escondido41

Haven't really found any significant information on this program other than on the Yale Jackson website. Doesn't help that the current students (as published in their website) all don't have LinkedIn profiles. Would love to hear feedback from people taking the course, alumni, or those with information. I am more interested in public policy than international relations add curious if this course or Jackson in general is still a good option in that case.

Thanks for the input. Among those you have observed, were there a significant number of those whose partner stopped working to be together with the student spouse? I am very curious how they were able to decide on foregoing both their income (plus the expense of grad school) so they can be together.

That isn't what I am observing in my cohort.

Yes I am aware about funding limits. In fact my question is how people still manage to bring their whole family over despite this limitation or the challenges of being away from them.

Somehow I missed to be notified of your reply. Thanks. The idea of course is for the degree to improve my job options and income in the future, but nothing is ever certain. Its not an MD or JD or MBA that would massively bump my earning potential, but it would probably improve my chances in a competitive job market. I don't know if I should just suck it up for one year or give up. If I were to separate all the other issues (i.e. financial, professional, etc.) the latter is based only on emotions. Of course that doesn't make it invalid. Another option of course is to try again next year where there MAY be a better chance we can be together, but that is an even bigger if. How long ago did you give up on the program you got accepted for? Do you sometimes regret it?

Thanks for the reply. I guess you can assume that I have no plans of staying there 10 years. So I was not even considering the questiona you mentioned. Of course if things become interesting I'd stay, but I'd rather its because I want to stay not because I was forced. In some sense a loan is better because I pay monthly as oppose to leaving the office where I assume I'd have to pay the full price upfront. I am assuming they would charge interest on it as well if I were to leave.

So I was surprised that they even considered paying the tuition for my program (about $100,000) but then they require me to commit 10 years to them. There is also no pro-rata deduction of what I have to repay if I don't stay 10 years. The thing is the reason I applied to the program is to be able to leave this company and find work more relevant to my interests. So it is kind of ironic. In a way it becomes like a loan, except I have to pay lump sum when I decide to quit within 10 years and magically disappears after 10 years . Should I even consider this if I am not fully committed to this employer? I have never imagined there can be such a lengthy period to commit.

To those admitted, but undecided, what are your othe options? Is anyone considering LSE's EMPA, or maybe other non-policy options?

Your wish is my command, kind sir. Thread created.

Hello! Seeing as we have been piggy-backing on the MPP 2021 thread, a few of us thought to start our own thread for a more focused discussion and not flood the young ones with our unique set of concerns. Everyone who applied, was accepted, rejected or waitlisted stand to benefit from the discussion here, so everyone is welcome. I for one am having a hard time grasping at the financial requirements (no funding received) as well as the toll on family so would love to have some discussion on that.

Any MC/MPA or Masons admits who didn't get funding and have a family? I am struggling to make sense of the costs of either bringing the entire family (i.e. two sources income go dry), or a year of being separated from them! (p.s. Shouldn't we start a new thread for MC/MPA 2021?)

Hi Hina, Yes there is. I received the email a day after the admissions email. Make sure to check your mail. Its probably the same even they mentioned for MPP as its the same date, but they said there are breakout rooms for degree programs.

I just got accepted to a one year program and would have to travel across an ocean and then some if I were to take the course. Obviously I would prefer to bring my family with me, but now that I got accepted it is time to stop daydreaming and start thinking concretely, especially since I did not get any funding. Many people have brought their families over and to those people I would like to ask how they decided on that financially. The cost of tuition alone is substantive in addition to a year without income, but to add to that no income from your spouse as well (my spouse earns about 50% of our income), it just seems like an insurmountable challenge. Let alone that I have 3 kids as well (they get free schooling now). For those similarly situated (i.e. no funding, working spouse, lots of kids but brought everyone over) I would like to know your thought process on how you reached that decision. It seems the financially sound thing to do is to go by myself, but I am not sure a year away from my kids is something I am prepared to do.

I am in a bit of a daze as I got my TOEFL results. I got perfect on all sections except Writing where I somehow got a 24/30. I am quite certain this is in error as there is no way I could have scored lower than in the other sections when it is the easiest section for me and objectively speaking it was really a simple exercise. I mean I have written dissertations, published academic articles etc. However, ETS does not allow reviews if I have designated a recipient institution already. Why that matters, I have no idea. The problem is the department I am applying to requires a minimum of 25 for each section. I wasn't even required to take the TOEFL since I took all my education in English, and it essentially is my first language, but I submitted anyway since it is required for may other applications. This puts me in a pickle. Has anyone successfully had their toefl scores changed despite having it sent to institutions already? I find this rule very arbitrary (not to mention they require $80 for them to review it without refund if the error was on their end.

