younglions

I've fallen silent on this thread because I have nothing to contribute. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything and it seems the earliest I could expect to hear is in a couple weeks from Fletcher--but even that is an unknown. Last year they released some acceptances around the start of the fourth week of February, but that might have been a one-year deal. Most of my schools said they would release decisions by March 15. Looking at the calendar, the 14th and 15th are Saturday and Sunday, so I have about one calendar month to wait. The closer we get, the more feckless I become. 31 days isn't that long, is it? I hope all my schools release financial aid decisions at the same time!

Thanks for the response xnormajeanx... It's good to hear about the rigorous coursework, but not so good to hear about the funding cutbacks. I guess only time will tell.

Ziraffa - I understand your situation--trust me, I'm living it! I sent you a private message to take our conversation off board. IvyHope - Thanks for the link.

I agree with Linden here. It seems like it was earlier suggested that only people with average stats are allowed post their numbers (or nobody at all). Perhaps I'm reading into things too much. Also, I'm one of those who retook the GRE and has relatively high scores. It feels like there is some resentment toward those of us who took the GRE more than once. I can assure you that my financial situation doesn't put me in a privileged position. In fact, I took the GRE a second time (3 years after my first test date) because I knew I could improve, and I knew with higher scores I would have a better chance at receiving funding. A $120 GRE retest is significantly less than $50-$100K in student loan debt. Quite frankly, If I don't receive any funding, I don't think I'll be able to enroll in a program. At least not with the hope of pursuing a public service career afterward. On a more constructive note, there are many schools that post average GRE/GPA stats which are a much more useful baseline than this message board. For example, here are some average stats for a few "government affairs" schools: Princeton WWS Graduate School: 1,062 applicants; 137 admits; 13% admit rate; 632 Verbal; 697 Quantitative For CMU MSPPM: 544 Verbal; 655 Quant For Georgetown MSFS: 3.63 GPA; 642 Verbal; 700 Quant; 5.2 AWR For UCLA Public Policy: 3.5 GPA; 630 Verbal; 705 Quant; 5 AWR

I applied to CMU Heinz MSPPM as well. I decided to do the D.C. track program because my interests lie in development policy--the second-year in D.C. will allow me to get some more first-hand experience. A great thing about the D.C. program is that you're responsible for setting up your own apprenticeship (of course the program will assist you if you require it), so you can tailor it to your exact desires. The DC track is much more competitive than the 2-year Pittsburgh program. The Pittsburgh program accepts slightly less than 50% of all applicants. Three days before the deadline, the D.C. track had received 60 applications for about 17 spots--or about 28%. From what I've read, only Princeton and Harvard accept a lower percentage of students (I could be wrong). Based on your post, I think the MSPPM is a great fit for you. What track did you apply to? Good luck!

I'm jealous. I still haven't had any of my programs admit any students (except one member of this board, but he/she said it was a special circumstance). I applied to Georgetown, but the MSFS program. I really should have applied to a school with a history of early decisions, just so February wouldn't be so difficult. On a more positive note, congratulations policy_applicant! I assume Georgetown is one of your top choices? Now let's hope you get some money!

Linden and dagger - Stay optimistic. Maybe you have a delay because they are organizing your big funding packages.

Harris School is one of my top choices. I remember from last year that you received some money from Harris. Can you shed any light on the approximate percentage of students receiving funding, and at what levels? What sort of background did you come from? How was your economics and math preparation? Are the quantitative courses actually challenging, or is that more self-hype among MPP schools? A big reason I'm attracted to Harris is because of its strong emphasis on the quantitative. Am I going to be disappointed considering my undergraduate degree is in economics? Where in Chicago are you living? Do many (any?) students live in Woodlawn, or do they stay further north? Thanks for coming back to answer questions!

I know some others here have applied to Fletcher, and are probably already aware of their great admissions blog. For those who aren't, I recommend checking it out: http://news.fletcher.tufts.edu/admissions/ . The last two posts detail the work of student readers in application review and the process of reading an application (pictures included). Looks like our applications are already being reviewed.

The OP mentioned he was applying for masters program in international relations or political science. The former is usually a professional degree, the latter is a more academic degree. The two call for very different statements. For a professional degree, there is little need to mention with which professors you are eager to work. The statement should focus on past experiences and how they have contributed to your desire to pursue a CAREER in international relations. In 2005 I applied to 3 competitive IR masters and was accepted at all of them. Nowhere in my statements did I mention a single professor For an academic degree, you should focus on research interests and why that program and its professors are best suited to those interests. Overwhelmingly, the advice in this thread is geared toward academic degrees. For your political science applications, be sure to follow it. If the IR programs to which you're applying have a professional orientation, focus more on your career interests and why the program's curriculum makes it a good fit.

The two year split between DC and Pittsburgh. You applied, and were accepted, into the 2-year Pittsburgh program, right?

I participated in a chat today with administrators from the CMU MSPPM program. They said the number of applications this year is similar to the average of the past three. For the program I am interested in, they have received 60 applications for 17 spots. There are still three more days before the deadline, so they expect to receive more.

I think people will still apply to masters programs with the hopes of receiving funding. If they don't, then they make the decision to not go. Also, I don't see "government affairs" (name of board) having an off-year during a time when a new president has recharged the enthusiasm of a sizable chunk of the nation. Just making some advanced excuses for any rejections I might receive!

I wish I would have applied to some schools with earlier decisions. Regarding MPA vs MPP, Berkeley has a nice discussion on their FAQ: http://gspp.berkeley.edu/admissions/faq.html

hey linden - i sent you a private message about HKS (formerly KSG).

