pubpol101

Has anyone had any luck negotiating with Heinz for augmented financial aid? I have a full tuition award at Texas-Austin, and I emailed Heinz for a hopefully more comparable award since the 50% tuition offer, while presenting an equivalent discount, also results in a steep $23k annual tuition on top of the $10-15k living costs ($70k total price).

Haha yeah, public/international policy was my field of choice. I was kind of paranoid on my ability to get accepted with financial aid, given how I'm straight out of undergrad, but everything has worked out. Exactly right. The both of us have long lives ahead of us. I've been able to satisfactorily plan for potentially positive outcomes for my plans to serve in both fields, and I'm sure you've been able to do so as well. It's just that the drastic differences between my two fields and between your choices as well drive us to consider how exactly we're able to optimize our outcomes years down the road. Not just yet. When Pickering names the finalists, that means they've named us as those among the 40 individuals to be interviewed. Out of these 40, 20 will receive the fellowship. That being said, I will almost certainly attend JHU-SAIS if I receive the fellowship. After everything I've read about the Foreign Service, it's almost become a no-brainer for me to choose that over pharmacy or any job that might come out of the LBJ school. This month, I'm just hoping to prepare the best I can. I wouldn't have dreamed of being remotely successful with a fellowship like this as a freshman, and so even if I don't get it, I'm/will be so happy to have been blessed with great opportunities in the two different fields.

It's working!

With all three of your choices, you couldn't have gone wrong. I'm sure you'll have an awesome time at LSE! Congrats! On my end, things have been a bit difficult. Because the differences between pharmacy and policy are so drastic, I've had to face a lot of existential questions on what's truly important to me. Where will I be able to effect the most change? What sort of curriculum will both intellectually challenge me and prepare me to help others? What sort of life do I want for my wife and kids when I have them? How can I put my family first, and still help others at the same time? Etc. etc. Thus, not much progress. Between policy and PharmD, it *was* pretty much between UT-Austin's scholarship and UF PharmD. However, I've just been notified that I'm a finalist for the Pickering Fellowship, which complicates things and brings SAIS back into the picture.

I'm a finalist! I can't believe this... Any tips from Rangel/Payne fellows for the interview and written exam?

I'm in a similar position as you, though I'm considering offers of admission from other programs as well (UT Austin, pharmacy, etc.) in addition to IHEID and SAIS. What do you want to do? Are you interested in the US Defense sector, international organizations, or something else? Each of these schools have very different environments as you noted--LSE may seem to be a good option in terms of its seemingly global reputation, but the DC location of SAIS and Geneva location of IHEID will greatly shape the opportunities you're able to take advantage of. I'm also interested in hearing any input from other students on this matter.

For the early application cycle, I was able to apply for accommodation before I confirmed my enrollment--I myself haven't confirmed or paid the preregistration fee yet.

Has anyone had any luck renegotiating financial aid? Does anyone know if this is even possible? I've received a full tuition scholarship from a public policy school in the United States, but IHEID would be my top choice if it were more affordable.

Does anyone know if there's a Facebook associated with the incoming class?

At the LBJ school, the MPAff degree requires 48 credits. To complete 12 credits in a semester, out of state students must pay $10,267, which amounts to $41,068 in tuition over four semesters.

