uncgrad2009
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Posts posted by uncgrad2009
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Not admitted but applying next year, with SPEA as my top choice.
Anybody willing to tell me how they did on the GREs? I took it yesterday, 154 on both sections, and I'm really afraid that's not good enough!
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.
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Not admitted but applying next year, with SPEA as my top choice.
Anybody willing to tell me how they did on the GREs? I took it yesterday, 154 on both sections, and I'm really afraid that's not good enough!
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.
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I know the reason I decided to apply to UMD was its location. Plus, it's a pretty good program -- not the best, but still leagues above the lower tiers. Being close to DC (literally it's about 20 minutes away) I figured I could apply for internships in the area to boost my experience while studying for the MPP. Oh, and the campus looks beautiful!
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.
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hey guys... related to this question, can we defer enrollment after accepting an offer? I'm sure schools have different policies, but was wondering generally speaking what their policies are...
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.
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It worked! I got my 1st year tuition and fees completely covered, a $10k stipend for the first year, and my $8k professional degree fees are also covered for the second year. I would still need to take out some loans for living costs, but this is SO manageable for a Berkeley degree! I am so insanely grateful that UCB pulled through!
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!
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I also declined my offer of admission here as well so this might open up a spot on the waitlist for someone.
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I just declined my offer of admission to University of Michigan so this should open up a spot for someone on the waitlist.
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How will it pay for itself? If you mean it is 'worth it' in terms of experiences, networks etc, then maybe, but that doesn't translate into the cold hard cash you need to pay back your loans. The Harvard name won't get you higher pay for government work (see, for example, numerous posts on this board talking about govt hiring scales), and most non-profits in the field the OP is interested in don't have spare cash to throw around just for prestige - it might get you a couple of thousand extra in salary if you're lucky, but that's not going to make much of a dent in $100K+ of debt. HKS might get you better access to the top consulting firms, which will give you serious cash if that's what you want to do, but that's not what most people who do MPP degrees want to do.
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.
- gradytripp, ChocChoc and MPAallday
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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!
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What did you think of the program?
I really enjoyed it and think there is a good chance I may end up there in the fall. I received a large stipend & tuition remission and hope to work for the government afterwards so this program is a pretty good ft for me financially and seemingly career wise.
I agree. It is definitely an underrated program on here and I have a lot of personal connections to the school/program.
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Yea I don't think it does either -- mostly because a lot of the posters here are looking for IR programs.
They didn't offer me funding after all, at least during the first round, but apparently they extend more offers once the mid-April deadline passes.
I wanted to visit next weekend but it seemed like they offered little financial help to out-of-state visitors.
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.
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Just a heads up to those looking to go to public service forgiveness route- the Obama administration last month capped the amount you can have forgiven at $57K...which hopefully anyone who has been making payments for 10 years will have less then that. I have some friends who were really dissappointed by this news.
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).
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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.
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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.
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I will be there as well. Looking forward to it!
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I am! Is anyone going to the admitted students event on Friday?
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I think you missed something in comparing price tags. Goldman costs $12K a semester, not per year. That means it's $24K a year for in-state residents and $36K for out-of-state, depending on which you are. The actual financial cost for both could be about equal, however, if you take into consideration that Berkeley's tuition remission can be generous if you work 10-20 hours a week as a teaching assistant or research assistant. Similarly, UChicago I've seen be very generous with the amount of fellowships they award -- as a private school, they have a deeper pot of money than public schools such as Berkeley.
The more important issue at hand is however what your choices are right now. Which schools have you been accepted to and how much have they awarded you? It doesn't quite make sense to choose between Berkeley and UChicago since you would still need to reapply. You mentioned USC Price, so I'm guessing that's an option. I think its focus is definitely quantitative enough, just going by their curriculum. There is much more variation between the programs at USC, UChicago, and Berkeley in terms of their different focuses and strengths, so it really depends on your preference and interest. Try to look at just the schools you've been accepted to. If you still believe that none of them are a satisfying enough choice, in terms of money or in terms of what you want out of the program, then you can decide to refuse all offers and hunker down to reapply for next year.
This is great advice from chocolatecheesecake. One piece of advice I would offer regarding reapplying next year: in terms of my perspective, I don't think it has really terribly altered the outcome in terms of potential options. Unless you find something that you think will really bolster the quality of your application, I would advise against waiting another year to reapply. It is extremely time consuming and the end result is not that much different. However, if you are really interested in a particular school (in your case Goldman), I would send a signed letter/email to the school to see if there is anyway that you can get feedback on your application from them. Personally, if I choose to decline all offers, I will not be reapplying for a very long time because I really want to do something that would strongly bolster my application.
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Not sure what increments that they come in. Not enough funding that I'd seriously consider going for sure.
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Yeah, I can't even believe this is a serious question or dilemma. Consider this as a huge blessing.
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I'M IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!
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Yeah, but they only take 80 people, how long does it take to send out 80 emails? :-) Oh well, worrying about it won't make things come in any faster.
I know. The wait is excruciating. And you may be right.
The grad school website says they took 138 people out of 1,074 applicants last year. Yield rate is 65%. NO breakdown between MPA, MPP, and PhD. I think the PhD program is very small though. -
Still haven't heard anything...
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I am also an international student. My decision to attend/not attend would primarily hinge on the $$ they are offering. The school has a high tution and even the cost of living in DC are would be high. So in short, I need to know the aid-package before I start debating my choices.
I'm not looking at any policy schools in the DC area primarily for this reason. I also am not necessarily interested in working in DC long-term so I am factoring this in as well. I currently work/live in the DC area and it is very expensive. I would think you would have to get some good funding from Georgetown to be able to make it work.
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Heard from a friend who's a current WWS student earlier today - the word there is that decisions have been made and should be released soon (which I understood as 'whenever in the next few days fits their timeline and processes' not 'in the next few hours).
Their admissions blog has a post with an admissions timeline which states that admissions notifications will be released today. It looks like they were released on March 15th last year (was on a Friday last year). I
SPEA Admitted Thread
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
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.