Nocho

My opinion is that $10,000 is not a small amount of money, but it might not be worth saving that money for a school that you truly believe is a better fit. This really sounds like a difficult personal choice to make, but I don't think you can go wrong either way. I wish I could be of more help! Don't count on having the FLAS for a second year (not that you are).

I'll be at the second Admitted Students Day. Hoping to find more information about assistantships and funding the program. After running through some (worst case scenario) numbers, I realized Evans is going to be a little bit pricier than I was expecting. It's mostly the cost of living that's killer. I forgot to mention there is a Facebook page for housing. It's a UW-wide page, not just Evans. The link is here, and it looks like it's updated very often with postings. I don't think you're going to have any trouble finding anything. $700 should be fine for those areas. I pay $750, which is definitely reasonable for where I live. The Green Lake and Wallingford areas are great. I haven't spent much time in Ravenna, but it looks like you know what you're looking for, so you'll be fine.

First of all, congratulations on your acceptances! I'll be heading to UW myself for the MPA program. This is definitely a preference choice for you. I would sit down and try to come up with a detailed outline of how much each program is going to cost you (including cost of living, loans, etc.), then determine whether the cost is worth what opportunities you will have upon graduating. I live in Seattle and plan on remaining here after graduation, so having a network here is extremely important to me. The one thing that confused me was: The cost of living for me in Seattle is a little over 20k per year here and continually rising. Can it really be that much lower than Berkeley? Do some research into apartments in Seattle and double check the numbers work out the way you think they do. In any case, Seattle is amazing and you'll definitely be happy here if that's what you ultimately choose!

We've spoken, so you already know I'll be there, too! Are you planning on going to the Admitted Student's Day? I think the experience of finding an apartment here varies for people. Have you done any research into the neighborhoods? I looked at somewhere between 12-15 over the span of three days when I moved here and liked 2 of them enough to move in. However, during my search, on several occasions someone put down a payment or signed a lease before I was able to commit to anything. Luckily, this only happened at apartments I didn't really want, but when I found my current one, I signed for it within one hour of seeing it. I get the feeling this happens a fair amount here. If you find an apartment you like, you kind of just have to jump at it. Depending on your price range and location, this could happen in a day or, if you are extremely picky, up to a month. My advice would to plan on spending at least a few days looking at places before you settle on one. Though, it sounds like you are going to put a down payment on one without visiting it? If that's the case, do your research online (Craigslist seems best) and find something that looks trustworthy. I wouldn't do it that way, but if you don't have a place to stay here before finding an apartment, I could see how you might have no other choice.

