yellina122
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Everything posted by yellina122
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Hey there. I am by no means an expert, but I'm fairly certain that answering "no" will only exclude you from receiving fellowship funding. You'll still be eligible to receive scholarships and other need-based and merit-based aid as long as you submitted your FAFSA.
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Most fellowships and financial aid decisions have not been made yet, per the emails they've sent and conversations with admissions/financial aid folks at SIPA. We will all hear officially mid-March. I'm going to save any negotiating until then
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Thank you again for a very thoughtful response! I've read some of the articles on The Morningside Post and it seems like being a TA can be pretty stressful and time-consuming, whereas a program assistantship is less so and the work itself has the potential to take less mental bandwidth. Though the $$$ is double so that's a big consideration. Can you share anything about the experiences of folks you know who have been TAs vs Program Assistants? As for the commute, I do worry about the FOMO, but I'm also pretty lucky to have a close friend currently in the MPH program who lives in Morningside Heights. Hopefully, her place can be my "home base" for days when I want to do all the social events. How was it finding your niche at SIPA? Was the first semester filled with as much social anxiety as most folks' first semester of undergrad? I'd hope that people would have more in common considering they're all there to study something similar, but who knows! The fact that career services are terrible is disappointing but also not that surprising. Career services at my undergrad also offered zero assistance in helping me find internships or jobs. It's nice to hear that the alumni network and classmates make up for it, though, as long as you're willing to put in the man-hours. As a domestic student who is also only interested in domestic policy work (advocacy in the nonprofit arena or in municipal government), I'd love to hear more about your experiences in the domestic policy area at SIPA- classes, professors, student clubs, etc. SIPA Admissions always has that whole "we do domestic policy too!" as part of their talking points, but I'd love to hear your take on how true that really is, whether it could be a deterrent. Again, thank you so much for your input! It is incredibly helpful.
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@aaprabhakar I don't think there's any reason to get in touch with them again. Admissions will reach out to you if there is any part of your app that's missing or they have questions on. They likely have several thousand apps to go through before March, and you never know whether yours will be one of the first or the last! Try not to panic
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Thanks so much for the response! It's actually a huge relief to hear that maintaining a part-time job is feasible. I have housing sorted out (family in NYC) so as long as I can pay for the basic cost of living stuff month to month, then I'm ok with paying back a chunk of student debt later on. Taking out a private loan to deal with cost of living would suck big time haha. It also seems from your other responses that vying for those second-year assistantships/fellowships for $$$ isn't necessarily worth straining myself for - time might better be spent working to help pay for school and make some connections rather than bending over backward for straight A's. Speaking of housing- do many students live outside of Manhattan? I'll definitely be in Queens, but I wonder if I'll be missing out at all not living close to campus. The commute doesn't bother me much but if I'd be out of the loop from my classmates it might sway me to try to find something closer given I can afford it. Oooh, also, what are the career services like? Did SIPA make a difference in helping you secure your new job? Help you find your summer internship?
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Mine was "How do you handle multi-tasking?" I bumbled through something about how it's required in my field and legit ended with an "ummmm.....yeah." when I saw I was out of time. Nevertheless, I got in EA! So don't worry too much guys.
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Hey, thanks for offering to answer some questions! First, would you say there's time to keep a modest part-time job while balancing classes and study time? Do you know anyone who did? I have the opportunity to continue my current job part-time and remotely, but I'm not sure what to expect with the first semesters. What's the vibe amongst classmates? Is there a sense of camaraderie, where folks make an effort to spend time together in and out of the classroom? I imagine this can be somewhat subjective, but I'm curious whether you felt like most or many folks connected with other students, or were there mainly for the academics and the degree. When it comes to time out of the classroom- are most folks doing research? Interning? Joining clubs? Some variation?
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Importance of LoR writer's designation
yellina122 replied to nycpolicy's topic in Government Affairs Forum
So I actually got a LOR from my direct supervisor who knows me very well and our CEO who I work with as well, and directly, but in a very different capacity. For all my schools that required 3 recs, I sent both of those plus one from an old professor. But for the schools that only wanted two, I stuck with my direct supervisor and the professor. The person who knows you best will pretty much always write you the best, most sincere letter. -
Hey there! I also did not have a letter on funding. I suspect that outside of the lucky few who were offered fellowships/scholarships up front, we'll have to wait to hear once they release the rest of the admissions decisions in March.
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I'm in with no word on $$$! Still really happy since this is my first choice
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Oh god. That "before the New Year" kills me. Really hoping it happens this week so we can all relax for awhile before decision season really begins! Is the "Don't forget to check your Application Checklist for any missing materials" thing at the top of the Status pg new? I think it might be, but I'm also slowly going insane at this point so it's entirely possible I'm wrong.
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That's exciting! Hopefully, haha. Was it to clear up something logistical? I died a little when I got that "Happy New Year" email from them a couple days ago.
