Benefactor

Thanks! I could def. address that in the PS; I'd just want to make sure it didn't sound like I was making excuses.

Hi guys, I'm currently in a top MPP program and will be graduating in May 2013. I just wanted to know what my chances would be to get into some of the more prominent political science PhD programs. Specifically, I was thinking: Stanford, MIT, Duke (I'm at Duke now), UVA, Yale, Princeton, UT Austin, Rice and maybe Caltech (not sure if my math skills are good enough). My undergrad GPA was 3.43 in international business at a so so state school, and I'm expecting my GPA from Duke to end up somewhere around 3.3 or so (our program doesn't really give out a lot of A's...so some gaudy GPA isn't really possible). My area of interest is security studies and terrorism/anti-terrorism. My GRE score was 1530 (750V, 780Q), with a 5.5 on the AWA. If you guys need any more information from me to get an idea of my chances, let me know. Thanks in advance.

I just thought I'd create a thread for all the students who have chosen to attend the Sanford School of Public Policy this year at Duke. Congrats everybody! I guess we can use this thread to talk about whatever is of interest to us (housing, what to bring, etc.).

What kind of soft factors did you have?

Wow, what are you guys' numbers?

Annnddd what were your metrics?

What were your metrics?

How much did they offer you, if you don't mind me asking?

I got the same thing. Even though the expenses they list on their site are frankly overstated, it's difficult to swallow that kind of debt.

Yeah, same here. Did they give you an assistantship?

Just got the email to check my admissions decision. I'm in!

Thanks! To be honest, I was hoping that my performance at Sanford and familiarity with a few of the professors (both in the Sanford School and possibly in the Law School) would help to prove I can be successful as a graduate student at Duke and am capable of making a positive impression on the professors I come in contact with. It's obviously not something I'd take for granted or anything, but I figured it could help some. There's really no way I'm getting in just off my LSAT score, but at the end of the day, I would have my studies at Sanford to fall back on, so it can't really hurt to try.

Was there somebody on here that mentioned something about a travel credit for attending the dean's merit event for the students who were chosen for it?

What were your metrics, if you don't mind me asking.

From what you've seen, what's the tuition cost for 12 units per semester? I perused some of the stuff they sent and didn't see an answer to that question.

Thanks! If you don't mind telling, what kind of financial aid package did you get from USC and what were your metrics?

How long after you guys got your acceptances into SPPD did you get the follow up packet about funding?

Thanks for taking time out to answer our questions! From what you've seen, do students in the Sanford school who choose to pursue a dual degree after starting at Sanford have a good track record of getting into the Business and Law (I'm particularly interested in the Law school) Schools?

So basically nobody who has been admitted into the MPA program has heard anything about scholarship money yet....

I understand what you're saying, but the reason I bumped it is because I just wanted to get as many opinions from as many people as possible, and given the fact that all kinds of new people are coming into the forum given what time it is, I wanted to bring it to their attention that a thread like this exists - and that I'd be interested to hear their opinion on this if they have one.

Cool. Where all are you applying to?

Where are you originally from?

Then don't let the door hit you on the way out. Nobody asked you to come into this thread, and from what I've seen thus far, nobody else has a problem with it.

Yep, the brand. What in particular did you go to graduate school for?