RealMowgli

Program Applied To: MPP Schools Applied To: HKS MPP Schools Admitted To: HKS ($0) Undergraduate institution: Large state public engineering school Undergraduate GPA: 3.6 Undergraduate Major: Political Science + Philosophy GRE Quantitative Score: 164 GRE Verbal Score: 160 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 5 Years of Work Experience: 5 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Two years working in government at federal foreign assistance agency; three years working as a management consultant in the Digital Government practice area Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): My biggest strength was that I had only worked for government/consulted for government in D.C. for five years - it was easy to convey that public service runs through my veins I think I also had good breadth in terms of the number of federal agencies I've worked with, and the depth of a digital technology on the cutting edge. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I had 3 letters of reccs from former bosses who I liked working under, and liked as people. I did provide 'talking points' in a 'LOR Packet' for recommenders to make it as easy as possible. Other: You really have to know for yourself, I'm talking multiple years confirming your decision, deep down that you want to go to a public policy grad school. There is no clear return on investment, in many cases you don't 'need' an MPP, and in some cases you can grow quicker outside of taking time off. You should be very picky about the applicants you fire off as well - I found each policy school is significantly different than the others and can't be switched out (rural vs urban, domestic focus vs intl focus, big cohorts vs small independent learners) I chose to go because I love learning, I want to expand in my interests, learn from the very best, develop a stronger network, and explore different ways people are serving the public. Harvard is a school, not a brand. And the admissions committee does an excellent job of weeding out people who are just 'trying out' policy, or looking for a check mark on their resume.

I'm in!

Although emotionally preparing for decisions tomorrow, a sliver of me is hoping HKS mimics MIT undergrad admissions results and reports decisions today at 1:59pm in honor of pi day (3.14(1:59))

Looks like Friday, Apr 13, 2018, is Admit Students day this year - not that anyone on here is planning on it, as we collectively dive into a safe space of nonchalance regarding pending lifechanging admissions decisions... or whatever... https://admissions.hks.harvard.edu/www/documents/Admissions_Flow_Chart_2017.pdf

Agree that moving up the Financial Aid deadline to end-of-Jan and including it with any admissions decisions is smart for this season. Lots of business schools manage their decisions that way, and I would think really helps to manage the emotional roller coaster of the "I'm in, now what" for those students lucky enough to get in. Included a screen-grab from one of the Fall Financial Aid webinars below to validate that Admissions + Financial Aid decisions should hopefully come in tandem in mid-March

Submitted for MPP! Fingers-crossed for a spot (and some $$)!

Hey all - Agree that this forum has been very quiet this year. I can only speak for my peer group here in D.C., but many of the policy-minded or former Obama politicals are strongly leaning MBA, rather than MPP. There's a real pressing sense of ROI for the degree and with our current administration, it seems like Tech Companies are the new hot place to work. I think the reticence is due to a larger trend that's starting to emerge: Applications to Foreign Service are down 50%, Latest Tax Bill directly targets grad students and ivy league foundations, and Aside from Business Schools and select engineering, admission to professional schools (Law school esp) is down significantly as the economy is doing well Honestly, I think this means good fortune for our applications to competitive programs and scholarships, but I think the lack of crowding should make us pause, if only for a moment, to think about why we're taking the offers.