This is the third article in our four-part policy master’s guide (Part 1, Part 2, Part 4). See also our general policy graduate school advice, policy master’s database, and law school guide.

Summary

• When are applications due? Fall cohort applications are usually due sometime between December and February, and spring cohort applications around October of the previous year. Funding deadlines can be even earlier.
• What factors matter for admission? While admission systems vary by school and program, policy master’s acceptance criteria typically include, in no particular order¹, (1) a good undergraduate GPA and scores on standardized tests, particularly the GRE; (2) relevant work experience, including internships and extracurriculars; (3) strong letters of recommendation from college professors or professional contacts; and (4) a clear motivation for your chosen degree in your statement of purpose and other application materials.

Application timelines

Most policy schools have one annual application cycle for a master’s cohort beginning their studies in the fall semester. But some schools/programs—like Georgetown’s MA Security Studies—have a second annual application cycle for a spring semester cohort.²

Applications for the fall cohort are usually due sometime between December and February (i.e. master’s applications for the 2024 fall cohort will be due between December of 2023 and February of 2024). Applications for the spring cohort (if applicable) are usually due around October of the previous year. 

Some schools also have an early-decision deadline, which provides clarity/options sooner. These deadlines usually precede the typical December-February timeline.

As you plan out your personal application timeline, focus first on the two components of the application that require the most advanced planning: letters of recommendation and standardized admissions tests like the GRE (see the sections below).

Most schools will give all fall cohort applicants a decision of some kind—acceptance, rejection, or a waitlist position—by mid-March.

Application prerequisites

Degree programs vary in their prerequisites for admission. Many MPP programs involve some quantitative classes and thus require or prefer a demonstrated background (e.g. college classes) in economics, statistics, and calculus. In contrast, most international affairs programs do not have such requirements, but there are exceptions like the MA International Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS that requires candidates to “have earned…a B- or higher in separate college-level courses in introductory microeconomics and in introductory macroeconomics.” Check the formal application prerequisites before you apply.

If you’re currently in college and may want to pursue a policy degree in the future, review the requirements at your favored graduate schools and, if necessary, consider taking a few classes in statistics and economics. If you have already finished college, you can take relevant courses online or at your local community college before applying (again, check whether this is actually necessary); many programs also offer options to “catch up” on unmet prerequisite requirements after receiving admission.

Qualitative application components

Application processes generally include both qualitative components (e.g. a resume/CV, personal statement, writing sample, other essays, recommendation letters) and quantitative components (e.g. GPA, GRE/GMAT). They typically do not include interviews with limited exceptions like Johns Hopkins SAIS’ optional interview. Our policy master’s database includes information about these application requirements.

Resume

Master’s applications generally require submitting a one or two-page resume. While most general-purpose advice about resume writing still applies, you should also read some specific graduate school resume advice.

Since policy master’s admissions highly value professional experience, highlight your experiences throughout your application. Consider also how to showcase your personal and professional leadership experiences.

To get feedback and revise your resume, run it by one or more people who are professionally successful, good at writing, and ideally have firsthand experience hiring and resume screening. Attention to detail matters a lot in admissions contexts, so typos can be costly, and it is usually much easier for someone else to spot errors in your writing.

Statement of purpose and other essays

Virtually all schools require you to write a statement of purpose (aka “personal statement”), and many also ask for additional essays (e.g. a diversity statement, short essay questions, an analytic essay). Very few policy master’s programs also ask for a pre-written writing sample, such as a polished college essay or published article.

There are many examples and helpful articles on writing a convincing statement of purpose for graduate school applications.³ While schools use subtly different prompts, they’re all asking for the same information: What do you want to study at graduate school, and why do you think this area is important to the US government, national security, etc.? Why are you interested in this program in particular? What experience do you have in your field? And what do you plan to do with your degree after graduating?⁴ 

Given the similarity in prompts, you can usually submit similar statements of purpose to each school, but you should tweak each statement to each specific program (e.g. highlighting particular program features, courses, faculty, and other strengths). To learn more about the unique strengths of particular programs, speak with current students and carefully browse the school/program websites.

Many schools require one or more additional (short) application essays beyond the statement of purpose, but the details vary greatly by school and program. Most commonly, schools ask for a “diversity statement” asking candidates to describe how their demographics and other factors shaped them (see diversity essay advice articles). Schools sometimes also ask for short essays about the candidate’s interest in public service, their graduate school expectations, or a substantive analytic question. 

