Damis

Let me say something for those not yet accepted, or waiting on a list, or for future applicants, because I've been on Gradcafe for a while now.
I have talked myself out of applying to Harvard for many years now. I never thought I'd make it there. It took sitting down with someone who is currently attending HKS and their basically cursing me out for not applying to actually muster up the courage to finally do so. 
So when I began applying last year, I approached it with no holds barred. I went from not applying because I was scared, to not only envisioning myself at the school but also having the audacity to try and figure out where to live. I embraced the process fully. I made myself vulnerable. I reached deep within myself and, with the help of many friends, wrote essays that I guess were compelling. I made the process personal. I talked about PEOPLE and had these experiences guide me in crafting my narrative.
I HAD A REALLY BAD GRE SCORE. I can't stress enough how holistic this process is. I've been out of school for a while, but even by that standard I think it was too low. Had a decent GPA. Graduated from a community college and a state school. What undoubtedly helped was my work experience. I've worked with data and quantitative stuff for a while now. I've managed campaigns. I've done heavy quant research. I'm just horrible at standardized tests haha. I think I made a good enough case along those lines. I also have multiple years of international experience. 
I had really good recommendations. You want to ensure you find someone that will fight for you within their recommendations. Essentially, you want folks who would call and curse admissions out for not accepting you.
I owe a lot of my admission to this forum. For that, I'll check in every now and then to look at any PMs or responses. I'd love to be the person that gives you the encouraging word I received from a friend not too long ago to apply. YOU CAN DO THIS! Whether you're in now or will be applying later. BELIEVE THAT! 

Got in! So unexpected and so relieved to know. I see that we hear about financial aid tomorrow. Do you think that also includes fellowships? Or did others hear about fellowships in their admissions letter? 

Let me say something for those not yet accepted, or waiting on a list, or for future applicants, because I've been on Gradcafe for a while now.
I have talked myself out of applying to Harvard for many years now. I never thought I'd make it there. It took sitting down with someone who is currently attending HKS and their basically cursing me out for not applying to actually muster up the courage to finally do so. 
So when I began applying last year, I approached it with no holds barred. I went from not applying because I was scared, to not only envisioning myself at the school but also having the audacity to try and figure out where to live. I embraced the process fully. I made myself vulnerable. I reached deep within myself and, with the help of many friends, wrote essays that I guess were compelling. I made the process personal. I talked about PEOPLE and had these experiences guide me in crafting my narrative.
I HAD A REALLY BAD GRE SCORE. I can't stress enough how holistic this process is. I've been out of school for a while, but even by that standard I think it was too low. Had a decent GPA. Graduated from a community college and a state school. What undoubtedly helped was my work experience. I've worked with data and quantitative stuff for a while now. I've managed campaigns. I've done heavy quant research. I'm just horrible at standardized tests haha. I think I made a good enough case along those lines. I also have multiple years of international experience. 
I had really good recommendations. You want to ensure you find someone that will fight for you within their recommendations. Essentially, you want folks who would call and curse admissions out for not accepting you.
I owe a lot of my admission to this forum. For that, I'll check in every now and then to look at any PMs or responses. I'd love to be the person that gives you the encouraging word I received from a friend not too long ago to apply. YOU CAN DO THIS! Whether you're in now or will be applying later. BELIEVE THAT! 

In for MPP! Feel free to message me if you want to chat!

Let me say something for those not yet accepted, or waiting on a list, or for future applicants, because I've been on Gradcafe for a while now.
I have talked myself out of applying to Harvard for many years now. I never thought I'd make it there. It took sitting down with someone who is currently attending HKS and their basically cursing me out for not applying to actually muster up the courage to finally do so. 
So when I began applying last year, I approached it with no holds barred. I went from not applying because I was scared, to not only envisioning myself at the school but also having the audacity to try and figure out where to live. I embraced the process fully. I made myself vulnerable. I reached deep within myself and, with the help of many friends, wrote essays that I guess were compelling. I made the process personal. I talked about PEOPLE and had these experiences guide me in crafting my narrative.
I HAD A REALLY BAD GRE SCORE. I can't stress enough how holistic this process is. I've been out of school for a while, but even by that standard I think it was too low. Had a decent GPA. Graduated from a community college and a state school. What undoubtedly helped was my work experience. I've worked with data and quantitative stuff for a while now. I've managed campaigns. I've done heavy quant research. I'm just horrible at standardized tests haha. I think I made a good enough case along those lines. I also have multiple years of international experience. 
I had really good recommendations. You want to ensure you find someone that will fight for you within their recommendations. Essentially, you want folks who would call and curse admissions out for not accepting you.
I owe a lot of my admission to this forum. For that, I'll check in every now and then to look at any PMs or responses. I'd love to be the person that gives you the encouraging word I received from a friend not too long ago to apply. YOU CAN DO THIS! Whether you're in now or will be applying later. BELIEVE THAT! 

