MPA / MPP / Phd Policy Admissions 2008

[canhardlywait]

Hello fellow MPA and MPP candidates,

I have been a long time reader, now a first time poster. I haven't seen much on here from MPA/MPP or Public Policy PhD 2008 candidates and wondering whether that's because no one has started a topic or whether it's because there is another forum out there I don't know about.

I would love to start this topic up where if you could let everyone know where you applying and when you hear anything AT ALL, I think this would benefit us all. Unless there is another thread/forum I don't know about (please le me know!)....

Thanks!

[jaw17]

There's a fair amount of action over at AutoAdmit on the policy front, although mostly at the master's level. But I've been struggling to find any discussion whatsoever about my field (PhD in health policy/economics). Let me know if you find people!

[hopeful grad]

I'm applying to NYU Wagner MPA program. I sent in my app months ago. No word yet. Anyone else?

[canhardlywait]

I've applied to NYU, TX-Austin, USC, and WWS. Nothing yet! Anyone else?

[brlbrl]

I'm applying to the following PhD programs:

Berkeley (Goldman)

Chicago (Harris)

Duke (Sanford)

Harvard (joint KSG w/ GSAS)

Maryland

Princeton (WWS)

I haven't heard anything yet.

Anyone else applying? If so, where have you applied?

Best of luck!

[alterego]

I've also applied to doctoral programs and haven't heard back yet.

I've applied to some public pol/pub admin phds and some education schools where I can do education policy.

Here's my list:

Policy Schools:

University of Washington

NYU

University of Maryland

George Washington 

Ed Schools - Policy Focus:

Stanford

UCLA

UCI

I wish I knew something....I'm extremely nervous about it all.

[brlbrl]

Good luck to you, alterego.

I haven't seen anyone post a decision yet from these schools so you're definitely still in the running. But yes, this is starting to get very nerve wracking.

[cat4]

Health policy programs have been interviewing- there have been some posts on the forum

[canhardlywait]

I see on the results page people have been hearing back from the Georgetown MPP program. Still no word from the schools I applied to....

[fingerscrossed]

No replies to mine either, I've applied to NYU (Wagner) The New School (Milano) and UPenn (Social Policy and Practice).

[alterego]

I just found out I was rejected by GWU. It was pretty quick, so its not a good sign. I'm trying to stay positive, but I'm very sad.

[brlbrl]

alterego,

So sorry to hear that

Maybe the professors with whom your interests aligned didn't have time to take on another doctoral student. Try not to read too much into this.

Hopefully some good luck on the way....

[alterego]

alterego,

So sorry to hear that

Maybe the professors with whom your interests aligned didn't have time to take on another doctoral student. Try not to read too much into this.

Hopefully some good luck on the way....

Thanks. I'm reminding myself that I just need one school to say yes and I'm focusing on that. Best wishes to you with your schools!

[slickj07]

I'm waiting to hear back from 4 policy PhD programs. I also applied to 8 poli sci programs, of which I've already heard back from 3 (2 good news, 1 no thanks).

The policy schools I applied to are pretty big names, so I can't say I'm overly optimistic.

[brlbrl]

Hey slickj07,

Would you mind sharing which four you applied to?

I'm waiting on Berkeley, Chicago, Duke, Princeton and Maryland....

Best of luck!

[slickj07]

i applied to Harvard, Duke (poli sci focus), Michigan (poli sci focus), and Princeton (poli sci focus)

im not optimisitc about them, haha. but at least i did get into berkeley poli sci.

[brlbrl]

I applied to Princeton (political economy) and Duke (econ focus).

I'm starting to get a little nervous about Duke. Last year, admits went out by now.

Awesome getting into Berkeley for poli sci -- that's certainly a great department.

[slickj07]

thanks!

but don't worry about duke...therein lies the point of this board. nobody's posted anything yet about duke policy for this yr, so i wouldn't sweat it.

also, i don't have it up in front of me right now, but i don't think they had sent out anything until the equivalent of the end of this week or next week in previous years.

[xcrazydave]

I applied to MPAFF at UT Austin, nothing yet.. They decide by the week.. wish I knew one way or the other. From what I can tell they don't tell anyone until March.

[canhardlywait]

xcrazydave,

Do you know if it's all by snail mail, or if they send out emails first?

[sosh]

Sorry to crosspost. Regarding UT MPA, they send out e-mail notification, which in previous years has happened right about now. May have another week to go...

[unknownscholar]

I've also applied for the MPP/MPA program at the following schools:

WUSTL (actually an MA in political economy and public policy): no decision yet

NYU-WAGNER (MPA-PNPP):no decision yet

Vanderbilt (MPP): accepted on 02/06/2008

Georgetown (MPP-First choice hopeful): no decision yet

George Washington University (MPP): accepted on 02/11/2008

[slickj07]

i see 2 people have gotten into the duke policy phd. one was econ, but i don't know what the other one was.

i still haven't heard anything. i applied poli sci, so i suppose it has a lot to do with whether the department of the track you picked likes you. of course, i don't know that for sure, since they provide very little info. about their process or class averages.

[Quarex]

I set out this last application season to apply to as many Public Policy Ph.D. programs as I could find that fit my qualifications. I barely ended up applying for any, discovering in the process that Political Science departments were far more likely to favor my research interests (and that some of the Public Policy programs that worked for me also required multiple semesters of calculus to apply, which as a social science student I did not have).

That said, I still applied to the University of Maryland and George Mason for Public Policy, and to Northeastern's program in Public and International Affairs, which I think counts. No word from any of them yet.

[slickj07]

are you an international policy person?

the same happened to me, more or less (although I'm interested more in formal theory, bureaucracy and the American policy process). one of my recomenders (and coauthor of my writing sample) got his PhD at Harris, and he told me I should be looking more at Poli. Sci. programs.