GradAdmissions

Given news about progress with vaccines and improvements in treatments, I'd feel pretty confident about Fall 2021 being in person.

Does anyone here know about this program? It's STEM designated and seems to give you access to the classes and faculty of most Berkeley depts which sounds great, but as far as placements go it seems kinda lacking? I've been looking at their alumni's profiles on LinkedIn and I haven't been able to find a single one of them that's placed in an international development organization (WB, IDB, UNDP, etc..). If it's supposed to be an academic program I also don't see too many of them placing into top PhDs. Am I looking in the wrong places?

In that case it’s really weird that they dropped it only for the MPP and not the MPA. I wonder what the rationale was behind that. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/admissions-aid/masters-program-admissions/how-apply/standardized-test-scores You are not required to submit a GRE or GMAT score only if you are applying to the MC/MPA Edward S. Mason Programor Wexner Israel Fellowship. This is our only exception.

AFAIK both the SIPA and Princeton MPAs still have a GRE requirement. The Princeton MPP didn’t drop it, it just never required it because it targets older people. The HKS website emphasizes that they value the GRE but it seems like their doctoral programs dropped the requirement, so you might get lucky and they’ll drop it for the MPP and MPA (I really don’t see them dropping it for the MPA/ID). Also the MC/MPA doesn’t require the GRE, so if you’re dead set on HKS that might be an option.

The GRE is hardly an obstacle. HKS barely asks for 75th percentile (so like 160) for their most rigorously quantitative program (the MPA/ID), meaning you can get away with a lower score for the MC MPA. If you have a science background and two careers you can do the high school level algebra in the GRE. It’s really not hard if you put the time into it.