LeeLeeLove

i am a senior at college and have been accepted to my top choice for mpp program . however, i realized that it may be better for me to take a few years off school to work and find out what i really want.

but i have already accepted the offer of admission. can i tell them i don't want to attend anymore? what if i apply after a few years to the same program, would they still take me in? i can only imagine my profile improving with a few years of relevant work experience. what about my letter writers? will they still be willing to write the letters for me? they helped me get into a whole bunch of schools and now i telling them i am not going to attend grad school....

Well of course it affected my GPA adversely, lol (not funny). But Heinz doesn't seem to have a cut off, and they only indicated that they would need to see my final transcript to verify completion of my undergraduate degree.

But seriously... They can't possibly rescind because of that. I mean, it is all under their discretion, but I would come into their offices and give them a piece of my mind. I took a theoretical mathematics course that students looking to go into a graduate econ or math program take, and I didn't do well... I repeated it, trying to get my GPA up again, but again, didn't do well.

Because I got an acceptance from them early, I committed to them and cannot, at this point, attend some other program I have been accepted into (it is too late to do so now), so I feel that if they rescind their offer, that would be extremely unfair to me... Especially since they did not provide any specific condition for me to meet in order to maintain eligibility for their program, besides just graduating.

Cappa - lots of good points being made but if you don't feel ready to go to grad school then don't go. It's not unethical and you certainly shouldn't go just because a perfect job isn't waiting for you right now. Admission committees will not look on it unfavorably later - they'll either be indifferent to it or, in some cases, impressed by your discipline of turning down a good school to go get some work experience.

Like others have said, there's nothing inherently wrong with going to graduate school without work experience (obviously, since you just got into your top choice), but a lot of people (like myself) find it instructive to have been in the 'real world' before going to graduate school as it can have a major effect on what you decide you really want to do. The MPP is a fortunately versatile degree (though not as versatile as some), but you may find that in the next few years that you actually want to go into neuroscience or business or physics - who knows?

And being unemployed can be just as instructive as being employed. As many people with social science undergrad degrees have discovered, specialization and specific skillsets are crucial to getting work, especially in today's economy. Many people who might have gone on to getting IR or pub policy degrees have turned to public health or economics - or some other growth industry - because of their time in the job market (or not).

What I'm trying to say is that if you don't feel like you're ready to jump into graduate school, it's ridiculous for anyone to tell you that you're wrong. Go when you're ready - you'll do better and you'll be better set up for employment because you'll be closer to knowing (most likely) where to focus your interests and career path. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat more.

With all due respect, what makes you think you can get a job? If you don't have one lined up, you are now in line behind hundreds or thousands of other graduates (both current and decades old) who had apps in months ago, some of whom have years if not decades of experience. I don't say that to be rude so much as to make sure you know what you're getting into. This is *the* worst job market in decades. In fact, your grandparents may not even have seen it this bad. I can promise you one thing, flipping burgers at McD's will be no way to figure out what you want to do than grad school. And I would almost put money on you flipping burgers in a month, unless you have something sweet lined up.

Again, sorry to be harsh, but please make sure you know what you're doing and not just that you've got the cold feet we all do right now

Unless you have a specific job lined up, go to grad school. You can explore what you want to do just as easily, and you'll come away with a degree at the end of that time. It will be a lot harder to get those references to write the second time around and a few years later, and you have no idea what the pool of applicants will be like or if the programs change or close.

There are a lot of threads on here from people questioning whether they are doing the right thing. I think most of us have cold feet or anxiety about starting in the fall, so you're not alone in that. If you have funding, go for it! If you don't have funding, try it for a year and leave if you don't like it. And you can always seek out internships while in school.

but that's just my two cents. Good luck!

Hi all,

I have a serious dilemma. Does one W on a transcript hurt my chances when applying for a master in public policy?
I have a good cum. GPA and work experiences. However, does one W hurt when applying to places such as Georgetown and Brown--that's where I would like to apply.
I would like to apply to places that has strengths in domestic health policy. I plan to make a career in DC.

Cum GPA: 3.5 - Political Science major


Work experience:
-1 year of Epidemiological research on burn victims in the US and HK at medical institutions in the US and HK
-2 years of scientific / medical research at the Department of Medicine and Department of Plant Pathology within my school
-1 quarter (10 weeks) as legislative intern for a State Representative
-1 quarter (10 weeks) as congressional intern / assistant to regional representative with a U.S. Senator who is a leader in healthcare and financial reform
-1 quarter (10 weeks) as congressional intern with House Majority Whip in DC


O, I have done all of this by the end of my junior year of college. I'm still a baby or no0b....

