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I actually am in a somewhat similar situation and think I have made up my mind to go to McCourt, although I have the additional factor of already living in DC and being able to do McCourt's program part-time and keep my job. I think you're right that if you want to work in the federal government McCourt and Harris seem to stack up pretty equally (although maybe a bit less so for the PMF program as @went_away mentioned). Also I'm not sure what your background is, but if you haven't had experience with the federal government already the opportunity to get that experience through internships during your time there will definitely be valuable. I think the cost and your personal reasons for leaning toward Georgetown also make a lot of sense, although I will say Chicago is a great city and personally I would take frigid winters over the miserable DC summers (I'm from Michigan though so take that with a grain of salt haha). That said, if you're at all unsure about wanting to end up in the DC area and/or the federal government, especially if there's a chance you'd be interested in the private sector, then I think it may be worth reconsidering Harris. I've lived in the DC area for almost 3 years now and have been working for the federal gov for 2, so feel free to message me if you have any questions about the area or that experience!

No extra funding here either

I just got notified that my account had been updated and it was my aid! Assuming they will be trickling in but hopefully some of you got some updates as well!

Anyone hear back about scholarship reconsideration yet?

I am from the US!

Also got the call today! The rep said acceptance emails (with funding info) would likely go out Tuesday.

Yeah I was wondering if that might be the case. Kind of surprised that they gave me as much as they did, then. Guess it can't hurt to try, but I won't get my hopes up. Thanks for the insight!

Okay good to know, thanks! Yes, I have seen your posts, they've been very helpful. Financially (and for personal reasons), staying in DC and doing grad school part time while remaining in my full time job is looking like the best option for me, which obviously limits my options. I think Georgetown is the best of those options because I hope to continue doing data heavy policy work in the future, and of course I'm hoping the Georgetown "brand" and network will be at least a little helpful in the future too. That being said, if GW offers substantially more funding I would definitely reconsider.

Thanks to the both of you for your responses! That sounds pretty simple. Is it best to do it soon or wait until they've sent out most of their decisions? I was waiting to hear back from GW anyway to see if the funding might help with negotiating, but it sounds like that may not be helpful anymore. I'm surprised they aren't doing negotiating based on other offers considering how expensive they are. Was kind of banking on using slightly higher aid from Harris to negotiate, although it's probably not a big enough jump to make a difference (however I think it should because it's a better school and in a less expensive city, but I digress..).

Has anyone tried negotiating funding or know when/how to go about doing that?

Program Applied To: MPP Schools Applied To: Harris, McCourt (evening program), Sanford, Trachtenberg Schools Admitted To: Harris(~40% funding), McCourt(~33%) Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: Sanford, Trachtenberg Undergraduate GPA: 3.54 Undergraduate Major: Economics & Psychology GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: 155/162/4.5 (only submitted to McCourt) Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2.5 (3 by the time program starts) Years of Work Experience: 2.5/3 - 3.5/4 if you count econ research assistantship during undergrad Describe Relevant Work Experience: First year was at a nonprofit research organization, mostly education (intervention/implementation) related research, lots of data work. Last year and a half in the federal government. Still mostly data heavy policy research, but more directly related to the policymaking process. Strength of SOP: Good, but definitely could have been better. Waited a bit too long to get started on most of them. Even still, think it gave a good overview of what got me interested in policy, how my work experience has built on that, and why I feel getting this degree is a necessary next step in my career. Strength of LORs: Probably very important to my application. My current supervisor, a senior colleague I work very closely with on issues I'm interested in (and mentioned this interest in my SOP), and a professor I worked very closely with in undergrad. Other: Honestly was pretty shocked to get into Harris (didn't even submit my GRE - although I did have A/A-'s in quant classes - Econometrics, Micro, Macro, stats - which I think helped). However, heavily leaning toward McCourt as I plan to keep my current job and do school part time. Hoping to get some more funding from them, though, so any tips/insight on negotiating is welcome!

I haven't gotten an email so I wasn't expecting anything, but I just checked the portal and I'm in!

I got a text about 30 min ago saying "Admissions decisions are being released soon via email," but nothing yet...

