obrien_blue

@MPPKS I'm certainly going to fill in that area. Never miss an opportunity to advocate for yourself! Especially when they're asking you to!

I'm 3/3, and I'm ready to have this noise over with! Now that I've got some things to think about, I would really like Harvard to tell me if they should be my head or not! Good luck, everyone; I'm at the point of needing to be sedated.

Personally, I think I'd go out for admit day, just to see. It might ease some of your concerns, and they probably reimburse some of the expenses. I'm hoping I end up with full funding one way or another to one of my places - it would be lovely to really concentrate on the program/school instead of working as well. I've talked with my boss about maybe transferring to another one of our offices and doing the program part time (at NYU, they actually have it set up so you can work full time if you want and go full time, so we'll see), but if I didn't have to do that...I mean, I would miss the money. Money is great. But the idea of sitting in a coffee shop at 2pm on a Tuesday while reading for an econ class and wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt sounds better than straight up hard cold cash for a couple of years. I cannot stress to you the call and power of yoga pants/soft clothes on a Tuesday after years of suits every day.

@wearingsocks For my two cents: I already have one professional degree (law), and I think you should go for fit and funding over prestige. I went to a tier two law school that was the same as my alma mater. Not terribly prestigious, but I did well, and I got great job offers after (I took a job through USDOJ Honors, and I'm now stupidly choosing to leave to do an MPP so that I can start my own non-profit). I've been dealing with these loans for 6.5 years. They are the utter worst, and I don't even have that much debt compared to most law grads. I feel like I made a good decision, because however fancy your degree is when you get it, the reality is that the debt can be a killer, and knowing I can manage this and pay has been worth more to me than a truly fancy degree (and if I didn't have any...my God. I would Scrooge McDuck swim in all of the money I would still have). I also got into Berkeley with no funding, so I'm crossing them off the list (also, I don't want to quit practicing entirely when I'm in school, and CA would mean another bar - they were always in it for me only if I got a full ride). Prestige is an important factor, but as I learned in law school, professional school can depend a lot on what you make out of it. If you hustle and work connections - and every school you listed has them - then you can turn that full funding into something great after. Good luck!

I heard from them yesterday about my fellowship prospects - I didn't make finalist (boooo), but they seemed adamant that admissions decisions would DEFINITELY be by Friday, with merit-based scholarship info for everyone to come the following week. No one is going to have to wait past Friday!

Congrats, fellow admits! I'm going to try to go to spring preview, but HKS has theirs the same weekend, so I won't know for sure until that decision is out. But I'm thrilled to know I'm in with some funding at an awesome school! I hope I get to meet you guys!

...and I'm an idiot. Mine was in a spam folder?! So check that if you're not seeing yours, guys. I was accepted! No money Probably for the best; I am a lawyer, and I want to practice some while in school; I would have to take another bar for CA, so money was necessary. Good luck, y'all! Congrats, fellow admits!

I don't have anything from Berkeley, yet. I've now got half funding at Michigan; I just found out I didn't move on to the final round for fellowship at NYU (though I'm presumably in and up for merit-based fellowships); and now, Berkeley, you at playing with my emotions! I'm in a fragile place! And waiting on HKS. I need to be sedated. Congrats to to those of you in/with funding! Amazing achievement!

I want to note, for anyone who doesn't get full funding: the grad asstanceships look amazing. Full tuition, stipend, health care. So, if you get in, but you don't get funding, friends, don't lose heart!

I was just notified that I got in with a half fellowship. I'm up for a full at NYU (let's hope I make the finals for it!), so it looks like there might still be some decisions to make, but it's great to know I'm in somewhere! I hope everyone else hears really soon! And if anyone turns down funding, then I totally want to know!

Congrats to those of you who am have received news! Did you get it via email? I haven't heard a word from them, so I'm anxious!

Congrats on the possible fellowship! That's amazing! And thanks for that insight on a possible decision day!

It said on the fellowships page that they would be letting people know about interviews on March 11 (unless I invented this fact in my mind...possible). So I assume we'll know about admissions by then. What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, when it was still February, I wasn't going crazy. Today, I'm a lunatic.

Starting a thread for anyone awaiting a decision from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Anyone have any intel/guesses on a date for admissions decisions?

