misterrpiketty

I also got the same email. Good luck to everyone!

It is a possibility..but I would expect that the admissions committee decided its incoming class size at the time of admissions, taking impending financial uncertainty into account. Nothing drastically different has happened since then to make them suddenly rethink holding on to their money and limiting class size. Also, remember WWS admits thinking of deferring face very different incentives compared to other schools. If I know I can join WWS next year with full funding, I would almost certainly not want to take the risk of an online Fall semester/ full year. Everywhere else, one gives up any aid for the current year by deferring. So there's a cost involved. If WWS's deferral policy is relatively lenient, which I suspect it would be since they are a generous school in most respects, the class size could end up being really small if they don't go into the waitlist. But this is mostly hopeful conjecture

Also a waitlisted candidate. Have not heard anything yet. The HKS deadline is 30th April so hoping I hear back from them either way before that. Btw 2 people on Gradcafe alone have declined their WWS offers to join HKS and Yale Jackson respectively, so there is some hope..

I am not a SIPA-admit but curious to understand this policy, as I think other universities may be considering it too. Have a few doubts. From the wording of this letter, it appears that students would have a choice whether to enrol in Fall and take classes possibly remotely, or defer to Jan 2021. Suppose in-person classes do not resume in the Fall due to covid- Does that mean that some people in the batch would start the degree over Zoom and others would start in Spring? How would that even work, as people within the same batch would have done different amounts of coursework in the first year. Would spring starts in a 2-year program get 2 summer breaks? Basically, i would think that either the course itself starts in Jan 2021 for everyone or that people defer to the next academic year. Managing two groups of Fall and Spring students within the same batch seems quite strange. Or maybe I'm missing something here.

It's also possible and increasingly likely in my opinion, that the Fall semester gets pushed online. If that happens, the value of the degree will go down everywhere. And tuition is not likely to decrease because master's programs are cash cows and university endowments are crashing. I seriously doubt that the HKS brand is worth that kind of money. Infact, if you are planning to spend the full amount, it makes much more sense to defer by a year and try for external funding and reconsideration for aid next year. You have nothing to lose.

Thanks @pillow. Your arguments are very compelling and I wish you the very best! Of course it helps that you had the no-debt option at both places If I had to make the same choice, I would probably choose similarly. The main advantage of the MPA/ID to my mind is its quantitative focus - as that's what I am looking to do, options of taking classes not just across Harvard departments but at MIT too, and its international focus (this is my perception honestly - compared to WWS which seems to be a bit US focused). But having said that, WWS is a fabulous school and the community is absolutely great. My career plan is to work in the public sector, so debt is a major factor. And therefore if one considers the significant debt at Harvard vs no debt at Princeton, then I think I would choose WWS. Which is why I am here Thanks and good luck to you!

many congratulations @pillow! You'll do great! Would you mind talking through your decision for my (and others) benefit? Btw I have also been admitted to the MPA/ID at HKS but facing substantial debt there so its a very tough (hypothetical) decision.

Unbelievable! Shocking! Not a single US MPA/MPP degree on the list of preferred programs. Time to close this thread ?

@Haber it won't be that bad, we need to be more optimistic! My understanding is that the established funds usually work through a dedicated corpus which cannot be easily diverted. The JJ/WBGSP had begun a re-evaluation of their entire list of partner and preferred programs around September 2019 and put out a fresh Request-for-proposal. My guess is they were delayed because of that and covid was a knockout blow. Agree with your point about remote classes being a distinct possibility, but tuition definitely needs to be reduced if that happens. At HKS, deferment allows you to be reconsidered for financial aid the next year. May not be a bad option. Even the JJ/WBGSP uncertainty would be sorted out by then.

My guess is that many people will be thinking along the same lines and will defer. So the competition next year would be much tougher. Some other thoughts – we can't even be sure that the Fall semester will start on time this year; it may get delayed or pushed online. Pretty sure that no one would want to spend a bomb and then take classes online for a semester (or more). I think universities may respond by reducing tuition in that case, and one also saves on living costs by being off-campus. Difficult decisions exacerbated by the uncertainty. But on the bright side, I think we're in a somewhat better position than current students, who don't really have a choice and are faced with a lot of uncertainty.

Congratulations on your acceptance I am from a South Asian World Bank scholarship eligible country. Last year, the deadline for the JJ/WBGSP was in the first week of April, so my guess is that the notification should come out. soon.

Thanks @heidi91 that's very encouraging . Fingers crossed!

bump, now that HKS results are out. Any lucky people here having an acceptance from WWS and a funded offer from HKS?

I applied to the MPA/ID program at Harvard Kennedy School, which has traditionally been a partner program under the World Bank scholarship. Was informed that this year MPA/ID is not on the list of partner programs. However, no news from World Bank on what is the list of partner programs and preferred programs this year. They seem to be really delayed this year, even before COVID-19 struck.

Waitlisted for the MPA. Any thoughts on what the chances of getting admitted off the waitlist are? My hunch is that it'll be pretty negligible. The only people who I imagine might decline WWS could be HKS admits with substantial funding. Stressful!