mew248

I guess I'm in a bit of a different situation, since I'm in a professional program (MPP) rather than academic, but just to chime in... This educational opportunity/career is my passion and the result of countless hours of work (and more to come!). That being said, nothing will ever be more important to me than my relationship with my SO. Than again, he's more than willing to relocate and is a "one day at a time" person rather than the obsessive planner I tend to be.

Plate or platter...When were you informed of your fellowship?

Forgot to mention, that I'm currently waitlisted for funding. The recruitment person told me last weekend that there are 10 people on the waitlist. So I'm crossing my fingers that a bunch of people with funding will decide not to attend!

I visited each of the schools in the last 3 weeks and I've decided to attend La Follette. I really liked the small class size of the Public Affairs school within the huge UW system, their dedication to social policy (they grew out of a poverty research institute) and I definitely plan on taking advantage of courses at the top-ranked sociology dept. Plus, I fell in love with Madison.

They're definitely living up to the stereotype of Midwestern friendliness. And from everyone I've talked to Minneapolis seems to be a very cool (and yes, cold) city. I've been getting good "vibes" about opportunities in the poverty/inequality area.

Interesting that all of us commenting seem to be "social policy" people. I, on the other hand, found the career services presentation to be the most worthwhile. I mean I grew up with a very successful salesman for a father and that guy was good.

I'm not attending the visit day as it conflicts with work commitments but am visiting in two weeks. I'm very interested to get someone else's thoughts on the program. I've been very impressed in how much they seem to be reaching to out to admitted students and their purported strength in the non-profit area.

I'd also like to add that I would've liked a little more formal structure to the "mingling" especially with the current students. I was hoping to gain a little bit more insight into the non-academic intangibles like living in the area (the social scene....just another form of networking, right?) and their honest assessment of the program. Was I the only one who found it a bit difficult to pick out current students vs. prospectives?

Pros: Also impressed with career services flexibility of curriculum D.C. consortium full-time faculty mission to train policy thinkers regardless of specialization Cons (some of these are most likely positives for others): perceived lack of interest of faculty (not many attended the event that I could tell) D.C. area opportunities very stressed (I don't want to end up in D.C. long-term) no mention of race/gender/sexuality policy (might have been just an attendance issue) largest sector of alumni in federal government (again not a goal of mine) unrelated to the school itself...but cost of living in the area... p.s. Skz---Gail Sunderman, a lecturer at the school, lists Education Policy as her primary interest

So it looks like my funding is going to be about the same at all of these... Any outside/fresh opinions on the best choice for someone interested in social movement/equality issues (basically anything but children and family stuff) and non-profit management on the state/local levels? I should note that I want to come back to the Mid-Atlantic region (PA/NY/NJ). Any thoughts?

So has anyone else not heard from GW either way? At this point, should I be assuming a rejection...?

So has it been determined that GWU has sent out acceptances? My app tracker has had the CCAS-3 status up for awhile, but no e-mail either way...

Sending out good luck vibes to you...but my last name starts with a "W" and I received my acceptance e-mail on the 11th.