I found so many earlier posts helpful––happy to return the favor! Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Liberal arts college with good reputation on west coast. Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A. with dual degree in English and Hispanic Studies. Total GPA was above 3.4 but my highest major GPA was 3.75. My transcript has a very obvious upwards trend, which I think was helpful. GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 159V/155Q/4.5AW. Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): Two years of Peace Corps and two years with a private international education organization. I was promoted early with my current employer. Recommenders: 1 professor, 1 from my boss, and 1 from a Peace Corps supervisor. Math/Econ Background: None. I thought this might be somewhat of an issue, but I have since discovered there are other students like me at Evans. Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Spanish (professional proficiency), Mandarin (professional proficiency) and Portuguese (elementary level). I have traveled a lot and lived in 4 different countries (for anywhere from 6 months to 2 years in each of those countries). Intended Field of Study in Grad School: International Development or Nonprofit Management. Long Term Professional Goals: See below, but I am open to working in both the public and private sector, preferably in an international development position that will allow me to use my foreign language skills. Having said that, I am keeping an open mind and will consider a variety of career paths. Schools Applied to & Results: University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs ($10,000 and in-state tuition). Ultimate Decision & Why: I applied to Evans because their MPA Program has a wide range of specializations from which to choose. I believe their program will allow me network with nonprofits and foundations located in Seattle, which is where I plan to stay. Since I want to remain in Seattle, obviously having a network there is a big positive. The cost, though not cheap by any means (but significantly cheaper than out-of-state tuition), seems worth the skills I will gain and opportunities I will be provided. The program, well-known for Nonprofit Management, will help me develop skills that I wouldn't have the chance to gain without the degree. I feel I am not progressing in my career and heading in the direction I want. Ideally, it would be amazing to land a position with an employer like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but I am flexible in the kind of work I want to do in the future. Advice for Future Applicants: Few people on this forum seem to do it (as Filmore22 above me even indicates in his/her advice section––I suggest reading it if you haven't already), but there is something to be said for only applying to one school. I was able to focus all of my energy on a single application, and I think that showed when it came time for the school to make a decision. The ability to give individual attention to the program meant that I was able to speak one-on-one with the Director of Admissions, carry on exchanges with current and past students, visit the Open House and research professors in the program. I made all of this known in my Statement of Purpose. They knew I had done my research, and when I visited the school they made it clear that a significant portion of applicants simply turn in vague and generic essays that are not tailored to the school. My recommenders also were able to tailor their letters; since they knew they were only writing to one school, they supported my admission using relevant information to the school. Also, by submitting my application in mid-December, I was able to hear back in mid-January. I would recommend getting your application in 3-4 weeks before the January 15 deadline (though they may be doing away with early decision submissions). While everyone else has been worried about hearing back from schools, I have known for nearly 3 months. In regards to getting funding, I don't know what advice to give for Evans. They clearly use a holistic decision process for admissions. Unfortunately, they don't seem to give out a whole lot of funding. I thinking attending as an in-state student makes it a bit harder to get a scholarship there. When you look at the profiles for applicants on this site, there are many applicants who get generous funding from a wide range of schools, whereas they are accepted into Evans with no funding at all. I think that speaks to how much money they have available, and so I feel grateful for what I have been offered. The downside to applying to one school is you cannot leverage one offer for another. I don't think this would have been useful for Evans, but I have heard it is for other schools. In short, tailor you entire application to your schools! Do your research. Leave yourself enough time to prepare well for the GRE. Submit early. Stand out.

Yeah, I'm aware of that, and I realize the second year will be even tougher financially. I'm fully employed now and, as much as I dislike my job, I could probably keep working here part-time if I want. I'd rather spend my time networking, joining student clubs and taking on internships, though. I have a feeling it's going to be tough to find the right balance.

I am very hesitant to head into a program under the assumption that I will use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. At this point, I don't want to rule out finding a great job in the private sector. Honestly, I'm surprised so many of you feel confident enough you will find and keep a public service position for 10 years after graduating that you will take out over $75,000 in loans. I just don't feel comfortable restricting my prospects like that. Nor do I want to do Income-Based Repayment and let the interest kill me from the very beginning. I am going into this with the attitude that after graduation I will land a private sector job and aggressively begin paying off my loans. Yesterday I went through the math to determine how much grad school is going to cost me for the first year only. In-state tuition minus a small scholarship is going to cost me $17,000. That's not so bad, but I need $21,000 to cover 12 months of living expenses. At the moment I have $10,000 saved up. If I take out the maximum in federal loans ($20,500, not counting the PLUS loans because the interest is higher and I want to avoid that) and continue to pay my undergrad loans, then after a full 12 months I will be at -$10,500. The math looks like this: $10,000 (Savings) +20,500 (Federal Loan) - 17,000 (Tuition) - 3,000 (Minimum Undergraduate Loan Payments for 12 Months) - 21,000 (Cost of Living for 12 Months) - 10,500 This means I will have to find a part-time job or paid internship to support me while in school, hold out hope for an assistantship (which I don't get the feeling is offered to many first-year students), or, the choice I really would like to avoid, take out additional loans. I have been aggressively paying off undergraduate loans, but volunteering for 2 years has really cost me financially (so far). It's scary taking out so much money and digging a deeper hole of debt, but I feel like the network opportunities in the city I want to remain will make my decision worthwhile. At this point, I'm not doing what I love, and I want to take my career in a new direction. Without going back to school and gaining new skills, I'm not sure I would be able to achieve my goals for a long time. For anyone trying to figure everything out, this is a good calculator to figure out what your interest will be each month. If you take out $50,000 in loans at 6.2% (the federal interest rate), your interest payment (not counting principal, of course) will be $254.63, which means in a year you will pay over $3,000 in interest alone. Though not great, that's doable, and I hate the idea of going higher than that. In the end, I agree with what DCB said above: Not only is this forum cost and risk averse (not necessarily a bad thing, of course, as this certainly applies to me), but I think those roaming these boards are probably getting better funding offers than your average applicant. In my opinion, it makes it a little tougher to decide if the debt is worth the investment when you're looking around and people have been offered $40,000 a year or a full-ride plus a generous stipend. I don't think those are even close to indicative of what the majority of the schools offer. It's really a shame MPA and MPP programs aren't better funded.

