freakoutphd

Best luck to everyone! Just really glad that my applications are due. Age/Gender/Citizenship 27/M/Int'l Undergraduate degree/School/Year graduated BA in Economics MS in Urban Planning GPA - GRE - TOEFL (for Int'l students) 3.92 BA/4.0 MS - V161/Q169/AW5.0 - 118 Work Experience: 1+ years at research institution / several community & economic development research projects Letter of recommendations: (from whom) Professors from BA/MS Schools applied to: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Upenn, Harvard, UIUC, USC, MIT, UNC Chapel Hill (PhD Programs) In: Out: Wait-list: Awaiting: Results:

Thank you for your advice! I should definitely try to communicate with each program. I am not allowed to share any information regarding my fellowship other than the schools I decided to send the statements.

Hello. I am an international student applying for PhD in public policy/social sciences in the States. I have a relevant master's degree, a published paper, 1+ years of professional experience in research, and solid scores (CGPA of 3.9+/4.0, GRE of 330+ and 5.0). I currently have a fellowship that fully supports tuition and stipends until I finish my program. I can only provide my financial statement to a select few programs, so I have to be careful with my choices. This is where I am struggling. I've heard that fellowships can be helpful but they are not critical in PhD admissions, especially for top schools. This year, however, many schools are not accepting students and cutting down the number of cohorts. So here is my question: Would external funding significantly help my admissions this year, and even for top schools like MIT and Harvard? Or should I use my financial statement for schools that are more "safe"? I hope everyone is safe during this unprecedented crisis, and wish the best for the admissions cycle this year!