2010Applicant

You sound like HKS MC-MPA has released results already??? Anyway, the two programs are very different. HKS MC-MPA surely scores high internationally. In fact it should be second to none. But that of course is not in terms of academics. Anything 'mid-career' isn't much about rigorous academic training, but you get to know the leaders of the future. If you're admitted you're likely one of them yourself. SIPA PEPM is instead a standard economic policy program for much more junior people who would want to polish up their modeling skills etc to get a decent job. I think if you're already mid-career, and if you didn't get tons of $$$ from SIPA, there is not much reason to throw away your ticket to HKS. Even if you're very into the hardcore econ stuff, MC-MPA is flexible enough to allow you take quite a few of those courses.

I am also an MPA2 applicant. I haven't received any news yet, which is of course normal since we're the last to know the results. Focusing on the inbox would probably just make it difficult for us to concentrate on our present tasks. So, try not to be anxious. Think of it this way: the worst you can get is merely a rejection, which is no big harm to life. The best you can get is a ticket to Harvard, which is quite pleasant of course but the thrill will certainly amortize by the end of the first term when you're rushing to finish 4 final papers at the same time. If you ask me, I would guess that they'll tell us on Monday; if not, probably some time next week. Not a big difference. Enjoy the week!

Anyone knows if the financial aid news come together with the scholarship news? i.e. are the results of the Dean's fellow / Kennedy fellow going to be released together with the financial aid decisions, or together with the admissions results? Thanks!

no no no, what I mean by 'official notification date' is the time they tell us when the result will be out, not the actual time that they're out. This year the official notification date is April.

Oh I know very well the results came out mid to late March in previous years. The important thing however is whether the official notification dates in the previous years were March, or whether they're in April like this year's. If they were in April, then most likely we'll receive results early in March this year, just like every previous year's experience. If they were in March, and only this year have they switched the official date to April, that means they have really prolonged the process, and therefore we're likely to know the results only in April. Can any previous applicants shed some light?

Thanks Alienatedlaborer, esp. regarding the note on organizational sociology. Seeing from that angle, I think I am looking for those professors not that much associated with organizational sociology. I've looked at Michael Hannan's webpage. I am sure he is doing some form of economic sociology, but researching on 'the dynamics of categories in the wine and restaurant industry' doesn't seem to me something very relevant to what we normally refer to as 'capitalism'. Well, I guess I am still having in mind the traditions of Polanyi and Schumpeter, at least on that level of robustness if not that qualitative. Are there any names? Or have they become extinct? Anyone? Thanks in advance.

I wonder if experienced grad students or people familiar with the field may provide me a BIG NAMEs in economic sociology. Of course, economic sociology is still a broad category, and what I am actually looking for are professors doing social theory and so-called 'capitalism and society' (more macro/holistic, I guess). I've come across Cornell's Center of Economy and Society, where Victor Nee and Richard Swedberg fit well within the category. Sorry I may not be precise enough. I am an economics student; very interested in but not familiar with the sociological way of looking at the economy. THANKS!

I don't know; it says April on the website and in the Q&A it further emphasizes once again that it won't be any earlier than the official date (i.e. April). But then, in an earlier thread when I asked about this, someone says Harvard had always been saying it's April but would then give out the notification much earlier, in March. But it's just one person's input, so I still have no idea how it has been practiced. I hope that someone would enlighten us.

Oops, you're right. I've used enrollment instead of admittance figures for both MPP and MPA2. But then, they still highlight the huge difference between the two programs. In fact, MPA2 statistics is now quite absurd. The class has about 70 students. Even if we assume a high yield rate, say 80%, number of admittance would be 87. It says that international applicants numbered 90 in 2007 and made up 73% of the total applicant pool. So there are 123 applicants and the admission rate is like 70%!!!

BTW Mason Fellows are MC-MPAs coming from less developed countries.

I didn't know that there is actually such a large discrepancy between the admission rates of MPP and MPA2. The 2007 stats: MPP: 246/1344 = 18% only. Plus thereafter applicants went up and admissions went down. The current rate would be below 15%. MPA2: around 70 / 123 = 57%!!! Going forward they passed a policy to favor female and minorities. I guess the requirement of having completed or almost completed something equivalent to the MPP core curriculum has barred a lot of potential applicants to the MPA2 program. Otherwise, anyone with 3 years of WE would have applied for MPA2.

Me too. I sent them the required material around the same time but the current status of my application is still incomplete. I guess it's good to know that others are facing the same thing so it probably means it's just a matter of time.

Thanks jacib. Your dad had given us very useful insights. I'm probably less familiar with sociology than most of the members here since I didn't major in sociology and my university didn't even have a sociology or anthropology department. I am very interested in sociology though. Just by looking at the course offering, I'm very much drawn to Northeastern University's department since it seems to focus quite a bit on capitalism and political economy, which is what I'm interested in. Can your dad (or anyone else here) offer any opinion regarding Northeastern and its characteristics? I know it isn't one of the more well known, but with some luck I may gain some insights. Thanks!

