zourah

Sorry, not inside enough. I'm not part of the admissions process or student ambassadors...

It will be an email. A few days later, admits do get welcome calls from current students, though.

The only way to know if HKS admissions values TFA experience would be to compare the ratios of TFA:total applicant pool and TFA:total student body. I'll admit I can't do that, so everything else is speculation. That said, a huge number of my classmates are TFA alums. It's clearly a form of work experience the school respects, so even if it doesn't carry any additional weight or value over other professional experiences, it certainly isn't going to hurt you.

Some amusement while you wait... (by an MPP).

I took only macro in undergrad and did micro by correspondence from my state university. I don't know how much of an impact checking the quant box really has in the admissions process, but schools do accept these kinds of credits for the requirement. CU Denver sounds like a plan.

The plan is set up by the federal government, which limits service to local/state/national public service or nonprofits - I don't know why, but I'm guessing it has to do with political considerations.

Essay #3 of HKS starts off with the following prompt: "…Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.”– John F. Kennedy, Presidential Inaugural Speech, 20 January 1961In the spirit of President Kennedy's famous exhortation, please tell the HKS Admissions Committee what you can do to change your community or world through your leadership and commitment to public service. Specifically, we are interested to knowHow your background has led you to apply to HKS;How you have engaged in public service;How you have demonstrated your capacity as a leader;How the Kennedy School experience would improve your capacity to contribute to the public good. In light of the prompt, how do you think one should structure the essay? Should one focus more on past accomplishments and work experience, and how it leads up to HKS as well as what he/she intends to do at HKS while skimming lightly on career goals? Or should the focus be less on past experience and more on future goals? Or a 50/50 mix of the two? I'm having trouble figuring out whether to emphasize the past or the future... Part of the beauty of the Kennedy School is that no one leaves pursuing precisely the same idea with which they entered. Keeping that in mind, and noting that three of the four sub-questions are set in the past tense, I'd recommend setting up your past as a strong foundation and then sketch future plans atop that - maybe a 70/30 split? Note that the question isn't quite "where are you going," even, but "how can HKS get you there?" I'm not connected to the admissions folks, but I think a natural structure is "I've done A, B and C - the K school offers D research center and E concentration work and once I've gotten two years with Prof F, it's completely natural to imagine me moving on to outcomes Y and Z, isn't it?" Good luck!

Check out the average age statistics on most programs and you'll find it's mid-20s - many actively seek to discourage students (or even reject applicants) straight from undergraduate work, as the learning experience and networking opportunities both improve when the class possesses a mix of real-life experiences. I entered the MPP program at 25 and am probably near the class median - you'd be far from the oldest in our program, at least.

Your applications are considered separately, and you can be accepted to one program and rejected from the other - I know of at least one business school friend who had hoped to do a joint degree but was not accepted to the Kennedy school, for example.

Get back to sleeping normally - your work experience is quality, as it's relevant to the skills you'll need for either an MPP or an IR program. Use the personal statement to fill in any possible holes regarding your devotion to public policy, but people do get in from the private sector - your recent work doesn't by any means disqualify you. Next, look past the degree name. HKS/SAIS/Fletcher/Walsh/etc have more in common than the variety of programs initially suggests, and all are designed as more professional than academic degrees (ask about the percent who go on to PhDs at each if you're curious about the character of the program). You'll probably apply to a mix based on your regional or technical interests, and that should work out fine, too.

I'm perhaps not the best to ask, as I applied to only one MPP program - the others were MA (or the quirky MSFS) programs instead. I knew I wanted to do international affairs, I knew that I wanted to stay on the East Coast, and those two criteria narrowed the list pretty effectively. If I were to do it again, I might have added WWS to the list, but six applications didn't seem to be an overwhelming number, so I saved the actual decision-making for after I got acceptance letters.

First things first, don't panic. This is a wide-ranging list, including both highly-competitive and more-accessible programs. You'll get in somewhere. The question is of figuring out which of them best suit your goals and then taking the time to make them love you. Do retake the GRE, but don't let it become a huge stress burden, either. Instead, read up on these programs. Call up their ROTC coordinators. Visit, if you can. And then start writing personal statements, different for each school, about what you see in their program and what you plan to take from it. And stop back here for commiseration and encouragement if you need it - just don't let the worry start eating away at you this early in the process.

