jz19
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Posts posted by jz19
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Are you guys following Harris Admissions on Twitter? (https://twitter.com/HarrisAdmission) " we intend to release all wait list decisions by first week of May. Stay tuned!"
Good luck!
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I've had good experiences with MAC and TLC management. I would avoid privately owned buildings/apartments. http://chicago-building-permits.findthedata.org is an easy way to find out who manages the building you're interested in. Good luck!
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I'll be starting as a Harris MPP student this fall!
About housing:
I attended uchicago as an undergraduate as well, and this time around I've decided to get a furnished studio/1 bdrm through campus housing. As an undergrad, I've lived in the dorms (Max P), in MAC apartments, in independently owned apartments, and in a furnished studio (the Versailles on 53rd and Dorchester, which I actually loved). Some off-campus buildings are managed well, but there are also some truly awful superintendents and management companies in Hyde Park, and I disagree with the idea that off-campus housing is categorically a better choice. Some benefits of on-campus housing: 1) non-internet utilities are included; 2) living with other graduate students; 3) better prices for furnished apartments (buying furniture and moving furniture in Hyde Park in the summer is a complete nightmare. IMO totally not worth it for those of us in a two year program).
Just my two cents.
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I once had to attend a workshop on "email etiquette" for work and have been worried about sending thank you emails ever since. My instinct is to always thank anyone who's been helpful, but when you're corresponding with a person whose job is to be helpful, at some point their inbox becomes inundated with thank you emails. We were told it's more considerate to refrain from sending non-substantive emails.
I don't completely agree, but it's another way of looking at it =)
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Previous Schools: University of Chicago
Previous Degrees: BA, Law, Letters, and Society (BA thesis on constitutional politics) GPA: 3.4
GRE Scores: 168v/163q/5.5aw
Previous Work Experience: 2 years of meandering followed by 2 years with a family services public program
Math/Econ Background: no math/econ in college, took stats+micro at a community college before applying
Foreign Language Background: fluent in Mandarin (conversational in French but not relevant to program)Intended Field of Study in Grad School: MPP, child and family policy
Long Term Professional Goals: advocacy for early childhood programs, possible PhD
Schools Applied to & Results: UCLA Luskin (accepted, no funding); USC Price MPP (accepted, full tuition); Chicago Harris (accepted, half tuition); Georgetown MSPP (application never processed due to transcript problem from one summer class I took 8 years ago, but was already accepted to Harris so didn't follow up....)Ultimate Decision & Why: Harris. 1) Very strong in child and family policy (faculty/classes/research centers). 2) Academically rigorous. 3) Emphasizes social justice. 4) Will be in a good position upon graduating to apply for PhD programs, if I decide to go that route. 5) I <3 UChicago
Advice for Future Applicants:Only apply to programs that you actually want to attend.
Make friends with people in your prospective field. Get their feedback on your application, qualifications, decision making process, etc., not in the least because they'll remind you that it's silly to hyperventilate over things like the grammatical errors you find in your application after you've submitted it.
Do NOT look at your application after you've submitted it.
Figure out your rec-writers early and follow up with them often, which, as a corollary, is a good test of whether or not you should ask a particular person to write you a recommendation: if you're not on good enough terms to send them weekly emails asking about the progress of your letter without being wracked with anxiety, find someone else. (lesson learned for next time!)
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Jennifer Lawrence--a beautiful, young, Hollywood a-lister taking bragging about she loves being "fat" and "lazy", and the popular media applauding her for her "bravery". Sorry, does not compute.
- CageFree, deci:belle, muskratsam and 6 others
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Here is my situation, admitted to:
Chicago Harris MPP with full tuition and living stipend
Columbia SIPA MIA with 40k for the first year and 20k for the second (SIPAs tuition is 52k)
I already have my dream job, I am seeking a graduate degree to improve my analytical skills and to experience USA`s academic environment. I am not sure that SIPA`s is worth the debt. I am leaning towards Harris, any thoughts?
Are there people at work you can talk to about this? Is one school more respected in your field? Both are obviously great programs, but will one further your career more?
If you're looking for a typical American academic experience, I'm not sure if Chicago is the place to go. I went to there for undergrad and have friends who've stayed for their master's, JDs, and PhDs. UoC is pretty much more intense than any other school I've heard of. But on the other hand, you'll come out with great analytical skills!
As for the debt, personally I think the ROI of a top-tier masters program will be pretty good, but this is pre-loan-repayment....
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Is anyone else still waiting to hear back from UCLA? I've visited the program a few times and really liked it, and am kind of bummed that there's been no word from them....
