sherpa07

I just read over my MPP financial offer and it says "your graduate assistantship award will continue for your second year of study if you complete at least five of your six core courses and earn at least a 3.70 GPA in those courses during your first year." That GPA minimum seems kind of high to me...

I just got in too! Also with $14K/semester. It took me a while to find the letter in the application status portal, though... ha. Yay!

Actually, I take that back - I think there was a week of waiting between when Cornell accepted me and gave me funding. It was in December, so obviously my memory is amazing... so yea, I guess most have a delay of some sort.

Mine have varied. Cornell gave me funding info with acceptance. Maryland gave it a week later. American has yet to tell me. Haven't heard from any others, so that's my take! I think it just varies by school, though it seems to me that most have some sort of delay (relatively short) between acceptance and funding info.

I got in! I received an email with a link to the "Check Application Status" section, and there was an acceptance letter there. No mention of funding at all. I think I received this Saturday morning 2/9.

Hi! I was accepted in December with really good funding, so I'm thoroughly considering CIPA! I know it sounds cheesy, but I actually really do like the flexible curriculum. I think it really fits my interdisciplinary interests. I'm also perhaps a bit more "academic," so I like the thesis option. I just wish CIPA were more highly regarded, and I'm not 100% sure why it isn't. It seems like a strong program to me? Right now, I'm planning to attend since it's my best offer, but I still have other schools to hear from in March. I may still go there over "better" programs because of the funding, too. So, we'll see, but I do really like the program!

They DO get back within three weeks! I was also skeptical that that was really the case, but I did hear back within three weeks. I was accepted in December. Excited! I'm still waiting on the official letter, so hopefully I'll have more info then!

I wouldn't be too nervous. I think you're pretty set for those schools, and might even consider reaching to some more competitive programs (maybe Berkeley?). I think your GPA is well compensated for by strong GRE's and excellent work experience. I'm only an applicant, but that's my two cents!

Maybe we're applying to different programs, but I just did some additional research and can't find any evidence that a resume should be longer than a normal 1-2 page length. Princeton's Woodrow Wilson explicitly says "resumes can be any length, but one to two pages usually suffice." Duke Sanford explicitly says "please upload a resume, not exceeding two printed pages, with your online electronic application." Carnegie Mellon Heinz doesn't specify length, but asks for a "professional resume" and provides an example that is only a single page. The rest that I applied to either say 1-2, or say nothing about length. If they say nothing, it makes sense to default to an accepted standard, which is 1-2. I agree that two pages is fine, but no more. Three, Four or Five is only justified if you've been working for over a decade, or have published A LOT, but otherwise it just doesn't intuitively make any sense. I doubt admissions committees devote much time to each application, let alone each application's resume, so it's better to make things short, simply and to the point.

I did one page because literally every admissions page at literally ever school I applied to either gave no specification of length or explicitly said 1-2 pages.. I think one page with slightly less than two years experience makes sense..

I'm only an applicant myself, but I kept mine to one page. I also had a "policy experience" section, though, to highlight my relevant experience. For perspective, I'll enter grad school with just shy of 2 years work experience.

HKS no longer has a memo. WWS still does, however.

Seconded! I'm having trouble deciding how narrow/broad to be.

I was originally applying to 9, but a professor told me most people apply to 12-14... I think she may have been confusing PhD applications with MPP/MA/MS applications, but regardless, I took her advice and am now applying to 12. Keep in mind, though, that I'm in a program that allows me to get fee waivers, so this isn't expensive at all. Otherwise, I probably would have kept it to 9.

GULP, I just found this in mine, too. Not exactly "glaring" (no one who read my SOP - 6 or so people - noticed it), but I can't take my eyes off it. Any other advice?

This is the optional essay in the HKS application.. I was originally planning on NOT filling it out, but am now reconsidering. It's the very first essay in the application. Does everyone take this opportunity to say something about their application? My first two years in undergrad weren't so great - but they weren't so bad, either - so I think I may write about that. I dropped a class sophomore year, and got some B-'s. I think I may just point out that my grades rose significantly over my time in undergrad. When do you think it's warranted to explain an academic deficiency at HKS?

Thanks! I'll send you a message. Anyone else? I've edited this so much, I'm getting ready to finish it!!

I'm getting ready to make FINAL edits, so if anyone wants to exchange SOP's one last time, let me know...

Just sent you a message!

Thanks! I'll send you two messages now! I'm happy to review yours, too.

Anyone interested?!

Perhaps this should go in the Statements of Purpose section, but I think it's appropriate here, too. Title says it all - I'm hoping to swap and critique statements of purpose for public policy programs. Swapping with people who are applying to other programs is a bit less useful, so I thought I'd post here. Anyone?

As a secondary question to this topic, what role do "visits" play in admissions? I wasn't planning on formally visiting any of my universities...

Hi everyone! I feel like my personal statement is ready to be reviewed.. I've work on it/them for a few weeks now, and would like some feedback before I move forward. Any takers?! I'd be very happy to review yours as well.

Can we bump this? Does anyone know anything about the criteria certain schools use to give out aid (GPA mins, GRE mins, Americorps/PeaceCorps, etc.)?