It was somewhere just under 90th percentile - your test scores need to be good enough to indicate ability, but beyond that they aren't really the point. If after looking seriously at all the programs you like you're still not sure about the MPA/ID, apply for MPP. The former is widely respected and has its own niche, but you get absolutely no academic freedom your first year (even the structured MPP gives you a couple of electives), and its participants joke about doing all the work for a PhD in economics without getting the degree. It's possible to do an international and global affairs concentration, take the harder econ track, and focus on development issues within the MPP as well - and if you find you hate the upper-level econ, you still have the chance to refocus your efforts within the degree program. If you really want it, definitely go for the MPA/ID - but be sure it's what you want.

I didn't have quant coursework but got a solid GRE score - but I was applying MPP and not MPA/ID. Still, I'd be more concerned about econ credentials than the math. You don't mention your background there... While most programs prefer if you have at least intro micro- and macro-econ, SAIS and the MPA/ID are the two that really, absolutely will demand it. I had taken only macro; my SAIS acceptance was contingent on my completing micro before the start of classes. If you already have these, then I wouldn't worry as much. If not, that's where you should probably direct your energies.

Seconding the part about other character sets. I've had classroom study of Arabic, and without that, I'm really not sure how readily the RS system would have really allowed me to learn to read/write (I'm doing Farsi).

I'm not using it for a language requirement per se, but I'm working with Rosetta Stone. If you've already had to learn a second language in a classroom, it's a great system - but if you don't already have some understanding of the pedagogy/linguistics/comparative grammar, it could be very frustrating as well. Also, for any language that goes only three levels (some go five), I don't know that it will cover sufficient material. All in all, I'm happy with the system and its flexibility, though.

nope, but a google form asking the same questions as some of the decisions threads here would be very very interesting...

For the Kennedy school class of '09, employment at graduation was also about 50%. It was much, MUCH higher by October (90%, I think?), but that number isn't ridiculously low. Follow up with the career services office, get the figure for students six months out, and see what it is. Hiring processes for a lot of government agencies are slow, so if you don't start until you get an academic lull around spring break, it sometimes takes until mid-summer to get a job.

The UN doesn't qualify. Still, the UN pays well enough that it's somewhat less of a concern.

I think the fascination primarily stems from the financial generosity of WWS - if you're in there, you're almost certainly paid for. It's an exceptional program to begin with, so the free ride pushes it to the top of everyone's list. If you're looking at identical financial offers, definitely consider the K school also. I'm currently in Nick Burns's Modern Diplomacy course (note: he's sufficiently popular that it does go to the bidding process, but I got it as a first-year, as did quite a few others), and Walt teaches the sort of IR 101 that every IGA concentrator takes. I just don't know much about WWS, but if you have any questions about Kennedy that might help, message me and I'll do my best to answer them. Any chance you can make it to the visit day?

I'll agree with s33. I love the Kennedy school, but Fletcher's program is also fantastic - you can always cross-register and be involved over here too, but don't take on that much debt if you've got the perfect financial aid package there.

I was rejected in 2007 and accepted in 2009. Your GRE scores are a good deal like mine and so from the rest of your information I don't really have any insight on what admissions did or didn't like. For me, that first application round was my first year out of undergrad, and looking back I realize I lacked both focus and practical experience. If you're heart-set on the K school, try again - they don't hold it against you. Otherwise, GPPI could be exactly right for you, and I can't really speak to that either. Anyway, reapplicants do get in, so that's a possibility if you want to consider it.

In practice, it means most of the MPAs already hold advanced or professional degrees - MBAs, JDs, etc. Many joint-degrees do the MPP because at the time they apply, this criterion does not apply, but for those who did one other degree and only later decided to pursue policy, the MPA acknowledges their existing expertise and allows them more flexibility than the MPP requirements during their time doing government studies.

Okay, so I know nothing about Oxford and wasn't going to attempt a comparison, but this is a question I can answer. I'm a first year MPP at HKS, and I wanted to spend my summer getting some field experience - my interest is predominately in political development, and given the strong faculty-and-research focus on Afghanistan right now, I really wanted to get involved with the run-up to parliamentary elections this September. The Office of Career Advancement put me in touch with an alum at NDI who passed me along to the regional director responsible for AFG - unfortunately too many security concerns for them to accept a student. I requested a sit-down with a research fellow who took an hour to talk with me about my interests and put me in touch with a well-respected national NGO that collaborates with NDI and the UN mission, who were more than happy to accept a student researcher. That's what opening doors is about - once you've figured out where you're going, this is the kind of place where there's always someone here with the right connection. If you build strong relationships with your peers and your professors, you will begin to find surprising opportunities.

I've got no insight for you. My classmates with funding are dedicated, brilliant people - just like those without. I'll cross my fingers for you, though!