aspiringmpp

I attended Berkeley for undergrad, although I only took one Public Policy course (with Robert Reich! one of my favorite classes). Happy to answer any questions about the university or living in the Berkeley.

I also received the invitation for the PEPG Fellowship and wrote my SOPs about health policy, not education policy, so I think it was sent to everyone who applied.

In a call with an admissions rep I was told that they no longer negotiate based on offers from other schools; however, I could email them if I had any updated relevant experience or awards and my aid could be reconsidered based on merit.

Congrats everyone! I was lucky enough to receive the Coverdell fellowship for returned Peace Corps volunteers (50% tuition scholarship). I know this is already a generous offer but financial aid is going to be a deciding point for me - does anyone know if Wagner will negotiate aid?

I am in as well for the MPA-Health Policy! Now I’m waiting for the financial aid info to come in.

Congrats, best of luck with your interview! Which fellowship did you apply for? I applied for the Gleitsman fellowship, so I’m particularly curious to hear if anyone heard back from them regarding interview decisions.

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!

Sharing my prompts a bit late, but this thread was really helpful while I was applying so I wanted to share. I applied early action and ended up getting two prompts due to a technical issue that prevented my first one from being submitted: 1. What is your time management style? 2. Describe a policy that you believe has been successful.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP/MPA Schools Applied To: Harvard Kennedy MPP, Columbia SIPA MPA, NYU Wagner MPA Health Policy, Sciences Po/SIPA MPP/MPA, Georgetown McCourt MPP, UChicago Harris MPP, Princeton SPIA MPA Schools Admitted To: UChicago Harris (50% tuition scholarship), Georgetown McCourt (50% tuition scholarship), Columbia SIPA (funding TBD until March) Schools Rejected From: N/A Still Waiting: All others Undergraduate Institution: Top 5 Public University Undergraduate GPA: 3.72 Undergraduate Major: Public Health and Business GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: 161/168/5.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 Years of Work Experience: 4 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Peace Corps (2 yrs), Consulting (2 yrs purpose-driven private sector and health equity public sector experience) Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Strong, my MPP/MPA alumni friends critiqued my SOP for those applications Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I had a review session with each reviewer to discuss my career goals and shape the focus for each LOR. They all shared positive feedback. My honors thesis advisor, Peace Corps country director, and a consulting manager wrote my LORS. Other: Do you all think I have a good shot at negotiating additional aid at the schools I’ve been accepted to? What aid package should I ballpark for the additional schools on my list (if accepted) given the impact of COVID on budget?

I was in a similar boat - American student who was not awarded funding with my offer letter or in my financial aid letter. I initially assumed this meant that I would not be receiving aid from SIPA, but after reading this was hopeful additional funding may be awarded in March, so I reached out to Financial Aid. This is what they told me: ”Thank you for your email, we have not completed the awarding process. If selected for SIPA funding you will be notified in March, however if you are not selected you will not receive any confirmation.” So now we wait...