livinitup

I have to admit, when I first applied to all these fabulous schools, I thought my chances were slim. Don't get me wrong, I have decent stats and everything, but I just had a nagging feeling that I wasn't good enough. Then, after hearing good news from several great schools, I started to think I might actually stand a chance of getting into KSG. Oh well, it was worth a try. KSG is the last school I was waiting to hear from. It's finally over! And I'm quite happy to say I'll be livin' it up at Berkeley in the fall. I am so incredibly excited! Congrats to everyone, wherever you applied, and all the best for the coming year. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Finally heard from Georgetown--I'm in! But the email doesn't say much of anything about funding, except that I'll only hear if I get it. No mention of when they plan to notify, no request for an additional essay or anything like that. I was hoping it had taken so long for them to accept me because they were taking their time and putting together a fantastic funding package (we can all hope, right?). That seems much less likely now. I'd seriously consider doing a campus visit if I thought I stood a shot at decent funding. Guess I'll just play wait and see for a little while.

This document should answer many of your questions about fee remission and types of jobs available: http://gspp.berkeley.edu/admissions/docs/FAQ.pdf I think my colleague worked about 18 hours a week, but she had different jobs from one semester to the next, so it might have varied. She did say to make sure you ask about fee remission when applying for a position, because some of them don't qualify for remission, and you might not know it unless you ask. Also, keep in mind that in order to find a job, you may have to apply for positions outside your department. Feel free to send me a private message if you want more detail about what my colleague did.

For those of you who got in but did not receive funding, please don't despair. You may have to borrow some to attend Berkeley, but it shouldn't even approach the costs of attending some other big names without funding. A coworker of mine is a recent GSPP grad, and she borrowed very little in her two years there. For starters, she found on-campus employment both years (they don't recommend that first year students work, but I think it's more than possible if you're willing). That employment substantially reduced her enrollment fees and paid her a salary that almost completely covered living expenses (with a roomate, I believe). She was also able to leverage work study funds in her summer internship, allowing her to earn a solid amount of money over the summer. And, establishing state residency meant no more nonresident tuition in her second year. She had been offered a generous scholarship at a private school and no funding at GSPP, but when she ran the numbers, GSPP was still the clear winner. Given the troubles with CA's state budget and economy in general, it's hard to say whether you'd be able to keep your borrowing as low as she did. But I'd still say your financial prospects are much better at GSPP without funding than almost anywhere else.

Thanks for the congrats. I'm still in total shock over GSPP. I had my hopes, but this seems far too good to be true! I'll probably be at the admit day, but I'm afraid my smile might be the only thing that gives me away.

undergrad gpa: 3.87 (small-ish Jesuit university) major: poli sci, foreign language (several policy courses, stats, econ) 660 v, 720 q, 5.5 AW WE: semester internship, three years at a policy nonprofit, 1 1/2 of which part-time as I was still in school. A fair amount of quantitative work, co-authored several reports. Personal background probably also relevant, but we're not going into that here. I'll just say I'm one of those folks who adds a little variety to the mix.

Work, surf gradcafe at work, facebook at work, http://www.fmylife.com at work, gym, dinner, tv, bed. The only thing keeping me sane is that I boycott the internet after 5 pm.

It's great to hear everyone's story, to know I'm not alone. My parents' lots have definitely improved since I was young (both remarried, my mom got an A.A. and has a slightly better job now), but that didn't translate into any kind of support for me in college. To this day, and despite my best efforts, they are totally clueless about what I am doing with my life. I think they also resent me for living so far away, which I must do because of a lack of opportunities in my home state. I've been working in nonpartisan public policy research for a few years, have applied to MPP programs for this fall, and still the only question my mom ever asks (and scornfully, I might add) is if I want to be a politician or something. Sigh. I absolutely relate to the feelings of insecurity and alienation experienced in higher ed. I went to a private university, and had very little in common with most classmates. Not that it mattered much anyway, since I was working all the time and lived far away from campus. Thankfully, I had some very supportive and down-to-earth professors who made my life a lot more bearable. It was a hard four years, but I think I'm now better prepared to handle these feelings in grad school. I wish all of you the absolute best of luck.