I believe I may have looked at around 30 schools, and I narrowed them down to approximately 14 MPP/MPA/MIA programs. This doesn't include the pharmacy programs I applied to. I wanted to have strong institutions that I could pair with potential fellowships that I applied for and weaker, but still moderately strong institutions that I'd have a good chance of getting a great deal of financial aid at. This was quite problematic as I don't fit the typical applicant's profile: I'm graduating with a STEM degree after two years of college (I didn't have an AA via dual enrollment prior to entering) and applying straight out of undergrad with no full time work experience. With my financial situation, financial considerations, along with the strength of the programs' DC networks, were paramount--I focused on the percentage of students receiving financial aid, the number of students receiving half-tuition or preferably better scholarships (full tuition, stipend, etc.), and my place relative to the incoming class (experience credentials, etc.). In addition, I took some time analyzing the curricula, placement in DC (number of graduates and types of positions), and other location factors of the schools. Thus, I ended up with several reach institutions (admitted to Johns Hopkins-SAIS, rejected/wait-listed by some others) and "safeties", specifically fitting the definition of 1) good chances of admission and 2) relatively good chances of half/full tuition scholarships. I can't say that I regret applying to so many institutions--it was certainly an eye-opener on the value of work experience, and I was able to familiarize myself in depth with the curricula and opportunities associated with public affairs programs around the nation and world. And I certainly believe that if I'd taken a more narrow route with my applications, I might not have ended up with the full tuition fellowship with the University of Texas-Austin's LBJ MPAff program. But with the strange opportunity to choose between the LBJ school's MPAff fellowship, JHU-SAIS, and the PharmD program at the University of Florida, I once again run into the issues of work experience. Without W.E., I can't say for certain whether I'd be able to leverage LBJ's curriculum more strongly than I would with UF's PharmD program. The choice is difficult given the disparity between the fields and the lack of enthusiasm I had when I originally applied to both the LBJ school and UF's PharmD programs.

Does anyone know if the MSPPM program has sent any rejections? Or are they saving those for last? I've seen some Heinz rejections on the GradCafe survey this year, but they're all for PhDs in another field, and I myself haven't received anything from Heinz. And has anyone received an MSPPM/public policy related degree since March 7th? There isn't a single Heinz public policy notification on the GradCafe survey site that has appeared since that date.

Anybody want to theorize on why schools like IU-B and Syracuse are ranked so highly? I know that these rankings are just based on opinions of deans, which are likely to have few real-world implications. However, I was wondering, what exactly do these people see in IU-B and Syracuse when they rank these schools so highly? Is it that they see SPEA and Maxwell grads often? That there's a great deal of collaboration between schools on research? Or is it something else?

I was wait-listed as well. :/ It's an amazing school, so while I have offers at other institutions, I may end up frantically checking my email in June to see if I get a positive response academically and financially. Anyone know if they wait-list a lot of people and/or if they rarely take students off the list? I'd imagine Duke's yield to be quite high, with the program's stature and financial aid, but I may be wrong.

It's possible that they wanted to talk about the interests you detailed in your application. I received a personal email from an associate dean, who apparently said that my app was 'particularly attractive' and that he'd like to talk with me via email/phone about the specific interests I noted on the curriculum and my planned career trajectory. Based on the wording of his email, it was clear that he himself had read my application. Is everyone else receiving these sorts of emails? The personal touch LBJ is giving here has been quite surprising, and even more so with my non-competitiveness as an applicant straight out of undergrad.

Fletcher gives an automatic scholarship for all MYF admits, with the minimum award being $10,000. Additional awards are given out during the year of entry. http://fletcher.tufts.edu/Admissions/Apply-to-Fletcher/Map-Your-Future#Scholarships

When did you hear back? I haven't received anything from Pickering this year--rejection or acceptances. And I thought that this year's application process was supposed to only have finalist notifications sent out by the end of March--I thought the final fellowships were supposed to be distributed mid-April.

Some people on the results page indicated that they received "preliminary fellowship funding", so I think that given JHU-SAIS's stinginess on scholarships, if we haven't been notified of aid, we are not likely to receive it.

Just got admitted! Absolutely shocked since I'm straight out of undergrad, and I've been rejected by so many places.

Have any rejections been sent out? I've noticed that no one has posted an acceptance for nearly a week and that previous years' MSPPM rejections have come around their March 15 date. Are they sending out acceptances first and then sending out an email blast for rejections on the last possible day? I called the admissions office and they never gave a straight answer.

I've already divorced myself from the possibility of attending Princeton WWS this coming fall, so I'll take this thread as an indicator of my rejection.

