SenNoodles

I applied to the public policy school, not SFS, but I know for a fact their admissions office was open as usual yesterday. (And as others have noted, DC offices were by and large open/running normally yesterday despite Metro's closing)

anyone hear anything about funding yet? also, anyone else think it odd McCourt is still only ranked 15 in the new US N&WR rankings despite it having gone from GPPI to a school since the previous rankings were made?

@adavemerson I don't know the answer to your question but are you planning to ask for money? I don't know how responsive SAIS is to such requests but other similar schools have upped their aid offers to students making a good case for needing more money.

I'm surprised this comparison doesn't exist yet given the popularity of international development and these programs on GradCafe, but searches yielded nothing, so here goes... I've finalized my choices to the SAIS MA and the McCourt MPP and am having trouble deciding between the two. I'm interested in international development and have been working in global health policy for the last 3 years in DC and in India. I also have another year of experience doing policy work, but it's unrelated to international development. I'm not 100% clear on what I want to do after grad school, but I know it'll be something related to technical analysis and international development. Ideally it'd be based in DC with significant travel to developing regions (and I know such jobs exist, but those doing them seem to have a mix of IR and MPP degrees). Both schools are obviously great for this, so I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. Both programs are quite quantitative, offer excellent opportunities in DC and through the programs, and have good placement into the types of organizations I'm interested in. Funding could be a determinant or even the deciding factor (got significant $$ at SAIS, TBD at McCourt, but I'm thinking I may be able to leverage the SAIS aid at McCourt if I don't get much funding), but I wanted to get your thoughts aside from funding. Two things to note that may be relevant are 1) I'm not in the IDEV concentration at SAIS and am instead in a regional concentration (South Asia Studies, since I'm primarily interested in India, though I'd consider switching to another policy area as well) and 2) my undergrad major was Public Policy Studies, though I don't know if that's relevant given how different the undergrad courses and MPP courses/experience are. Thanks so much in advance!

Me too! Super excited

Thanks for doing this! I'm very interested in SAIS so this is super helpful. A couple questions I've posted elsewhere as well but to which I'd love your thoughts: I'm curious about how much work experience most of your peers have - the average number of years worked for the incoming class is listed as about 2-3 but the average age is 26, which doesn't seem to match up. I've worked for 4 years now and am interested in a program where my classmates have some (not necessarily significant but a decent amount) of real world experience. Also, where do most people tend to live? Dupont Circle/downtown is so expensive but I also wouldn't want much of a commute. Do people live in Shaw/Bloomingdale/Columbia Heights? Do they actually live near SAIS? Thanks again!

Thanks for doing this! I'm very interested in SAIS so this is super helpful. I'm curious about how much work experience most of your peers have - the average number of years worked for the incoming class is listed as about 2-3 but the average age is 26, which doesn't seem to match up. I've worked for 4 years now and am interested in a program where my classmates have some (not necessarily significant but a decent amount) of real world experience. Also, where do most people tend to live? Dupont Circle/downtown is so expensive but I also wouldn't want much of a commute. Do people live in Shaw/Bloomingdale/Columbia Heights? Do they actually live near SAIS? Thanks again!

Accepted! Woo! No money, though :-/

I got an email! $30k in grants and then maxed out on federal loans. So relieved to get funding at all.

Okay, now time to start refreshing like a maniac for the funding email haha Anyone else waiting on Harris later today?

My guess would be that it'll be around 5 pm DC time given that Bologna released at 5 pm local time (right?)

How do we know decisions at 2 pm? Is it because that's how it was 2 years ago or did someone say it'd be the case this year as well? Anyway, I got nothing.

I got an email from them earlier this week saying they won't release decisions till after business hours - seems smart on their end since they won't be bombarded with phone calls afterwards, but ughh whyyyy.

thanks, @mls0325! I got the email too, soon after posting, and felt pretty silly haha

Did you hear back before the March 11 notification date? Or had you applied for the Jan notification?

Does anyone know when the admit open houses are this year? Looks like last year they were in late March and early April (https://mccourt.georgetown.edu/newstudents/openhouse-orientation) so I'd imagine something similar this year but does anyone know for sure?

Thanks @monocle

Just got a rejection for the MPA (by email) Sigh, definitely expected but definitely also a disappointment.

I applied for the MA, but I'm having second thoughts about the concentration I picked for the application. If I do get in, does anyone know if you can switch the concentration? (I'm assuming so, but want to check)

I got one of those unofficial acceptances back at the end of Feb as well, so I contacted admissions to ask when funding decisions would be announced. They said funding decisions would be announced "in the next few weeks" so now I'm wondering if maybe the official GSAS notification will come out with funding info, and both won't happen for another week or so (because wouldn't this week technically be "next couple of weeks"? Or maybe I'm reading too much into it...)

This. Also, @monocle, they talked about financial aid but isn't WWS fully funded? So wouldn't they have at minimum mentioned that? Seems odd otherwise.

I just got an email about an hour ago offering me admission but no funding: The Admissions Committee was extremely impressed with your application however we are unable to offer you fellowship funding at this time. Some fellowship funds may become available later as we continue through the admissions process. To express your interest in additional funding opportunities, please submit this form by Friday, April 8, 2016. Additionally, we invite you to review this Additional Funding Opportunitiesdocument as you consider your options. Time to do a whole lot of research on the availability of TA-ships and the like...