CoolRadOh

Thank you. This is a perfect answer. I didn’t know if it was the same for every school because it’s from the federal government or if each school did this separately.

When should I expect to receive a financial aid award letter from my school with all federal financial aid that I qualify for? Im having a hard time planning for the fall because I don’t know how much money I will have.

Program Applied To: MDP, MGA, MA Schools Applied To: Emory University, Fordham University, University of Notre Dame, American University Schools Admitted To: Emory ($), American ($$), Notre Dame (waitlist) Schools Rejected From: Fordham Still Waiting: none Undergraduate institution: medium sized urban state university Undergraduate GPA: 2.97 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Undergraduate Major: International Relations and Affairs GRE Quantitative Score: 150 GRE Verbal Score: 162 GRE AW Score: 4.5 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3 years Years of Work Experience: 3 years Describe Relevant Work Experience: Peace Corps Volunteer, Study Abroad Advisor at University Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think my writing is a strong point and I’d like to think that this was reflected in my SOP. I mostly described by experiences in Peace Corps and how it’ll hopefully affect the direction I take in grad school. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Definitely a strong point. Department Chair of PSC from my undergrad institution, Country Director from Peace Corps and my Program Manager from Peace Corps. Other: Congrats to everyone who got accepted and don’t hold your head if you didn’t, this was my second time around applying.

Still nothing either way. Everytime I’ve contacted them, they tell me that no decision has been made and that I’m still on the waitlist.

Has anyone who is on the waitlist got a decision yet?

sigh ?

You heard today? I still haven’t got anything either way. I guess I assumed I was waitlisted, because no rejection or anything. Congrats on all your acceptances!

Just got an email saying that I'm on the waitlist.

I think they do more than one wave of decisions. They don't appear to disaggregate based on concentration. The first decisions went out on wednesday two weeks ago, so maybe this wednesday the next wave will come out. Apparently people have received rejections, so maybe they're waiting for people who don't accept the first wave of decisions.

I'm ARGHing real hard today.

I haven't heard anything yet. No update on application portal either.

Still nothing yet from here. Either way.

Yeah, that’s what she said. Seems like a lot, but who knows.

I called Judy who said that they received over 400 applications this year and will send them out in the next two weeks. She sounded stressed. It is frustrating how little communication there’s been with applicants.

The least they could do is just tell me that I'm rejected instead of making wait around in supsense. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've still heard nothing either way. Is anyone else experiencing this as well?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats! I applied in the sustainable development concentration, but no word yet.

Which concentration are you in?

This is the time it seems that decisions came last year. Anyone heard anything yet?

Hey, I also applied to the Keough MGA and am also a RPCV from Zambia! I’ve been searching the results and it looks like decisions went out the first few days of March last year, so that’s what I’m hoping for this year. I keeping checking my email obsessively too!

I forgot to mention that I was in the education sector while in the Peace Corps. Notre Dame is my top choice. Good funding and a solid practical program that would allow me to work abroad during grad school. There are also several RPCVs in the program right now so they seem to be pretty RPCV friendly, which is good. RPCVs are eligible for the Coverdell Fellowship, which depending on the institution can be anywhere from full tuition plus benefits to a living stipend for each semester of school. I feel like my LORs are a strong point, especially from my department head from undergrad which may help dispel any fears about my GPA. The other two are from my PC Country Director and Program Manager.

Thank you for the kind response! It's super reassuring to hear from other applying to the same/similar programs. I took a couple economics courses in undergrad (A's and B's, but one D) and did some income generating activity and microfinance stuff during PC. My undergrad institution is a great school, but its not top-tier or highly ranked by any means. Notre Dame's MGA has a couple concentrations. I applied for the Sustainable Development one. The program as a whole, save for maybe the Peace Studies concentration, seems to be pretty development heavy. I hope to eventually work for an IGO or NGO, ideally a large organization or the UN. I want to focus on food security and how climate change affects rural populations in developing countries, specifically sub-saharan africa. My PC service was in Zambia in eastern province on the border with Malawi. It's great to know that PCVs work is so appreciated and valued by grad programs!

Applying to: Emory MDP, American Sustainable Development, Fordham IPED, Notre Dame Keough MGA Undergrad: BA in International Relations and Affairs from state university GPA: 2.97 GRE: 162 V, 150 Q, 4.5 AW Languages: Spanish, Chichewa, Chinyanja, Chichewa, Chitumbuka, Western Nyasa Work Experience: 2 years in US Peace Corps, 1 and half years as study abroad advisor in study abroad office at a university, volunteer experience at local NGO LORs: 2 from Peace Corps supervisors, 1 from Political Science department head from university SOP: Explained my experience, mostly from Peace Corps, and career goals in the field. Worried that I may not have been specific enough. Thoughts: The thing is that I'm pretty sure I'm qualified for the programs I have applied for, I'm just worried that due to the number of other people who apply, that I may get lost in the shuffle due to nothing being a super stand out. I am also worried about my undergrad GPA, though I received all A's and B's in relevant coursework, and my lost Quant GRE score, though hopefully my high verbal score counters this.