AdAstra2020

Fair point, this was posted on the Harris MPP Slack, Whatsapp, and Facebook groups for all incoming students so I felt a lot of liberty in sharing it to others but have taken for granted the importance of keeping the information private. I'll edit my post to remove it. Sorry!

Hey! I just want to clear the air a bit because I was expecting similar high costs at first. Almost all Harris students I know (minus those in a studio) are living with 2-3 others and have a rent between $600 - $900. I have a fairly large apartment (two floors) with several others. We each have our own bathroom. We pay $850, wi-fi is included, and we have to pay a gas/electric bill that ends up totaling under $50 each a month due to the number of us. Most people who live in the official large residential buildings for grad students pay under $1k and rent/utilities are almost completely included. We live a short distance from campus but also in a low-cost area (south of campus - Hyde Park is more expensive) I'm going to post the roommate spreadsheet from last year's cohort that we all shared. The ranges are well under what you all might be expecting - and almost everyone seems to be paying a rent within these ranges: [Removed for the sake of keeping privacy] I hope this helps. Not trying to downplay the expenses of living in the area... but it might seem more overwhelming than the reality. Good luck!

A lot of people individually messaged me over the Whatsapp group links and google doc for housing but since it's almost deadline day and I won't be checking GradCafe much anymore I'll drop it to everybody here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Hq990OkuN6g7dH2lyaRmz7?fbclid=IwAR3WDqnf-5TUYDKwvPQh8onEv-XSa5wFCnFJiIpJ5zPi_qBx0dcfeAv4HUo https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1ZCCxN9xaG-v5CDKw9il-a872faWonC41B-AMalIRRvo/htmlview Google Doc can't be edited on your laptop, only your phone. On a parting note: Excited to see everyone who've accepted their offers on campus this fall! And to those who've chosen other destinations, good luck! GradCafe's been a great help to me over the last year so thanks to all.

Yes! The university announced it will resume in-person activities last week. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-announces-plans-resume-campus-activities-autumn-quarter?fbclid=IwAR0vnkt_iZWZsgVwTwLyDFDOp7wAb9W8Lq8ai64ynz-5ntST5q3gmzZC4RM#utm_source=uc_facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=autumn2021planning They will even be holding orientation on campus in late summer, though the details haven't been finalized.

If anyone who's been accepted or has already chosen to attend Harris, we have a Whatsapp group chat for our cohort and a Google Doc for roommate searches/housing questions. Glad to share the links for those who want to join so please let me know if you're interested!

As an incoming Harris MPP student, what ultimately made you choose Berkeley over Harris? Outside of location (if that was a big factor) Congrats either way! I'm sure you'll be happy there.

You're right, sorry for the mistake. I misread the numbers myself. I think I see the issue now though... Most of their programs (MACRM, MAIDP, MA in Public Policy, etc.) last for one year. The graphic cites 16 different degree programs so naturally their entry date/graduation won't overlap perfectly. Maybe you were viewing the numbers from the standpoint of the two-year MPP program, or one of the other ones? Anyways that's the most sensible explanation to me.

I'm an incoming student at Harris and just to reiterate what @GradSchoolGradsaid, it's hands-down the better quantitative program and along with Berkeley's MPP is probably the most quant-heavy MPP program out there. It's also a better school for those interested in academia and health/information technology policy, if those fields interest you. The slight edge in name recognition/Ivy League status is meaningless in your case so I'd advise against letting it play ANY factor in your decision. UChicago's undergrad is still 6th in the nation, above over half the Ivy Leagues, and in terms of graduate school Public Policy Analysis, US News puts it at 4th. Columbia? It's 22nd. I'm just using this to illustrate the dissonance between undergrad-grad rankings and the misleading role that prestige plays in MPP rankings. Fels at UPenn and CIPA at Cornell are other examples of schools trying to leverage their name recognition to attract students to its new MPA/MPP programs despite multiple red flags. I would choose Harris - and if you do, I'm looking forward to being part of the same incoming class! You have two great options either way though, good luck.

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.

Accepted into the MPP program with $25k funding per year! My decision was posted on my portal on Saturday night (March 6th) and I got an email telling me to check. Good luck to everyone who hasn't heard back yet!

Applying to: Georgetown McCourt, UChicago Harris, UMichigan Ford, Duke Sanford, Berkeley Goldman, Cornell CIPA Undergrad Institution: Top-25 ranked university in the US Undergrad Major: Political Science and Social Work double major Years out of undergrad: 1 GPA: 3.8 (3.9 GPA in each major) GRE: Have not taken (worried this will be a major weakness) Quant Background: Calc I, Statistics, and Microeconomics (no macro sadly); one year as a research assistant at my university's policy lab where I collected and coded data, in part using various programming languages, and contributed to a published manuscript Relevant Work Experience: During undergrad: several jobs and internships with nonprofits related to my career goals, as well as an internship with a city government. Post-undergrad: one year at a fairly large nonprofit International experience: None Strength of LOR: Pretty strong, I believe. Two professors I have taken multiple courses with (all As) and one from the head of my department at a nonprofit I'm interested in management and leadership roles within a nonprofit, particularly policy think tanks (think Council on Foreign Relations) or international organizations (think UN) - or work with a state/city government agency. I will be emphasizing the former due to my nonprofit experience, but am hoping to possibly pivot if accepted. I realize I'm applying to pretty competitive policy programs, especially given the nature of this cycle, and am worried about (1) only one year of WE; (2) no GRE; (3) minimal quant courses (although I believe my research lab/programming experience will compensate) Thanks in advance for any advice or feedback! I'm also hoping for a realistic assessment of my chances at these competitive programs, and whether some might be more accepting of students with less WE and time out of undergrad such as myself.

Their admissions page states that they are still accepting students for Spring 2021 and that the deadline for those applications is the end of November. I imagine they won't get to any Fall applicants sooner than that. If I were you, I would ask during the required online interview for a better idea. Here's a link to a similar thread from a few years ago, where the earliest applicant to post about their decision on the thread received their admission on February 15th. Many had to wait well into March. I bet you will be one of the first to hear back, but as @Ravine55stated, they'll probably only start looking at Fall applicants around November. Props to you for applying so early. Assuming my LORs don't take longer than expected, I'm planning to have everything completed within two-three weeks. Definitely give us any updates if you can!