socal_kid

I like my cohort a lot. To be completely honest, I am probably one of the laziest people here. I'm very laid back and soaking in the whole being in school experience again after working for 5 years. So yes there are plenty of motivated, smart people and if you're one of them you will fit right in. And yes definitely people hang out outside of class. Berkeley's a cool town, and the great part about it is it's so close to SF or Oakland so if you get bored here you can always venture out. It seems like a general trend in grad school though that there's always going to be a portion of the class that already has their own lives (i.e. spouses, babies, etc.) that won't really be seen outside of class. But there are still plenty of social events and such. GSPP is probably one of the smaller policy programs (they usually let in about 80 people or so a year) so that's either a good thing or bad thing depending on how you look at it. I would say it is pretty diverse. This year, they let in way more international students than before so we've got a good mix of kids. Also you'll find people from very different backgrounds in terms of professional experience. So I'm actually a GSR (researcher) for the school of education. It's been great so far. The hours are really flexible and I'm really enjoying the work I'm doing. I have a lot of classmates who are GSI'ing, and it does seem more stressful than a reader or researcher, so I would advise if you GSI to try your best to pick a class that you either know really well or are really interested in. If you attend the applicant orientations you can ask more to people there; we're pretty honest about it I'd say. I would also guess that unless you find a 25% GSI (this will make more sense when you start researching), the best route to go in terms of benefits and stress balance is to find a researcher or reader position that will offer the fee remission. Feel free to PM me more on this. As far as namedropping professors: I did it on my app and I never even contacted them so the fact that you've actually reached out is great. I would definitely drop those names.

Yes education policy is a big interest. There are a good number of folks that are into education policy and have backgrounds working as teachers or in some capacity in the education system. I don't have the exact numbers but know it feels substantial. Your second question regarding skills over specialization is definitely the vibe I get from the school and the reason I came here. There is a project in the first year and second year where you perform policy analysis for an actual company/organization of your choosing. These projects stress the quantitative and analytical skills you'll learn in class, or at least that's the idea (I'm still a first year so I haven't done the project yet). That being said, you can take all your electives in a particular policy interest if you want and sort of build an unofficial focus that way. You can take electives in basically any school of your choosing so there's flexibility.

Your scores are actually better than mine - I took the old formatted test but I think my new score is something like 160Q and 164V and 4 AWA. I would say a re-take probably isn't necessary just based off the fact I got in with lower scores than you. I suppose for financial aid status, it wouldn't hurt to try again, but I'm not 100% sure how much difference will be made if you improve a few points. It never hurts I suppose, but again remember you can hold a position as a GSI if you get in which will greatly subsidize your cost. There are a few Indian students in my program this year so if you get in, be sure to reach out as I'm not great on the whole international student perspective being a California resident.

It's not the norm but I have met I think 2 or 3 students who only worked for a very brief period and got in. I would say that in order for you to get into schools with only such limited work experience you'll need a high GPA, very good test scores, and also a really good story of why you're going to the school. If you're able to communicate a unique story, your chances will go up. I would also add that I found my years working after college to be really valuable. I worked for 5 years, and now that I'm back at school, I appreciate it way more and especially with something like a policy degree, you're still dependent on networking skills to a degree so having more professional experience is always good. I'm not trying to discourage you at all, because you very well may know exactly what you want to do in policy school. Just adding in my 2 cents.

One of the main shortcomings of GSPP is that its international policy is good but not great. However that's a huge point of focus for them right now. My class this year has, I believe, around 15 international students out of 80 which comes with a lot of interest in multilateral orgs. That being said, there are still a substantial number of GSPP alum at those organizations. If you go to GSPP, you'll have access to all those contacts by agency and you can feel free to email them if you want. I just did a brief search for World Bank and found something like 15 alum currently working there. Also, the school does a yearly Washington DC trip where you can go and meet alum at different organizations out there.

Congrats on the tuition payment. Princeton's a very wealthy school like Harvard. They probably have a huge endowment. They apparently are also very generous to their undergrads as well. I think the fact the school invests in their students makes a lot of them much more likely to contribute back to the school when they become successful.

