MPP2021app
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Posts posted by MPP2021app
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Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): Berkeley MPP, UChicago MSCAPP, Heinz MSPPM-DA, HKS MPP, Princeton MPA, Georgetown MPP, Duke MPP
Schools Admitted To: Berkeley MPP (15k first year, 10k second year), UChicago MSCAPP (15k/year), Heinz MSPPM-DA(40k/year), HKS MPP(0), Georgetown MPP (27k/year), Duke MPP (37k/year +4k RAship)
Schools Rejected From:
Still Waiting: Princeton MPA (waitlisted)
Undergraduate Institution: Top 25 private institution
Undergraduate GPA: 3.7
Undergraduate Major: Political Science, Economics
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: 170/164/5
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3.5 at time of application
Years of Work Experience: 1 fellowship + 2.5 years work experience + relevant internships throughout college
Describe Relevant Work Experience: academic research centerStrength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): I think they were solid. Started in September and probably overdid it with the rounds of edits. I have one "template" SOP and was able to adapt it for most of the schools.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Strong. Read two of them--one from my current manager and one from my old boss. Didn't have a chance to read my old professor's LOR, but I'm assuming it was solid.I will probably end up attending Heinz unless I miraculously get off the Princeton waitlist or Chicago comes back w/ more money.
General advice: As others have said on this forum, start early! Reach out to ppl in your network who have gone through the MPP/MPA process. I was lucky to have a number of ppl at my org w/ MPPs and their perspectives rly helped inform the way I approached the process. Feel free to DM me if you have questions.
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On 3/14/2021 at 10:26 PM, ellien575 said:
Yeah, I hear that-- I was in a very similar situation. I'm honestly not sure if there will be a different result if you just ask them to get closer vs. ask for a specific amount. Though the form they give you may ask you for a requested amount? I forget. I think the most I hear of people getting is ~$25,000 per year but you might find more if you search the thread history/historical results on here. That's just from my small sample size of people I've talked to that were willing to give a number.
I do think it's worthwhile to think about what number is the inflection point for you and why-- it's up to you whether you want to communicate that to them or not, but I think choosing a time to do some thinking about that and ideally talk it through with someone is really helpful. Ultimately, it's a big financial decision and it can help to describe your rationale to a friend and get their more detached thoughts on the whole process.
Thanks so much for the helpful response!
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12 hours ago, ellien575 said:
Mostly just be straight with them-- they'll be reading a ton of these as they do every year. The most important factor is the amount of money Heinz offered you. The other stuff is fine to mention, but they generally know that. I think I ended up asking them to make up half the difference between the two scholarships and they got closer. Honestly not sure how much you ask for matters so much as the delta between the two offers.
Pittsburgh is definitely cheaper, although I've been pleasantly surprised with the cost of living here (caveat, I was coming from DC). There's a pretty wide range of apartments/rent amounts people pay depending on their budget. If estimated the range, I'm pretty sure I know people paying $700-900 and living with roommates and others paying $1500-$2000 for living alone in a fancy building.
And no problem! Grad school is an expensive investment and I feel like the lack of campus visits this year has made it harder than usual to get a real sense of each program. On the bright side, you won't have crazy amounts of branded water bottles everywhere from campus visits lol
Thank you again for answering all these questions. It's so helpful, especially when it's not possible to visit in person!
I would love to attend the MSCAPP program, but received an offer of 80% tuition from Heinz that's hard to turn down. I will be submitting an request for more aid from Harris soon. From your perspective, what is a reasonable ask/what is the max amount people have received? Should I just phrase it as "can you offer me something that's closer to my Heinz offer" or is it more effective to ask for a specific amount? Thank you!
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2 minutes ago, onvrra said:
Got official word a few minutes ago - waitlisted! Agonizing but hoping some MPA admits take their offers elsewhere ?
Same here. Will you be providing additional materials to the admissions committee?
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Just now, startree529 said:
interesting, in what why? because its viewed as a wasted two years?
thanks for the reply!
Take this info with a grain of salt bc I'm def not an authority on Econ PhD admissions. My understanding is that MPPs are viewed as terminal, professional degrees. Going from an MPP to a PhD would be viewed as a pivot (since MPPs are not preparing you for research in the way that an Econ MA or pre-doc position might).