See here: wws.princeton.edu/admissions/wws-blog/item/wws-graduate-admissions-timeline-2016

That makes sense. I however intend to continue policy work through UF's resources in its other departments just as I've done at the undergraduate level. As a research university, I believe it has at least some of the opportunities necessary for me to maintain, expand upon, and integrate my interests in healthcare and policy. This unfortunately runs into the last problem you described: Throughout my undergrad career, I have oftentimes felt limited by the sciences. The fact that studying for organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and other rigorous courses took so much time meant I had less time to focus on my policy interests. There have been numerous times where I've taken serious steps to prepare for my attempt to drop the sciences and focus on public policy (college transfer applications--admitted to Cornell for political science, but I decided against it; my apps to MPP programs; etc.). I believe that the pharmacy curriculum will partially be an end unto itself, with its applicability to healthcare, but I haven't quite found a way to say with certainty that I won't burn out in the PharmD program trying to maintain a substantial interest in public policy. Yet on the other hand, I can't say with certainty that I'd achieve the level of success I'd want at UT Austin's MPA program, as @kasbah and numerous others have noted that I'd appreciate the MPAff curriculum far more if I had real world experience. Such experience can come from the mandatory internships of UF's PharmD program ("APPE and IPPE"), where we work at hospitals, retail pharmacies, and sometimes with the FDA and research laboratories as pharmacy interns. Perhaps MPP/MPA programs might view these experiences as similar to Teach For America and other experiences--real world entry-level work that directly links the individual to the policy world. I've sort of locked myself into the premed/prepharm track, due to career prospects of the clinical professions and my interest in them. I also have little interest in pursuing research as a vocation for those thesis-oriented MS programs. @aslabchu, the concerns you've noted are certainly valid. Your response has been quite helpful, bringing my thoughts back to the concerns I've previously thought about but failed to integrate with my current thought process. I might have to work several years anyway to save up funding, but at the same time, with those sorts of funds, I might end up deciding against an MPP/MPA program and simply running for local office after a substantial portion of my loans are paid off, closing off the "fast-track" towards national policy impact via UT Austin MPAff.

As you can see in my signature below, I was admitted to programs in two separate fields. I applied after completing a year of undergrad (state university, magna cum laude projected; in college 2014-2016 due to accelerated track) majoring in biomedical sciences. I was able to complete some internship, research, and writing experiences to prepare myself for a career in public policy, though not nearly to the extent of most Princeton, Harvard, Berkeley, etc. applicants. The offers I'm most seriously considering, given my likely rejections from remaining programs, are UTexas-Austin LBJ (MPA, full tuition), University of Florida PharmD, and the possibility of a scholarship from Carnegie Mellon's MSPPM-DC track. I can probably go on and on about the factors I've considered for both fields (family life, my passions in policy, salary, location, etc etc.), but I'd like to focus on the following thought process specifically: I believe that in spite of UT Austin LBJ's full tuition offer, my rejections from the most selective programs (Duke wait-list, Yale reject, etc.) are clearly indicative of how my lack of full time work experience will prevent me from fully leveraging a professional program in public affairs. While I am particularly interested in counter-terrorism, and healthcare, and some other fields, and while I have considerable research experience in all of them (at least compared to other undergraduates), I believe that I would be a far more competitive applicant if I completed a PharmD program first, worked in the field, and subsequently applied to target institutions like Princeton WWS, Harvard, and Columbia. I hope to grow as an individual by engaging healthcare as a true practitioner in the field of pharmacy in spite of how virtually all of my extracurricular activities (aside from the pre-med formula of hard biomedical research, volunteer work, non-profit leadership) have revolved around policy. I will be 24 when I complete the PharmD degree, as opposed to 22 if I were to focus on UT Austin's MPAff program. Perhaps through personal growth and my drastically more competitive profile, I will be able to secure a far more meaningful career after a professional public policy program if I choose to complete one after the PharmD. My question: Is this logic sound? Or since my ultimate goal is to enter the policy field (elected office, wonk analyst, or some other means), is it illogical for me to turn down UT Austin's full tuition offer? Prior to formulating this paradigm, I had difficulty deciding between UT Austin and UF PharmD, but now I've never been more sure of my decision to pursue one of the two options.

March 11th according to their blog--this Friday.