It's pretty early to look for housing now. I suppose it depends on where you want to live and what kind of apartment you're looking to find. Last year when I was looking for apartments, you basically had to pay a down payment the moment you found something you wanted because if you didn't, someone else would. It wouldn't be a bad idea to familiarize yourself with the neighborhoods now and even check out some places if you don't live too far away. In any case, it's unlikely that you'll find something for the beginning of October in March.

The fact that you made a list of relevant coursework shows that you thought critically about your resume to customize it for the school. I have nothing against that. You would probably be surprised by how many people don't do anything close to that. I, personally, would still not put coursework on my resume, but there is nothing wrong with the way you did this. Even though it may seem trivial, this is still a question that applicants can ask the school. Some schools may prefer it, and some may not.

Since there are people who seem to disagree on the length of the resume, I just want to share my experience. My current job consists of looking through hundreds of resumes. If you don't have around 10 years of work experience/education, generally keeping it to one page is best when applying to a job. (This is certainly not true for all sectors.) Grad school is a little different, at least for some schools. When I had an informational interview with the Director of Admissions from the school I'll be attending this year, the final question I asked was, "Is there any key information regarding my application that you think I should know? In other words, what advice would you give me that I might not have thought to ask at this point?" The response: "Many prospective students make their resume one page for these applications, when clearly they have additional information they could share. Do not restrict yourself to one page if you feel you have any additional relevant information." Even when I didn't bring the topic up, they made a point that the school prefers a longer resume. Keep it succinct, clear, organized and professional, but don't worry so much about keeping it to a single page (unless you have little or nothing to add). As others have said, this isn't an application for a job, and so the standards for length that typically apply to resumes are different. 5 pages seems a little excessive to me. As a recruiter, it demonstrates to me that you are not able to be concise, so keep that in mind if you want to include everything you have ever accomplished over the span of so many pages. I would like to add that I personally do not think listing coursework belongs on your resume when applying to grad school. They have this information in your transcript. As someone said above, customize your resume for your grad school applications. (Really, customize your resume for everything to which you apply.) Restating information is wasting space, which is precious in job/school applications. Most importantly, when in doubt, just ask the school for their preferences.

Yikes, two waitlists? That's so frustrating, but at least you have a better shot than I do now! I haven't written anyone to ask about the waitlists, but I'm a little curious about that, too.

Heard back from the Global Studies Center at UW and was not selected. Anyone who is still waiting, you should probably hear back soon. Good luck!

Same here, of course! Hopefully everyone just all of a sudden decides further education isn't for them haha. I assume it's rare to get a FLAS offer and then denied admission, so I'm sure you are fine. I was lucky enough to get admitted last month, so I'm just sort of sitting around while everyone is anxiously waiting. Or, at least, I was until becoming an alternate. Not to get your hopes up, but I came across this when I was looking up information about alternates: Let's hope UW is the same!

Well, I guess you're my competition, blooscorn! I applied for the Global Center as well, so hopefully it doesn't take much longer to hear back from them. I assume anyone applying for an Asian language that overlaps in the two centers applied to both. Are you a first-year student or are you already attending UW? Unfortunately, I don't think anyone can tell you what our chances are of receiving the fellowship as an alternate. It seems to me there are only two possibilities in which we get off the alternate list: the recipient 1) is denied admission at UW () or 2) decides to attend another program that presumably is more prestigious or offered better funding. In any case, I don't think the chances of getting off the wait list are that high, but I'm sure there is hope. Either one of the two possibilities above will occur, or not. I'm sure there is a ordered list of alternates, as well, so we have no idea about our place on that. The waiting game continues...

I applied for Chinese at the University of Washington and was just notified that I am a FLAS alternate. I have no idea what my chances are of getting the offer, but I'm at least happy to get this far! The wording is a little vague regarding when I might find out if I am accepted off of the alternate list. Fingers crossed