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Have you tried looking into the educational backgrounds of people who are currently in the jobs that you eventually want to have? I did that last week and it gave me a lot more clarity as to which program I should pick--USC is great for SoCal placement (maybe for California in general), but its presence seems a lot more limited elsewhere....
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You can do a research subject supervised by a professor so I think it really just depends on your area of interest and their area of interest. You don't get any electives until third quarter of first year so I don't know too much about it yet. There are also people who write for various publications on their area of interest, like one of my classmates here who wrote about urban policy for The Atlantic.
Thank you!
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Very few Harris MPP students get into the PhD program as I believe there are only accept very few PhD candidates each year (check the website, but I think this year was maybe 3 and you have to have a ton of prior econ/stats/game theory knowledge). Some go on to do PhDs at other universities after the MPP - I know of someone from the class of 2013 who is now at Northwestern doing a PhD.
Good luck everyone with the decision making!
Thank you, harrista! Do you know if there are opportunities to do research and publish in the MPP program?
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Seriously. I was ok with turning it down with no money but even a little bit makes that decision SO MUCH harder.
Mo money mo problems
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I contacted them yesterday and got a notice for an award today. Considering that they estimate cost of attendance as 67k/year, it hardly makes a dent but is just enough to make me feel sick to my stomach every time I even think about turning the offer down.
Ahhh!!! UChicago I love/hate you so much.
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Question for current Harris students: is the MPP program at Harris geared more of a terminal or non-terminal degree? I want to eventually get a PhD, but saw from the student profile on the Harris website that only 2% of graduates take that route.
Thanks!
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Check out the Oriental Institute on campus--it's free (though there's a suggested donation) and I used to go there when school got...unbearably unpleasant =)
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I got admitted with no funding as well. Super stoked! The Harris Twitter was driving me CRAZY with the suspense, haha.
At first glance, I read "suspense" as "nonsense." Really glad we don't have to deal with the Harris admissions nonsense anymore.
About going to Harris without any funding--I'm struggling with the same problem. I ultimately want to get a PhD and go into research/academia, and I don't know if it makes any sense to get into a ton of debt this early in the game. I asked a friend who's on a PhD admissions committee at Stanford and he replied with the following:
"It seems like schools often choose candidates they know and like, so if you would like to pursue a phd at Harris, it makes sense to go there now and try and impress them by working hard for two years; in contrast, if you think you would want to pursue a phd at USC - it makes sense to be there for the MPP. For me personally I would get a masters from the program who would let me do more high-quality research from the get go, because that would keep me engaged and potentially produce publishable work. I would not go to a place where there is little mentorship in terms of research because people are too busy, travel a lot, or are too busy with consulting outside of academia."
Apologies to hbhagz if this doesn't apply to you, but I figured I'd post it in case it helps anyone else!
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Admitted, no funding.
For undergrad I turned down a full ride to USC to go to UChicago (no funding from the school), and interestingly enough the same thing happened again (admissions-wise, haven't made any decisions yet). Not complaining--good problem to have!
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I haven't officially registered yet for the events on the 27th, but I'm planning to attend the tour and the "living in LA" session (obviously, ha). I'm also considering the multivariate stats analysis class, as it's the only class I can attend that also meets my availability, but I'm mildly concerned that attending an intense quant class will do more harm than good.
You?
I only signed up for the campus tour and Living in LA session....As for the multivariate stats class....I love math and all but I can't imagine spending 3.5 hours in a stats class on Thursday night unless I have to!
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Has anyone else registered for the optional events on 3/27?
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I'll be in the MPP program!
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Recipe, please! I can never get them quite right.
Do you double fry? I follow this general format, but I'm not that fussy about exact temperatures.
Also, I season with a curry salt mix (2 parts curry powder, 1 part white pepper, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part salt). Yum.
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Hi PhDerp! It's totally possible to find apartments with 2 parking spaces in LA. I used to live in Marina Del Rey, which is about half an hour from USC, and our second parking space was $55/mo. I think this was unusually low, though, and offset by a higher rent....From what I remember of the apartment hunt, most places charged between $100-$150/mo for an extra space.
Does anyone know of good running trails around campus (i.e. ones close enough to be used on a daily basis)? I like to run early in the morning and found this article from 2011 that wasn't particularly encouraging....
Current Harris Student
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
Question for the current students:
I'm thinking about leasing an apartment on 61st and Woodlawn and was wondering how safe that area is. I like that it's so close to Harris but am kind of worried about living south of the Midway.
Thanks for your help!