theory_philosophy

Same. Was hoping for a waitlist.

Not sure! I wish they would do things more transparently. The person I wanted to work with did tell me that they had next to no room in theory this year due to much higher-than-expected yields last year.

I was rejected by UChicago (not surprised; but the application together quite haphazardly) but recommended to MAPSS --- though, at this stage, I am not too keen on pursuing a second master's degree even if MAPSS does take me. They said I'd find out next month.

It seems to be an annual tradition. Don't worry about it. Acceptances tend to come via email between Feb 7-10 and rejections follow on the portal. Precisely. Probably. Happened last year too - always about a week or so before acceptances are sent out. Don't worry about it To all my fellow anxious Princeton people, stay strong --- the lucky few who make it will get emails in a little over a week.

It seems to be an annual tradition. Don't worry about it. Acceptances tend to come via email between Feb 7-10 and rejections follow on the portal. Precisely. Probably. Happened last year too - always about a week or so before acceptances are sent out. To all my fellow anxious Princeton people, stay strong --- the lucky few who make it will get emails in a little over a week.

I haven't come across anyone who has applied to this program. A lot of their admitted students have American master's degrees, so I thought I'd post here. Around 200 people apply, so hopefully there are some here! Have you been interviewed already?

Any DPhil applicants? I can't find anybody else who has applied, even though they get something like 200 applications/year!

Is anyone here applying to the DPhil at BSG?

Not that one should expect to get into such a competitive program, but I really thought I had a very strong application. I also got into HKS (MPA) and Jackson (MPP, with $$$) last year, when I didn't have my current Harvard degree (a separate, research degree that I wanted to do before diving into public policy studies) under my belt. Either way, it does seem like some people had better luck in round 2, so next year it is! I just checked my portal and it has been updated with a rejection. Not even waitlisted. Good times!!!

Some MPPs have heard too, which I suppose means all of them have? Has there been any instance where all admit decisions haven't gone out together? I do understand that waitlist/reject decisions take another day or so.

Oh yes, they're started to come out. Some people got their acceptances last night. What I meant to ask more specifically was whether all acceptances have been sent out (together) and now waitlists/rejections are being sent out over the next day or two, since this seemed to be the format last year. I am just trying to figure out if there is still any chance of acceptances being sent out or not. I do understand that decisions in general will take a few days to get through. Another way to ask this is: did anybody in the MPP cohort get their acceptance a day after others?

Thank you so much! Now that you're in (congrats again), do you mind sharing a little more about yourself? I don't even know if they have a waitlist for the MPP, especially since it seems to be the only top-tier mid-career fully funded policy program around.

I doubt you're still checking this forum, but since you got in and are currently attending the program, do you know if all acceptances were sent at exactly the same time for MPP admits? Some people have already gotten their acceptance emails for the MPP, so I'm guessing this means that the rest of us didn't get in...

So glad you got in!!! Since you went through the agony of anxiety last year too, do you recall any evidence of SPIA sending out acceptances (specifically, not overall decisions) in a staggered manner? Or did all acceptances go out together, with later emails (the next day or whatever) for waitlisted/rejected candidates? If all accepted emails always go out together, then the rest of us have been dinged! If there is any chance that acceptance emails are still trickling in (can't imagine why this would be, given that somebody else hear heard last night), then we're still in the game (unlikely)! Anyway, congrats again!

Oh wow, that's amazing. I guess the rest of us didn't get in...?

Oh, my...

Do you remember the date last year? Was it the second Friday of March (the 12th), as it will likely be this year (the 11th)? Or was it over the weekend? Thanks, and good luck!

Exactly! I think the SPIA MPP (which is essentially analogous to the MC/MPA at HKS and the MAS at Jackson) stands out because it's significantly more competitive than its 'peer' mid-career programs, especially because of the tiny cohort size and the $$$$ that accepted students get. I think it basically occupies a niche of its own!

You're absolutely right. I didn't mean to be overly pessimistic. I just mentioned those things (mostly in passing) as things that might hold me back. On the other hand, I think my application has several strengths too. Anxiety wise --- just trying to keep myself busy. I am hopeful that 'end of the week' means by Friday. Just two days left!!!

No thought. I'm just saying that in a small MPP cohort of ~20, it's quite likely that they would like to bring a number of different perspectives together. If they already have 1-2 brilliant national security people, they might be unlikely to add a third, and so on. Or if they have 1-2 amazing candidates from a specific developing country, it's extremely unlikely that they would admit a third (even a second is unlikely, but still possible).

I haven't checked the blog in months! What did the announcement say?!

The cohort size question was for the MPA applicant who started this thread. I hope we have others join us (in anxiety!) as next week unfolds... I share your faith-based approach. I've been praying! You sound like a very strong candidate. Hopefully we can all meet at Princeton if we all get in!!!

Welcome to the club, haha! May I ask your background/stats? Good luck! I think your cohort size is ~70, right? My stats: Undergrad: Top 3 US Grad: Top 3 US (one-year 'academic' MA since I was sure I wanted to pursue a PhD); currently enrolled Work/Leadership Experience: 7 years of work experience in government / government consulting in a dev nation (nat sec/intel/defense) Undergrad GPA: 3.8 (final two years; I had extenuating circumstances in my first two years, and a letter from my Advising Dean accompanies my application) Grad GPA: 3.9 (first semester; uploaded as 'Fall term grade report' in the portal; not as impressive as it seems since it's hard not to get at least an A-) LORs: supervisor at work (mil officer); undergrad prof (she is very generous with praise); grad seminar prof (Nobel laureate); grad seminar prof (security studies specific) Statement of Purpose: I think it was strong, and the narrative/story made sense to me. But you can never be sure! Things that can go against me: they aren't into a security guy from X country this cohort; they already have more development-focused people from X region; poor quant prep (undergrad stats and calc; semester each; terrible economics grade in undergrad); terrible GPA first half of undergrad (literally flirting with probation!)

Thank you so much for taking the time out to provide a comprehensive reply! HKS is definitely very unique and taking 1-2 classes there certainly doesn't give me a good idea of the proper 'cohort experience.' My friends in various programs at HKS do seem to be happy overall, though some of them do wish they had gotten into Princeton, mainly because you can get a bit lost at HKS, with the most famous profs being hounded/essentially impossible to access (Ash Carter, etc.) and the normal class size being 30-70 people. But international students, of which there are hundreds (it seems), seem to be more than happy because of brand name (school and university both).

The wait is excruciating!