JBrodsky

Hmmm. Decision is up for me. I got 10K per year. Not bad, but not what it could have been. So, Harvard for 60K or Tufts for 16....

Double post.

Cue ominous music.

Agreed. :-) There's no point in worrying about it, and, as other people have mentioned, there are advantages to going to to other schools/locations as well. Good luck to everyone.

The one thing I'm curious about is the claim that there's no ranking on the waitlist. The cynic in me thinks that, if nothing else, they already have pre-formed impressions of people's applications, as no extra material is added to the application file.

Hanging in here, but every time this thread gets bumped I have a bad half-second.

Honestly, it depends upon your goals. HKS is probably better in terms of practical training and for a global network (though it's difficult to complain about Oxford at the global level). Oxford is good for specific tracks that I'm interested in, however, and as an experience would offer me some advantages over Harvard. What kind of time you'll have is also a factor. Oxford will definitely improve your chances at getting into HYS-type law school, and it's a different experience for us Yanks. Something to think about. Life is short.

Oddly enough I'm in the same position, but for the MPhil in IR at Oxford. The only difference is that I don't plan on getting a law degree. Thanks for starting this thread, and if you care to discuss the question in more depth, feel free to PM me.

Final update Program Applied To: (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.) A range Schools Applied To: WWS, Fletcher, HKS, Harvard RSEA, SIPA, Yale, SAIS, Oxford, Cambridge Schools Admitted To: Fletcher, HKS, Harvard RSEA, SIPA, Yale, SAIS Oxford Schools Rejected From: Cambridge (oh well) Waitlisted: WWS Undergraduate institution: Large public Undergraduate GPA: 3.79 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.88 Undergraduate Major: Political Science and Asian Studies GRE Quantitative Score: 700 GRE Verbal Score: 750 GRE AW Score: 6.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3 Years of Work Experience: 3 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Interned in a non-profit in NYC and a think tank in DC before working for a year and a half in a different small think tank in DC. Currently spending a year in Asia researching international relations. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Stronger than usual; I started my SOP for a major fellowship and made the final round. I spent a good deal of time revising, and the later applications probably benefited. It's worth noting that while I did put in the hours for the initial application, I had to do it in a very compact period of time due to unavoidable previous commitments. The stress was not fun, but it goes to show that there is hope for those of us who because of work/personal reasons have trouble devoting due diligence to the process many months before the deadline. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I would say very strong. One professor known in my field who was educated at Harvard, former high-ranking executive branch appointee from whom I took a class, and a former boss who has a senior position at one of the big IGOs, and (for one program) my mentor who is a well-known alum of the school. I saw three of the letters after they were sent (I waived but saw two anyway). I'm also good personal friends with most of my recommenders, and all, bar one, have written recs for me before. Other: Others have said this before, but I think that the importance of building a narrative in one's SOP is critical. I have done a lot of things that if viewed correctly follow from one another, but if I presented them poorly would make me seem scattered. I was fortunate to only be outright rejected once, and Cambridge was the first school that I applied to- I felt rushed. Other than that, working for 3 years after undergrad and getting international language experience was a great decision in retrospect. Deciding Between: Harvard, Oxford, Tufts, SAIS. SIPA and Yale both didn't give me any money and weren't high on my list for various reasons. I'd love to be outside of DC for a bit, but SAIS is great for what I do. I guess I'm leaning towards Harvard or Oxford, pending funding, but Tufts is a very strong contender as well.

So I emailed SAIS and they said that I will receive a letter by post next week. Haven't all of the other financial aid decisions been electronic? I'm trying to find some hope that this might be a good sign, somehow, but I'm really betting that they just processed my FAFSA late or something.

Is anyone else who submitted their FAFSA prior to February 15 still waiting for financial aid notification?

I feel what you're saying, but with all of the Presidential Scholarships and other named scholarships and fellowships that Harvard gives out, I bet that they give substantial aid to at least 50-60 people. It's a big program though, so the majority go unfunded. But the funded minority could well be close to that of Princeton in number. To look at the situation from the other side, there are probably some independently wealthy people (and a lot of people with outside fellowships or government/corporate sponsorship) who can afford to pay more and will still go into public service. So putting out a larger number of motivated and highly-trained people does seem to bode well for social impact, etc. The downside of Woody Woo, and one of the main reasons that its alumni aren't as well known as that of the Kennedy School, is that it puts out so much fewer of them. I'm totally a fan of Woody Woo, but it might be a matter of different strategies, different strokes. That might be an overly-rosy picture in some ways, but it's worth thinking about.

In for MPP.

Don't turn that down. :-)

Hmm, it says "after" the 17th. Wouldn't it be a bid odd for them to notify people before official acceptance from Harvard goes out? Then again, I've had that happen during a fellowship that I applied to, so I suppose it isn't unheard of. Good luck to all.

What an abysmal person. That's not the way to handle such things.

Hah. Email notification finally out.

Does it say right on the letter that you have to do the econ course. I was fully expecting to have to do it as I only took an intro combined micro/macro freshman year of college, but I don't think I saw anything to that effect... Wondering if I missed something.

I'm in as well. Chuffed, but I'm not going to go unless I get at least as much as Tufts gave me. It'd be nice to do the Boston thing anyway.

This may not be a troll, but it certainly sounds like one. If not, I'd say SAIS is clearly the best choice unless the OP is quite independently wealthy or has guaranteed external funding, which didn't sound like the case.

Yes, any thoughts on RSEA would be welcome!

I feel like I have a pretty good handle on SAIS. When I worked in DC, my office was right down the road from SAIS. I have several good friends who went there, know a couple people who are there know, and know a number of alumni. I also took a language course there over the summer. I think that their China Studies program is good, especially if you have interest in the private sector. SAIS grads are big here in Beijing. The China Studies program is a priority at SAIS and has good faculty. Lampton is a good speaker in person in my opinion, and I've heard that he gets very involved with China Studies students. There are supposed to be good opportunities to carry out research. SAIS attracts great speakers due to quality and location. As for Nanjing, I don't personally see myself spending a year there unless I were fully funded. I've been in Beijing for a year now. We'll see. I've heard mixed reviews about the program, but if you do both DC and Nanjing, I think that would cut down on a lot of the downsides. If anyone wants to discuss in more depth, feel free to PM me.

Congratulations to everyone who's gotten in, and good luck to everyone who's waiting. I really appreciate how nice and supportive everyone has been on this thread. It really has been great. :-)

China Studies here.

Many times funding decisions are decided later, so in some cases early notification may not be a plus. For those on the waitlist: I've heard conjecture that SIPA's yield this year will be particularly low. Good luck. :-)