They are available, but obviously not too common. They are given, logically, to those with really high GPA's and test scores. If I had to guess there probably aren't more than a handful given out at most of these programs just because they are so pricey and these schools obviously make a lot of money of their students. So not impossible, but don't go in thinking you're going to get a full ride unless you have close to a 4.0 GPA and high GRE's. Edit: For those who like me were concerned about financing, definitely look into Princeton Woodrow Wilson. They give almost all their students free tuition, a stipend for living, or both.

Hey all, I am currently attending GSPP and would be more than happy to answer questions specific to the school or application process. As some background, I went to a UC for my undergrad where I studied Econ. I had 5 years of work experience mostly in private sector, and my top two choices were Berkeley and Johns Hopkins SAIS. I received a half scholarship to Hopkins, but Berkeley's proximity to home, weather, and very affordable costs swayed me at the end of the day (If you TA/research at Berkeley, you get a good portion of your tuition paid for). Any details you want to know about, just ask or PM me. I won't give you any BS.

Just wondering if anyone had heard of folks finishing their MPP/MPA and then going on to get a PhD in econ? Obviously econ PhD programs require much more math, but I'm just curious if it's possible given the math taken during the MPP programs.

You won't be at a disadvantage. Having policy experience I'm sure would help your chances of getting in, but it doesn't hurt you that you don't have it. I myself worked in consulting and at a private energy company doing no policy work and got into a pretty decent program. They are more interested in why you want to go to school and how your skills as an accountant will translate to that career path. It also helps if you ace your GRE's and have a good gpa.

Does anyone have the info on Goldman's graduating class salaries? Their site only seems to list sectors and that sort of breakdown but no salary info.

The max fellowship offered by UCLA this year did not cover tuition fully the first year. It is ~$18k, with tuition expected to increase to around ~$24k this year according to the program leads. Alternatively, there is no stipend and it seems as though the opportunities to land tuition remission positions are entirely up to the student's initiative and qualifications.

Hi all, I'm interested in possibly applying to WWS next year, but I've had a hard time finding any sort of class profile/ admission stats for WWS so I don't know where I stand compared to other WWS candidates. Does anyone know where I can find this info? I was recently accepted into SAIS with a half scholarship, but I just learned that WWS gives much more generous funding so I'm thinking of holding off for a year and seeing if I can get into WWS. Edit: Quick stats on my part: 3.77 GPA, 160Q and 164V, 5 years work experience utilities industry

Oh ok sorry. Didn't mean to offend. But I'll be there too! My name's Pat so if you meet someone by that name say hello.

Revolution is the best troll. Can't wait to meet you in person. I'm being serious.

State School, I appreciate the advice you've given so far. I was wondering, in the event I get in off the waitlist, how difficult it is to pay for Goldman's costs given no funding? My friend TA'd at another school and got his tuition paid for, but I'm not sure what kind of arrangements are available at Goldman or how difficult it is to get a TA position or something similar.

Ah ok. Guess they are not the type to reach out unless you are in.

Just out of curiosity to those also on the waitlist: did you get an email confirmation when you emailed the lady (I think her name was Apryl) accepting a spot on the waitlist? I emailed her to confirm my spot and did not hear anything back.

Hey all, I thought I'd give this a shot since I figure there might be other people in the same boat as me. I was wondering what significant differences there are in the curriculum of MPP programs versus IR programs. I mean obviously the overarching themes of both programs are different, with a much greater focus on international policy and diplomacy in IR. But from what I can gather after researching both programs, it seems both stress a quant focus with classes in econ and stats. Basically I am having a hard time figuring out what hard skills in terms of quantitative analysis I would be getting by choosing one over the other.

Would be useful to get a recent grad's opinion on this or someone who has been through these decisions and what their outcomes were.

Well to be fair, he's not wrong. As great of a program as it is, $120k is a huge amount of money to pay when the average graduate makes on average $63k. No one's saying it's not a great program, just a very expensive one.

Does anyone know why we need to fill out the FAFSA for financial aid info? I'm just curious because for other programs I applied to they were able to notify us of our scholarship/fellowship awards without having filled out a FAFSA yet.

Congrats! I will be attending the event. Have they released details on it?

Do you happen to know what kinds of jobs and what level of pay most grad students in MPP programs get?

Congrats to all hopefully I'll be seeing some of you at the welcome event.