uncgrad2009

Although I didn't choose SPEA in the end, one of the things that I really appreciate about this school is that they don't pretend to be something they are not. This extends throughout all phases of the admissions process. I was extended a Service Corps award with partial tuition remission after most of the initial awards were extended. Merit aid awards at SPEA have two components: 1) tuition remission (3-8 credits a semester depending upon your credentials) and; 2) a hourly stipend in exchange for 12 hours of work a week. My understanding is that after the priority admissions deadline passes, they rank all admitted students in order on criteria such as GPA, work experience, GRE scores, SoP, etc. If you have any specific questions about the Service Corps program, you could always contact the SPEA admissions folks. They are very friendly and helpful in answering any questions that you may have about the program or the merit aid allocation process.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that program representatives told me that GRE scores were considered when extending merit aid offers at SPEA.

I would definitely retake the GRE if I were you. I retook the test and was able to improve my score somewhat. The GRE doesn't factor into admissions considerations that much (except at Berkeley) but it factors into merit aid awards considerably.

This is late but College Park is actually not even 20 miles away from DC. It's closer to 10-12 miles. It's also metro accessible which is clutch during the week.

I believe that policies related to deferring your offer of admission would vary widely from school to school. I have applied to schools that don't allow you to defer your offer of admission while other schools allow you to defer your offer of admission. In any event, you should definitely speak to an admissions representative from the school that you are planning on attending to see what the individual school's policy is and your individual extenuating circumstances.

Congratulations man! This must be so insanely exciting for you! That's wonderful that they came through for you! Goldman would be a wonderful place to study for two years (especially given your career goals!). Again, congratulations!

I also declined my offer of admission here as well so this might open up a spot on the waitlist for someone.

I just declined my offer of admission to University of Michigan so this should open up a spot for someone on the waitlist.

I agree with this assessment precisely and I can definitely tell you (I'm actually a career fed so I know what I'm talking about)from the federal government perspective that it doesn't matter where your advanced degree came from. For example, with the PMF program, I know people who are PMFS that went to Harvard and Princeton but I also know PMFs that went to state schools. The first review of any federal job application is only looked at by HR specialists and assessed on the core criteria in the job announcement. It isn't even seen by the hiring manager(who makes the final selection) until after the first review. Thus, if you're fresh out of grad school but have less work experience than the other candidate, there's a good chance that you're not going to make the next cut in the hiring process.

My advice: take the money and run. Unless you can get something binding and in writing from UCLA, I wouldn't go on happenstance. I have heard that Goldman is notoriously stingy with merit aid so I'm not really surprised by what you just said there. I have heard the same about Harvard. I agree with lbjane. You should definitely look into doing an internship in California during the summer between your 1st and 2nd years. Wisconsin is a fantastic school and is tied in the rankings with Michigan. I also got accepted to Ford but will not be going there as I'm out of state and the fellowship offer I received from them was very low. However, at the end of the day, you need to make the decision that is best for you but would strongly encourage you to really evaluate what "value added" you would be getting by passing up Wisconsin's offer. Good luck!

I agree. It is definitely an underrated program on here and I have a lot of personal connections to the school/program.

Hey MPAallday! I would be more than willing to answer any questions you might have about Bloomington or my experience at the SPEA Experience Day.

This is not a done deal. It is just included in the President's FY2015 Budget Proposal (which is routinely rejected/voted down by both parts of Congress).

I personally have 5 years of work experience. I also noticed that quite a few people will be attending SPEA with no professional work experience. I also noticed that some people were making a really big deal out of it. I'm not sure where I'm going to end up yet as I have a very difficult decision to make.

I really enjoyed my time at SPEA Experience Day. There is also a very good chance that I may end up there in the fall. I felt very comfortable and at home on the campus.