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No problemo! I didn't find the blog post until basically the last minute (while searching for anything I could find on the Policy Memo) and I figured I would share since it was so different than what I was expecting. Now we wait
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My checklist doesn't have anything actually checked off, though it does have dates of receipt next to everything I submitted. It also says at the top that it could take 5-7 business days to show up, so I wouldn't be too worried! Maybe check back in with the admissions team next week if nothing changes.
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Yeah if we're going by past Grad Cafe stats then the early crew gets notified the last day before Xmas break, so the 22nd at the latest. But the website says by the first week of January so I suppose the very very latest they'd go is the 5th of January.
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FYI I finally got an email saying my app is complete and has been forwarded to the Admissions Committee.
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I think it would be 100% fine for your focus to be on something you know about professionally. My understanding is that the policy memo is meant more as a way to gauge writing abilities and ability to think analytically. Even if it's a topic you know a good deal about, you could use the memo as an opportunity to delve more deeply into counterarguments you maybe wouldn't have encountered professionally. Or spend more time talking about implementation since you would have seen it firsthand.
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Hey guys, heard back from Princeton on the policy memo! Here's what they said: "policy Memos are not required to have citations or be annotated, but feel free to do so. Neither will count in the total page count for a Policy Memo. Also, the Publications/Original Work section is not required for WWS applicants."
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I'm sticking with 11 since they specifically said "no smaller than 11" for one of the other sections... the personal statement maybe?
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Yeah, I have works cited as my page 5, and I'm assuming they won't count it towards the limit. To be fair, I'm also going somewhat over 4 pages, due to that "approximately"! Considering making all my periods and commas a slightly smaller font.....
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Hey guys! I haven't had any luck getting in touch with Princeton's admissions team by email (I suppose I could just call?) but I was hoping some of you might be able to answer my last-minute application questions. First- should the Policy Memo be annotated? Right now I have annotations for all the hard facts I cite and footnotes at the end, but I'm not sure if that will be useful for the admissions team, or even necessary. Second- where on their resume would they want past internships and research assistantships taken during college? Their blog post on this: http://wws.princeton.edu/admissions/wws-blog/item/2015-application-countdown-conclusion-résumé-diversity is kind of vague. My best guess is the "Personal Background" section. Thoughts? Third- also for the resume, do they want a list of "interests" as part of the personal background- like playing guitar and writing short stories? Their blog post made it seem like they want that included but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Finally- the online application has a section for "Publications/Original Work." Could or should this include non-scholarly work- like articles or blog posts I've had published? Any assistance you all can offer will be greatly appreciated!
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The 'Am I competitive' thread - READ ME BEFORE POSTING
yellina122 replied to fenderpete's topic in Government Affairs Forum
Hey there! As long as you got good grades in your college quant courses, I don't think the GRE score will count against you. I've actually asked SIPA admissions about this and they told me that they just want to see *something* that indicates that you'll succeed in grad level quant-courses- which can mean the quant GRE, quant courses in college, significant professional experience in economics/statistics, or a combination. If you think you can devote a good amount of time to studying for and re-taking the GRE it might be worth it to raise your scores a few points. But considering that it'll probably only be by a few points, your time might be better spent working on your SOP. I also wanted to recommend looking into CUNY Baruch! They have a pretty highly ranked MPA program, especially for a public state school. Your chances of getting in are high and the program is solid. Great choice especially if you are hoping to work while you are in school. -
Hey there! I took Macroeconomics online through Erie Community College (in NY), and all the tests were delivered online and open book. It cost about $1500 if I remember correctly, which is a lot cheaper than many of the others I found. Highly recommend! However, I wouldn't spend the money taking the course if you won't have a grade to submit with your application by the deadline. Admissions committees want to see that you can succeed in grad-level quant courses. Just showing that you're willing to take the course won't add to your app, and will end up being a waste of money. I actually spoke with an admissions rep at SIPA about this before I picked my course- I'd contacted them to see if they had recommendations for which course to take, and the person I spoke to specifically said that it was a great way to bolster minimal quant experience but they would want to see the grade.
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Yes! Super misleading but it has been there since I first submitted my app. I saw a thread from old SIPA applicants that said everyone had that link, and that it also confused them haha.
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This Forum Seems Quiet... Indulge Me while I Read Into It
yellina122 replied to Poli92's topic in Government Affairs Forum
I could definitely see how the Trump effect might be discouraging folks from applying. I'm personally planning to work in municipal government/advocacy, which is why I still decided to apply despite last year's election. But the prospect of being taxed on my scholarship/fellowships might end up having a big impact on whether or not I can actually go to school. The forum has definitely seemed quiet. I wonder if the applicant pool this year might end up being smaller but more competitive. It's possible that fewer people want to enter a risky market where they will have to fight hard to get a job, then fight even harder to do good work. But I also think it's possible that those who are energized to act by the dismal political climate have a deep commitment to public service that would be reflected in their applications. Just a thought! Either way, I'm hoping for fewer applicants and more $$$ to go around!