Here is a helpful blog post: https://chrisblattman.com/2013/10/04/what-ma-mpa-or-mia-program-is-for-you/
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23 minutes ago, startree529 said:
Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): Harris MPP, Georgetown MPP, Georgetown MS-DSPP, SIPA MPA
Schools Applied To: UChicago Harris, Georgetown, Columbia
Schools Admitted To: Harris MPP, Georgetown MPP, Georgetown MS-DSPP
Schools Rejected From:
Still Waiting: SIPA MPA
Undergraduate Institution: UCLA
Undergraduate GPA: 3.7
Undergraduate Major: Econ
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: 162/169/4 (lol at 4)
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 2
Years of Work Experience: 2 full time
Describe Relevant Work Experience: public accounting
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): strong but all professional
Other:Hi All,
Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this but I've been admitted to the Harris MPP and Georgetown MS-DSPP programs and I was hoping to get some feedback from the community as to pros/cons of each.
Career-wise, I hope to work in economic policy either within the public or non profit sector. A few examples of organizations I would be interested in working at include the federal reserve system, the congressional budget office, the urban institute, center on budget and policy priorities, and others like these.
Another pipe dream I have is to pursue a PhD in economics. I've been taking post-bacc math classes so what I really lack as a econ PhD applicant is research experience which I hope to gain through a masters program. (Research experience isn't the only reason why I'm interested in a masters of course; a public policy masters is a great terminal degree that can help me achieve many of my career goals).
My thoughts re the two programs:
- UChicago's "name brand" is stronger than Georgetown's, even if incrementally. I think UChicago generally and Harris specifically are also thought to be quantitively quite strong.
- Georgetown's MS-DSPP curriculum is certainly more quantitative since it has a specific data science bent.
- Georgetown's location is better for the organizations I hope to work for
So I guess the question is whether the incremental name value premium of Chicago outweighs the better curriculum of Georgetown's program.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
I work in an academia adjacent space, specifically with economists. My sense is that for some Econ PhD programs, a terminal degree like an MPP can actually hurt you. If you rly want to pursue an Econ PhD, it would be worth it to explore two-year-long pre doc positions where you can work directly with academics and they can write your LORs etc
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4 minutes ago, broncuffaloes said:
Just received an email to check the portal as well. Waitlisted. Does anyone know the odds of getting in through the Priority Waitlist?
Please, please, if anyone admitted is considering not enrolling at the MPP program it would be greatly appreciated
I'm pretty certain I will not be enrolling!
1 minute ago, qwertympp said:I also just got my admission and offer. Mine only offers aid for the first year. Is that the case for others? Also what is the percentage equivalent of each number of dollar signs?
I think each $ is 25%? Not sure tho lol. I received 27k per year.
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Just received an email to check the portal. Was admitted with $$ offer.
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14 hours ago, Ax1om said:
What kind of scholarships are y'all getting? Partner Institution or Internal?
Mine is internal - the MSPPM Data Analytics Scholarship -
On 3/1/2021 at 1:58 PM, ellien575 said:
Yes! I myself did this-- I leveraged my Heinz offer to get more money out of Harris. I don't know if they've already done this, but Admissions will send out a form when they're doing negotiations and you can list your other offers, personal circumstances, etc. Would also add that there are a looot of opportunities to make side $$$. I know a lot of people who do paid research, TAships, grading, etc. 15K is reasonable, but if you have other offers, it's worth asking. They don't have as much money as Heinz, but they'll try and make it work for you.
Yes! Harris admissions doesn't know as much about the CS side of things so sometimes they're not sure what to say lol.
There are a bunch of people more focused on the software/data engineering route in my class. For example, my coursework this year has included Big Data Application Architecture (CS), Web Development (CS) and Discrete Math (CS) (I got too tired for Algorithms this term) so far, as well as some policy classes like Climate Policy (Harris). But I also have classmates who have taken things like iOS Development, Math for Machine Learning, and more advanced classes in the statistics program.
Thank you! This is so helpful.
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On the phone, the person said the portal would be updated by Wed.
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Just got the call this evening! Was anxious since people seemed to be getting calls over the weekend..
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Just received an email to check the portal and was admitted to MSPPM DA with an 80% scholarship!
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Thanks so much for this offer! Do you know of anyone who was able to successfully increase their financial aid package? Did they leverage other offers? I received 15k for MSCAPP--is that typically what ppl receive?
2021 Results
in Government Affairs Forum
Posted
My bad! Just double checked, and I was actually given 10k the first year and 5k the second year. So ya that 5k max for the second year sounds right.