Carolina2008

I did a great deal of research (spoke to alumni, students, and admissions reps) before applying and my sense is if you can demonstrate a strong commitment you have a shot. One current student said he had 770 on his GREs and came straight for a smaller public undergrad, his background and commitment overshadowed this, however.

In my case I have and 1100 GRE (mostly low in Math), 3.6 GPA with a bachelors in History & Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, 3.6 GPA from Brown with a Masters in History, 3 years in non-profit management, 2 years in Higher Ed, & 2 yrs in research. I highlighted in my essay, however, that I was a low-income first generation student and former high school dropout. Since I want to work on college access & success issues I think that gives me a unique perspective.

I don't know whether I'll get in or not, but I did receive a lot of encouragement from the school. I think HGSE looks for diversity & passion first & foremost, so you might as well give it a shot!

It was okay, but not as much as I had hoped. I will clearly have to work some to make up the difference. As of this point my best aid offer is from UPenn, but I'm going to try to see if I can make it work at Harvard. Most of it was loans. There is a max on how much need based grant money you can get, which is somewhere in the vicinity of $12k. So anything more than that is either scholarships, work study, or loans. One advantage is it appears that not all decisions on restricted scholarships have been made, so there is still the possibility of getting more before the April 15th deadline. That is if you qualified for any of those.

I noticed your other post on whether $60k in loans is too much. There is a cap on how much stafford and perkins loan money you can get a year, which is only about half of the total cost of a single year at Harvard. So anything more has to be private or graduate plus loans. If you are not opposed to working some though, you can make up the difference. Boston is expensive, but that also typically means higher part-time salaries. For instance, I just interviewed for a part-time job last week that paid $18-22 an hour. The only thing is working can be rough if you are trying to do a one year Masters. In my case I've already done this once. It is intense and not fun, but it is doable up to 20 hours a week. I suppose it all comes down to just how bad you want to go to Harvard. In my case this program is a particularly good fit for my goals, so it is my first priority.

Good luck to those still waiting!

My understanding is they make it their goal to provide a decision within 4 weeks, but they do not promise to do so. An admissions rep at Penn told me they reach this goal nine times out of ten. A later decision does not reflect on the likelihood you will be accepted though... according to the rep.


That said I'm very anxious as well. I submitted my application on the 15th and it was forwarded to the committee on the 20th. Have you been reading their admissions blog? It is a great way to keep up to date on the status of everything. According to the blog they sent out Doctoral program decisions last week. Maybe they will get around to Masters this week.

Best of luck!