irstudies

only got the waiver too =( all the best, everyone

i did not get the scholarship either.. got 50% tuition waiver.. I will not accept it either!

Nothing for me.. I have been checking my e-mail every 10 mins..

Congratulations everyone!! It also shows accepted for me! However I applied through Helmut Schmidt and I believe that even if you don't get the scholarship, they accept you and offer you a partial scholarship. That wouldn't be enough for me.. so I'm keeping my fingers crossed..

I am in a similar situation to you and I get it. I also work for a similar organisation (and within the same region, hello!) and I completely understand the desire to break into a more "normal" routine. Like you I have tried for the past couple of years to break out of the region we are in and work on something a bit more longer term development and less humanitarian / emergency in other contexts and have found it extremely challenging. As such I am looking forward to taking 2 years out starting in 2017 to get some perspective on the past 5 years and work out a next move. Remember you will be in a great position while in school to do numerous consultancies should your schedule allow. Also there are the summers, where short term consultancy posts could seriously offset the cost of tuition (as I am sure you know!). 
Anyway, good luck. I know all too well the challenging situation in and I wish you luck as you attempt to find that much coveted piece of normality that many of us are scrambling to find. 
-B

Understandably, Gradcafe is dominated by MPA candidates. Wanted to record some lessons for any future mid-career MPA and MPP applicants looking for tips - as there are some differences. 
Program Applied To: MPP/MA
Schools Applied To: WWS MPP, Fletcher MA, SAIS MIPP (also considered but excluded Yale, SIPA, Berkeley Goldman) 
Schools Admitted To: WWS (full funding + stipend), Fletcher (14K fellowship), SAIS (no funding offered to MIPPers)
Schools Rejected From: None
Still Waiting: None
Undergraduate institution: Top international university
Undergraduate GPA: No GPAs in my undergrad (estimate about a 3.7?)
Undergraduate Major: Geography/Political Sciences
GRE Quantitative Score: 153
GRE Verbal Score: 170
GRE AW Score: 5.0
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 10
Years of Work Experience: 10 (7 in Diplomatic Service) 
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Two years in not-for-profit sector doing communications and public relations work, 7 years in Diplomatic Service specialising on conflict issues. 2 overseas placements, including in conflict environments.
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): A very simple, clear narrative of my professional interests and achievements, detailing how I wished to supplement my practical experience with study, and make useful professional contacts in the future. I was also clear about why I was applying to each university. I bounced my drafts off friends and colleagues which helped me to improve the structure and drafting. 
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Strong - I only used colleagues (my boss, a colleague from a past role, and my deputy head of department) who wrote detailed references which complimented my SOPs with lots of evidence. 
Final thoughts: Going to WWS - which was my top choice. I really wanted to attend a smaller, more intimate and personable school. And of course the financial support is incredible and makes it much easier to take time out of my career. 
Lessons learned 
- If you're mid-career, I really think that GRE scores/quant prerequisites count for A LOT less than the gradcafe prevailing narrative. I almost let my atrocious quant background put me off applying - I'm glad I didn't. My GRE quant score was poor and I haven't studied maths/stats/econ in any meaningful way since I was 16. But it's not my background and not where I'm planning to take my career. I think that the Adcomms understood that my other prerequisites were very strong. 
- LoRs for mid-career applicants do not have to be academic. I had lost contact with my university professors and worried that they wouldn't be able to produce a glowing American-style reference. I took a risk and used exclusively professional referees and it didn't hurt me at all. I went even further and got my close colleagues (rather than senior staff at my work) to craft my LoRs. This way I had a bunch of referees that really understood my background and motivation, who were willing to craft LoRs that complimented my SOP and draw out different aspects of my strengths, and were willing to put in some extra effort to get the letters ready to tight deadlines . I'm really glad I plumped for this approach. 
- Related to the above - do be more organised than I was! Though I'd been considering grad school on and off for ages I made a last minute decision to apply (mid Oct) and really had to scramble to get my info together. I only had a few weeks to prep for the GRE and it showed in my quant score! I missed some of the early deadline programs eg HKS because I didn't have my GRE in time. 
- Don't apply for loads of programmes. If you're clear about what you want (for me a full time 1 year programme with a strong international focus and cohort, and funding) you should be focused in your applications. I shouldn't have applied to SAIS, who don't offer any financial support at all to MIPP students. That was a bit of a waste of time and money. Pulling applications together is, frankly, exhausting! 
- SOPs don't need to be really inspirational hollywood-style stories of how you've overcome adversity . I was nervous, coming from a culture which is a lot more embarrassed about selling yourself than the US, about how to present my strengths. But all that is needed is a clear narrative about what you've achieved so far and what you want to achieve, explaining how a masters qualification will help you. Be authentic and be honest about your interests. And leave plenty of time to craft this narrative and ask others for comments.
Good luck to those applying next year, try not to be too intimidated by the application process! And don't be overinfluenced by the prevailing gradcafe winds - much of the advice is useful but you are best placed to make decisions about your future!