@joshyboy In one of the info sessions they mentioned that it's fine if just one of your professor is submitting just a few days late (I think they said 3-5), so it sounds like it should still count as Early Action.

@GradSchoolGrad Thanks for your reply and for the perspective on McCourt and where quant may be an issue! Also good to know about Mason and American. I was unsure about them, but I'm having a hard time gauging how competitive of an applicant I am (especially now with COVID), so was thinking I need to cast a net wide enough that I hopefully end up with a couple options to choose from, or at the very least get in somewhere. @prokem Thanks for your reply and very good advice as well! Very good point about asking recommenders to highlight quant experience - hadn't thought about that but I think it will definitely help. Harris may still be too much of a stretch, but I'm thinking I'll still apply to Ford based on this advice. I'm hoping it also helps that I'm originally from Michigan and my undergrad is in Michigan as well, so if any of the schools on my list are going to recognize it it's Ford. I know a significant number of alumni end up there for JDs and MSWs, but I'm going to reach out to professors (and poke around linked in) to see if they could connect me with any alumni who went for an MPP.

Sorry in advance for the length!! Schools/Programs Applying To: Don't have a final list yet - I would say Georgetown McCourt, GW Trachtenberg, and U of M Ford are my top choices (all MPPs). Other possibilities (including some big reaches and hopefully some safeties, but you can be the judge): HKS, U Chicago Harris, Duke Sanford, USC Price, American, UCLA, UVa Batten, George Mason. Undergraduate institution: small LACUndergraduate GPA: 3.54Undergraduate Major: Economics, PsychologyGRE Quantitative Score: 155 (studying again to retake and hopefully improve)GRE Verbal Score: 162GRE AW Score: 4.5Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): will be about 2.5 at time of application, 3+ at startYears of Work Experience: 2.5 time of application, 3+ at start. 3.5/4+ if including experience during undergrad Quant Experience: Took college statistics in highschool - got an A but no grade on transcript, Intermediate Micro (A-), Econometrics (A), Calculus (C - horrible I know... was a rough semester). Lots of data related work experience. Describe Relevant Work Experience: Undergrad: Worked as a research assistant in the economics department for a year in undergrad. Worked with a professor specializing in international trade, most substantial project was doing data work (in Stata) for a series of papers sponsored by the US International Trade Commission. Unfortunately not at all my area of interest, but was a great first experience. Not necessarily "work experience," but I won a research scholarship from a prominent think tank where I wrote a research paper related to social welfare programs (included a full literature review, data analysis, etc). Post grad: Spent the first year after undergrad as a research assistant at a large nonprofit, mostly working in education related research. Am a coauthor on a couple of reports and was really able to refine my abilities in Stata. Became primary data manager for most of my projects. Am currently working for the federal government doing research for Congress. I plan to stay here until the 2021 fall semester so it'll be about 2 years in this position by the time I start. This position is obviously the most directly related to policy, and is what helped me finally decide on pursuing an MPP. This position is again mostly data-related work, still primarily in Stata although I've learned R here as well (mostly for data visualization). My work is mostly related to education and labor policy, although I assist with projects spanning many topics in domestic social policy. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Haven't written yet, but I think I can put together a good narrative of how my experience has led me to pursuing an MPP. Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think they will be fairly strong. I have 2 options for strong academic letters (supervisor for RA job and mentor for research project mentioned above). However since I've been out over 2 years and my undergrad isn't well known and doesn't emphasize teaching I'm thinking it might be better to have 2 from work (probably current job). Questions I have: I'm most worried about lack of recognition of my undergrad and the combined C in calc and not great quant GRE score (I think I can get it a little higher, but not super significantly), so wondering how much people think that will hold me back. Also Georgetown is one of my top choices, mostly because I want to stay in DC and I think it would be good for connections, and also I'm thinking about doing part time so I can keep my current job (it's a 3 year NTE position, but I could potentially reach the GS-11 by the end which I think would be great for future job prospects). However, I've seen some negative comments about Georgetown in this thread so I'd be interested to hear more about that if anyone is willing.