Wagner MPP/MPA 2008

[unknownscholar]

good luck hopeful!..

I finally heard from these folks.Wait listed. They told me to send em an email if I still want to be considered. lol. jeez.

[hannah]

At this point in time, there is nothing to lost by joining a wait list. MOST on the wait list ahead of you have either found other places or withdrawn, so your odds may not be as bad as all that. Tell them oh yes thank you, and smile and smile, meantime, figure out some plan to buff your resume for the future if this does not work out. DO NOT TAKE THIS PERSONALLY. I know it feels personal, but it's just X's in boxes, and who cares, if luck comes your way, the teachers in your actual classrooms will not know or care whether you got in on the first round or the last minute. I am not kidding, I have friends who have been in grad schools and the admissions committees are absolutely not in communications with the ordinary faculty teaching 1st year students, and even if they themselves are, they don't seem to connect names and faces, so everyone starts at the same place. Tabula rasa, don't we love it.

[Sejla]

Wow. Well, submitted my application on January 6, no word yet!

I applied to 4 programs and was accepted to the other 3, plus got decent funding from one.

Wagner claimed they hadn't gotten one of my undergrad transcripts. I think the problem was that as a community college, it wasn't listed in their university list, so following the instructions, I entered "international school." Of course they didn't receive a transcript from an international school ... because it's not an international school. Some time after the 15th (the deadline for funding) they emailed to say they were missing my transcript. All of the other schools had received it. So I emailed back mentioning the problem above ... no reply ... less than a week later I just went ahead and sent another transcript. I emailed again, and finally they replied that they had it and marked my application as "completed" in late February.

Still no word.

Obviously I've made my decision and am not going there. I guess it would be unseemly to contact them and ask for my application fee back, huh?

[unknownscholar]

Yeah, I understand that being on the waitlist isn't that bad. I'm not angry about it. I am just annoyed it took them so long. I hadn't really given Wagner any serious consideration, as I've been pretty set on moving to DC for years now. It'd be pretty unfortunate if I didn't get either the graduate internship or the policy job I applied for in DC because I might be somewhat skeptical about my prospects there even after finishing school.

In any case, Wagner said that they would send me a final decision no later than June 1.

And sejla, you're right that the delay in your decision is likely the result of your transcript issue. I read somewhere on their site that they consider applications in the order in which they are received, and I didn't submit mine until January 16th, 10 days after you.

[Sejla]

Yeah, the frustrating thing is - I sent it on time! I think they received it but didn't process it correctly somehow because it didn't fit neatly into the system they had.

All of the other schools got it on time...and even after I sent the second one - which they said they received - the appropriate line on my application did not change I think. It seems petty to email them and ask what is going on when I now know for sure I am not going there. But I'm not rich and I paid the money to have my application considered, not indefinitely postponed or something.

I know, I should get over it. I am really happy with the program I chose. But if they aren't going to give me any decision, I want my 70 bucks back man

[unknownscholar]

Well...I'll break the silence, being that this forum has been dead for some weeks. Where's everyone?

my my my....how I am seriously thinking about eating my words. So got the official acceptance yesterday and immediately filled out the nys in state aid app.

Man, this school is about 8K cheaper per yer, and I feel like I'll get at least some aid from NYS, so that's about 10K. wow. That really hurts. we're talking about 20K in loans at Gtown vs about 10K at wagner, plus I can keep my fulltime job here in the city, which will further offset the debt.

Yet I feel like my job opportunities will be wayyy better in DC and GU law school could be considered a little easier to get into since NYU is ranked 10 spots higher.

I just came back from DC, apt hunting, and found a pretty nice one that I hope will work out. Maybe it's just nerves about moving yet again (transitions really shake me up), but this is my chance to stay in one place. And the thing is, I don't have an issue with NYC. Never thought I'd settle here, I always thought it would be DC. I prefer the MPP over the MPA but wagner has that great policy analysis specialty which is exactly what I'm looking for, and my professional experience req. has been waived. I can still always move to DC afterwards, but how far does an NYU degree travel? Would GU look better in DC. no brainer, right?

Am I really second guessing my overall number one choice over debt and transition jitters? Wow. This really blows. :|

[erin85]

Man, this school is about 8K cheaper per yer, and I feel like I'll get at least some aid from NYS, so that's about 10K. wow. That really hurts. we're talking about 20K in loans at Gtown vs about 10K at wagner, plus I can keep my fulltime job here in the city, which will further offset the debt.

I honestly can't say anything about NYU's reputation, so no comment there... (I never applied so I thus learned very little about it).

But I can say this: a 20k difference in debt is not a big issue in the long term if the reputations and programs really do vary. I initially choose Georgetown over UMaryland even with a 30-40k difference in debt. It's only when it reached the 70k difference in debt that I really thought hard about it.

Sallie Mae has an interesting "repayment calculator", which lets you estimate what your repayment plans will be with various loan amounts.

http://www.salliemae.com/after_graduati ... mating.htm

check it out. See if that debt actually does make a big mark, or if it doesn't.

[unknownscholar]

thanks for the tip, erin. I'm going to looking into their calculator with all my loans in there. This thing is really cool.

I think it was just jitters because I just returned from DC, and it was a rather intense visit, having to find an apt and whatnot.

All in all, if I didn't have any apprehension I probably would have been a little more worried. But I think this is okay. debt's okay. I gotta live the dream! I just gotta keep thinking: final move...final move.

Though, thanks NYU. You placed a nice lil end to my tumultuous application cycle. :-)