Thank you very, very much!

Mr. Cheeseman

Hey All -- Though accepted elsewhere, I was waitlisted for my top choice, Fletcher, and am meeting with the Admissions Committee this coming week in an attempt to upgrade my status to a full admit, either for Fall 2010 or Spring 2011. Beyond addressing what I perceive as any gaps in my profile that weren't addressed in my initial application, does anyone have any advice to share on what to say to the Admissions staff? For current or accepted Fletcher students, what about your/your application do you think caught their eye?

My stats are all well within range or above range, but I am on the younger side (will have a little over one year relevant full-time work experience, plus several State Department/congressional internships and 8 months abroad in my region of focus).

Any thoughts are welcome, thanks very much.

i used the same address everyone is using.

the reason why they told me their admission decision over email is that i sent them an email on 18 march, explaining that i need to know the outcome asap because i need to respond to a job offer. they replied on 19 march to say that a decision has been made and i should receive something in the post soon. so when i emailed them yesterday, i pointed out that their letter has not reached me. i think they are obliged to tell me, since they promised it would be sent out soon in their reply on 19 match.

i am not trying to be a wet blanket here, but i can't imagine a school will inform you that you have been admitted and give you less than a week to respond. i think it is in our best interest to make a decision based on whatever offers we have at this point, instead of just waiting for msfs.

i am not saying this because i am rejected (i got into my top choice anyway), but i really think that msfs is being extremely unprofessional here by insisting that decisions can only be conveyed over mail. they have already sent out admittance via email, why can't they do that for rejections?

I've been following this thread in horror, even though I didn't apply to the MSFS. It almost seems like they just decided who to admit and then said... oh, we'll worry about the rest later!

Important consideration: will there be free lunch??

Sorry on the no funding :-( - that is shitty. But maybe once there, you can look for different fellowships within Georgetown for the second year?

The key thing for us I think is the job placement rates. Looks like over 90% of SSP grads get jobs within three months, according to their website. Lots of them are in private-sector consulting firms, lots of them are in the federal government, lots of them are in non-profit.

Here is the official report, lots of people working for different private sector firms as well as federal gov:
http://cpass.georgetown.edu/documents/SSP%20CAREER%20PLACEMENT%20REPORT_Jan09.pdf

I also got in touch with alum in D.C. who went to these schools from my undergrad institution, one of whom works for State and is on the NSC right now (e-mail given to me by advisor). He says tons of G'town people are in foreign service - I, like you, really like the idea of a potential Foreign Service career. And the bottom line from most of them, in any case, was that it doesn't matter that much which school you went to if you are at the level of Georgetown, Hopkins, Tufts and these types of schools - they will all get you a job, and once you get that job, it's about performance. Though one Georgetown grad I talked to said the name-recognition she has gotten for her Georgetown degree at companies outside of the D.C. area is very valuable.

I think the bottom-line from that information is that the answer to my original (and your original) "Is Georgetown SSP limiting?" question is an obvious "no" - in fact, it's probably just the opposite, that it opens up tons of opportunities and is a great school (in some ways better than SAIS - all depends). As I said, you'll know more about economics at SAIS - but you'll know more about security at Georgetown, and be just as well-placed to get a job and still have access to excellent faculty and an alumni network and so forth. And yes, if you are still thinking about business, maybe SSP isn't as good as SAIS - but, look at the job placement rates, you can still get into a private consulting thing fine, and if you end up going into national security, you are pretty set.

To answer your question: I am looking at the U.S. National Security concentration. It seems to be best for me... I like how they have economics applied to security courses there, and there are courses about the defense industry that can get you into a consulting position if you are interested in that. One thing i like about the applied economics courses is that whereas at SAIS you just have a course on, say, International Finance Theory, at Georgetown you instead of a course on National Security and the International Finance System - it's more applied to the field, it seems like (same with, at Georgetown: "Economic Instruments of National Security Policy" or "Economics of Sub-state Violence" or "International Arms Trade" - all economics applied to security courses on public and private sector issues, rather than economics for the sake of economics).

I suggest planning out your ideal curriculum at g'town based on their requirements and course availability. That's what I did. Keep in mind, too, for your free elective you can take MSFS course "Analytical / Statistical Skills" - which would make up for alot of lost quantitative opportunities at SAIS and be nice for a private or public sector career.

