Damis

Wasn't gonna share which one because #paranoid haha. 
I, along with several others, will interview tomorrow. Supposedly this particular fellowship will have individuals find out their admission status mid-week and they'll then find out whether they received the fellowship at the end of the week. That was before the change in the financial aid reporting at HKS, however, so I don't know if that will be the case this time. 

Wasn't gonna share which one because #paranoid haha. 
I, along with several others, will interview tomorrow. Supposedly this particular fellowship will have individuals find out their admission status mid-week and they'll then find out whether they received the fellowship at the end of the week. That was before the change in the financial aid reporting at HKS, however, so I don't know if that will be the case this time. 

I was also invited to interview for one of the Fellowships. I think the process is a little bit further along than things may seem.
Best of luck to you all!

I don't know if this will make waiting better or worse for everyone, but in the interest of sharing information (as we all go through this crazy process!) I received an interview request for a CPL fellowship on Monday (Bacon fellowship--others could be on different timelines?) 
My interview is this Friday, March 2. I agree with @jello1237, I remember hearing that they are releasing decisions at the same time as financial info this year, which was not the case in the past. The CPL email I got didn't mention admission, so that is unclear to me. Anyone else in a similar boat? 

I might be wrong, but my understanding is that this is the first year that they are trying to release financial aid at the same time as admissions decisions. Have other people heard/seen that? Makes me wonder if they might need to allow a bit of extra processing time, especially for CPL fellowships that require interviews. 

Never review your application after submitting!

I don’t want to be harsh but joining to benefit from future perks in the decision admission / job market is not, to my mind, the most adequate motivation. 
Some of my soldiers did, and that’s up to them, but I still want to believe serving in the military is not about perks. 
Yes, it will probably help me in the future, so does diversity affirmative actions, quotas, finances etc...

Congratulations!
I got a mail today too saying that I'm accepted to their MGPS Program. No mention of funding as of now but the mail does mention to be on the lookout for additional materials which will be mailed in the next few days. I think they will mention any fellowship/scholarship then. I applied before Dec 1.
 

hi y'all, been a lurker on these forums on and off, so I figured I might as well engage and help spread info while I'm at it. I got an email from LBJ this afternoon with the subject "Admission Status" and got accepted into the MPAff program! They told me that I will find out about whether or not I got a fellowship "on a later date", so there will be a bit more waiting. If it helps, I applied before the December 1 deadline and have several years of professional experience related to public policy. hope y'all hear back soon, good luck!

I'm pretty sure the point is to let new applicants look at old applicants and their profiles, and see the advice that they got in addition to whatever advice can be offered for them. It's always illuminating (and sometimes comforting) to know what other backgrounds people come from, and how that's regarded in comparison to your own. Whether it's too long or not is a matter of opinion - I think it's kind of nice to have this amount of archived data going back quite a few years, and I'm sure some people look at it. People won't necessarily look more and respond more to a new thread that does the exact same thing.  

