coasts

@obrien_blue thanks for sharing your thought process! I've been working in policy for a few years now (the last few in NYC) and I'm really looking immerse myself in school and classes, so Wagner's flexibility is less appealing to me. But many of my coworkers do the part-time and have done really well in it. I'm also less attracted to Wagner because my understanding is that it's less quantitatively rigorous, which is the area I feel I need to develop most. Finally, NY cost of living is just not student friendly. So, I probably won't go, but may well attend the admit day because I'm already in the area so why not!

Haha yes I am in! Is Wagner a strong possibility for you? Seems like you have some really excellent other choices!

Got an email saying that my official letter of admission will come by email later today. In the meantime the sent me log-in information to view a video..

It's a really exciting program to me in terms of the resources it offers, but if I'm accepted (which I'm not assuming at all will even happen) without very substantial funding I'm likely to turn it down. It's a very expensive school!

Received rejection email as well. Feels like there's an unusually small number of people on this board admitted this year, compared to what was reported in threads from past years

I still haven't gotten anything either. To be honest, I'm feeling surprised at the thought of being rejected (not even admitted without funding), given that I've gotten three acceptances with full scholarships at each. update: received email around 3pm that I've been waitlisted.

Don't discount your accomplishment! If you look in past years' results, there are definitely admits who didn't get any money.

Gosh, I guess I should let go of my dreams of getting funding from Ford...

Off the top of my head, here are some things I've heard about certain schools: NYU - Strength in nonprofit management; lots of part-time students and classes offered in the evening; a lot of team-based work. Less quantitatively rigorous. Michigan Ford School - Strong in education and social policy and quantitative methods.

While we're playing the waiting game, I thought it would be useful to start thinking about the kinds of questions we should be asking programs should we be in the position of needing to choose between different schools and offers. I'm anticipating talking to various program administrators, professors, and current students in the coming weeks and I want to have some really good questions prepared that will help me really understand what the school offers and what it would be like to be a student there. Just based off the websites, it's hard to tell the differences between top programs, but I know that they do exist! A friend who is in an MBA program posted a list of questions that get at organizational culture in workplaces: What behaviors are rewarded? Punished? Where and how are people spending their resources (time, money, attention)? What rules and expectations are followed, enforced, and ignored? Do people feel safe and supported talking about how they feel and asking for what they need? What stories are legend and what values do they convey? I don't have any ideas yet for what a similar set of questions would look like for schools, but would love to hear if you guys have any thoughts on what you'll be asking! And if there is anything that you already know about a school's culture/strengths, please share!

Looks like Carnegie Mellon Heinz offers up to $200 for ground transportation reimbursement and $350 for air.

@shrimps noticed you learned about CMU already! I'm kicking myself for not getting it together to submit my FAFSA yet, which I think might be the hold up with my notification (assuming I got in). Got an email a couple weeks ago from the admissions office nudging me to do it...

In at LBJ MPAff too with a $20k fellowship and in-state tuition. Happy with the offer but (and I know this is ridiculous) wishing I had gotten the $50k so that living expenses could be covered too... Anyone know if they have an open house/when it is?

It seems like it's well worth traveling to schools for their admit/visit days as it's an opportunity to really see how much we like the school, staff, other students, and surrounding community. At the same time, all the travel can add up! Has anyone been successful in getting a school to provide some financial support/reimbursement for these expenses? I know it's common for PhD programs but not sure about Master's...

Just wondering if others have video essays they need to submit and if they've started thinking about what to put in them. Experience from past applicants would be great to hear as well! I really don't have a sense for what the Admissions Committees are looking for in these...need to do them for NYU, Duke, and CMU.

I'm looking to apply to MPP/MPA programs this fall. While I have strong work experience and excellent GRE scores, I'm concerned about my fairly poor undergraduate transcript. I'm considering taking an online class (or maybe at a school - I'm in NYC), mostly likely statistics. Does anyone have recommendations for good online providers? I checked UCLA Extension, and their online classes are only offered periodically from what I can tell. UC Berkeley Extension has a statistics class online for about $800 so I may go that route. Also appreciate any thoughts on whether taking an intro statistics class (which I already took in college; just didn't do well in) is a worthwhile endeavor, particularly while I'm also going to be working on applications! Thanks!