If I were you though, I would probably go to Georgetown. I've been on the fence like you, too, although I have funding so it's a bit different, but I think the opportunity to go to a school like Georgetown is a great one and that you can use the resources there to your great advantage. I always try to remember that no school itself will do it for you - you yourself have to take advantage of that school's resources and make it work great for you. I don't see that being hard to do at a place like Georgetown, with exceptional faculty, career resources and great placement rates. And with those thoughts, I stopped acting irrational and tried to wake up and realize I am going to one of the best IR schools in the country, even if it might not be number 1 in every area and I won't be an expert on Monetary Theory.

Lots to think about...Hope that helped. Maybe see you in the Fall!

Are everyone's letters saying the deadline is April 15th? Mine says April 26th...

Also it was mentioned in the online chat that funding decisions likely wouldn't be made until this week. The transcripts for the online chats are available on the SSP website. They aren't particularly easy to follow, but they answer a number of questions many of you likely have.

No-- I am still Hamlet and unable to make a decision! I am planning on attending both Open Houses (13 and 14 April) and trying to get a better feel for the programs. As soon as I resolve one issue with a program, another one crops up. I just got a new apartment that's blocks away from both the red metro line and Wisconsin so transport is equal between schools. But now I'm worried about SSP's brand value. The program is only 1.5 years and has no language requirement. That has to mean it's looked down at least a little, right? But the course catalogue is much more interesting. Sigh... But thank you for asking! It's comforting to know I'm not alone here.

Anyway, I have (sort of) answered my own posed questions by calling SSP today. However, I spoke to two people and they gave me completely conflicting information.

First person: Since there was no mention of funding in my letter, it means I didn't get any. Don't worry about the 15 April deadline-- as long we hear from you during the week, you're fine.
Second person: No funding decisions have been made yet. Funding decisions will be sent out via e-mail. The 15 deadline is very strict. The Open House was planned before Walsh set the official deadline, so it's regrettable timing.

The second person I spoke to is a big muckity-muck over in SSP admissions, so I'm going to take her word for it. However, SAIS's open house is on 14 April and there's no way I'm making a decision before then. So it looks like I might be driving into Georgetown with a check on the morning of the 15th. We'll see.

I missed the online chat (dumb) so I feel like my decision will be coming down to the wire. Oh, and the deposit is much less than other schools-- $200. I suppose you won't be making it to any of these open houses from Hawaii? Are you looking at the same programs? Thank you for commiserating with me!

Even though every school has a formula for how many will accept its offer of admission, it's impossible to truly know how many people will decide to go, especially in the current economic climate. If they admit 400 people with a target enrollment of 200 (hypothetical), it still might be possible that there are 250 people that are unable to go for financial or other reasons. Hence, the wait list. I don't know that there is really a trend as to how many people get into a school off of the wait list; I'd imagine it varies year to year.

Haha, what grad affairs program are you attending? I'll cross it off my list. Valid point, though, but one I hope few adhere to. I'd rather compete for funding with ten times the applicants and lose knowing the most-deserving candidates won then "earn" scholarship money because I was the only one to apply.

You should probably keep this to a minimum, do you honestly want all the obsessed gradschool cafe student population knowing about funding opportunities to make competition that much more stiff? Help yourself and keep the knowledge to yourself~ My two cents.

Unfortunately, I think its safe to assume a wait list decision or worse. SSP already hosted their live web chat for admitted applicants on March 24. It seems that Georgetown is needlessly and infuriatingly slow in communicating wait listed and rejected decisions. You could call if you want, but you probably won't get a straight answer (as has been the experience of those in the MSFS forum)

I say give them a call. What do you have to lose?

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I wanted to provide a bit of a reality check to aid those of you still waiting for an MSFS decision.

Those who were admitted to MSFS recieved their letters of admission on March 15 via email. On March 16, large packages were sent with paper admissions letters (dated 12 March), merit funding information, conditional admission information, enrollment guidelines, etc. The admissions letter made it clear that they had processed all admissions decisions. Most importantly: TODAY, March 25, MSFS is holding two live chat sessions for all admitted students.

I would be very very surprised if anyone who did not receive the initial email will get a decision beyond wait list or rejection. I find it impossible to believe that MSFS would schedule an online chat session today and rely on snail mail to make sure admitted applicants were aware of it. I say this only to urge those of you still holding out to begin focusing your energy on evaluating your other options.

I also assume you have recieved vaugue response from the Georgetown Grad/SFS admissions department becuase they have multiple programs (MAGES, SSP, etc) releasing decisions at different times. MSFS, however, does not appear to be releasing information in waves (a la SIPA). As you can see from the traffic on this site, no one has registered an admit since the initial March 15 email (or there abouts).