This forum was extremely useful during my application process, and my results were far better than expected, so hopefully I can be of use to others through this post:
Program Applied To: MPP/MPAs (also MPhil Econ @ Oxford, MSc Econ & Phil @ LSE and MSc Behavioural and Economic Science @ Warwick)
Schools Applied To: WWS, HKS, Duke Sanford, Chicago Harris
Schools Admitted To: all -- WWS (tuition + stipend), HKS (full tuition), Duke Sanford (90% tuition), Chicago Harris (no funding)
Interests: applying behavioural science to social and microeconomic policy in developed countries
Undergraduate institution: 'top' Australian university
Undergraduate GPA: 3.98
Undergraduate Major: Economics and Psychology
GRE Scores: 170 / 170 / 6.0
Magoosh was extremely useful for this, particularly on the quantitative side. For both the quant and verbal I did a lot of Magoosh practice questions. I also got a copy of the Official GRE book and did all the practice exams (one before I started preparing). On AW, I watched the Magoosh videos and also picked a few (maybe around 5) essays to write at random from the list on the GRE website whenever I felt up to it. Quizlet was super helpful in building my vocabulary: I'd add a flash card with a definition whenever I encountered a word I wasn't familiar with during my Magoosh practice. That being said, I've done a lot of standardised tests in my time, so was probably more comfortable than most during the actual test. I was also very lucky.
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 6 and a bit
Years of Work Experience: 6 and a bit 
Describe Relevant Work Experience: ~5 years in analyst roles at central bank and ~1 year developing and briefing on policy at a federal treasury department.
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I can't self assess overall strength, but I felt like it was strong on detail and motivation (i.e. I could convincingly use examples to show my motivation was genuine and sustained over many years). It was also probably a bit on the dry side. The process I followed was:
Used coggle.it to create a mind-map of all the policy issues I was interested in, going from general (e.g. 'education', 'well-being', 'consumer protection') to specific (e.g. 'best ways to allocate funding', 'difference b/w decision and experienced utility', 'making disclosure more effective'). I then used the mind-map to figure out what I really wanted out of grad school, and to select and consolidate interests to mention in my SOP. Gathered all the different aspects I needed to cover across each SOP (re: motivation, interest, skills, experience). I then drafted a 'master SOP' that included everything on this list. After selecting the programs I was going to apply to, I spent a fair bit of time going through the website of each university/faculty and identifying the courses and faculty members/research topics that aligned with my interests. For each program, I tailored the master SOP to fit the requirements of that specific application, and weaved in details of specific courses and faculty members to demonstrate why I had chosen that program at that university. Some unis required 'special' essays but I was mostly able to use material from my master SOP. I also asked my partner to proof read each SOP.  Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I have no idea how strong my letters were, but I had some variety both in terms of seniority and background: one very senior manager from my current organisation, an immediate manager from a previous organisation, and my thesis supervisor from undergrad (an Assistant Professor in econ). I had a very good relationship with my previous immediate manager, so I emailed her straight out explaining my plans and asking if she had time to write a letter. With the other two, I used this strategy:
Emailed saying I was interested in grad school but wanted to get their advice. Met in person to talk about what I was interested in learning about, what I wanted to get out of grad school, and to ask about recommendations of programs/universities. My thesis supervisor assumed he would be writing a letter for me, and the senior manager got very excited about a common interest and offered to write a letter without me having to ask. I followed up with each by emailing: a list of programs I was applying to with short description of each; resume; transcripts; GRE scores; and my draft 'master SOP'. I had to send multiple email reminders and some of the letters ended up being submitted at the last moment. Decision: HKS. This was really tough, and ultimately came down to personal reasons. On paper, HKS was my top preference. But I ended up visiting Duke, Princeton and Harvard and was impressed by them in that order (most to least). Duke was impressive and welcoming, but didn't feel cosmopolitan enough; WWS felt like the safe option with lots of great people; HKS felt less personal, more daunting and with a less consistent mix of new admits. In the end I chose HKS because I thought I would grow more by being out of my comfort zone, getting to know people I wouldn't normally get to know, and because it had the most opportunity for someone interested in applying behavioural science to public policy. My partner will be moving with me, and Boston seemed to have the best job opportunities for her outside of NYC.
Words of Advice:
Before even deciding on a specific type of program, think about what you're really interested in, what you want to do with your life, and why. 80,000 Hours is extremely useful for this -- check it out! For example, I was considering PhD vs. academic masters vs. professional masters, in economics, psychology and public policy. This will really help with making your SOP sound coherent and convincing. Ask for help and advice from people in your network that might have gone through a similar process in the past. I was amazed at how willing people who I hadn't really kept in touch with were in helping with my applications and providing advice and tips. Don't be afraid of aiming high. I am not at all like the super humans described in the bios section of top schools. I got good marks at undergrad because I was genuinely interested in what I was learning, and managed to land a good job afterwards, but I am also shy, anxious and quiet. I haven't founded a start-up or non-profit, haven't held many official leadership positions and only did a few (low-key) extracurricular activities during undergrad. The length of my work experience and consistency of volunteer experience probably helped balance this out, but the point remains -- don't be intimidated by the descriptions of the students they choose to put up on their websites! Take care of your mental health. I found that practicing mindfulness through meditation to be really helpful in managing stress and in embracing whatever results end up arriving (check out apps like Headspace or Insight Timer).  Hope this helps!

