hanburger

Applying to: NYU Wagner MPA, Chicago Harris MSCAPP, Syracuse MPA, UCLA MPP, Carnegie Mellon MSPPM, Michigan MPP, Berkeley MPP, Princeton MPA Admitted to: NYU ($$), Chicago ($$), CMU ($$), Syracuse ($$$$), UCLA, Michigan, Cal Rejected: Princeton Undergrad institution: Non-HYP Ivy Undergrad Major: Political Science Undergrad GPA: 3.71 Years out of undergrad: 4.5 Quant Background: 1 Econ class, 1 Calc class, Stats courses through 3000 level, several years of work experience in a data role Relevant Work Experience: Worked on a major political campaign, I think my private sector work is sort of functionally relevant GRE: 168 V/154 Q/4.0 AWA (Didn’t retake because of COVID, only sent to Princeton) Strength of LOR: I didn’t read them, but they came from a college professor I’m very close with, a boss of several years, and supervisor at a volunteer role of several years Strength of SOP: I poured my heart into these! And asked for multiple rounds of feedback from my smartest and most merciless friends. I talked about my commitment to promoting equity in cities, especially housing justice, and the possibilities and limits of data and technology in supporting this goal. Extracurriculars/Leadership: Several years of volunteering and organizing with community groups And after much agonizing I chose (drumroll) NYU Wagner! This forum was so comforting and fun. I really appreciated reading everyone’s thoughts (echoing van_96, @GradSchoolGrad you're a mensch).

Hello! Has anyone attempted to negotiate aid with Berkeley? Would love to hear how you did it and how it went.

@TMRII I want to go wherever you go, I feel like your positive Admiral energy will get your friends through grueling econ midterms ❤️

Sounds like an extremely cool group! And thank you so much for the response, this is really helpful. Makes sense about consulting and the CS curriculum. And great point about CAPP professors helping with intros... the opportunity to meet some of the professors at Chicago broadly sounds pretty unique, so I'm glad to hear it's possible (done strategically :D) Thank you again for taking the time to answer!

@ellien575 thank you so much for posting and answering questions! Three* things on my mind: * I'm curious how technical a role you and fellow MSCAPP students are looking for post-grad. I'd love to go more towards design research and program eval, for programs that rely on or incorporate technology. Do you think the CS curriculum is overkill for someone who isn't applying to software/data engineering or data science roles? * How easy is it to talk with professors who aren't your instructor? Are researchers welcoming/open to a conversation about their research, even if you aren't one of their phd students? * Maybe 40% of people I met at admitted students' week (for all of Harris, not just CAPP) were coming from private sector/management consulting. Would you say that's ~on par with CAPP (or maybe it was just a random virtual sample thing)? No shade on any career choice! Just want to make sure my sense of the student body is accurate. Thanks again!

I'm interested in this question too @MPPNYC! Also, do any Maxwell applicants know if more funding info is forthcoming?I think I received the formal letter this morning (yay!) but there's no reference to funding... is that that?

Thanks @woolscarves ! To be frank, what I'm trying to narrow down right now is what criteria I should use to decide between programs. What were your main considerations in choosing CMU Heinz? Did you find them to accurately predict your experience, or have there been other factors that you perhaps didn't think about? Thanks in advance for bearing with an open-ended question

Hi friends, Fingers crossed we all get into the program of our dreams in the next few months!! I'm hoping to dust off my math skills and review Calculus and Linear Algebra before next fall through MOOCs on Coursera or similar--but I find these easier to stick with with friends! Post here if you're also interested in a math accountability/support group starting in late January/early February.

Thank you for taking the time to write this very helpful analysis! Point taken re: new programs, internal politics, and employer/alumni network.

Hello there! I'm curious if anyone has attended or is knowledgeable about the MSPP program at Penn's school of social policy and practice. It's not technically an MPP so it isn't ranked by US News, etc., but seems like a comparable curriculum to many MPPs (including quantitative/data analytics heavy MPPs when you look at the Data Analytics track). I'm focused on urban policy and hope to work in policy advocacy so the proximity to the social work school seems like a big plus. Has anyone been through this program or have a sense of how it compares to the usual-suspect MPP programs, especially in terms of rigor for quantitative methods courses?