N/A 12

I'm going to echo some of the rock's comments.

If you've taken the basic calculus and certainly stats courses required of a polisci program, I think you can make it into MIT. I think Princeton has a higher math bar to clear- similar to some MFE programs.

The typical engineering math sequence at most schools is Calculus I-III (multivariable), Calculus- based statistics, linear algebra, and differential equations (sometimes Calc IV). If you've covered that and a few classes that use calculus on a regular basis, you're a good candidate for Princeton and nearly any MFE program.

TBH, we don't get a lot of African-American applicants in MFE programs. Grad school admissions are fairly meritocratic from my experience. Princeton's grad school more generally has a lot of African-American admits and there's very little difference between them and the white students- they had to clear the same bar we did AFAIK, and are a lot of African-Americans who can clear it very well. I do think your US birth, US passport, and possibly socioeconomic background helps ceteris paribus but I have no idea about your race other than to say it clearly doesn't hurt.

I honestly am going to keep plugging the MPP program. I'm a fan of pragmatism, but I don't like it when people give up on their passions and dreams if those dreams aren't leading them to a dead end. If you care about the country and the government as much as I think it takes to spend three years studying poli sci, a free master's degree from Princeton (vs one that costs $130K) would sound pretty darned appealing to me. Working for the federal government isn't exactly like becoming a Greenpeace activist or a starving artist- it pays a nice, middle class wage and gives you the freedom to pursue your passions and protect the public. It even forgives your undergraduate debt (if any). And if your dream is to one day be a politician at the federal level, I think the MPP program at a school like Princeton can turn that from a dream into a reasonable possibility.

As I mentioned in the other thread, feel free to PM me.