I don’t post here much, but throughout the application process I have found reading other people’s results from previous years to be very helpful (and in some ways reassuring!).  I’m glad to finally be in a position to do the same for others . So, here goes!
Program Applied To: MPA, MSSP (this is a Master of Science in Social Policy that’s just offered at Penn)
Schools Applied To: Penn Fels, Penn SP2, Princeton WWS, Syracuse Maxwell, NYU Wagner, UDel SPPA
Schools Admitted To: Penn Fels + SP2 (~75% scholarship), Syracuse Maxwell (~60% scholarship + 54k stipend), UDel SPPA (90% scholarship + $18k stipend), NYU Wagner (no funding)
Schools Rejected From: WWS
Still Waiting: N/A
Interests: Domestic social policy, specifically food insecurity and safety net programs.
Undergraduate institution: Top 100 liberal arts college
Undergraduate GPA: 3.97
Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.98
Undergraduate Major: American Studies, with a specific focus on poverty and racial inequality in the US.
GRE Quantitative Score: 157
GRE Verbal Score: 170
GRE AW Score: 5.5
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5
Years of Work Experience: 5
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Nonprofit development/fundraising at two different well-established organizations whose missions are directly related to the policy areas of interest to me: food insecurity, poverty, safety net programs. I also serve as the Secretary of the Board of Directors for my neighborhood food co-op, and I have significant community service experience.  
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): My guess is very. I opened with a compelling personal story that connects my family background to the policy issues I care about, and then led into how that experience shaped my career goals in terms of the work I’ve done in nonprofit development over the past 5 years, why I am now pursuing an MPA, and what I want to do in the long-term. I also customized my SOP for each school to demonstrate "fit" with their program and show I did my homework.  
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I didn’t see my rec letters, but my guess is that they were also strong. I had one letter from each of my direct supervisors at the nonprofits I’ve worked for, and have good relationships with both of them.  My third letter came from my college advisor, who has described me in the past as one of the best students he’s taught.     
Decision: I’m doing the MPA + MSSP dual degree program at Penn. Since I know I want to stay in the Philly area for the foreseeable future for family reasons, the Fels MPA offers a great network – and I’m really interested in pairing that with the ability to focus specifically on social policy analysis through the MSSP. 
Words of Advice:
Start the application process early. Between my full-time job and community involvement I tend to be a very busy person, so taking a full year to research schools and work on my applications gave me the time I needed to apply confidently. I decided I officially wanted to apply to grad school in December 2015, so from January - August I studied for and took the GRE (I originally intended to take it in the spring but life got in the way). Then I spent August - December visiting schools, writing essays, coordinating with recommenders, and filling out applications.  Maybe if you aren’t as busy as I am you could do it in less than a year, but regardless I would recommend starting earlier than you might think you should.  A year sounded like SO much time to me but it really wasn’t.
  MAGOOSH!! Magoosh is a really stellar online test prep service that I truly cannot recommend highly enough – and at $99 for a 6 month subscription, it made WAY more sense for me than spending upwards of $1,000 on test prep from Kaplan or Princeton Review. They have fantastic study plans, very helpful video lessons, a gazillion practice questions that mirror the test format, and 8 excellent practice tests. It’s self-guided, which worked well for my schedule. I’m not great with standardized tests: I first took the GRE in my senior year of college with minimal preparation and did poorly (152Q, 160V, 4.5 AWA). For a long time I wondered if I would ever actually apply to grad school because the GRE felt like such a big hurdle. I really credit Magoosh with helping me get my scores up.
  You CAN avoid going into massive debt if you make it a priority. I knew I was not willing to take on any more than $30,000 in debt for grad school, so as I was researching programs I made sure to look into the amount of aid available. I only considered schools in a very limited geographic area, but even within that I made sure that my list of schools included a couple where I would have a good chance of getting funding. I also worked really hard to get my GRE scores up knowing what an impact that can have on schools’ financial aid decisions. I was fortunate that I was able to afford my top-choice school because of the scholarship I was offered, but if that hadn’t worked out I definitely had a good “safety” school option that would have ensured I could get my master’s without going into massive debt.
  Getting into the most selective school isn’t everything. I’m not gonna lie, I was disappointed when I didn’t get into WWS. If I had gotten in, I would have gone without a question because I felt like it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I mean, essentially getting paid to get your master’s from a top program is pretty awesome. But I realize now that I had built WWS up in my mind because of the prestige factor and the incredible funding they offer. If I’m being honest with myself, I knew deep down that WWS wasn't right fit for me when I visited in the fall; I walked away from that visit feeling less excited about the program, not more. I really think it was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t get in, because I know I will be much happier at Penn in just about every way -- academically, personally, and professionally. Since I intend to stay in the Philly area, I think Penn will actually open more doors for me here than Princeton would. And I absolutely fell in love with Fels the two times I visited. I know there’s a temptation to just try to go to the “best” or most highly ranked school you can, but I would recommend really putting a lot of thought into what you want to get out of your degree and what makes the most sense for you. 

