<p>Latino: I want a PhD or EdD depending on the school</p>
<p>Illinois State University Undergrad, and various Junior Colleges: 2.72 GPA Psychology</p>
<p>DePaul University Grad: MPA 3.65 </p>
<p>GRE: V:550 Q:560 AW:3.5</p>
<p>Work Experience: Over 6years in the field</p>
<p>Field of study will be Educational Policy</p>
<p>Stanford
USC
UCLA
CORNELL
UW MADISON
UColorado Boulder
Ohio State
Penn State
Illinois
ASU</p>
<p>Six years in the Educational Policy Field
Member of the P20 Council in IL
Advisor for two student organizations at my job
Work in higher ed as an administrator of a grant
Member fo the College and Career Readiness Committee for the P20 council
Very good LOR from two professors of my graduate institution and a former employer</p>
<p>I have thick skin so let me have it, am I a loser or what?</p>
<p>Come on guys help me out, I’m starting to get applications together and dont want to waste tons of money.
Also my graduate GPA is 3.686 not 3.65 not much of a difference but there is a difference. Please give me hope.
Thank you</p>
<p>I am applying to graduate schools myself and let me tell you these posts arent going to get you many replies. Since I am still applying I cannot guarantee that my advice is great but I have a lot of information from the people I know who have got into graduate schools.</p>
<p>Let’s start with each point. you state you are latino. i notice in applications they ask that question a lot so i guess if you are going to answer yes it will help you. its not a key consideration mind you.</p>
<p>your gpa is good but I will be honest- someone from a top 10 school with a 3.4 might be viewed as having the same academic potential. so your gre becomes a focal point. Now this is harsh but its the truth. your gre scores are well below average when compared to top admits ESPECIALLY to phd programs.your Q matters less since its not engineering or science but that Verbal and writing will put you behind a lot of people in the top few schools you are applying to.</p>
<p>your other stuff is impressive. if you have a strong personal statement then yes you stand a good chance. cornell, UW, UCLA, illinois will be reach. the rest i guess sound pretty realistic.</p>
<p>Just my opinions. re take your GRE though. i dont think you will score worse than what you have.</p>
<p>oh i didnt notice the 2.72 undergrad gpa. not to burst your bubble but the minimum at all the schools you are applying to is a 3.0. even though you have a masters</p>
<p>Chancing doesn’t really work in graduate school. First of all, there are few people on this board in educational policy, so we may not be familiar with the competitiveness of those programs. Second of all, although I assume that an ed policy program will be a mix of research and practice, some research will still be required and you didn’t talk about any research experience. So we can’t tell you your chances, but we can comment on various parts of your application package.</p>
<p>Affirmative action doesn’t quite work the same way in doctoral programs as it does on an undergrad level. It’s an interest factor for people trying to increase the diversity of their program, but that’s all.</p>
<p>Your undergraduate GPA is quite low. That may matter at some places, but your MPA and your years of experience should eclipse that. You also seem to have the kind of work experience that most ed policy applicants have. Your GRE scores are just average - good, not great. I know that in some fields a 1200+ is required for doctoral admissions, but this may or may not be the case in ed policy. I don’t know - you seem like an average applicant. Nothing spectacular, but not a total failure either.</p>
<p>Hey Julliet and Vader thanks for the reply. You guys were great and had some sound advice.
Thank you</p>