I know that a policy memo should be brief and straight to the point, but in a real policy memo you can gauge the knowledge of the recipient of the issues discussed, but the admissions committee may very well not know about the specific topic or background from which you make the memo. I feel that I need to dedicate a portion of the memo to explain the topic/issue since it m ay be peculiar to the country/subject matter of the memo. Is this ok, or should I write it as if the recipient is the actual person named in the memo? Also, how detailed must it have to be? For example, if I say that we should dedicate more government employees to work on Proposal A, do I need to get into where we will get them from, how we will budget for them, how many man hours will they dedicate, etc. Or should it be high level? I am directing it to a head of a government agency, so I would assume he/she would let someone else flesh out the details of execution.

I have a few schools I am interested in applying (4-5), but find myself screening them for no other reason than that it might be too bothersome for my recommenders to keep making recommendation letters so I am trying to narrow it down to 3. But in the greater scheme of things, is this really a good reason to limit my options/chances? Would asking a recommender for 5 letters be too much or is this typical? My recommenders would be professors and work related, so the latter would not necessarily be used to churning these things out.

Thanks for the tip. Indeed the fees should not be similar to the on-campus fees. Just curious why you would go as far as 99.9%? Is the teaching that bad, and the networking in DC is really all that one can get from SAIS?

(Degree title might not seem to fit under Government Affairs but I think in essence it is a policy degree) SAIS has opened enrollment for their inaugural Master of Arts in Sustainable Energy for 2021 that can be taken 100% online. Not so much information about it as it is new, so wanted to start a thread to gather info. It seems to be an online equivalent of their 2 year Masters in International Relations but with an energy core curriculum, but I am curious how this compares to their 1-year MIPP, especially for those who have been working for decades already. Being in a more or less similarly aged cohort is important in some aspects I guess.

Holy smokes! I was about to reply to you saying you are wrong, but I checked their website again and the GRE requirement is gone (It is still there for MPA though)! Is this a recent development? I don't see any official announcement since the official opening of applications is September. But this is very crucial news for me as they were the only ones I am applying to that required a GRE. The downside is I was looking at the GRE to counter my poor GPA. Then again that is no guarantee. By the way HKS MC/MPA does not require GRE if you are applying under the Mason Program.

Is it just me or are the available courses for the Princeton/ WWS MPP not published in their website? All it says is that it is quite flexible, but it does not show what courses are available. MPA and undergrad curriculum are listed but not MPA. Should I take it to mean that I just pick from any of what is available for MPA?

Yes, I understand and appreciate it. I guess the point you are making is if I have C student grades in under grad and law school that I will have to make up for it in an extreme way through my professional experience. I think I have good professional experience, but I am not a former president of a country, so I have my work cut out for me. As for COVID, if courses come online, I think more of the "I'd love to go to Grad school but can't leave my work/family/commitments" would apply and cancel out those looking for an on-campus experience, of not overwhelm it. Of course no one will really know until we find out.

Of course talk is cheap, but I am quite certain I can handle the academic demands of the program. I base this on previous alumni of the program that are my peers, classmates, schoolmates whose academic performance I am aware of and can gauge mine against theirs. So I am not worried if I can handle it or not. I have no plans of spending a great deal on something I feel I will fail in. What I am worried about, is if I can even be in a position to do so if my undergrad and law school grades take up a large part of their decision. My question is really just that, how much weight to they put on it. For the rest of the criteria, it is very subjective even if I post my CV here, hence I do not see the need to inquire about my competitiveness on that aspect. About COVID, everyone says it will make things less competitive, but I feel a lot of those who got in this year will defer to next year and make it even more competitive next year.

I don't think it is mean at all. I am grateful. I am not being specific because I don't think it is necessary other that the information I have provided. I am not asking for a review of my professional achievements after all. I think that is too subjective to make any sense of. There will definitely be no consensus. Grade may be another matter. All my degrees are non-US. I am also not applying to the MPP but to the MC/MPA which is less quant focused. I have not taken the GRE nor have I taken practice tests. I would assume I would be above average on verbal and low on quant. The program does not require GREs so I am not focused on it, unless I would need them to compensate for my grades. Hence the question. I do have back up plans but I don't see how it relates to the question so I didn't mention them.

Thank you. I will apply for the Mason Fellowship which does not require GREs, although I think I will need to take it anyway and ace it just to have a chance.

I think to further add to your skepticism, my LLM is not from the US or UK. I do agree with your points, although on the other side of the coin the LLM is more specific, professional in nature and recent, so perhaps it could better reflect a candidate's current abilities.