@Damis thank you so much for the detailed reply - your points were extremely helpful in cementing my decision regarding the third recommendation!!

Did you receive any acceptances/scholarships from other MPP/MPA programs? I ask because I am unsure if Harris will consider matching the scholarship that you were offered from GW Law (as it's a completely different type of professional school). 

Wanted to give some hope to you all - I applied a few years ago to these programs and got into all with funding after 1 year of work experience and a combined 319 GRE score. I would think you definitely are hitting the minimum requirements!

I've seen a slew of posts to the same effect as yours and feel morally compelled to intervene and provide my thoughts, lest some people 'on the fence' be swayed by them into living a life of dissatisfaction and be perpetually troubled by the chilling question, 'what if?'. I disagree strongly with these clickbait posts which serve not to educate or edify but instead only to disillusion people. To be frank, with all due respect,  your comment reeks of a flawed and closed-minded prioritisation of financial security over passion. In so doing, you overlook the very reason we are pursuing public policy/IR in the first place, as opposed to medicine or investment banking. Moreover, you neglect the fact that $60k is only a base salary and those who work hard will likely within the next decade or two reach the $100k+ mark. Your argument may resonate with some people - especially from developing low-income countries - but should definitely not serve as a ground for someone to summarily give up on their hopes and dreams, as cheesy as that sounds. 
Yes, you may be far more financially secure throughout your 20s and 30s if you work as an 'honest plumber' or 'lowly dockworker'. And yes, the pay after graduation for public policy and international affairs jobs is less than ideal. But if you look at the issue from the other side of the coin, you'll realise that you're effectively wasting your best 20 years on something that does not provide you with spiritual content. I don't know about you, but to me that's scary. Some people aspire to be the change they want to see. We are okay and in fact perfectly content to live in less-than-ideal situations if that permits us to effect change in a world which is so worryingly bleak. We are fortunate enough to profit from modern technologies and have access to the insights of the best thinkers in the world. Without detracting from the indispensability of plumbers and dockworkers in society, we are blessed with such vast opportunities that it is our imperative to make use of them to make the world a better place.
As such, we are not so much concerned with financial security as we are with a desire to be able to say with conviction when we are old and grey and full of sleep that 'I have lived my life to its fullest'. It is doing what we love, not what makes us feel secure, that drives us. I can say with certainty that I would be far happier helping create a reliable source of clean water for Nepalese communities or empowering Pakistani women, than I would be working as a dockworker for 20 years with countless hours of tough physical labour. By the time you reach 40, you may have a husband/wife and children to care for and simply cannot afford to go to school and work overseas in developing countries. You may develop back pains or cancer or Parkinson's which inhibits you from doing what you want. Life catches up to you fast, dude. Although you purport to have an ostensibly good understanding of finances, you fail to evince any understanding or appreciation of life itself. 
Notwithstanding, the rosy picture that I paint is inevitably subject to some caveats. Some people, after graduating from these top schools, do indeed struggle to find jobs. They might be forced to work in the private sector in order to repay their debts, or might be stuck in a boring desk job. They might be forced to live in a crammed apartment with cold water showers and noisy roommates. Expectation and reality are, after all, dichotomous constructs. However, the majority do go on to do something meaningful and impactful. It is a risk, but it is necessarily a risk that the ambitious must take. No one ever made a difference by being the same.
So I think the message we should take from this post is not the disillusionment and unabashed bias of the writer, but rather the disjointed message to proceed with caution before taking on a $100k debt. This is a huge sum, and should not be hastily dismissed. But if you work at least 5-8 years in a good job beforehand then it's definitely repayable if you get a decent job afterwards. Where I live, it's not uncommon to live an hour away from the city centre in order to save thousands of dollars in rent. Be fiscally responsible, but don't be overly protective like the writer. 
The human mind is notoriously fickle, so please think carefully before making a decision. Read books. Talk with people in the field. Know that the life of a policy maker is not all sunshine and rainbows. It's bloody hard work. But most importantly, know that this is really what you want to do. And if it truly is, then you will make the most of the opportunity and will unfailingly do what you set out to achieve. Those with the greatest histories and motivations are the ones who invariably climb up the ladder and end up the highest irrespective of their background, as Kofi Annan and Malala demonstrate. And the world needs exactly these people in the current times of turbulence. 

