteer work. I definitely concur wrt the statement of purpose, but for better or worse...it is finished now.

I originally was planning an environmental policy sort of specialization when I first considered applying years ago, but I find that now I am much more intent to pursue something along the lines of public management/finance and leadership.

[Kushahontas]

accepted at UT Austin's LBJ School! Unsure how I pulled it off, but thankful nonetheless!

[Kushahontas]

um...perhaps the University of Texas should not send out its acceptance letters and enrollment forms if you are still at a stage where the graduate dean can (and did) void your acceptance ruling on final authority.


Not a very good week.