Think Tanker

Honestly, as an outside observer, it sounds to me like you've already made up your mind in favor of SPIA! Which, for what it's worth, does sound to me like the right move. I also was fortunate enough to get accepted to HKS with full funding, though I got rejected from SPIA; if I'd gotten in, however, I would have gone there over HKS. The brand names of the two schools are basically equally strong in the public policy space, and the curricula are pretty similar as well (unless you're interested in something pretty niche and/or would want to take non-HKS classes while you're at Harvard, which don't sound like the case for you). So, even if you do decide you want to enter the private sector down the line, the skills that you'd gain at SPIA would likely set you up the same as HKS. So all in all, the difference in funding seems to me to be significant enough, and the differences in programs negligible enough, that SPIA seems to me to be the way to go. And huge congratulations on getting to make this choice!

Same--guess they're running a bit late in starting.

I received the same offer as you but am inclined to accept it, so would echo the request that you elaborate more on some of the reasons HKS isn't a good fit for you, if you're willing to share!

Have any admitted students seen any information about admitted students events? I'm very strongly leaning toward accepting my HSK MPP offer but have found virtual events from other schools to be really helpful so would like to attend if HKS is putting any on!

Yeah, this is somewhat anecdotal, but I was at a Tufts Fletcher admitted students webinar yesterday where they said that 80% of 2020 grads had jobs within six months (compared to 93-98% usually). So McCourt might well not be outside of the realm of normality here.

If only!! I'm still waiting on UMichigan, Princeton, Georgetown, Tufts, Harvard, Columbia, and Berkeley. Another quiet week might break me

I had a finalist interview with Belfer Young Leaders earlier this week! Didn't apply to Allison so not sure what their timeframe is. Also applied to CPL (Bacon Fellowship) but no word yet...