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Current student, attended a fair share of these last year. The answer is neither. I actually enjoy getting dressed up, but in this case, a suit or blazer would be totally unnecessary. A button down and chinos would be more than enough if you want to look nice, but even that isn't required.

Those who received the Dean's merit half/full scholarship last year were notified unexpectedly early last year. We received packages in the mail out of the blue in early February. I'd say that due to the lack of activity on the forum that this was the exception rather than the rule, though.

To be honest, I didn't actually spend that much time looking at Luskin, so I don't have a great feel for them. They didn't offer me any funding, and ironically ended up being one of the more expensive options I was looking at, even as an in-state resident. I actually received a full scholarship from USC, so that ended up being a much more attractive offer, especially since I got the impression that they were tapped into the same resources and were fairly comparable academically. USC seemed to do a better job at establishing itself as a brand as well. I am quite satisfied with Heinz overall - I think my complaints are mostly complaints about policy curriculums overall. They do work us to death, though. I'd be willing to talk more about Heinz on the thread that's gotten bumped in the forum so that we don't hijack this one.

Wouldn't want to make assumptions or burst your bubble, but I encountered the same thing last year, and was told that financial assistance in terms of scholarships and fellowships were decided on already at the time we received our admissions, and that we would have been notified separately already at that point. They also said they didn't have a ton of cash to distribute.

Apoorv, this is the wrong thread for that. I believe there's a "what are my chances" thread. In regards to the OP, a couple of observations from my own experience applying last fall: -CMU Heinz gives a ton of $$$ to its PP students. I have not met a single person who isn't getting something, and it's usually a significant amount (half or more). I have a theory that Heinz is able to do this because the public policy program is housed in the same school as the Information Systems program, which brings in a huge number of students (double or triple public policy). I haven't specifically talked to the IS students about their aid situation, but I'm guessing that a lot of them are paying sticker price and essentially subsidizing the PPMs. Pure speculation, though. Also, if you have Americorps affiliation, Heinz gives a ton of aid for that as well. Pittsburgh is a great city and has super cheap rent - definitely not something to overlook. -USC is also quite generous with the cash. They had a visitation day just for students with half or full scholarships, and they filled up a ballroom with all of us. There were at least 50 or 60 public policy students alone, and if I remember correctly, they only matriculate 40 or 50 students a year for PP. -On the flipside, I found the New York schools to be much tighter with cash. I didn't end up applying to Columbia because of their reputation as a cash cow. I ended up having to turn down NYU, one of my top choices, because of their financial aid package compared to others. As far as I can tell, all of their big scholarships are named or categorized so that only one student gets a scholarship for that category every year. I was lucky enough to receive one, but even then, it only covered half tuition, and bundled with cost of living in NY, it still would have been 3-4x the cost of attending another institution. I also discovered how shockingly low minimum wage is in NY, so RA positions don't really help here. -In general, I found private schools to be more generous with money and more willing to negotiate, although I know that some public schools have tuition assistance and remission programs if you TA or RA, which isn't always advertised. I ended up getting substantial scholarship assistance from schools I was completely not expecting anything from, and exactly $0 from public schools.

^This. I had no idea that 90% of the jobs my friends hold right now even existed. I've pivoted myself several times since graduation. I think your worldview and goals in life can dramatically shift in the first couple years after college, and even if they don't, progression in your career will help you hone in on what exactly you want to get out of grad school, instead of just paying for another fancy piece of paper and letters after your name.

I don't at all think that it will hurt you in admissions. Most schools, especially the elite programs, are looking to fill a diverse class where the students can learn from each other, and my guess is having work experience that differs from the rest of the applicants can only help you. I think the main reason it seems that MPP/MPA students are overwhelmingly left leaning is self-selection. I have plenty of right leaning friends who work in politics/government, but for whatever reason, very few of them apply to MPP/MPA programs and instead tend to lean towards law school. Anecdotally small sample size, so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm going to CMU - good program fit and money. Would have loved (and would still love) to go to GSPP, though. I'm a Cal alum and have lived in the Bay Area for 8 years now. It's going to be tough to leave. I was at the Harris admit weekend. Were you?

notmike, I suspected as much, as I haven't heard anyone being accepted, and it's usually at least a trickle of people. Thanks for confirming, it does help a bit. Might I ask where you'll be in the fall?

