Duke Sanford MPP 2020

[MPP2468]

For discussing questions about Duke's MPP program

Edited November 29, 2019 by MPP2468

[mpp2020-]

Did anyone else get an email today saying that admissions would be getting back about your application very soon? 

[nosali]

29 minutes ago, mpp2020- said:

Did anyone else get an email today saying that admissions would be getting back about your application very soon? 

I received an email Monday saying my application was under review and they plan to release decisions by mid-March. 

[knut6133]

5 hours ago, nosali said:

I received an email Monday saying my application was under review and they plan to release decisions by mid-March. 

I got this same email as well. It looks like they've been consistent w/ the release of results over the years - the last three years they have been released Mon/Tue the first week of March. So, probably would expect them on the 2nd or 3rd, especially since they'll be heading into spring recess on 3/6. 

[Liamiest]

Hey there! My name is Liam — I’m a current graduate student at the Sanford School of Public Policy. Just wanted to post with an update — admitted students should be receiving calls/emails in the coming weeks. The official decision letters and information will come out in mid-March! I’m happy to answer any questions y’all have about the process or Duke in general in the meantime -- feel free to post here or email our team at MPPadmit@duke.edu. 

[crosswordgeek]

I just received a call from Sanford saying I was accepted! They told me official letters will go out next week. Good luck to all!

Edited February 27, 2020 by crosswordgeek

[nosali]

1 hour ago, crosswordgeek said:

I just received a call from Sanford saying I was accepted! They told me official letters will go out next week. Good luck to all!

Curious--what's your profile like? 

[mpp2020-]

I also received a call today saying I was admitted. Good luck to everyone! 

[woodscommaelle]

I just got a call! I'm straight out of undergrad so honestly, I'm floored. Wow!

[zissel]

Same- such a nice surprise!

[crosswordgeek]

On 2/27/2020 at 2:21 PM, nosali said:

Curious--what's your profile like? 

Hmm...I have been working as a consultant/federal contractor for 2 years doing social policy type work, and had GRE scores of 160 Quant, 165 Verbal, 5.5 Writing. I graduated from a small liberal arts college with a 3.93, where I majored in Economics and minored in Biology. Hope that helped!

Edited February 28, 2020 by crosswordgeek

[mpp.2020]

I got a call yesterday as well!! It was really exciting and I'm so happy. Downside is waiting for funding information and deciding which admitted student weekend to attend (why are they all April 3rd!!?).

[polapp20]

On 2/27/2020 at 10:39 PM, Liamiest said:

Hey there! My name is Liam — I’m a current graduate student at the Sanford School of Public Policy. Just wanted to post with an update — admitted students should be receiving calls/emails in the coming weeks. The official decision letters and information will come out in mid-March! I’m happy to answer any questions y’all have about the process or Duke in general in the meantime -- feel free to post here or email our team at MPPadmit@duke.edu. 

Hi @Liamiest, will international students receive calls as well ?

[Skyone]

I haven't heard back yet and I don't see any updates on my portal. Does it mean I would be rejected?

[polapp20]

5 hours ago, Skyone said:

I haven't heard back yet and I don't see any updates on my portal. Does it mean I would be rejected?

I am in the same boat.

 

[Anathema]

4 hours ago, polapp20 said:

I am in the same boat.

 

Not sure if you have anything to worry about if you're an international applicant.

[polapp20]

11 minutes ago, Anathema said:

Not sure if you have anything to worry about if you're an international applicant.

Have official letters been posted on the portal ? 

[polapp20]

I just called Admissions and for those still waiting they said that calls are still being made. A select few have received calls. Official emails will be sent either on Wednesday or Thursday. They will not be calling international students so we will only find out then.

Side note - the person who answered was the sweetest person from admissions that I’ve ever spoken to. Took the time to answer all my questions and also chat generally about Duke and life haha! If he’s reflective of the kinda community Duke has, for those who are commuting to Duke, it seems like a great choice  For those of us who haven’t heard, fingers crossed! 

[Anathema]

9 hours ago, polapp20 said:

Have official letters been posted on the portal ? 

No, they haven't.

1 hour ago, polapp20 said:

I just called Admissions and for those still waiting they said that calls are still being made. A select few have received calls. Official emails will be sent either on Wednesday or Thursday. They will not be calling international students so we will only find out then.

Side note - the person who answered was the sweetest person from admissions that I’ve ever spoken to. Took the time to answer all my questions and also chat generally about Duke and life haha! If he’s reflective of the kinda community Duke has, for those who are commuting to Duke, it seems like a great choice  For those of us who haven’t heard, fingers crossed! 

That's brilliant! Thanks for the information.

[Anathema]

Got in. $66k total funding.

[polapp20]

I'm in too!! 37k tuition fellowship!

[knut6133]

I reached out to admissions to request additional funding (it seems in past years they've increased offers by $5,000ish/yr pending the presence of alternative offers), and they directed me to the following link to formally make a request - https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJTBGubKBH4IKCV

For all those mulling between Duke + others! 

[polapp20]

Duke Open House Cancelled ?

[knut6133]

Hey y'all,

I'm thinking that it may be helpful to pool some folx thoughts re: the current Duke admitted students virtual events happening today + tomorrow. It'd be worthwhile for those who participated to pass along any helpful tidbits or new perspectives they learned from the events. I only did the social policy + student life hours today, + they were helpful in a lot of respects. Some quick takeaways -

- The social policy professor representation (Mac McCorkle, Deondra Rose, + Nick Carnes) seemed engaging + approachable, albeit in a setting conducive to such things. They all seemed enthusiastic about Sanford's prestige/aptitude as a policy program, and in sharing/working alongside students re: their research interests. 

- Specifically for folx interested in social policy - they really emphasized the broad nature of the social policy concentration (including the inclusion of a large ed policy curriculum, instead of divvying into sub-concentrations), and stressed that the broadness is intentional + viewed as a strength of the program. They advocated for students to take a wider swath of coursework, and not necessarily to make their studies narrow, because of the inherent intermingling of social issues. At large, there seems to be a philosophical approach of intersectionality in studies (at least within social policy). 

- It seems to be relatively easy to take courses across disciplines, + at other schools within the research triangle. They also made a good point to consider/look into Raleigh + Chapel Hill when examining quality of life + livability, especially because of their relatively easy accessibility, depending on means of transportation (and it does seem there is a $1 bus from Durham to Chapel Hill at least for students). 

- Nick Carnes made an argument for Sanford (obviously taken w/ a grain of salt!) as the best purely MPP program that included the general lack of a PhD program (3-4 students a year). It was stressed that this strengthened the policy program within the MPP, allotted more resources to these students, streamlined for focus to the MPP program, seemed to make professors slightly more accessible, etc (this largely in relation to HKS/WWS within the context of the chat). Also, given the smaller cohort sizes, in comparison to a larger field of professors, they said professor access isn't usually an issue.

I hope everyone is staying well + safe, + enjoying the virtual events of this week!

[arpan_sagar]

Received a similar reconsideration to @knut6133 and really liked the faculty and current students during the virtual day but the uncertainty related to the pandemic+large loan size are making me sweat