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van_96

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Posts posted by van_96

  1. Applying to: Chicago Harris MPP, Georgetown McCourt MPP, Duke Sanford MPP, Harvard Kennedy MPP, NYU Wagner MSPP 

    Admitted to: Harris ($), McCourt ($$), Sanford ($$), NYU ($)

    Rejected: HKS

    Undergrad institution: Non-HYP Ivy

    Undergrad Major: Government, Minor in Public Policy

    Undergrad GPA: 3.81 (haven't calculated major GPA separately, but it's probably pretty close) 

    Years out of undergrad: 1 at the time of application

    Quant Background: College credit for AP Calc,  intro micro (B)/macro (A) econ, intro stats with R (A-), Mathematics in Politics (A), plus some light Stata training in an internship.

    Relevant Work Experience: Research internship with a high profile think tank in DC, interned with a local campaign, the NY state assembly, and an NYC DA, been a constituent liaison in NYC ever since I graduated undergrad last year.

    GRE: 165/167/5.5 (Verbal/Quant/AWA)

    Strength of LOR: I think all three were decently strong. Two were from college professors who taught research methods courses that I did well in, the other was from my current supervisor.

    Strength of SOP: I think they were solid, I talked about how important voting rights and electoral reform (which were my current focus areas, though I've begun to heavily consider health policy) have been to me from a very young age, how it influenced my extracurriculars in college, and customized them by discussing how I plan to use the tools/unique policy centers/connections from each school to further my career. 

    Extracurriculars/Leadership: I was elected to the executive board of one of my school's largest political clubs, and I helped to train volunteers on a campaign I interned for. 

    I chose McCourt mostly based on the location, as I have my heart set on working in the federal (or federal-facing) sector and don't have much of a DC network, plus I loved living in DC for a few months during undergrad. I don't have a car, or even a license, and I heard from many Sanford students that life at Duke without a car is doable, but tough, and the idea of being so far from a major city with such a small cohort in a small town was a dealbreaker for me. Harris didn't offer me nearly as much aid as I was hoping for, and the recently-ballooning class size (which seems to be primarily drawing inexperienced people right out of undergrad) was a bit of a red flag for me. I also despise cold weather, and going through another harsh winter between when I applied and decision time reminded me how much it affects my mental state. Although I'm aware of (and appreciate) the criticism that some people on this forum have for McCourt, I believe I'm adaptable and energetic enough career-wise to make up for its weaker career services and rumoredly-lackadaisical peer environment, and since I know I want to work in DC after I graduate, it seemed like the deficiencies would be compensated for by not having to start my DC network from scratch after graduation. Thank you to everyone (especially @GradSchoolGrad) for all the information you have shared.  

  2. 29 minutes ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

    You have to think about the funnel. The number of people applying to Chicago are way less because there is a lot more state and local policy interest (from what my friends tell me). At McCourt almost every American student and their mother applies to PMF. I don't have hard numbers, but I would be surprised if the application to acceptance rate for McCourt is higher than in Chicago. 

    Sure, I wasn't trying to imply that the PMF acceptance rate was higher at McCourt, just that whatever difference there may be wasn't significant enough to overcome the other factors. Obviously, we just have to estimate since we don't have actual data on how many people from each school apply, though like you I have no doubt a higher percentage of McCourt students apply than Harris's class. 

     

    Anyway, like I said, it's not PMF or bust for me, it just seems like the most straightforward path. I'd be happy in a pretty wide variety of analyst roles in the fed/fed consulting world (which, correct me I'm wrong by your own admission is a relative area of strength for McCourt), or in a DC nonprofit. I'm concerned that if I choose Harris, the increased brand and rigor compared to McCourt will end up essentially canceling out with my lack of a solid DC network, and I will have spent more money over two years in a city that I don't like nearly as much just to reach the same end result. 

     

    Postponing isn't really an option, as I have a decent amount of savings built up from living with my parents during the pandemic and my current public sector job is pretty dead-end. Rather just go and start building my quant toolkit and professional network now than keep my life on hold for 2-3 years just to maybe knock another 50k off my tuition. 

     

    Please let me know if anything I've said is wrong or misinformed. Thanks, as always! 

  3. 11 hours ago, excxn said:

    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! 

     

     

    On 4/10/2021 at 2:34 PM, went_away said:

    Definitely Chicago, especially as you want to compete for a PMF, though you'll want plenty of backup options. My advice: apply again in a year or two - to the same schools - as well as a few others, including at least a couple public unis. Hopefully you'll have a better resume (+ some savings) and be able to leverage that into at least one full tuition offer.

