Applying to top Int'l Affairs schools--is my quantitative (GRE, etc) background too weak?

Graduate School
1

Hello,

I’m planning to apply to a few International Affairs master’s programs (and one or two MPA programs):

Yale (Jackson School)
Columbia (SIPA)
Johns Hopkins (SAIS)
Tufts (Fletcher)
Georgetown (SFS)
Princeton (WWS, MPA)
UT Austin (LBJ School, MPA)

I graduated from Rice University in 2015 with a double major in history and sociology. I graduated summa cum laude, with a 4.05 GPA (4.00 scale).

I recently took the GRE, and I got a 165 Verbal (96th percentile), 160 Quantitative (76th percentile), and 6.0 Essay (99th percentile).

After Rice, I worked at a law firm before deciding law wasn’t for me. After a short gap in “real” employment, during which I applied to move abroad, I moved to China to teach English. While here, I’ve reflected and decided my interests and goals lead me to graduate school.

I am worried, however, about schools viewing my quantitative skills/background as too weak. In undergrad, I wasn’t interested in Economics, partially because my professor for Microecon was terrible and the class grew frustrating quickly. I added a Pass/Fail to the course as a safety net, got a B- or B (can’t remember, doesn’t matter), and left it on to keep up my GPA. I took a math class and an upper-level statistics course for my major, but otherwise my quantitative coursework is extremely weak. In the past year, I’ve grown increasingly interested in Economics and have begun studying it in my free time with MIT’s open courseware.

I’m confident in my ability to learn Economics and succeed in quantitative coursework in a graduate program–in fact, I am explicitly seeking to build a foundational quantitative/analytical skillset. I plan to meet program prerequisites by taking Micro/Macroecon courses online prior to matriculation, but have not taken them yet. My weaker quantitative coursework in college, my lack of quantitative experience in the workplace since, and my GRE Quantitative score being a 76th percentile combine to show a weakness in the area.

I understand most of my statistics are strong, and that the 76th percentile mark is around median for some of these schools, but given the context of my app I worry schools will see it as a weakness. I’m looking for a way to show schools I can do the work well.

I expected a 164+ Quantitative score but handled the sections’ pacing poorly, so I was a little disappointed. Is it worth taking the GRE one more time to try to raise that score (I would also hope to raise my Verbal by 2-4pts), or is there something else I can do to show these schools I can handle their courses? Or do I not need to worry?

Thanks for any advice or peace of mind you can provide.

2

I should qualify my comment about my undergraduate Econ course. The professor was indeed very poor for an introductory Econ course–tendency to ramble, inability to explain concepts clearly, very dry. But in my original post it comes across as blaming the professor solely for my lack of Econ coursework. My strong distaste for the Microecon course was partially influenced by a lack of interest in Econ in general and the thought that Econ was not necessary for my future ambitions at the time. I regret not grinding it out, teaching myself, and shooting for an A now, but at the time, taking it P/F and focusing on other things like my other courses, extracurriculars, etc. seemed like a reasonable choice.

Hope it doesn’t come off as though I was blaming a professor for a bad grade, as that’s not my intent at all. I earned the grade I got. The professor is just one of the factors that led to my decision to take Econ as a P/F and not take any further Econ courses.

3

Most students have a weakness somewhere. Having one weaker aspect of your application doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get admitted to any of the above programs. It’ll be weighed along with everything else in your package.

Some international affairs schools care more about economics and quantitative ability than others; you can tell that by looking at the website and the classes they require or recommend. Columbia, for example, is on the high-ish end; however, I’ve got friends who went to SIPA and didn’t have super-strong quantitative backgrounds.

4

That’s very helpful to know, thanks so much. I’ll be sure to address that I plan to take econ courses next summer to get more up to speed before beginning my studies.