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@justkelia You're welcome! No, they didn't mention that. They did send out this email last week though: "At this point, we do not have any funding updates; however, we will assess the funding situation again on Monday, and inform you of a decision early next week. Please note, if additional funds do become available, offers would most likely be in the $5,000 - $10,000 range."

Spring Preview was pretty informative and fun. I met a few students who said that they had been convinced by attending other previews, but were seriously considering Ford now. I myself have been pretty convinced to take up the MPP! Key points I picked up: 1. Strong academic points of the school include : (A) Ford's Writing Center with three Ford faculty hired to critique your policy-related writing through individual appointments. Apparently no other public policy school in the nation has such a dedicated Writing Center to help its students with policy writing. The 5-week writing course that the Center offers is pretty recommended. (B) Ford strongly supports an interdisciplinary focus, with all Ford students required to take some credits outside of Ford, and with a ton of other Michigan schools (e.g. Public Health, Education) being highly ranked nationally. Apparently the process for taking non-Ford modules is pretty easy; you shouldn't need to apply for endless approvals for those. Also, other than the option of doing a dual degree in another discipline (which you can apply for after getting accepted into Ford), you can also apply for certain Certificate programs across the U of M schools, of which there are a ton. (C) Also, they are pretty flexible with you exploring whatever interest you want. You don't have to declare a concentration in Ford, and so if you aren't sure that you want to specialize in a particular area of policy, this school will support that. 2. Ford's Careers & Alumni relations office seems really strong. They have an open door policy, so you can apparently ask them to take a look at a cover letter due in 30 minutes time before you send it off. They also hire some upper-level students as Peer Advisors, which does help in having someone approachable to speak to about career matters. They also send out a Mon afternoon newsletter collating upcoming career-related opportunities, like employer visits on campus or certain funding deadlines. They also seem quite aware that it's not just connecting you with opportunities that matter, but also helping you identify your interests and career aspirations, and have had past workshops to help students with that. They also seem to have strong alumni relations: "once you're in, you're always a part of the Ford community". 3. While the compulsory Core Curriculum is somewhat quantitative methods-heavy with 3 quant classes, you can take up qualitative research methods classes as your electives. Though there are a ton of Ford professors who have a more economics focus, there are also some more recent qual professor hires: http://fordschool.umich.edu/news/2017/tamar-mitts-and-fabiana-silva-join-ford-school-faculty-fall-2017. 4. If you have a quant background and want to test out of the quant core classes, you can test out during orientation week. However, you may not want to do so as most of the 1st year students will be bonding around these class experiences, the professors who teach the quant core classes seem universally beloved, and you will have to substitute those classes with other credits anyway. 5. While GSI positions are by no means guaranteed, you can apply for GSI positions across other U of M schools and apparently Ford GSIs have a pretty good reputation. You can also try working at various Centers across the U of M. 6. Not sure how much this matters to you, but this will be the last year with the current well-loved Dean of the Ford School. Her successor has not been confirmed yet. 7. The students really seem to have fun here. The Fab Ford Idol karaoke at a local bar was really well-attended and apparently a faculty member even did a song. Feel free to message if there's anything in particular you'd like to know about - there was way too much information to recount in full!

@turkish coffee Thank you very much for your offer! I've been accepted into the MSW already and know some current MSW students (just not any current dual MSW-MPP ones), so now it's a matter of deciding whether to take both up. I might actually take both up and hope to get funding within the program... Heh. See you at Spring Preview! @TheSenator Sure, let us know if there's anything in particular you want us to suss out.

@sturdyelm Thanks for that info! I was called on Calling Night by a first year MPP student. I was rushing out for something, so the call was short. My caller alerted me to the existence of the Spring Preview, talked a bit about the possibility of getting a GSI position at Ford, promoted Ford for great courses and fun, and also offered to link me up with other dual MPP/MSW students (as I am seriously considering that route). We linked up via email where he offered to help answer any further questions. I think this Calling Night linkup is definitely a good opportunity to ask informal questions about Ford, so I would email them, @turkish coffee, to ask about it if you don't get a call soon. @TheSenator @turkish coffee I'll definitely be at Spring Preview. If I'm taking an MPP at all, it'll be at Ford. Funding will be an issue though (as I'm considering taking this up with an MSW, or alternatively just taking an MPP or MSW alone) so I've still not 100% decided to commit to this. Let's see how funding and Spring Preview goes.

By the way, if anyone is still wondering - I checked, and Wolverine Access hasn't updated yet. So you'll probably hear from email first.

Got in with no funding too! Didn't have high expectations as an international applicant, though I was hoping for a little. Congrats to all of you who got accepted, hope to see some of you at visit day.

@mswh0peful, thanks for that info. It is helpful. In that case, I suppose it makes sense to look at your finances and see, assuming you get some $ from part-time work and spend $x amount per month on living expenses, what is the amount they should sponsor, to allow you to pay the balance for your living expenses and school fees, assuming you're also committed to pay $y per month from future income for z months towards that? At least, that's the way that makes sense to me to calculate. :x @lauracsm I'm actually living in AA now, so other than looking at this thread (http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/144-ann-arbor-mi/?page=16#comment-1058475462), feel free to message me more specific questions and I'll help to the extent of my knowledge.

@mswh0peful Just received the forms and haven't taken a look through yet. I'm not sure if they would actually deny your request entirely if they couldn't offer your exact amount though?

@TheSenator, haven't heard anything about funding/interviews as well. I am wondering if they received a lot of applications this year and will be taking more time to process it.

@radicalroyalty - thanks for letting me know! Hopefully with some form of funding, I'll see you in the Community Org/Comm & Social Systems program in Fall too. @KruMaew - thanks for the info, will try that! @HopefullyMSW - do go for it! Feeling pretty discouraged too, but if you get any funding from appealing it's basically free money and less debt, it'll be well worth the 5 page statement!

Yes, I third this. Especially if you don't intend to get a car or drive around much, try housing near central campus if you can get any and if you hope to socialise in bars, cafes, movie theaters, bookshops downtown and such! The only people I know in Northwood are those with families (or those who study in North campus), which is conducive for them, but not so ideal if you don't fall under either of those categories. Hygiene factor-wise though, I haven't heard any horror stories about Northwood.

Congrats to those who were accepted and got funding! Anyone else waiting to hear back from the NCS program too? Didn't get into CBI, got put on the waitlist for GAS (without having an interview), was rejected for the GSSA positions. Would really like to attend here, but hoping for some form of funding! I suppose my status as an international student does affect my funding prospects though... Likely to appeal if I don't get anything, but I'm unsure of the appeals process as well.

I did, it wasn't really helpful though. My mentor reached out to me once, but never replied my email thereafter.