All of this said, I will not be taking my offer of admission at MSFS, so best of luck to all of you on the wait list!

Still waiting to hear back from SIS. Definitely fighting the urge to email the person I met with in the admissions department a few months ago. Literally ran to the mailbox after I heard the mailman come today. I don't think I cared this much about undergrad admissions. I feel like a retard. I think once I get in somewhere (if? hopefully?) I won't be as stressed. At this point, I'm riding the waiting list wave at two schools.

I found this article utterly charming, and very informative.

You always need an edge to get ahead and get noticed, it's the same if you're a puppy at the pound wanting to be taken home, a diamond ring behind the jewelry counter, or someone trying to be picked by a Ph.D program.

Really, GW? REALLY?!?! You're going to send out a mass e-mail on 17 March titled "Elliott School Admission Decision Availability" and then have that NOT be the decision letter? JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

I've already decided I'm going to GTown or SAIS so GW is completely off my radar, but this really riles me up. If I were waiting seriously for a GWU decision, I think I would be having a heart attack right now. This admissions office has absolutely no idea what it's doing. Sending out an e-mail like this so late in the game is a dumb (and cruel) mistake. Also, I think waiting around so long so make their decisions is really going to bite them in the ass. So many students have already heard from other schools, and those students are starting to make emotional connections with the schools who have accepted them. When GW finally gets around to accepting them , they'll have already decided to go somewhere else. At this point, if it were down to GWU and another school for me, this dumbass e-mail would have sent me running to the other school. Come on.

Really, GW? REALLY?!?! You're going to send out a mass e-mail on 17 March titled "Elliott School Admission Decision Availability" and then have that NOT be the decision letter? JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

I've already decided I'm going to GTown or SAIS so GW is completely off my radar, but this really riles me up. If I were waiting seriously for a GWU decision, I think I would be having a heart attack right now. This admissions office has absolutely no idea what it's doing. Sending out an e-mail like this so late in the game is a dumb (and cruel) mistake. Also, I think waiting around so long so make their decisions is really going to bite them in the ass. So many students have already heard from other schools, and those students are starting to make emotional connections with the schools who have accepted them. When GW finally gets around to accepting them , they'll have already decided to go somewhere else. At this point, if it were down to GWU and another school for me, this dumbass e-mail would have sent me running to the other school. Come on.

Thank you, I was surprised and flattered by the acceptances. And thank you for your response! I was thinking that SAIS might be a better fit, but it always feels better to get confirmation from someone else. In my mind, Georgetown is more for diplomats and SAIS is more for people interested in policy and private firms. I know this isn't how the schools describe themselves, but in my mind that's what it seems like. I am definitely more interested in just getting my MA and entering the private sector. I think corporate security abroad could be an interesting field. Plus, I like the fact that SAIS doesn't make students write a Master's thesis. My undergrad thesis was a huge waste of time and I don't want to repeat the process.

My stats are probably pretty similar to everyone else's. Graduated in 2006 from top-5 liberal arts college after studying abroad in Turkey. After graduating, worked abroad doing grass roots political work in Mongolia and Azerbaijan. Worked in several NGOs in DC and just got back from doing a Fulbright in Georgia. My GPA was completely average (3.5) and my GRE scores were not good (700/710/4!) so I think this really illustrates that they are looking more for work experience than straight numbers.

I've met so many SAIS students who seem eager and proud of their program, and I think the location is great. Brookings and the best gay bars in D.C.? Sign me up!

Thank you, I was surprised and flattered by the acceptances. And thank you for your response! I was thinking that SAIS might be a better fit, but it always feels better to get confirmation from someone else. In my mind, Georgetown is more for diplomats and SAIS is more for people interested in policy and private firms. I know this isn't how the schools describe themselves, but in my mind that's what it seems like. I am definitely more interested in just getting my MA and entering the private sector. I think corporate security abroad could be an interesting field. Plus, I like the fact that SAIS doesn't make students write a Master's thesis. My undergrad thesis was a huge waste of time and I don't want to repeat the process.

My stats are probably pretty similar to everyone else's. Graduated in 2006 from top-5 liberal arts college after studying abroad in Turkey. After graduating, worked abroad doing grass roots political work in Mongolia and Azerbaijan. Worked in several NGOs in DC and just got back from doing a Fulbright in Georgia. My GPA was completely average (3.5) and my GRE scores were not good (700/710/4!) so I think this really illustrates that they are looking more for work experience than straight numbers.

I've met so many SAIS students who seem eager and proud of their program, and I think the location is great. Brookings and the best gay bars in D.C.? Sign me up!