desigrrl

i'll be at Wagner full-time, and working part-time. with the scholarship, i can afford to go full-time, and working 20 hours a week will provide health insurance and rent money. good luck!

you know what? i got a 75% scholarship from Wagner and NOTHING from HKS! it means a lot when a school values work experience in the public sector so i'm going to Wagner. and i don't regret it, i really liked the profs i met there. good luck to all of you with your decision making process!

left really liking Wagner and feeling like it was a good fit for me. especially excited about how connected they are to community and urban-level work, which are my interests. i get the sense that schools like KSG are stronger for federal and international though, if that's your interest. also, a lot of students who showed up were on the younger side, but the director of admissions assured me that there were another 200 accepted students who were unable to make it yesterday, and that the average age of the new admits is 28. (i'm 29 so that was important to me). hope that's helpful, let me know if you have other questions.

you were offered a full fellowship - take it! especially if you want to do public service work. unless you can somehow stomach/pay back the 130K in loans you will need to attend KSG. for me, i'm still leaning towards NYU because i really can't see myself going corporate after graduation. but i'm attending the admitted student's weekend at KSG in two weeks (Wagner's was yesterday) to get a clear sense of the program before i make my final decision.

thanks for the advice, winkatme! what schools are you deciding between? i still haven't heard anything, but the admissions offices of KSG and Wagner say i should know by the end of this week. how nerve-wracking! i also called WWS to ask how the waitlist works (i.e., is it ranked?) but i only got through to a voicemail message. so far i'm still leaning towards part-time Wagner and full-time work because, as you say, being in debt sucks.

hi, thanks for the reply. since my job is 9-5, i definitely think i could make it work. it will mean only taking 2 classes a semester, but it also will let me go to school without breaking the bank. i spoke to the wagner admissions office today, and they said that we should all hear about financial aid by the end of this week or next week... which still doesn't make the waiting any easier.

hi, thanks. i feel very blessed, i must say. WWS says i will hear "within the next few weeks" about whether i'm off the wait list or not. KSG will notify $ by march 20 and Wagner by the end of march. it seems so long to wait! i also need to talk to my boss if i'm going to leave, or if i'm going to go part-time... in the mean time, i'm going to visit Wagner, UCLA and KSG's admitted student days. UCLA seems like a long shot now, since they gave some money but not enough, but they're paying for my flight and who knows, i may fall in love with the program. i just don't feel right saying no until i go and take a look for myself. and yeah i agree, i'm not even considering SIPA or GSPP since they didn't offer any money. thanks again, and good luck with your own process!

Hi everyone, I'm new on this site, joined with the hopes that you can give me some advice with my decision-making process, now that letters are in. I was accepted to the following MPP/MPA programs: Harvard Kennedy School (waiting on fellowship decisions) NYU Wagner (waiting on fellowship decisions) UCLA School of Public Affairs (awarded $10,000 for the first year) Columbia SIPA (no fellowships) UC Berkeley (no fellowships) And I was waitlisted at Princeton Woodrow Wilson School (which offers full fellowship aid to most admitted students). Some background on me: I have a lot of credit card debt and undergrad loans and though I am paying it all down, I am not sure I want to take out more loans. I have been working full-time for 8 years and live in New York City. I have a good job working for the City, with great mentoring and definite room to move up. My entire career has been in the nonprofit and public sector...I do think about running for local office eventually, and realize that prestige is important in opening doors (though not the only factor). I went to Georgetown SFS for undergrad. I am also in a committed relationship, and my partner has decided not to move with me if I leave NYC. We could do long-distance NYC-Boston or NYC-NJ but I don't think we could survive NYC-CA for two years. So here are my questions: 1. what do you think my chances are of getting into WWS off the wait list? it is my first choice, because of fellowship aid 2. if I don't get in to Princeton, and I don't get aid from Harvard, but I get a fellowship at NYU, should I go with the NYU fellowship, or take out loans to go to Harvard? 3. if I don't get in to Princeton, and I don't get aid from Harvard or NYU, is it worth it to take out loans to go to Harvard? or should I keep my job and go to NYU part-time? 4. if by some miracle I get into Princeton AND get funding from Harvard and NYU, what to do? Harvard is highest ranked in the areas I am interested in (urban policy and administration), and NYU is right up there too, but Princeton not so much. Thanks so much for your advice. All the waiting on fellowship/wait list decisions is killing me!

Hi everyone, I'm new on this site, joined with the hopes that you can give me some advice with my decision-making process, now that letters are in. I was accepted to the following MPP/MPA programs: Harvard Kennedy School (waiting on fellowship decisions) NYU Wagner (waiting on fellowship decisions) UCLA School of Public Affairs (awarded $10,000 for the first year) Columbia SIPA (no fellowships) UC Berkeley (no fellowships) And I was waitlisted at Princeton Woodrow Wilson School (which offers full fellowship aid to most admitted students). Some background on me: I have a lot of credit card debt and undergrad loans and though I am paying it all down, I am not sure I want to take out more loans. I have been working full-time for 8 years and live in New York City. I have a good job working for the City, with great mentoring and definite room to move up. My entire career has been in the nonprofit and public sector...I do think about running for local office eventually, and realize that prestige is important in opening doors (though not the only factor). I went to Georgetown SFS for undergrad. I am also in a committed relationship, and my partner has decided not to move with me if I leave NYC. We could do long-distance NYC-Boston or NYC-NJ but I don't think we could survive NYC-CA for two years. So here are my questions: 1. what do you think my chances are of getting into WWS off the wait list? it is my first choice, because of fellowship aid 2. if I don't get in to Princeton, and I don't get aid from Harvard, but I get a fellowship at NYU, should I go with the NYU fellowship, or take out loans to go to Harvard? 3. if I don't get in to Princeton, and I don't get aid from Harvard or NYU, is it worth it to take out loans to go to Harvard? or should I keep my job and go to NYU part-time? 4. if by some miracle I get into Princeton AND get funding from Harvard and NYU, what to do? Harvard is highest ranked in the areas I am interested in (urban policy and administration), and NYU is right up there too, but Princeton not so much. Thanks so much for your advice. All the waiting on fellowship/wait list decisions is killing me!

hi all, i was also accepted to NYU Wagner for fall 2008. still waiting to hear on fellowship aid. i also applied for the reynolds fellowship. no news yet, it's killing me. i'm strongly considering NYU Wagner, especially because i live and work in NYC. i'm just not sure whether to keep my job and go to school part-time if i don't get fellowship aid. seems like a lot. i was also accepted to Harvard Kennedy School (waiting on fellowship aid) and waitlisted at Princeton WWS, but both of those would require me to give up my job. which isn't such a big deal if i'm getting fellowship aid, but could get really expensive if i'm not. any thoughts? thanks, and maybe see you this fall!