Joking  You guys have to loosen up...

OMG I just got a phone call from HKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They did not ask for phone number...? They did man...you dont remember

Ok you are showing me one student there who checked he was accepted via email...that is not a very big sample. He could have been in Korea 12 hours away from US time zone, so they did not call him...or they did we cannot know for sure. 
 

I went to new admit day trying not to like it, but I was very impressed. A few thoughts from a prospective MPP student:
I'm new to the Harvard world, and expected there to be some arrogant elitism. I saw none of that. I met dozens and dozens of smart, committed, passionate people who were as approachable as they were impressive. I really had the feeling that the people in the room were tomorrow's leaders.  They gave us a lot of time to interact with each other, which I really appreciated. I was really excited by the range of professional experience people are bringing. I expected to meet a bunch of certain types (a bunch of TFAs, a bunch of consultants, etc.) but everybody had a different and interesting story. I didn't meet a single person who was coming straight out of undergraduate. The HKS folks centered much of their pitch around the word "Access." Access to famous folks, access to thought-leaders, access to other stuff. I don't know if I loved how much they talked about all the amazing people who come through HKS. I would have liked more focus on the academic curriculum and what they are teaching me, not just what they are giving me access to.  Most of the admitted students were very much on the fence regarding enrolling. I had many, many conversations about the high cost of attendance. More people seemed to be deciding between HKS and not going anywhere. There were fewer people choosing between HKS and another policy school. It seems like if you are impressive enough to get into HKS, you're impressive enough to not need the degree to do what you want to do... It's not a racially or socioeconomically diverse community (especially w/r/t US POC). People are aware of that, however, and talk about it as something needing to change. Students seem to spend most of their time at HKS. Like, they don't go home after classes, preferring to work, meet, and socialize on campus well into the evening. People seemed happy. Happier than some of the other policy schools I visited So my main takeaway was that the offerings of HKS were pretty great and that the students are amazing. I'm as attracted to HKS for the stuff that I would learn from my peers as for the things I'll learn from professors. 
Happy to answer any other specific questions, either on this blog or privately!
 

Whether SIPA funding decisions for MPA are released. 

Accepted!

Glad to have helped! They doubled my award as well!

Update:
After emailing Laura a few times, I got my fellowship award DOUBLED. Thank you so much for letting me know that was a possibility! Haha. My wallet owes you a lifedebt Ironheart.