smerd

The Javits Fellowship was separate $2.5k - $5k fellowship application due on the same day as the GSPP app. It required a short form and essay. I found out about it at the last minute and just kinda threw mine together and tossed it in the mail, because why not? Here's the app. Separate question: has any american student at all been admitted by email or snail mail yet? On the results page, I'm seeing a lot of dinged americans and dinged/accepted/waitlisted internationals, but zero admitted american university students. Is it possible they're notifying american admits by snail mail and everybody else (dinged and admitted) by email? I guess that kinda makes sense.... Any lucky american admits want to pipe up and prove my theory wrong?

Yeah, unfortunately I agree. Last year, PhDs found out on about 3/4 and MPPs didn't get their emails until 3/18. Let's hope it's sooner, but who knows.

Just wanted to say: I remember reading on this board that folks who got rejected from GSPP were later admitted to HKS and other great schools. So keep your chin up--good news could be on the way soon!

A little bird told me that the application review is done. Just about every year over the past few, the results have come by mail in the first week of March. It is the first week of March now. Do fellow board members see where I'm going with this? Let the fretting begin!

It's my understanding that GWU (and others) straight up matches the AmeriCorps segal award automatically. If you're admitted, it's matched. On AmeriCorp's website, GWU is listed as one of the "Institutions that Match the Education Award," see here: http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/benefits/ed_award_match_detail.asp?tbl_acaward_id=62

Damn you IdealThinker! Now I won't be able to get away from my inbox all next week. Looking over the history of HKS notifications here, it looks like 2010 was ~3/18, 2009 was 3/22, and 2008 was 3/14, 2007 was 3/9 (or 3/13, or near there), and 2006 was 3/15. Yes, I've had some time on my hands. So, there's no precedent for notifications in the first week of March, but a couple things have changed this year, including the earlier app deadline and the elimination of extra essays. Where does that leave us? Hell if I know. The HKS website says they'll notify by March 31, but I don't know if we expect anything more unless one you fine posters has a friend on the adcomm? Care to do some reconnaissance work for the rest of us?

Hmm, not sure how application time impacts scholarship eligibility. I applied in early January and just heard back that I was awarded $15k each year. How does this compare with other folks?

I'd also be surprised if they cross checked. I did a couple fellowship essays that were essentially the same. One of the prompts was specific and the other was broader but well-answered by the essay from the other prompt. My resume was a slightly updated version of what I sent in with my app. If I could offer one piece of solid advice to others, I'd recommend using a lot of awesome fonts like comic sans and wing dings, just to spice things up. (Not like I'm trying to weed out competition or anything...)

FYI: I got a mass-mailed message that says scholarship decisions will come Feb 25 or Feb 28. Just a little bit longer...

Yeah, mine says the same thing. "Processed" just means that they have verified that they have received all of your documents (essays, recommendations, etc). I wouldn't expect a decision for another 4 weeks or so. I'm guessing March 18 or thereabouts, based on previous years. On the plus side, I bet we'll start hearing from other MPP schools (GSPP, Ford, WWS etc) a little bit earlier. I can relate to the feeling though--it's nerve-racking! I need to find a good month-long hobby to take my mind off of this!

From my own neurotic reading and re-reading of the posts here, I've come to the same conclusion. I think someone said "Georgetown = slow" or something to that effect a while back. I might just have to talk to a real live human being at GPPI admissions to get the real story...

Hmm, did everybody else's email say "the GPPI Dean of Admissions will notify you the week of February 14th by e-mail as to the Scholarship Committee’s decision?" Either they're working late on a holiday weekend or they're not making that deadline. Darn.

Anybody gotten a response on the scholarship yet?

You've got great internships and some solid leadership experience, so you might have a real shot. That said, and I know you probably don't want to hear this (I wouldn't have), I strongly recommend against going directly from undergrad into an MPP. Not only will you be a stronger applicants in a year or two (which translates into more funding if not also more acceptances), you'll also get to spend some time in your early 20s exploring the world. These are golden years to try things and mess up--rack up some real-world success, failures, experiences. You really can't lose right now (hmm, unless you go into massive debt or develop some sort of debilitating addiction). Worst case scenario you get a year of experiences that, one way or another, will help you focus your interests in grad school. I admit it, I'm biased. As someone who applied and didn't get into my top MPP programs right out of college, I am extremely thankful that I was forced to explore the real world for a few years before returning to school. I'm still going to get an MPP, but I have a much better idea of what I want to get out of the degree and have had opportunities over last couple years that won't come again. I really feel like my friends from college who went directly to grad school (many of them bright, interesting, superstars-to-be like yourself) really missed out on a big opportunity. Real, decades-long life comes after grad school--think hard about having some unstructured experiences before then. Grad school is always there, but this time you have now won't be.

Bottom line, I wouldn't put too much faith in the U.S. News rankings in general, and especially not with rankings for a small subset of graduate programs (rankings that are 3 years old now too). Princeton is one of the top handful of MPP (and MPA) programs. It has a fantastic reputation and it pays for most of its student to attend, which is why it has an acceptance rate somewhere below 10%. Coincidentally, there was a malcolm gladwell article that just came out detailing exactly how arbitrary college rankings are (let alone MPP rankings). http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_gladwell

Just got the email! It's a preliminary admit letter saying that GPPI will "recommend" my admission to the graduate school and that I'll receive an official admit letter soon. Sounds like the same thing they've done in previous years. Hurray! Check your inbox!!

Anybody hear from GPPI yet? Looking at results over the past couple years, it looks like people normally start receiving preliminary acceptance emails around this time. Actually, we're a few days past when folks found out in 2009 and 2010. Any idea what the hold up might be?

Yup--I went through the same process for HKS.

Any reason why you didn't apply to the Ford school? Their poverty policy program is great, and I'd think it'd be right up your alley given your interest.

Yeah, that is weird. I submitted back in November and haven't heard anything. Searching this board/results, it looks like a whole bunch of folks got notified on Feb 3rd of last year. So maybe week after next?

6 schools here. 13?? That is amazing. Now the financial aid process begins, and it seems like there's an extra essay or two for each school now. Guess this paper writing is good prep for getting back to academia...?

Program Applied To MPP/MPA (depending on the program) Schools Applied To: Wilson (MPA), Kennedy (MPP), LBJ (MPA), Ford (MPP), Goldman (MPP), Georgetown (MPP) Schools Admitted To: Schools Rejected From: Still Waiting: All of 'em Undergraduate institution: Top 5 lib arts Undergraduate GPA: 3.5 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.65 Undergraduate Major: PoliSci/Econ GRE Quantitative Score: 780 GRE Verbal Score: 720 GRE AW Score: 6.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 4 Years of Work Experience: 4 Describe Relevant Work Experience: Year of service in my area of policy interest, and now 2.5 years of progressively more substantive policy/legislative work in DC Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Hmm, by comparison, how can I tell? I haven't read anybody else's! I worked on it for about 4 months obsessively writing and rewriting, so I think it was decent. I felt good about it by the end, and I tailored it slightly (about 10% change) for each program. But who knows? Strength of LOR (be honest, describe the process, etc): Feel very good about 2 of them, and the third could very well be good, but I'm not positive. Other: I applied right out of undergrad to a couple of these schools and got rejected from both. In retrospect: thank god. I had little idea what I actually wanted to do, and these few years out of school have been fantastic. I would highly recommend against applying before working in the real world for a little bit. Worst case scenario, you spend a year or two having an adventure before getting back to academia. These are your early 20s--do things, have fun, rack up experiences!