Is anyone else applying to CMU? They should have received my GRE scores during the second or third week of December, but they still haven't updated my file. A few weeks ago they sent out a mass e-mail instructing applicants not to contact them regarding GRE scores, for it is taking them awhile to organize everything due to a large number of applications (uh oh!). If you're applying, is your GRE still listed as unofficial? If it's official, how long did it take?

I directly asked the question to the financial aid contact. People on the fellowship committees don't have access to your main file. I did a bit more than nick some stuff from my SOP for two of the essays--in fact, they're pretty much verbatim, only a little truncated. I worked hard on the SOP, and if they people handing out the money can't read it, I figured I would use large parts of it again.

HEI is actually called something else now... "The Graduate Institute of International Development". As you said, it is located right in the center of Geneva, next to lake and across the street from the UN and other various international institutions. Here's a better look: http://graduateinstitute.ch/corporate/p ... us_en.html I applied for what is essentially a masters degree in international economics. Being a European school, all the syllabi are posted on the website, along with problem sets for some courses--at least they were two years ago. For the economics concentration, the classes seemed to be at a masters level in econ (that is more mathematically rigorous than the core courses you would see at a SAIS or SFS), possibly comparable to something you might see at the Harvard MPA/ID program. When I applied three years ago, I was also accepted into the LSE Masters of Public and Economic Policy and American's International Economic Relations program. Among these three, I decided that I liked HEI the most. It seemed like a lot of the economics students were working across the street at the UN, WTO, etc. Also, the students in the program are EXTREMELY impressive, at least according to the short bios listed on the website: http://graduateinstitute.ch/economics/faces.html . One of the big pluses for me was the opportunity to pick up French while living in Geneva for a couple years. One of the big negatives was living in Geneva. Although the setting is beautiful, I heard almost uniformly bad things about the city from like-minded young people: expensive, pretentious, and boring. Even though the tuition is something ridiculously cheap--like $6,000 a year when I considered going--two years in Geneva would hurt the wallet, especially with limited part-time employment options. Moreover, I asked a former supervisor at USAID what he thought about the school, and he didn't have much of an impression but mentioned that he thought it might be a training ground for European diplomats. If you check out the "faces" page I linked above, you'll see only three Americans in the international economics program. With such a limited amount of US students, the career network stateside is likely limited. All things considered, its a great option if you're willing to forgo the more US-centric career services department available at comparable US institutions. If I had the choose between LSE, American, and HEI/Graduate Institute again, I would pick HEI/Graduate Institute. Very few, if any, US programs offer a comparable pathway into the big-time international institutions. Hope I was helpful.

GRE scores are, at best, a tertiary factor in public policy admissions. Also, nobody can tell you what your chances are with the information you gave us. However, if you're an undergrad without relevant work experience, it will be difficult to be accepted into many of the more competitive programs. Despite Brown's ivy league status, its MPP program is largely unknown. It is only a few years old and has yet to establish a reputation for either quality or mediocrity. I assume you will get a decent education given its parent university, however, it takes years to attract top notch professors and build a large alumni base for graduates to exploit. Don't forget, we're not exactly learning rocket science here. These degrees have as much instrumental value as they do constitutive, if not more. If your degree won't afford you the contacts and "prestige" that its cost commands, it might be better off looking elsewhere. That said, I think I read somewhere that Brown offers decent financial aid packages to some of its admits. If you can get in with funding, I think it would be a very good option.

Somebody posted an acceptance to one of the schools to which I applied: Are you around here? When did you submit your application? I submitted mine in the middle of December, and it's still not complete. Seems like they received a large number of applications. Any other CMU hopefuls? Any results yet? Although it's generally considered a step below the big names, it offers one of my favorite programs--a two year split between Pittsburgh and DC.

I applied to U Chicago... Duke was one of my last cuts. Since I am a Peace Corps (PC) alumnus, I looked for some programs that offer assistance to PC folks. Duke offers one of the most generous packages, around 14,000 per year, but I ultimately decided to take my chances at U Chicago--they offer a scholarship for PC volunteers, although it seems more selective. Targeting PC scholarships, I ended up applying to Harvard MPP, Chicago MPP, and CMU MSPPM. Of that list only CMU guarantees aid, albeit a small amount.

Also, just thought of a topic to keep us busy. Do you have any programs to which you regret not applying? Mine would definitely be Berkeley GSPP. I always considered it, but got scared away by a perceived lack of funding. Really, I didn't apply to anywhere that I didn't think could offer me at least some assistance. Besides having a great program, with a reputed strong quantitative curriculum, Berkeley is right next door to my favorite city in the United States--San Francisco. Similarly, I've had pangs of regret for not applying to SAIS. The reason was once again the paucity of funding going to first years. During university I lived in D.C. for a few months and I loved it... it wouldn't be a bad place to spend two years at a top notch school. Ultimately those two were my last cuts. I applied to six schools, and although I would have shelled out more cash for applications, I was reluctant to ask my recommenders to write two more letters.

I know what you mean about the wait. I just want it to be mid-March already. I've gone through the gradcafe results from the past two years, and it seems like the first school that I might hear from is Chicago. Anyone already filled out their FAFSA? I'm waiting for my former employer to get me my W2. I think there are some others here applying to Harvard MPP. Do you know if our FAFSA has to be submitted by the February 6th scholarship application deadline? I suppose I could e-mail them, but I've already asked them a bunch of questions regarding scholarships and don't want to burden them with any more.

I'd be more confident with your profile than my own. That 10 years of work experiences goes a long way. Plus your stats are better than most.

About 60 more days until we first get word of acceptances and rejections! Certainly better than the 90 that remained when I submitted my applications a month ago, which by the way, have still not been marked as complete by some schools. I hope that doesn't mean that applications are up this year.