pavlik

Georgetown also gave me $30k, nothing from AU or GWU

I actually live in DC now, so I am somewhat qualified to answer this. Rent and groceries are much higher here than most of the US, so the cost of living is high. That being said, it is certainly not that hard to live for less than $25,000 per year (that would be $2083 per month). If you're willing to potentially live further from campus in a less-than-glamorous apartment/house with roommates, then you could find a room for less than $1000. Not much less, unless you're willing to share a bedroom dorm-style, but you could easily pay $800 or less for a room in Glover Park or Rosslyn, which aren't even that far from campus. I think you could set a reasonable budget at $1700 per month if you can score decently priced housing. $25,000 isn't that extravagant, but it's probably on the high end. However, a lot of current students have said they have part-time internships throughout the year, and it probably wouldn't be hard to find a part-time job in DC to offset living expenses.

From what I've seen, McCourt does give out a lot of merit-based scholarship, but rarely do they cover 100% of tuition, which is admittedly high to begin with. The $100m gift certainly doesn't hurt their ability to dole out aid. I've seen a lot of students with offers of $15k-30k. I was offered a $30,000 scholarship, which brings the cost of tuition down, but $16,000 per year is still considerable.

I'm in a similar position to many who've already posted here. I have a good job with a nonprofit, but I'd like to move into a more policy-oriented, political job and build more hard mathematical skills. There's not much room for advancement in my current organization without an advanced degree (CEO has an MPP/MPH, department head has MPP/JD, lots of MPHs scattered throughout the various departments given our work). If I opt for a DC school (Georgetown MSPP is looking more and more like my #1 choice), then I may stay on part-time at my job (I've spoken briefly about it with my supervisor, who is entirely amenable to the idea) for a time while I transition to school/find a more relevant internship or university position. Make sure you leave your current jobs on good terms. Your graduation is far away now, but it may well be the case that your current employer will have an opening for you when you graduate, whether it be your old job (not ideal but a good safety net) or a new one. It never hurts to discuss the possibility.

I can't comment on the need-based financing (it's just federal loans) for international students, but I'm sure that's been mentioned before. I understand that there are some TA/RA opportunities, which you can apply for in August for the coming academic year. I'd try to contact someone in the admissions office at McCourt to directly answer these. It never hurts to state your case and concerns and ask if they'll reconsider your funding offer. Edit: they also link on their website scholarships for international students specifically. Most of them are limited to a certain demographic (i.e. there's a scholarship that only citizens of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania can apply for), but you may find one that you're eligible for.

You could try asking for a deadline extension--explain your circumstances to them and see what can be done. It certainly can't hurt to ask.

I third what Gov2School said. When I was a senior, I was considering law school, but ended up doing Peace Corps. Toward the middle/end of my Peace Corps service, I took the GRE and started planning on applying for grad school, but then opted to postpone it (partly because I didn't want to spend my last few months in country huddled at my laptop cranking out personal statements and such) and get a full-time job. Now I'm more than a year removed from that, and it gave me so much more clarity and focus on what I want to do and not do. Not to mention that my overall profile is looked upon much more favorable now, with 3-4 years of international and language skills built up that I just didn't have as an undergraduate. It may be worth applying in the fall to see what happens with some schools, but it's certain that finding a full-time job (even an entry-level position with a nonprofit, think tank, gov't agency. etc.) would only bolster your chances of getting into the best schools and getting some $$$

From browsing a few other threads from this time last year, it seems that one person was even advised by the SAIS financial aid office to accept her other offer from Fletcher for 1/2 tuition over SAIS with $0.

Bumping this. Does anyone have anything from Pickering? I thought I had lost my chance last week, when they emailed me that I was being dropped because of no LoRs, but I was able to get that sorted out and am back in the race...I think

I can't specifically tell you anything about Ford, since I've never even been to the state of Michigan, but I just glanced back at their employment stats. In 2013, only 19% of all internships were in Michigan, a figure which includes at least several fellows funded by the City of Detroit. 6% were in CA, while 32% were in DC and 35% abroad. To me, those numbers make it seem like if you want Cali, you can get a CA internship. Same for DC. I think the reason SAIS sends so many grads to the private sector is because of the debt they're carrying. For $100k+, you're considering minimum monthly payments of over $1,200. I have friends in law school with that kind of debt, but they have a shot at repaying it if they can land a $160,000/yr Big Law job. Do you have a shot at repaying that with a SAIS degree?

Rejected! I'm not too butthurt about it. 'Grats to all admitted students

I wouldn't get that down about waiting...yesterday other people were posting about UM's Ford School almost two hours before I got my email both admitting me and granting a fellowship, so there's that.

Still waiting. Logged onto my application...apparently one of my recommenders never sent anything in, which I should have checked earlier. Ouch. I updated it to a different recommender (from same employer) who is always prompt about it, but I wonder if that will derail my application.

Congrats to all! I got in today with a full tuition offer for my second year, so I suppose that comes to a half tuition fellowship over the 2 years of the MPP program. When I find out about Princeton and Georgetown's $ offer, I can finally make a decision.

No communication at all so far. I have no idea what my chances are--this was my first application I sent in, and parts of my statement and memo were a bit rushed as I wrote most of them the week of Thanksgiving. Best of luck to everyone!

I'd say it's in my top 2-3 out of the 7 I applied to. Why? It's in DC, where I currently work, so I wouldn't have to move from what is likely the best place to be for this degree. I'm hoping for some internal funding from McCourt so I can afford to stop working full-time and enroll as a full-time student. I also feel that the new faculty and funding that McCourt (as opposed to the GPPI or whatever they used to call themselves) has will lead to increased stature for the program in the near/longer-term future in terms of better students, renown, etc. But really, it's all about the $$$ they offer. As an RPCV, I already know I'll get minimum offers from certain schools, so they're competing against that.

Honestly, it's not much of a contender at this point--I agree 100% that I couldn't justify the expense of GWU. I wasn't even strongly considering it until late December, when I applied thinking I'd have a shot at some funding. Apparently not. I've been admitted to MPP programs at both Georgetown and American at this point, so the DC location has no pull for GWU for me now, as I'm still waiting to hear back from their funding (and I have high hopes for both).

I also was accepted this week with no internal funding.

I got my acceptance letter today--no information about fellowship awards or such. Looking forward to that official letter

I took the GRE in 2012, so I didn't spend it this year, and I was able to get most application fees waived thanks to my Peace Corps service. Unfortunately, I didn't have my first 4 GRE score reports sent to any school I ended up applying to, so I ended up spending about $150 on the application fees that weren't waived, probably the same on GRE score reports, and $20 or so on transcript requests.

I also got in today with the "coming weeks" comment regarding financial aid. I'd imagine in a month or so...