fighter_2008

yes i know what you mean. Hmm.. my impression was that it was mar 14, although it could've been Apr 1, if that helps.

I think the yield at HKS is typically at about 75%. For Fall '09 I remember there were 1696 applicants and about 250 enrolled (330+ admits).

Last year's official notification date was Mar 14, 09.

My advice would be to make a case by (1) giving your take of the current situation (2) presenting what are the key criteria / considerations that will guide your recommendations (3) make your recommendations / proposals / solutions that are coherent with the criteria in (2). I'm a current student here at the Kennedy School and I can tell that they place a lot of emphasis on the criteria / key considerations that policy makers need to take into account (in other words why you think a certain way, rather than how you think your solutions / recommendations are going to solve the problem). Good luck in your essays!

Yes linden's post was a classic! It's kinda weird coming back to this forum after one year and looking back at the journey I had with other Fall 09 applicants... To all the Fall 2010 applicants, best of luck and see you all in grad school!

Guys thought I'd just contribute by 'giving back' to the Forum that had helped me so much last year... I'm currently at the Kennedy Sch doing my MPP (Yes! I made it and you can too!) and the key thing I would advise all is to START EARLY! At this time last year I had all my recs and GMAT wrapped up already and the main thing I was focusing on was just the statements of purpose/esssays which I took abt 4 months to develop. I was still editing and making adjustments to the letters/memos up till the very last day so it will not harm you to start as early as possible. One thing I thought was really useful that I read from some grad sch essay guide book was to send out the application to your lower choice schools first and then submit your top choice school application LAST. Once you hit the send button you can't take it back and that's when you really start thinking how you could have made that essay better, how you wished you could have added in that one more idea which would clinch it for the adcoms. Submitting the application for your top choice school the last maximises those chances of putting all the good ideas and insights into the application for that school that matters most to you. Hope this helps and good luck to all!

for vocab i recommend dictionary.com Word Of The Day. i only found out about it after I took my GREs back in 2001, but the words featured on WOTD are uncannily similar to those that appear on GRE Verbal!

d08, it's about a 7-8min walk to the edge of c-town, but it's downhill all the way from Maplewood so you shd be fine. ruslan, yeah the nature+scenery at Cornell is simply scintillating! In fall, go visit the parks, waterfalls, the Finger Lakes. The breathtaking views will just blow you away. Nuff said, don't want to spoil the fun for you this Fall!

Demetrios, Ruslan, congrats! I did an MEng in Cornell back in 01-02 and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it! Maplewood is not that bad although it will be far away from CIPA which I gather is near the school of ILR? There's a nice little community center where I used to spend most of my lunch breaks eating and watching TV at the same time Downside of the Wood as you call it is that it's a little old and some of the rooms can be a little run down (that was my impression 7 years ago), so I can only imagine the state it is in now, unless of course they've done some renovations recently. Not sure abt that though. In any case I know you guys will have a great time over there - look out for activities at the Big Red Barn! Gd luck to you guys and treasure your days in Cornell!!

Thanks sisepuede! The wait is finally over and now tying up all the administrative details... See you all in Boston this fall

I heard via email on Apr 30. Very sudden but was pleasantly surprised. Boston here I come!

OMG. I got off the HKS waitlist!!! woohoo!

i'm taking comfort more in the fact that this thread has all but died down indicating a lack of interest from both HKS admits and waitlisters which I hope will somehow translate to vacancies for both anxiouslywaiting and me. oh well, more wishful thinking again eh?

anxiouslywaiting i think it might be just that... wishful thinking. my sense is this year's yield at HKS can't be that far off from that of Princeton. IMHO waitlisters like us will stand a chance only if the yield dips below 70% or even 65%. one thing i don't understand reading a separate woody woo thread on this forum is this: with a 78% and hence many more spaces opening up, how is it that no one got off the waitlist at Princeton? any adcoms here wld care to explain?

Anyone know what is the yield for HKS MPP class this year? I read that Woody Woo's is a whoppie-doo 78%!

looks like i'm 1.5 of 5 in my predictions: 1)dagger - regrets 2)mcneelified - nothing heard 3)sisepuede - congrats 4)cornell07 - regrets 5)fighter_2008 (me!) - W/L and of course younglions is in, so that makes 2.5 of 6.

dagger i agree that younglions is a virtual shoo-in, and I wld've put him on my top five too, but i had to give myself a fighting chance right? sorry i'm just wallowing in self-pity and consolation here...

another unrelated point: here's my bet on the first five on this forum who will get an HKS admit and post it on this board: 1)dagger 2)mcneelified 3)sisepuede 4)cornell07 5)fighter_2008 (me!) any takers?

To all those out there waiting on KSG, thought I'd put things in perspective here.. Last year round about this time ppl on this thread were also pulling their hair out in agony waiting for results to be out. I say let's take things in our stride and hold out for another few days! For some of us the wait might even be longer as we might be waitlisted. Life must go on! :mrgreen:

Fes_alum, thanks! That's a very insightful post. I wish I'd met you when I was in the thick of things sending out my applications last year! Just one point of clairification though: how wld you define 'depth'? Is that measured solely by your past achievements as stated in your CV, and as alluded to in one's essays? I'm curious to know how Adcoms assess the depth of a candidate, objectively speaking, that is. My own sense is that CVs can be doctored, essays vetted and proof-read by others, and we all know referees always give gleaming reports of their proteges. Such sources of info therefore lack objectivity, and, taking a more cynical yet realistic point of view, would lead people to believe that 'depth' can actually be 'engineered'. Any views on this?

Linden, agreed. I must stop checking this dam forum every 10 secs.

Nice! Congrats! I guess I was just trying to see how much of a factor your ugrad school is in Adcoms' decision making process. Judging from the length of this thread, doesn't really matter even if you come from an Ivy, most impt factors are still your essays and your WE.

Anyone here from a ugrad/grad Ivy, and got accepted into another Ivy for Govt. Affairs/Public Policy? I'm wondering how much of a factor your previous school is in terms of getting into a top Govt. Affairs programme. Double Ivy Heroes/Heroines, make yrselves known!

You are definitely in front of me in the pecking order. Mine's as follows: GPA: 3.7 from the nation's top Ivy in my field of study GMAT: 700, AW 5.5 WE: 6 years in policy/public sector, including 2 years military I think I will be congratulating you come Friday!

Dear sisepuede, I applied to KSG and Harris too, just like you Mind if you share your stats here? I'm wondering if I have any chance at all at these programs. I'd resisted joining this forum for the longest time but now that D-Day is only a few days away I have to break my silence. The waiting is killing me!!