Starting a thread for anyone awaiting a decision from the Goldman School of Public Policy at Berkeley on MPP admissions. Anyone have any intel/guesses on a date for admissions decisions?

Hi all, I'm waiting along with you. I got super lucky and had a semi-finalist interview for one of the fellowships last week, and they seemed to indicate that this would be the timeline: Fellowship finalists by 3/4 Admission decisions by 3/11 Other financial/scholarship decisions sometime the week after It seemed like they were feeling pretty good about meeting those dates, but you never know. Good luck to everyone! Maybe we'll all be in school together next year! As for "why NYU" for me - First, I applied to HKS, Michigan Ford, Goldman Berkeley, and NYU. All of these schools are great; all of them have completely different programs. The draw for NYU to me is two things: it's a school of public service instead of policy (which is interesting), and the scheduled allows you to work part or even full time, if you want. My big interest is in domestic poverty; there's some great work being done on that front at NYU. I'm applying after seven years of practice as a USDOJ attorney, so one thing that was important to me was reciprocity in other jurisdictions. Other than CA, I would have reciprocity in all of the states where I applied, meaning I could practice without taking another bar. NYC also allows for a lot of possible transfer opportunities for me, work wise. If I get in to more than one of these schools, then I have to have go into Serious Self-Reflection Mode and figure out what I really, really want. If I only get into one, then The Fates have made the decision for me. We'll see! Good luck, everyone!

Hi all, I'm waiting along with you! I applied to HKS, Berkeley Goldman, Michigan Ford, and NYU Wagner. I had a semi-finalist Skype interview with Wagner last week for a fellowship, so either I'm in there, or I just tanked my own chances (people waiting for Wagner: it sounds like they'll have finalist fellowship decisions at the end of this week, then probably admissions by the end of the next, with additional funding info the next week, so just hold tight, guys!). I thought when I finished that interview and my HKS essays, I would feel relieved....but no. The wait. Is. Terrible. I'm a practicing attorney with DOJ, so God knows there's enough work to keep me busy, but I don't know if anything short of a bottle of wine and a time machine is going to make me sane by next week. Congrats to those who have gotten in, and good luck to the rest of us!

So, I'm making a possibly insane decision to go back to school after what will be 7 years of legal practice, and nearing the end of my debt repayment, but for reasons listed herein (spoiler alert: not because I hate the law), I'm going for it. Program: MPP Schools: HKS, UC-Berkeley (Goldman), Michigan, NYU Undergrad School: Honors College at an SEC Public University (2002) Undergrad GPA: 3.94 (journalism and political science, summa cum laude) Notes: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, ran an after school tutoring/mentoring program for at-risk elementary students, mock trial (national team), had two other jobs to pay for my life JD: Same SEC Public University (Second tier) JD GPA: 3.45 (cum laude) Notes: Moot Court (vice-chair; numerous advocacy awards at national level for both writing and oral argument), state bar litigation award Current Job: USDOJ Trial Attorney, hired through 2009 Honors Program (have been here ever since). Handle primarily bankruptcy litigation, all appellate lit for three offices. Will have seven years of federal trial experience by the time I would start back in school. GRE: Around 160 Q and 165 V. Other notes: Exec board member of leading Alzheimer's Association fundraiser in the state for three+ years, member of the board for leading education policy non-profit in the state for five years (board chair for 1.5 years, during which time our capital quintupled), adult kickball team captain (seriously. It's fun). Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement: I love the law. I love being a lawyer. But the march through the Justice System is too slow for some things, and growing up in the poorest region of one of (if not the) poorest states in the country, then following that up with six+ years of bankruptcy litigation during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression has made me realize that I want to do something more than what I'm currently able to do with my JD alone. I anticipate that I'd want to focus on domestic economic development/poverty reform. LORs: executive director of aforementioned education non-profit (and HKS alum), law professor who has been my mentor through my career (HKS alum), and my immediate supervisor Am I insane? Should I broaden my school list? I really want places that have strong interests in domestic policy, so that's why I've chosen the ones I have. I also don't want to take on a whole lot more debt (I got out of law school with relatively manageable debt, due to staying in state at my original alma mater), so any notes on what that profile would look like for funding purposes would also be great!