So if I look at the division along the lines of 'quantitative vs qualitative' and 'positivist vs. theory', how would you categorize each of the top schools (Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Northwestern etc)? I know that being quantitative works for all of them, but perhaps they have various degrees of acceptance towards the qualitative? BTW, I want to ask: how is economic sociology usually regarded? Quantitative? Qualitative? Or quite even? THANKS!!!

I think my commentary is honest and constructive. 90% of my message is to discuss why working for a few years would be a better strategy, and I have laid out the reasons. The other 10% is my own assessment of his/her chance. I didn't rule him/her out, but I believe the chance isn't very high. I can be wrong, but that's an honest opinion, and I think he/she can improve her profile greatly by taking another path. Cnreves, I'll leave you to decide whether I am trying to offer help, or, simply attempting to discourage you. BTW, I have already been admitted to Fletcher. It's unlikely that I am nervous about my chances. I hope that artist_lily and mfr009 understand that the quality of this board isn't that bad.

Frankly speaking, I think your chance isn't that great, but it's just because you lack working experience. You have a good background, and for your own benefit, I think you should really consider working even if one of those schools admits you. There are many reasons going for this: 1) your learning experience will absolutely be upgraded with a few years of WE, 2) you'll more likely get into one of the top schools, 3) you can hopefully save some money first. The first point is particularly true given that you're already an undergrad major in international studies. Your learning curve has probably flattened out and you need WE to get you to another level of thinking. Look at it this way: your U, GPA and GRE are all good but not enough to wow the admissions committee; in this case your WE is a liability. What we need to do is to make it into an asset, the real thing that gives them a reason to admit you. What you may consider is to try get into an intl organization with a good name that does work in Asia/China for a few years, so that you have a lot of UNIQUE experiences to talk about in your SOP and resume. Your Mandarin proficiency would probably impress more the employers than the adcoms. Good luck!

mpp_applicant: yes, unemployment is still increasing, but it's the prospect that counts most. It was Oct-Nov 2008 when the last batch of people had to decide whether or not to apply for grad school, and we all know what was happening then. Institutions from banks to NGOs were seeing nothing but doomsday scenarios. It's very different now. Not that I think the economy is really better, but it's doubtless that people are seeing a brighter future. So I think the number of applications would be less than that of last year. zourah: thanks.

'06: Mar 14 '07: Mar 9 '08: Mar 14 '09: Mar 26 The above were the notification dates for MPP/MPA (there's sometimes a day's difference between the two) in the past few years. This year HKS' webpage says it's going to be April. I just wonder if it's been saying 'April' for all these years (but then notified earlier) or if this is a new thing this year. Anyone have an idea? Last year the economic situation was the worst and the number of applications skyrocketed, hence the delay until the 26th, as far as I understand. This year should be better though, so why April?

I think it's a very well-written paragraph, but I also agree that you can give the last sentence a more positive spin (if only for application purpose). Also, I think you may consider adding a sentence indicating that you can provide the official medical report of the SAD diagnosis whenever needed, in order to give the case more credibility.

I may not be able to help you much, but a few years ago I was quite interested in economic geography and had a look at some programs. My impression is that UCLA is the best, and UW (Seattle) is also very good. Are you from China/Hong Kong? There is a professor there, Kam Wing Chan, who specializes at econ geography in China and is a very nice guy. I don't much about urban planning, but it seems to me that urban planning programs are more about training practitioners.

fancypants09, thank and here are my stats: Undergrad: Economics, MIT Grad: London Business School, Finance (Distinction) GMAT: 730, 5.5 WE: 11 years -- Chase, Boston Consulting, then founded own investment firm 8 yrs ago w/ performance at 99%tile Intl Exposure: based on Asia. meg, that's a horrifyingly strong GRE score! GRE verbal is much too difficult for me; I used GMAT as a substitute. GMAT is much easier, esp for Asians I think.

I've also been accepted. Quite a relief! They sent me a congratulations email (though my tufts account still reads 'Your admissions decisions will be found here when available') Meg, is yours the same? Best wishes to everyone!

Talking about last year's release date, the two entries I saw actually refer to Dec 12th as when they were notified (even earlier than Lusaker's references). Of course, this may vary somewhat depending on their workload (BTW, I wonder if this year's number of applications would be more or less than last year's. Any thoughts?) I am excited to know that in any case, I will probably know the result before Christmas. Then at least I know whether I can just forget about the applications of a great number of other schools. Good luck to everyone!

Hey Lusaker, are you serious? You mean ALL of the early admission results were released on Dec 14th instead of Jan 1st? That would be good, since I can then decide which schools to apply to before January deadlines based on the Fletcher result.

Can anyone offer some guidelines in tackling the Policy Analysis question in the HKS application? What kind of analysis is the School looking for? (analytical rigor? balanced viewpoint? reasoning? interest?) Thanks!