I hope so! Good luck to you! 

I didn't see anything there, so I'm assuming we'll find out tomorrow. 

UPDATED! I'M INNNNNN! 
 
 
OMGHGHGHGHGH

UPDATED! I'M INNNNNN! 
 
 
OMGHGHGHGHGH

UPDATED! I'M INNNNNN! 
 
 
OMGHGHGHGHGH

Got into WWS. Will mostly be my choice!

Before the results guys, whatever the final outcome, it was nice to talk to everybody here and I wish each one of you the best of success going ahead. Thanks and good luck. 

They did, but that's also because they've been able to leverage the experience...it won't take them long to pay everything off.

thank you! fingers crossed for you and everyone here! 
another thing that's making me want HKS even more is their newly rebuilt campus. it's gorgeous. 

What a position to be in! Congrats on that big amount! I understand your situation well! It's hard to envision myself there right now, let alone to think about whether or not I'd have to invest so much money in order to get the education. At this point in my career, I would be more than fine without the name, but I know how much more impactful I would be with the institution's name behind me. Best of luuuuuck!

Fletcher results out!! 
Got in. All the best everyone.

Just called, she confirmed they’re releasing on Thursday. 

Maybe they are reading the names over skype haha.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT INTO THE MPP PROGRAM AT U OF T TOO. JUST GOT THE EMAIL. VERY STOKED.

PM FOR MY STATS. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Over a decade ago when I was in high school looking at colleges, most of my peers were planning on taking out loans to be able to afford elite private universities.  My parents strongly discouraged that, and I ended up graduating debt free from undergrad (I chose a school that offered me significant scholarship money over a slightly higher ranked school that offered me basically nothing).  I'm so glad that I did that, especially since I ended up studying English literature and was never super motivated to seek out high powered private sector jobs.  I did take out some loans for grad school, but they are pretty manageable.
Student loans are not the worst type of debt, but it is still real debt.  $100k in loans, at current interest rates, will accrue $500-$580 in interest every single month.  That's what you have to pay before you even start to make a dent in the balance.  And then factor in you'll also want to be saving for retirement, saving for a home, and at some point graduating from living with roommates.  
Income-based repayment plans are awesome and I think they would be the way to go in this situation, but you need to be aware that you'll likely be paying back your loans for 25 years (Public Service Loan Forgiveness might be a possibility, but Congress is likely to get rid of it soon, and many IR jobs don't qualify anyway).  That's basically committing to setting aside 10-15% of your income (over poverty level) for the majority of your working life towards your student loans.  
And yes, that is for an investment towards your future.  But IR degrees are pretty generalist - you're not going there to get specific skills or a certification that is absolutely required to get a job in the field.  There isn't any rule that says you HAVE to get an IR masters to get a job in the field.  So an alternative is to think carefully about what you want to do in IR (nonprofit?  State Department?  International finance?) and map out all possible ways to achieve your career goals.  If taking out $100k in loans for a generalist IR degree is still the best way, then go for it.  But it may be that a more specific degree (finance?), applying to the Foreign Service, taking the UN exam, or signing up for the Peace Corps are more cost effective ways to achieve your goals.

FWIW I got a phone call informally notifying me of my acceptance to the WWS security studies PhD program yesterday.
I know that it isn’t the program you all are waiting for, but I thought I would pop in here from the political science board and let you all know. 

on a lighter note, it always makes me feel a little more at ease when i see typos in Matt's blog posts. they are humans after all! please have mercy on us!

I had my interview yesterday and wasn't told anything in regards to when things may be completed on the admissions side. 
I still think this week may be too tight a turn around given that HKS has changed the FA timeline. I received notification that I was a finalist last week. I don't know where CPL is in regards to the other fellowships, but there were members of my panel who would probably be present on the panels of every interviewee. 
Finally, I haven't checked my FA portal today, but last I did there was no counselor assigned. Obviously if I luck into admission AND receive a fellowship, my FA situation would be much different than someone who received no aid, for instance. So what I would say is there are a bunch of factors behind why someone may not be "assigned" a counselor. I also know that Matt and his team really value the integrity of this process. I HIGHLY doubt he would let something like this slip up on his end, which could obviously point one way or another to admission. 

I had my interview yesterday and wasn't told anything in regards to when things may be completed on the admissions side. 
I still think this week may be too tight a turn around given that HKS has changed the FA timeline. I received notification that I was a finalist last week. I don't know where CPL is in regards to the other fellowships, but there were members of my panel who would probably be present on the panels of every interviewee. 
Finally, I haven't checked my FA portal today, but last I did there was no counselor assigned. Obviously if I luck into admission AND receive a fellowship, my FA situation would be much different than someone who received no aid, for instance. So what I would say is there are a bunch of factors behind why someone may not be "assigned" a counselor. I also know that Matt and his team really value the integrity of this process. I HIGHLY doubt he would let something like this slip up on his end, which could obviously point one way or another to admission.