    Thank you both for your responses! I'm curious as to why @went_away thinks that Chicago would be more helpful with the PMF, since the MPP programs in each school sent the same number of students into the program last year despite Harris being 3-4x bigger than McCourt. I definitely want to be in DC post-graduation, even if it ends up being in a nonprofit research role or a non-PMF federal position, and building up a DC network is definitely one of the reasons why I think McCourt might be worth going to the (slightly) inferior program. 

  4. Hi everyone, so in some ways this might be a less "where should I go" post and more a "am I shooting myself in the foot" post, since I think my mind is pretty close to made up. I was accepted into Harris (15k/year, tried to appeal, they declined) and McCourt (27k/year), and although I don't disagree with the discourse here that Harris is more academically rigorous and has a better managed program, I think I'm leaning towards McCourt for a number of reasons:
    1. The weather. I was in upstate New York for undergrad, and I would absolutely love not to deal with frigid weather again.
    2. I did a semester in DC during undergrad and really liked living there, whereas I've spent almost no time in Chicago.
    3. Social network/support system. Nearly everyone I know is in the tri-state area (or in DC), and it'd be far easier and cheaper for me to visit home, or for friends and family to visit me, if I was in DC. 
    4. I'm pretty sure I want to work in the federal government (possibly PMF) after I graduate, and it seems like McCourt is at least as strong as Harris in that path. 
    5. The money, obviously, since I don't think the higher cost of living in DC won't come anywhere close to closing a 25k gap vs Hyde Park.

    Like I said, I don't dispute that Harris is somewhat better managed and has a better rep, but given all these other factors, it seems like that trade-off isn't worth it, given external factors and that I've always imagined myself working in the DC public sector after I finish my degree. Basically what I'm asking is, is this clearly the wrong choice? Is the difference in prestige and program management worth giving up all these upsides? I'd love any advice (I can already guess what GradSchoolGrad is gonna say, haha). Thanks!

  5. 20 minutes ago, ConnorA said:

    Hi guys, not very knowledgable UK successful applicant here. Do you mind if I ask a few Qs?

    - How much are tuition fees and living costs?

    - I have been award $9k for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. What happens after then... no more money? 

    Any other general things I should know? Thanks!

    You can find information about tuition fees and cost of living here: https://mccourt.georgetown.edu/new-students/tuition-financial-aid-and-scholarships/.

    As for the second question, from earlier in this thread, can confirm this answer:

    On 1/13/2021 at 6:10 PM, KRS2021 said:

    Same on my end - it's my understanding the funding is renewable as long as you maintain good academic standing (3.0+).

     

  6. 7 hours ago, AdAstra2020 said:

    I dug into the numbers a bit and I can see why you're confused. It seems the latter graphic is misleading. The number from the first link (325) sounds accurate. If you check Petersons (https://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/university-of-chicago-irving-b-harris-graduate-school-of-public-policy-studies-000_10039268.aspx), which is pretty reliable, you'll find enrollment was 333, although the cycle date is unspecified. Petersons also lists the "total number" of students are 500. I'm guessing it's an approximation but I trust it. 

    The second graphic must be counting the "total number" of students as being a combination of the incoming class and second-year ones. Right next to that it notes 22% of INCOMING students (not total) so for some reason they cherry-picked the metrics to use... not sure why they did but it's not consistent with the "actual incoming class" the graphic is meant to represent. I would trust the 325 number and assume the 557 constitutes the total number.

    Thanks for the response, but the first number on the "Harris by the Numbers" graphic says that they have over 1,100 students in total, which seems kind of incompatible with what you're suggesting, doesn't it?

  7. I have kind of a dumb question. So on this page https://harris.uchicago.edu/about/who-we-are/career-outcomes-report/employers, it says about 325 students graduated from Harris (apparently across all programs) in the class of 2019. But on this page https://harris.uchicago.edu/about/who-we-are/harris-by-the-numbers, it says that they had an incoming class of nearly 600 in 2020. Am I misreading something, or did they nearly double their class size in a couple of years? If so, does anyone think that's a red flag about the amount of individualized attention they might provide to students now (along with the prestige of the program)? 

  8. 1 minute ago, InternationalStudent said:

    I don't get it, Biden has said the US secured enough doses to vaccinate the entire adult population by May. Vaccinating all students shouldn't be an issue by August? 

    Yeah, I'm not sure if they're just being overly cautious or if there's some issue they foresee that we don't. 

  9. Just now, MPPNYC said:

    As a domestic student, it sounds like the other programs I am considering at expecting in-person classes, perhaps with some changes and alternatives for those with health considerations. But several programs have advised we should expect to be on campus.  

    Just wanna add that the other schools I've applied to who have divulged some info have said that their plan is to be in person with the exception of large lecture classes, since those present the highest COVID risk and are hurt the least by the shift to Zoom. 

