I'm applying to grad school but I need advice on how to be a competitive applicant. I'm going to major in public policy/public affairs, I'm currently a junior and my major is Poly Sci and I have two minors in Economics/Health Management Policy. I've had two jobs with law firms (one of which I'm still doing), and next semester I'm interning at the Britich Consulate in Miami and this summer I'm interning at this Bipartisan whatever whatever thing in DC but I keep hearing that I need research experience but does that apply to poly sci? any advice is appreciated!
Grad School advice?
- Thread starter Luchini
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Sounds like a helluva qualified, competitve candidate to me. To seal the deal, make sure you write a great, and I mean great essay as well as doing decent on the graduate entrance exams.
Honestly, people underestimate the power of the college, graduate, post-graduate essay. My essay as an undergrad got me full scholarships to many universities... (not Ivy League though).
How is your GPA?
iceberg_is_on_fire
Wearing Lions gear when it wasn't cool
As a person with an MBA, get that money! Props to you.
Sounds like a helluva qualified, competitve candidate to me. To seal the deal, make sure you write a great, and I mean great essay as well as doing decent on the graduate entrance exams.
Honestly, people underestimate the power of the college, graduate, post-graduate essay. My essay as an undergrad got me full scholarships to many universities... (not Ivy League though).
How is your GPA?
3.2 cu, so not that great but I think I'll do pretty well on the GRE. I heard GPA doesn't matter as much as research experience though but I keep hearing different things
You right. Your resume sounds good. Decent GPA. Do decent on the GRE's and write a bomb essay and you in there.
NZA
LOL
just make sure you know what career you are going for and how likely you are to actually get hired shortly after your masters. that debt can be a bytch
i think its better to get relevant work exp before you try to get one of these. try to swing one of those internships into a legit full-time job. then find out what sort of options an MPP/MPA will give you at the places you want to work at
TrueEpic08
Dum Shiny
You're about as qualified as I was (Lower GPA, but better extracurriculars). When I heard about research experience, it was more in a STEM context (where it's extremely important and heavily weighted), but not so much for me (since I was an English major). Depending on what you want to do as a Poli Sci grad, it might be good to attempt to get some, but you might be good with your extracurriculars.
Have you taken the GRE yet? And are you considering any subject tests (You might not need them, but I took a lit subject GRE that greatly aided me in getting into grad school). Also, @Benny P is right. Take great time and care in writing an excellent essay. Do well in those and you should be good.
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where did you go/get in?
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TrueEpic08
Dum Shiny
Attending the University of Cincinnati currently, but that was more of a money thing (Relative works in the International Services Department). Got into Xavier, OSU (Previous school pre-transfer), UNC and UC-Irvine. Currently working on a transfer into the Ph. D. program of either OSU or UC-Irvine (Since one of the professors I wanted to work under at the latter recently died, that might not happen).
I might have been able to get into better schools, but I screwed up my grades a bit in undergrad, so I am where I am.
Broke Wave
The GOAT
We're studying the exact same thing 
I'm also a junior but I believe the best course of action for Poli-sci majors outside of law-school is to consider some kind of consulting internship in the senior year. As far as grad school competition I don't think you specified which one and what you'd be taking, but I know that outside of extracurricular I believe the most important aspect would be the GPA and the writing sample/admissions essay. That would be the best barometer as to how good of an applicant you are in relation to others.
How confident are you in your writing skills? That's what you should be asking yourself.
I'm also a junior but I believe the best course of action for Poli-sci majors outside of law-school is to consider some kind of consulting internship in the senior year. As far as grad school competition I don't think you specified which one and what you'd be taking, but I know that outside of extracurricular I believe the most important aspect would be the GPA and the writing sample/admissions essay. That would be the best barometer as to how good of an applicant you are in relation to others.
How confident are you in your writing skills? That's what you should be asking yourself.
I have a friend that goes to Irvine, it's like 98% Asian. What do you think matters the most when you're applying?
We're studying the exact same thing
I'm also a junior but I believe the best course of action for Poli-sci majors outside of law-school is to consider some kind of consulting internship in the senior year. As far as grad school competition I don't think you specified which one and what you'd be taking, but I know that outside of extracurricular I believe the most important aspect would be the GPA and the writing sample/admissions essay. That would be the best barometer as to how good of an applicant you are in relation to others.
How confident are you in your writing skills? That's what you should be asking yourself.
I'm an excellent writer. My mom is an author
I'm more nervous about my gpa than anythingand what does the bolded mean?
TrueEpic08
Dum Shiny
UC-Irvine has an archive I'd like access to.
Per what you want to do and where you want to go? You need to know what type of professors are at the colleges you're applying to, because you're going to need to decide a direction for your research pretty much from the moment you start. So make sure you know WHAT you want to do with your time there as much as WHERE you want to go.
Per your app? A great essay will do wonders, I and others can't emphasize that enough. Research experience is good, hell, great to have, but you have good experience already. Also, since I'm an English student, I took the subject GRE, which did a lot for me. You might not have that option, since you're a Poli Sci major, but it's something to think about.
Edit: Forgot something. This is just me and my experience speaking, but in addition to what @Broke Wave said below, consider whether you need a language proficiency or not. Because of what I'm studying, I need at least one to eventually get a Ph. D (Irvine required one before I even got into the Grad School, the b*stards...). Depending on what you do, you might need one, so think about that as well.
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Broke Wave
The GOAT
I'm an excellent writer. My mom is an author
and what does the bolded mean?
I mean you haven't really specified which type of graduate school you want to go to or which ones
A good way to start would be like
I want to go to ____ For ____
Do you want to continue in Public Policy or go to Law School or do another type of masters etc etc what are you looking to do? Then you can get a better idea of what you need to work on.