We generally recommend writing an essay even if the school says it’s optional. These essays allow you to say something about yourself the panel cannot immediately glean from your resume. Through your essays, you can demonstrate your skills and interests as well as your professional and academic experiences and thus stand out compared to other candidates who didn’t write an essay (see footnote for essay requirements of several example schools⁵).

Draft your statement of purpose and all your application essays early, and then revise them multiple times based on extensive feedback, ideally from knowledgeable professionals. And make sure to exactly follow each school’s formatting guidance for the essay, such as the page number, font, spacing, whether to include your name, etc.

Letters of recommendation 

Virtually all policy schools require two or three letters of recommendation, but they vary in their specific prompts and who they accept as recommenders (see footnote for requirements of several example schools⁶). Many schools specify that they expect at least one recommendation letter from an academic—most commonly, a college professor—and one from a professional contact, such as an employer. 

As a courtesy to your recommenders, and to ensure they have time to write you the strongest letter possible, you should ask for the letter at least six to eight weeks before the application deadline (and earlier is generally better).

If you’re still in college and want to prepare for future graduate school applications, prioritize developing relationships with professors now.⁷ Be specific with yourself about who these professors will be since you won’t have time to develop these relationships with every professor. Prioritize relationships with professors who you think will take the time to get to know you well and invest in your development (over “big name” professors with more stature or public acclaim); these relationships will typically pay dividends and are more likely to result in recommendation letters you will not have to write yourself. Strong grades and participation in a professor’s class, attending office hours, asking for career advice, or working as a research or teaching assistant can all be good ways to nurture these relationships.

Even if you don’t intend to apply right away, you can ask college professors or colleagues to write a letter while their impressions of you are fresh in their memory, then they can keep the letter on file (and share it with you, if they’re willing to).⁸ Since most applications require the recommender to submit their letter directly to the university, they’ll have to eventually email/upload the letter themselves when you apply (most applicants thus never get to see their recommendations). Ideally, you’ll want the professor to customize the letter to the particular program you’re applying to. Your exact interests may also change between college and graduate school, so you don’t want them writing a law school-specific recommendation if you actually end up applying for an MPP (or vice-versa).

Some recommenders may ask you to draft the recommendation letter yourself or to share points you would like to be highlighted. While this can be awkward, it is relatively common. If this happens to you, take the opportunity to ensure that your draft letters highlight different strengths than your personal statement and focus on specific details of your work that your recommenders have observed (see also the many articles with helpful advice).

Quantitative application components

In addition to your undergraduate GPA, many policy schools ask you to submit the results from a standardized admissions test like the GRE or GMAT. Our policy master’s database includes information on which policy degrees require the GRE/GMAT and, when available, the average GPA and GRE/GMAT scores of successful applicants. 

GPA

The undergraduate GPA plays an important role in admissions decisions but you don’t need to have been a “straight-A student” to get into the top programs. As the below numbers suggest, you may be able to get into a top program with a GPA of 3.5 or below.

The GPAs for admitted students in several example policy degrees—most schools don’t report this information—are as follows: Georgetown’s MA Security Studies (3.65 GPA mean), Yale’s MPP (3.7 GPA median), Johns Hopkins SAIS’ MAIR (3.45-3.81 GPA middle 50% range), and George Washington University’s Elliott School (3.58 GPA mean). Even in Princeton’s highly competitive, fully funded MPA, 20% of successful applicants have a GPA between 3.4–3.6 and 6% have a GPA below 3.4.

The GradCafe Stats Generator aggregates and plots 1,000+ self-reported GPA and GRE scores of successful policy master’s applicants.⁹ This tool confirms that among each policy school’s admitted students, there is a wide spread of GPAs, typically ranging from 3.4–4.0 for the top schools, and down to 3.0 for the less selective schools.

If you’re applying straight out of college, you might need a somewhat higher GPA, but if you already have several years of professional experience, you might be admitted with a lower GPA. 

If you are in college, you may want to optimize to some extent for a higher GPA, such as by taking fewer classes so that you have more time to invest in each class (and in valuable extracurriculars). Another strategy is to choose classes in which high grades are more likely.

