MPAallday

Possibly! I think I might call or email them. I applied in January but one of my recommenders waited until late February to submit his LOR -- which probably means my application was processed close to the priority deadline. Awesome! Yea, like I said before, my application was processed rather late, which probably explains the late response.

Have you considered calling these schools?

I concur with this advice.

So I think (just by reading this thread) that IU has already sent out some acceptances. Has anyone else, besides myself, not heard back from SPEA yet? I'm getting nervous, since Experience Day is right around the corner.

I still have yet to decide that -- mostly because I've only heard two final decisions thus far (a rejection from Maryland and an acceptance from A&M). The rest of my schools either wait listed me or haven't decided yet. The significant amount of funding from the Bush School also helps. Did you get an award?

Awesome, TokyoJCB! Where else did you apply?

SPEA is a great school -- one of the best. Most of the people who look down at IU are insulted that any school that isn't an ivy (or public ivy) is ranked as high as SPEA is.

Ah I see! Congrats! So you're set on A&M? How much did you get?

Some people seem concerned that schools will force them to pay a semester's worth of tuition -- although this doesn't seem really plausible. If it's only a deposit fee then that's understandable it wouldn't be refunded. Yeah, I mean c'est la vie. What schools are you deciding between?

Considering that schools often change their mind about (revoke) admissions offers all the time, I would imagine we would be well within our rights to change our mind before the deadline.

So I've started to receive some final decisions from schools, but I'm still on the wait list for two of my top choices. Most schools have a deadline of April 15th (or around there) for applicants to either accept or reject their offers. The problem is, I'd really like to see if I get off the wait list for the two top programs I'm in line for... but I don't want to forgo an admissions opportunity and then be left with nothing (if neither of the wait lists pull through). I know there's a forum on Grad Cafe specifically for this, but I'm interested in hearing other public affairs students' responses. I'm sure many of you all are in a similar predicament. Are you going to wait it out and see if you get into that top-tier program, or play it safe and accept an offer from a lower-ranked school?

I asked a friend of mine who used to work in admissions and he said that (where he worked) funding that is freed up from applicants who declined their offers typically went to students who were either (1) accepted from the wait list or (2) had no funding in the first place. Of course this is just anecdotal evidence.

Just got in! $4,000 in funding. For those of you that got in -- what kind of funding offers did you get? The school claims to try to offer at least $1,000 to every student.

LOL I laughed way too much at that. I'm sorry man! Keep your head up -- a lot of MFA programs (especially the ones you're applying to) are tough to get into. I just got my first rejection a couple of days ago from a school I considered a safety. Merp. :/

Definitely. It's important to know your program. If they gave specific instructions that discouraged contacting them at all, it's obvious you should take heed to that. But some programs are less strict, and for those I'd recommend considering some of the article's advice.

I was rejected! I thought it was kinda weird because UT Austin and Virginia waitlisted me, so I was at least expecting that from Maryland. Congrats tho! I've heard great things about their program and proximity to the capital!

Hey guys! Just wanted to give y'all some advice: be proactive on the waitlist! Consider sending letters of support and regularly contacting your POC (assuming you aren't pestering them). Requesting interviews might also be a good idea (it couldn't really hurt). I've been waitlisted at two schools so far: UT Austin and Virginia. This is a good article on the subject for all those who are interested: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/graduate-school-road-map/2013/02/22/how-to-handle-being-wait-listed-for-graduate-school

Is anyone else applying to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's online MPA program? I recently submitted my application for their August cohort. It seems like an interesting format from a prestigious school.

Unfortunately no one can tell you with any degree of strong certainty (unless they work in admissions) what the likelihood of this is. If you want an idea as to what the likelihood might be, check these forums (and the results) to see how many people are accepting or rejecting their offers from UMD. If there are a lot of people rejecting their offers, it might indicate that there is a high turnover on the funding wait list.

Thanks for the update albuhhh (it's so weird referring to each other by usernames)! Which offer are you thinking of accepting?

Thanks! Keep me (us) posted! It's a great school, but not for everyone so I can understand if you eventually decide on another.

I applied with a 3.12 (last 60 was a 3.73) and 159/156/4.5. I've worked throughout my undergraduate career in both relevant and non-relevant positions, but nothing post-grad since I graduate in May. So, considering my mediocre stats, I'm happy to be where I am! Hopefully the admissions committee saw some sort of potential. Thanks! Now I'm just waiting for the final letters from the rest of my applications (I'm sure just like you).

I just heard I was offered a spot on the wait list today. Not bad considering it's one of my top picks! Congrats to all those who received funding and offers!

Ah great! That definitely clears it up a bit.

That's good to hear! So I guess this is a lie then: