jerbear

I haven't but the McCourt Fellowship is awarded to four students a year, according to the admissions staff. I asked Georgetown for more than the 30k they offered me (I asked for 40k a year) and they came back to me with 35k. So it can be negotiated. I'm not planning on going to Georgetown so anyone who is should definitely email admissions around April 15th asking for more money. I bet they'll have at least a little bit more.

I got funding from GW and am still waiting on the Wolcott as well (the website says early April). Georgetown and AU are both more expensive than GW (in Georgetown's case, significantly). Did you get funding from Georgetown? Even with the funding Georgetown offered me ($30k), I'm not sure it's worth passing up GWU's offer. AU didn't give me anything.

Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Yale Previous Degrees and GPAs: B.A., Political Science, 3.7 GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 165(V), 161(Q), 5(AW) Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 3.5+ years at one org, the National Endowment for Democracy. Foundation that supports democracy abroad by funding civil society organizations. Math/Econ Background: Stats for poli sci, intro micro Intended Field of Study in Grad School: MPP concentrating on program evaluation and analysis (with an int'l development, foreign affairs angle). Long Term Professional Goals: evaluating and conducting oversight of democracy assistance, foreign affairs policies and programs Schools Applied to & Results: Georgetown MSPP (accepted with $30k/year), GWU Trachtenburg (accepted, 80% funding +$16,000 GAship), Maryland SPP (accepted, full funding), AU MPP (accepted, no funding), GMU MPP (waiting...) Ultimate Decision & Why: I'm still making my decision (will update this post later). It's down to GWU vs. Georgetown. I'm asking Georgetown for more money and if they come back to me with more than 80% funding, I'll decide on the merits of the two programs. It seems like Georgetown has more electives, the student body is more cohesive, and I like the fact that there are policy research centers and lot of events. However, I get the feeling that career services may be better at GW. Going to the admitted student's days to get more info. Advice for Future Applicants: GRE: start studying early, early, early. I started late (October) and was pressed for time in November (took my first test in late Nov and had to sign up for the second testing just in case, thus losing money when I canceled my second test). Not worth the stress. The Manhattan Prep books are excellent I think, but even better were the many practice tests that came with it. Study, take the ETS practice test, study more, take the Manhattan tests, study, then take the second ETS test one last time before you take the GRE for real. SOP: Give yourself time for this, but start out with the school with the smallest word limit to help you focus your thinking. Then expand the essay out for schools that give you more space. Once you are happy with the drafts, send it to some trusted friends but honestly, resist the urge to keep tinkering with it until the deadline. Preparation: If you are still in college, make sure you are boned up on quant. It is one of my big worries. If you really wanna get a lot out of the quant side of an MPP degree, some good preparation and background will allow you to delve deep into the topic instead of just playing catch-up. Fin aid: I took the advice of some of the posters from last year (HillDog2016, I think) and went back to Georgetown for more money. We'll see if it works, but the admissions department was very much receptive to my asking and are "advocating for me" in front of the scholarship committee. This is a truncated draft of my email (I don't know how good it is, but I know I really wanted an example when I was drafting this): Hello, I was very excited when I learned of my admission to the MPP program at Georgetown. I was even more encouraged by the offer of $15,000 in the form of a graduate tuition scholarship for each of my first two terms of school. Though I know it's likely that there are qualified admitted students marked as alternates for funding, I am wondering if there are additional scholarships I qualify for. If there are not any right now, can you give me a sense of the timeline, and when you will know about additional funding? I'm emailing because, from the outset, Georgetown has been my program of choice. However, GW's Trachtenburg School, another one of my top programs, gave me the equivalent of full funding for the cost of the program, in addition to a graduate assistantship. Though Georgetown remains my top program, the difference in cost, even after your generous initial offer, makes my decision much harder. Please let me know if I can send on any documentation that may be helpful for you or if I should forward this email to another department. I'm eager to learn more about the MPP program at Georgetown, especially on the April 4th admitted student's day.