policy_applicant

It doesn't take much to worry me these days. I also just noticed that we have 2 Friday the 13ths in a row during notification time. That can't be a good sign. (Although apparently we'll be getting acceptances, not rejections, on March 13.)

Wait, emails to applicants this year? I didn't receive an email. Should I be worried? From the online status check page, it looks like they received everything.

Berkeley didn't have an essay question this year. They decided to get rid of the requirement at the last minute. (I was visiting in late August and was apparently one of the first to find out, from someone in the admissions department.) I would assume they won't have an essay requirement for Fall 2010 applicants either. I didn't apply to KSG, but I believe both Harvard and Princeton just had vague "policy memos," with no specific topic. Someone should confirm that with respect to KSG, though.

"IBR will also forgive remaining debt, if any, after 25 years of qualifying payments." [cries.]

Congrats younglions! You're stats are pretty impressive, and it's good to see the ad coms think so too. I'd guess the early admit will translate to big dollars. On a side note, the DC MPP programs really jumped the gun. This has a long week with absolutely zero news. If this keeps up much longer, I'm going to have to stop refreshing my email every 45 seconds. :wink:

That's pretty cool. How did you like it? Positive experience?

Mine hasn't changed either. The email said we'd receive the official letter in 2-4 weeks, so I'm not expecting it until March 1. It sounds like some people (not me) have received their official letter from GW, but maybe they have a quicker turnaround than GPPI.

Let me guess. It's the gopher. I believe it's on the results page.

My applyyourself status still hasn't been updated. When did you get the admissions email, udf65?

Wow, massive, you heard early. I didn't think they sent out any emails until February 4. I'm also curious to hear what they said about funding (e.g. "we're barely giving out any funding this year...")

For GW? When were you accepted? Wednesday? Give us the goods! Funding info? April 15 deadline?

Considering your interests, this would be my list: 1. Harvard 2. Princeton 3. Georgetown 4. Berkeley 5. NYU Take these rankings with a grain of salt, since our interests differ, so I haven't done all my research as to which schools are best for a legislative job on the Hill. I do think, however, that Berkeley and NYU are weaker in the politics and campaign areas. Berkeley is more focused on policy analysis (and is very highly ranked in that regard) and NYU specializes in city government and large nonprofits. That doesn't mean you can't get a great education at these schools and end up on the Hill, but that is not their main focus.

Autoadmit is 3/4 trolls. The advice around these parts is much better.

younglions - That's really cool. I would like to continue to study microfinance programs, even though I don't plan to focus my career on international development. I think the offshoots of microcredit--microsavings and microinsurance--are interesting as well. I'm curious about domestic microfinance programs, although the initial cases seem mixed at best. Still, though, I'm convinced that the general principal--providing credit and banking tools to people who fall outside of the traditional banking system--has currency in more developed countries like the U.S.

I put business. I've worked at two private firms in the public finance industry. I do not plan to stay in finance out of grad school.

Hi shastika, are you interested in microfinance at all? Although my main focus isn't international development, I find microfinance fascinating (for the record, I don't consider it a panacea and like to think I haven't drunk the Kool-Aid). There's a professor at NYU, Jonathan Morduch, who's done some pretty interesting research in that area. During the admissions process, I read his book The Economics of Microfinance and really enjoyed it.

Good idea. I put "Domestic - Economics, Business, Trade, Etc." My interests lie in domestic economic policy, specifically labor economics and distribution of wealth, and wander off to various areas from there. Everyone list your vote(s) so we can put names to areas of interest.

Oh, I think that was me. That's based on the fact that they have rolling admission, and some mid-February decisions listed on the results page last year. It also looks like a number of people last year didn't hear until March, so who knows...

I sure hope so, but I think it also has to do with when the application was submitted.

I know! I will find something to be a nervous wreck about until April 15, I'm sure. I wonder when we'll get official acceptance packages from the DC programs. I think people who are first in line to get funding will find out then and everyone else will have to wait for those people to turn the money down before they're offered anything. That's just my speculation, though.

I had a nightmare last night that I got rejections from all my top choices and no funding from the (very expensive) schools I've been accepted to thus far. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to remind myself that it was just a dream. I'm really not cut out for this waiting.

Thanks! Now I have no more excuses for putting this off.

If you browse through previous threads, especially ones from last year, you can probably get a good sense of the board consensus. If I remember correctly, all the DC programs are tied on the U.S. News rankings (I'm too lazy to double check), but from what I've gathered, GW is a bit more respected than American. That said, both schools have the DC location, and you can take classes from any of the DC programs (including GPPI), so the differences are only marginal. Definitely check previous threads, though, because there's been plenty of discussion on this topic. I think we're going to hear from NYU this week...

hi flatcoat. out of curiosity, what type of think tank do you work at? i'm considering doing policy research or a related area after my mpp. do you have any general advice for me? thanks!

hi gradfee galore, congrats on the acceptances! i'm assuming you haven't heard anything about funding yet. georgetown is an excellent program, and after my acceptance i'm considering it pretty strongly, but especially considering the strength of both wagner and gspp, i have to imagine money will come into play at least a little bit. you should stop by the "government affairs" board.<--http://forum.thegradcafe.com/viewforum.php?f=15 we have a pretty good discussion going on there, and it's almost all mpp/mpa applicants.