<p>Does anyone have any theories on the relative importance, all else being equal, of the personal statement and GPA when applying to schools like SIPA, SAIS, SFS, Fletcher and the Elliott School. </p>
<p>I've applied to all of the above schools and my application is pretty good however my GPA is a 3.39 from a not very well known school, Manhattanville College, and I don't have too much confidence in the personal statement that I submitted. </p>
<p>I once read that the importance of the personal statement rises with the competitiveness of the school. Does anyone else have any confidence in this statement. </p>
<p>The other aspects of my application are good, GRE: Verbal 670 and Quant 640, and I have been living in Damascus, Syria studying Arabic since 6/07. I also worked in DC in international trade policy. I would love any and all insight into the matter.</p>
<p>I think Admissions people, particularly at more competetive schools, want to get a sense of your trajectory as a professional. While I'm sure they realize what often happens to best laid plans, a clear path seperates you from all the other candidates that are smart but directionless. Specific ambition generates confidence in future success.</p>
<p>The personal statement/SoP/ect. is your clearest shot to explain why the school fits into your plans, so it's very important for degrees in fields without a clear, majority career for graduates.</p>
<p>That said, it's certainly possible that clear academic and work experience offers this sense to admissions offices without a great personal statement. What's more, I'm fairly unconvinced that very many people really understand what makes a statement persuasive. I know it confuses me. Yours may fit you better than you think.</p>
<p>Anyway, I applied to the same schools with similar stats, so I hope that good luck for you means the same for me!</p>
<p>You make an important point. However, many people enter grad school to transition careers. That being said, I am sure that these types of grad schools would like to see some relevance in terms of what an applicant has done professionally and what he/she wishes to do. I believe it is important to make strong connection in the personal statement/statement of purpose how what an applicant did will enable he/she to be successful in the future.</p>
<p>Not sure which thread to reply in, so I guess I'll stick to this one. Yes, as far as I've gathered, the SOP is very important, since it's really the only way to get to know you as a person (your interests, plans, goals, potential, etc) in your own words and outside the "quantitative box", so to speak. With so many outstanding applicants with virtually identical scores/grades/experience backgrounds, the SOP and the LORs are going to make or break your application to top schools. The SOP's usually a great way to show that despite whatever weak points your application may have (not the highest GPA, etc), you're a strong candidate for the program. Your SOP may very well be better than you think, but it's obviously very difficult to tell since we're not adcoms and we've never read it. </p>