kapture

Has anyone heard good news, or are they really sending out rejections before offering awards?

D2 here. Haven't heard back.

Hi, I'm bumping this up bc I had the same question as awvish. I'm looking at Virgin Mobile, which runs on the Sprint network, and was wondering how well it works in the Northwood housing area, as well as throughout Ann Arbor and Michigan? Thanks!

Congrats on those who have accepted UCLA's offer. Just fyi: I got the final decision for my fellowships and grants today via email. So hopefully it will be sent out to everyone soon.

What kind of negative things have you heard and what kind of fieldwork were you planning on doing? I was an undergraduate at Harvard and used to work with various community service organizations (run through Harvard's Phillips Brooks House) in the South End and elsewhere, and hadn't noticed any problems. There might be issues in Allston (across the Charles River from HKS) because of Harvard's development plans in the area, but I've never noticed anything else other than that.

No; he said he was just calling to say hi and to congratulate me, answer any questions I had and to encourage me to visit the school and attend SAIS in the fall. I think he was heading out of the office, b/c of the 6 hour time difference. It was a nice chat and I really appreciated the call.

I was really lucky this admission cycle and was admitted into really great programs. The problem now is that I have to choose! U Mich. is a strong program, very quantitative, and they gave me a full ride + health insurance + a very generous stipend. I would graduate with no debt and will be free to either go into the private or public sector--though I'm sure I will probably go into the private sector. SAIS is in DC, so there are more networking and internship opportunities. I received a small fellowship from them (12K) but DC is expensive, and I'm afraid of taking on too much debt. I was accepted into the IDEV program, which is highly competitive and suited towards my interests, and because I want to go into consulting, it seems like the perfect place to be. Sanford is also a strong program, although I'm not sure how strong their global policy program is. The good thing is that it's warm (I'm from Hawaii, and from my undergraduate experience in Boston, the cold really is problematic. Not impossible for me to deal with, but it does affect my mood and ability to hunker down and study). Received an 18K fellowship + assistantship. SIPA is also a great program, but I received no funding. I'm interested in going into consulting, looking at Booz Allen Hamilton, Chemonics, and the like where I can focus on issues of food insecurity, poverty, international development. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I received an email from the Financial Aid Office on March 3 with a "provisional award statement" that gave info about loans. Admissions and Financial Aid are two separate departments, and they release information at different times.

I got the same email and was thinking the same until I got the fellowship and stipend (+ health insurance!!!) this morning. I was set to decline their offer because I couldn't afford it, but now it is my number 1 choice!

I did. He was nice, and I appreciated the call.

I'm curious, as well. And how much funding, on average, should we expect as 2nd year students? I'm considering offers from other programs that have offered me fellowships, but they're still really expensive, and I don't know if I should just go all in and accept Columbia's offer with no funding, or go to a school that has given me some scholarships for the two years.

Did you create a password the first time you tried to log in? If so, click on the Already a user? link, use the ISIS ID they gave you in the email and your newly created password. If that doesn't work, definitely call tomorrow. Good luck!

I saw that, too. If you click on details, it lists everything, including loan fees, books, living costs, etc. I got a $12K fellowship as well. It's better than nothing, but geeze louise, that's a lot of money I'm going to have to be repaying.

click on the link. use the ID they give you, fill out info for birthday and zipcode. another screen will pop up. choose your password. another login screen: use the ID they give you again for the JHED login or whatever, and your password. click on financial aid-->summary.

I have the same thing on mine and haven't heard back either. I'm going to just try to stop worrying. It's out of my control and they've said that they have everything. Although, saying that I'm going to stop worry and actually not worrying are two completely different things! Here's to hoping for good news!

Thank you, I was really very surprised that I was admitted at all, and even more so that I made it into IDEV. It will be interesting to see how funding turns out, since that will play the biggest role in whether I decide to enroll or not. Congrats everyone!

I just checked and was accepted to the IDEV program (!!!!!!!!!), all contingent on my completing a macroeconomics course, which will be easy enough. Still waiting on funding.

Hey, I applied to the same programs, and am also waiting to hear back! Hopefully we'll hear good news next week!

Just my two cents: The concerns you're feeling are reasonable, and I would suggest trying to get as much information as possible. If you can, visit the schools. If not, send out emails. I'm starting to send out emails to each of the schools that I was accepted into, especially the offices of career services asking questions that I can't find on their websites: job statistics, services offered, etc. I'm also going to be emailing specific professors whose interests match mine to ask about their research interests. It wouldn't hurt to ask the admissions office if they can put you in contact with current students--emphasis on the plural--so that you can communicate with them via email and ask them specific questions about the program. I would not be shy about approaching the schools with these kinds of questions. It's more work on your part, but ultimately, the schools are working for you and you shouldn't attend a school that isn't right, especially since it is such a huge investment in time and money. Be polite and professional in all of your communications, and understand that it may take a while for schools to respond b/c it is a busy time right now. Good luck! I'm also having a really hard time making a decision!

Also, if it helps, they do offer that $100. reimbursement.

I totally understand, and I apologize for not being able to offer more help. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to finance my first leg to LA, but I suppose it's worth it in the grand scheme of things.

I think I received two mailings from them: one that just had my letter of acceptance and no mention of scholarships/funding, and then a few weeks later, an actual packet with more specifics about funding, that had all that other stuff that I mentioned and a paragraph in my letter of acceptance saying that I will have confirmation by March 31st.

*forehead smack* I'm sorry! I was looking at one-way airfare. My plan was to get out there and then travel to the other schools I was planning on visiting. Sorry about that! If you break it up so that you buy one-way tickets, it comes out to 300, so you save a little bit. I'm not sure how much ticket prices are going to differ--it's always a gamble to wait to see if they go down. But the Tuesday rule seems pretty standard.

I just use Kayak.com or Sidestep.com You can try purchasing your ticket on a Tuesday--they tend to be cheaper. I'm flying in from Hawaii, but will be breaking my trip up. From CA LAX, I found a ticket for $115 (total)--not bad at all.

I'm also in for international development studies! Go us!