  10. 1 hour ago, GradSchoolGrad said:

    I was a bit surprised McCourt even posted this on their website but only 82% (middle chart) of its 2020 Graduates among MPP, MIDP, and DSPP were employed within 6 months after graduation. So 1 in 5.

    Keep in mind that they only base this off of who responded to surveys. There is always a number who don't respond to surveys that is suspected to only bring the stats down. They also don't reflect the job composition (as in type of job, level, or pay)

    https://mccourt.georgetown.edu/careers-with-impact/employment-outcomes/

    Isn't this to be expected, given the pandemic-induced recession? Their past years seem to be much higher (ex. 97% the year before). I haven't been able to find other comparable schools who have published reports for last year's class yet, but I assume they'll see some slight dips too. 

  11. In case this is helpful to anyone, I tried to leverage my Duke offer to ask for more funding, and received a response that essentially stated they only negotiate merit aid if there are new professional or academic achievements. They added that they've increased their initial offers to compensate for this new system, which explains why so many of us got 27k, an amount that, as @GradSchoolGrad pointed out, they never have before. 

  12. 12 minutes ago, Shantaram said:

    Same boat as these two with $27K/yr pre-negotiation and I applied during the early period. However, i didn't receive a research assistantship.

    Same to the 27K offer/timing/no RA offer. Would've loved to get an offer, though. If I end up enrolling there, I hope there are opportunities to get one later on. 

  13. Some of us have been posting in the Duke thread in the "Waiting it Out" subsection, but I imagine they'll migrate to this thread now that acceptances are rolling out. I was surprised they called over the weekend too. Hoping for a good offer! 

  14. 1 hour ago, maham said:

    Got my call today — I’m in! Official letters come this week!

    Congrats! I got a voicemail from an admin officer and haven't had a chance to call back yet. Did they give you any funding info? Hoping we don't need to wait too long on that.

  15. 3 minutes ago, als14 said:

    I also received this offer for the MSPP program. Wondering what your thoughts are about the cost/benefit of the program with it being one year + relatively new.

    Yeah, I'm not sure either. One year saves a ton on the cost of living and eliminates the opportunity cost of not working full-time for another year, but the combination of how new the program is and how small it is means there's basically no alumni network. I don't know if it's smart to pay 80k+ to be a guinea pig. My current plan is to wait for the other schools I've applied to and use the best offer to leverage more scholarship money from the rest of the schools. If NYU doesn't pony up more (and I don't expect them to) then I'm probably leaning towards turning it down in favor of a more established/bigger program. Curious to hear your thoughts as well. 

  16. On 2/8/2021 at 9:12 PM, aspiringmpp said:

    I have a similar question - does anyone know when the center for effective governance scholarship decisions will go out and how much they award? Thank you!

    In a session today they said they'll provide "updates" at the end of February. Not sure if it'll be final decisions, but at least that's some info! 

  17. Applying to: Chicago Harris MPP, Georgetown McCourt MPP, Duke Sanford MPP, Harvard Kennedy MPP, NYU Wagner MSPP

    Admitted to: Chicago Harris (~30% off tuition), Georgetown McCourt (50% off tuition) 

    Still Waiting: NYU, Harvard, Duke

    Undergrad institution: Non-HYP Ivy

    Undergrad Major: Government, Minor in Public Policy

    Undergrad GPA: 3.81 (Graduated with Distinction)

    Years out of undergrad: 

    Quant Background: College credit for AP Calc,  intro micro (B)/macro (A) econ, intro stats with R (A-), Mathematics in Politics (logic and slightly game theory-focused course, A), plus some light Stata training in an internship.

    Relevant Work Experience: Research internship with a high profile think tank in DC, interned with a local campaign, the NY state assembly, and an NYC DA, been a constituent liaison in NYC ever since I graduated undergrad last year.

    GRE: 165/167/5.5 (Verbal/Quant/AWA)

    Strength of LOR: I think all three are decently strong. Two are from college professors who taught research methods courses that I did well in, the other is from my current supervisor.

    Strength of SOP: Pretty solid, I talk about how important voting rights and reform (my current focus area) have been to me from a very young age, how it influenced my extracurriculars in college, and customize them by discussing how I plan to use the tools/unique policy centers/connections from each school to further my career. 

    Extracurriculars/Leadership: I was elected to the executive board of one of my school's largest political clubs, and I helped to train volunteers on a campaign I interned for. 

  18. Young, white, and not a lawyer, and I also got one of those "I'd like to chat for 20 minutes, also we waived your fee" emails before I submitted my application. I was as surprised as you guys when it turned out to be more of a Q&A with me asking the Qs. I was admitted, so hopefully it's a good sign for you guys too!

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