younglions

I haven't actually physically received the package, since I'm living abroad, but my mom told me about the financial aid offer. It's big. Full tuition plus a very very generous stipend.

For those interested, it seems like the WWS MPA program accepted right around 10% of applicants this year.

Thanks for the very informative response jmoney. I can appreciate your decision of Harvard over Princeton. I too am in my mid 20s, and part of me wants to be a cosmopolitan city to enjoy my first two years back in the USA after a few years abroad. All else equal, I would take Boston over Princeton any day of the week.

jmoney - You make good points, but as you said, confirmatory bias can factor into decision making. Moreover, there's a good chance I'll be relocating this fall with a significant other. This week she has become pretty excited about Princeton, and is losing her enthusiasm toward some of my other potential destinations. Perhaps I should have kept my admissions results a secret from her! From your post history, I see you were also accepted into Princeton but decided on Harvard. Can you provide any insight into what factors influenced your decision?

Still nothing at 6:15 central time.

...

I just can't believe that Harvard would make admits wait until the end of the month. There's competition for the best students, and Harvard would definitely lose quite a few of them if they wait so long.

I might help my brother rebuild his house. It just burned down this week.

Can either of you share when your letters were dated/postmarked, and also in what region you live?

I was able to log-in about 30 minutes ago, now no. I'm using: https://grad.admissions.tufts.edu/APP/login.aspx Good luck.

Got my updated acceptance from Fletcher tonight with financial info. Good luck to all who are frantically refreshing the application management system.

Light - That's great news. Congratulations!

No, I didn't hear from Chicago today. Also, on the results board another message was posted that says admits on Friday and rejects on Saturday--not Thursday and Friday. I'm having a hard time believing the admit that was posted on 3/10... maybe they contacted a professor directly and their status came up in conversation, but I would be surprised if it came from the admissions staff. Also, last year Chicago seemed to notify their applicants very late in the evening.

Tufts is also home to the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund, a $100-million project funded by the founder of eBay. If you press hard enough, you could probably get some experience there.

I checked out the NJ transit website and there are plenty of trains that will take you from Princeton to New York Penn Station in about an hour. Including the shuttle fair, which takes you from Princeton to Princeton Junction, the off-peak hours round-trip fair is $22.50. Amtrak also has a lot of options, but they're more than 3-4 times the price. To get to Philadelphia you must make a transfer if you use NJ transit, so it takes a little longer (80 minutes). The price is about the same as to New York. If you take Amtrak to Philadelphia, it only takes about 40 minutes, but costs about $30 each way. So it seems like Princeton is well connected. If you use NJ transit, it's both affordable and a relatively quick trip to get a taste of the big city life. In fact, right now I'm living in Mexico City, and to get from my nearest metro station to some parts of the city takes longer than Princeton-NY. Another positive, both NY and Philadelphia have baseball teams in the National League. (I'm a DBacks fan.)

Thanks for the responses regarding the town. The small town vibe is the only negative Princeton has for me. I've been living abroad for almost three years now, and I'm dying to attend some baseball games and indie rock concerts. I keep telling myself that a high-speed train runs through Princeton Junction, and I'll be able to get to the big cities on the weekends. Am I going to be disappointed?

Linden - Sorry, I don't have info on the waitlist. I've got to wait until I get the official offer from Princeton before I'll be able to make a decision. If the economy has caused Princeton's mythical financial aid to be not so mythical, and I get a great offer elsewhere, I'll have a decision to make. I'll make it as soon as I am comfortable. Anyways, good luck with the waitlist. A couple weeks ago somebody (policy_applicant?) posted a document showing that ~30% of the admits last year didn't enroll, so there's always hope. Also, congratulations to the other admits... What are your thoughts on Princeton (the city)?

Good luck to everybody else.... Don't despair if you haven't heard yet... they might be notifying in waves. Also, no financial information is included in the admit e-mail.

In! Not going to my spanish class today.... need to find some good champagne in this Mexican neighborhood of mine.

The reject is from the forums, not the results page.

You've got a point, but I still think graduate school debt can be VERY limiting for some. For example, if I were to decide after my masters to do some microfinance surveying fieldwork, it would be near impossible to find a position that would allow me to pay down any significant amount of loans. A lot of these positions are very low paid, and some even unpaid. Perhaps those interested in domestic policy don't have as much to worry about (this could be totally false, I haven't researched domestic policy careers), but for those of us interested in international development, debt can drastically shape what options we pursue post-graduation. Anyways, thanks for bringing the topic up. It's certainly a discussion worth having.

I've gone so far as to look when people received decisions last year (as in what time). I didn't find any admits, but I did see a message from someone with a rejection that posted at 2:05 pm central time. S/he said that s/he had just been rejected. So no, don't give up hope yet on today yet! Also, I'm officially crazy.

New post on the results forum, not an admit or a rejection, but interesting nonetheless: "All admits will hear by tomorrow, rejections on Friday." - via phone

Only one Harris post yesterday, and none so far today. Since Harris has a large cohort, I think we can expect to see loads of results posted once the flow picks up.

Ignats - Thanks for the perspective. I'll counter by saying that most of us are probably gaga over Princeton because its generous aid packages will allow us to explore our areas of interests without reservation. Not just for two years during grad school, but afterwards as well. When many alumni of SIPA, HKS, SAIS, Georgetown, etc. are taking jobs in the private sector, dedicating their days to goals for which they might not give a damn in order to send their $900/month student loan checks in, graduates of WWS will have the financial flexibility to do exactly what it is that they want to do. In the words of Amartya Sen, education is both instrumental and constitutive. In my opinion, WWS is the best instrument to open up a rewarding career in public service. It has very little to do with prestige.