But it is usually not worth avoiding entire subjects that would otherwise help you achieve a positive impact in your career simply to try to maximize your GPA. While, say, STEM classes often have less generous curves, you may gain valuable knowledge by taking those classes that would be difficult to gather outside the college context. STEM knowledge might be particularly helpful if you’re pursuing a technology policy career, such as one aimed at AI governance or biosecurity. As a simple heuristic: If you were excited to take a class before you started thinking about graduate school admissions, and you think the class will help you have a positive impact later in your career, take the class.

Undergraduate GPAs generally matter a lot less for mid-career programs. For example, Princeton’s mid-career MPP accepts 39% of applicants with a GPA below 3.4 and another 32% with a GPA between 3.4-3.6.

Standardized tests (GRE, GMAT)

Many (but far from all) policy schools require, or at least prefer, a standardized admissions test, most commonly the GRE and sometimes the GMAT (see here for their key differences). The GRE can also be used to apply to increasingly many law schools instead of the LSAT (see footnote for further considerations¹⁰).

This table shows the standardized testing requirements in several example policy degrees (average scores in footnotes where available):

University	Degree Title	GRE	GMAT
Georgetown University	MA Security Studies	Optional11	Not accepted
Johns Hopkins SAIS	MA International Relations	Optional12	Optional13
Harvard Kennedy School	Master in Public Policy	Required*	Required*
Stanford University	MA International Policy	Required*	Required*
Princeton University	Master in Public Affairs	Required	Not accepted
Yale University	MPP in Global Affairs	Required	Not accepted
George Washington University	MA Security Policy Studies	Optional	Optional
American University	Master of Public Administration	Optional	Not accepted
* Either the GRE or the GMAT is required. No school requires both tests.

Should you take the GRE or GMAT even if it’s optional? It depends on your overall profile. An otherwise excellent applicant gains nothing from submitting mediocre GRE scores, but a less competitive applicant might boost their chances if they voluntarily submit high GRE scores. Still, we generally recommend taking the test since this can meaningfully strengthen your application if you get a good score, making it more likely that you gain admission and receive generous financial aid. Of course, you should weigh these benefits against the substantial effort involved in preparing for and (re-)taking the test.¹⁴ 

Very few schools publish information on the GRE scores of their admitted applicants. Fortunately, the GradCafe Stats Generator can partly fill the gap. The tool doesn’t include sufficient data points for a robust analysis of most of our recommended schools (n<10), but it does for the more popular DC schools (median scores reported below; analysis details in footnote¹⁵):

• Georgetown University (n=23):
  • GRE quant: 160 (158-166 middle 50%)
  • GRE verbal: 162 (158-167 middle 50%)
• Johns Hopkins University (n=27):
  • GRE quant: 158 (152-164 middle 50%)
  • GRE verbal: 161 (160-168 middle 50%)
• George Washington University (n=55):
  • GRE quant: 157 (154-161 middle 50%)
  • GRE verbal: 162 (158-166 middle 50%)
• American University (n=42):
  • GRE quant: 155 (151-158 middle 50%)
  • GRE verbal: 160 (156-163 middle 50%)

GRE preparation and timing: Some people we have advised have highlighted these resources (one, two, three, and four) as helpful resources to prepare for the GRE, and you can google around for additional resources. GRE scores are valid for 5 years. So, if you aren’t sure whether to apply to graduate school right away or work for a few years first, it could still be worth taking the GRE in your junior/senior year of college (when the opportunity cost of your time is lower).

Retaking the GRE: If you are unsatisfied with your initial test score, you can retake the GRE once every 21 days and up to five times in a 12-month period. Retaking the test can be an effective way to achieve a higher score, due to the experience you gain and variation in performance. Schools vary in how they assess test scores if you’ve taken the test multiple times; while many schools say they only consider your top score—though you may have to mention how often you took the test—Harvard Kennedy School’s admissions committee will “look at all your scores.”

GRE timeline: Because it takes about two weeks from the date of the test to receive a GRE score, plan to take the test at least one month before you intend to apply. If you plan to retake the test (or want to keep the option open if you are not happy with your score), plan to take the test at least two months before you intend to apply. Be sure to check the GRE website to confirm test registration deadlines, which are often six weeks in advance of the test date.

English proficiency exams for international students

Most policy graduate schools require international students who aren’t native English speakers to demonstrate proficiency by taking the IELTS or TOEFL tests, unless they’ve completed an undergraduate degree in English. 

Footnotes