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): UC Berkeley Previous Degrees and GPAs: Political Economy, 3.5 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): V167 Q162 AW 5.5 Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1.5 yrs consulting, 2 yrs nonprofit/think tank Math/Econ Background: stats, calc, intermediate macro and micro econ Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): Mandarin, basic Spanish Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Public Policy Long Term Professional Goals: Urban Policy - Urban informatics or middle income economic opportunity Schools Applied to & Results: Accepted: USC Price ($$$$), CMU Heinz ($$$$), NYU Wagner ($$), Chicago Harris ($$), UCLA Luskin, UT LBJ, UW Evans Waitlisted: Berkeley GSPP Rejected: Harvard HKS Ultimate Decision & Why: CMU Heinz. The (near) full scholarship definitely helps. I was accepted into the Policy Analytics program, which is a huge plus since I potentially want to work in urban informatics/civic innovation. Also, I see my immediate career post-college to be in the private sector, and CMU Heinz has awesome connections with the private sector compared to its peers. Advice for Future Applicants: DO NOT go straight from undergrad - gain work experience and figure out what it's like to live a life outside of school. It gives you great context into who you are as a person and what you ultimately value/where you want your career to go. Plus, it just makes you much more interesting as an applicant. Start the personal statement early - as early as summer or early fall. They don't really change from year to year, but can be wildly different from school to school. I was surprised at how they varied in length from 500-1500 words and some schools required 2 while others only wanted 1. I spent way too much time freaking out close to the deadline on how I was going to trim and edit my statements to fit each school. Reach out to recommenders very early (early fall) and take the time to chat them up if possible. I didn't really do this, and even though my recommenders were totally willing to help, I can't help but wonder if my recommendations could have been stronger. Don't apply to 9-10 programs. Just don't do it. I could have easily trimmed it down to 6 or 7 and saved myself a lot of pain. You think that the marginal effort once you pass 7 might be minimal, but it's simply not true. Give yourself plenty of time for the first wave of deadlines. It comes hard and fast. I had 4 due in one week in early December and was still crazy busy with advanced warning. Reach out to professors. I didn't do this, but it not only helps you figure out what research is appealing to you, they can potentially be advocates for your admission.

Basically it sounds like they've come to some kind of decision on who they are letting in off the waitlist, but they'll be keeping everyone else on the waitlist in case more spots open up between now and August.

I just got an email yesterday saying that I had been passed over on the waitlist but that they were keeping the waitlist open till August. Frustrating, since the door is basically closed, but they've still managed to keep it open just a crack. Curious, did people on the waitlist follow directions and just sit tight waiting? I didn't know if reaching out to professors/sending another letter expressing interest violated their fairly strict "no additional info" rule.

I'd look at a lot of the schools that have strong science/engineering reputations. The reason I say this is because science/tech policy faculty are often jointly appointed in multiple departments, and star science faculty will help boost program reputations. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking UCLA, Berkeley, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Texas, and Washington. Also a generalization, but big state schools are generally stronger in scientific research and have more of a vested interest in advancing scientific policy.

Thanks for this. I've got extensions currently deciding between Heinz and Harris, and also waiting for Goldman's waitlist, so this is super helpful. Many comments were made about the career services during the visit weekend. Can you talk a little about how you found your interviews? Is it an every person for himself/herself situation? Do you feel like the core is too inflexible/impractical? How did you find the class sizes, since it seems that all students are in those classes at the same time? How are the courses curved? I saw that Harris's academic probation barrier is a 2.7, where most MPP programs are at a 3.0. This makes me think that the curve is harsher.

http://priceschool.usc.edu/files/2010/06/Price-Hertie-Exchange-Program.pdf Looks like they only send two students, and considering the general rigidity of the core curriculum, it seems like it'd be hard to fit in. On the other hand, Berlin is amazing and would be an amazing place to study urban policy...