Were you awarded substantial financial assitance?

[simplethings]

Hello folks,

I was accepted into my dream program (Harris MPP), however was not awarded any financial assistance. This leaves me with the dilemma of taking on 100k+ in loans or deferring with hopes for qualifying for financial assistance next year.

Thus, I would like to know a little bit more about the candidates that received significant awards (regardless on program), in order to understand whether deferring a year and taking courses/raising my GRE score will be enough to make me a candidate next year.

Please provide the following:

GRE Score

GPA

Work experience

and/or anything that you think set you apart as a candidate

Here is a little info. on me:

GPA: 3.7 as my JR/SR GPA

6+ years as a project associate for an educational consulting firm - basically, immersed in quantitative/qualitative research and evaluation

GRE score: 600s in verbal/math

I appreciate any information!

[s33]

Hello folks,

I was accepted into my dream program (Harris MPP), however was not awarded any financial assistance. This leaves me with the dilemma of taking on 100k+ in loans or deferring with hopes for qualifying for financial assistance next year.

Thus, I would like to know a little bit more about the candidates that received significant awards (regardless on program), in order to understand whether deferring a year and taking courses/raising my GRE score will be enough to make me a candidate next year.

Please provide the following:

GRE Score

GPA

Work experience

and/or anything that you think set you apart as a candidate

Here is a little info. on me:

GPA: 3.7 as my JR/SR GPA

6+ years as a project associate for an educational consulting firm - basically, immersed in quantitative/qualitative research and evaluation

GRE score: 600s in verbal/math

I appreciate any information!

Harris grad here. Is 3.7 your cumulative GPA, or something else? My understanding is that Harris's awards are largely numbers-based, so I'm guessing that your GRE is the impediment here. I had a similar undergraduate GPA (on a cumulative basis), managed to get an 800 Q on the GRE (690V), and received a full tuition scholarship. If you are reasonably confident that you can pull up your GRE scores (Q in particular), it may be worthwhile to defer.

[Liquid Kitty]

OP, s33's description of Harris awards is consistent with my experience. I applied this year, and was awarded full tuition at Harris (and received similar packages at USC and GWU). My GPA was comparable to yours (~3.8 cumulative, ~3.9 Jr/Sr), and my GREs were 670V 800Q. I have three years of work experience in the financial sector (so your work experience is likely more directly pertinent than mine).

Like s33 said, the Q score is likely more important than the verbal, especially at Harris. A verbal score in the 600s probably wouldn't present any problems (when I took the exam, a 670V was in the 95th percentile), but a quant score in the 600s might (generally in the 50s to 60s, percentile-wise). If you're doing quantitative research (i.e., you have the math skills), then I imagine with some practice, you could increase your quant score pretty significantly.

Also, if you plan on reapplying, that will give you time to work on fine-tuning your SOP, and ensuring that your LOR are strong. However, if you're confident in both of these, then just focus on studying for the GRE (especially the quant section).

[flyers29]

Sorry to sound blunt, but I find taking out 100k+ for just a master's to be a bit untenable.

[go_blue]

To throw another data point in there...

I had a 3.7 cumulative GPA and a 760M 640V and got no $ from Harris...(worked for 2 years). So maybe you have to get above my GRE score to get some $.

Although paying $100k when Harris seems to be generous with funding to others seems like you're not getting a good deal, it's a gamble to wait a year for possible $$...

[coaks]

Sorry to sound blunt, but I find taking out 100k+ for just a master's to be a bit untenable.

simplethings, you'll see people on these message boards run the gamut on their position vis a vis taking out large amounts of debt for grad school. It completely depends on your specific situation and the expected return on your investment for you individually. Since I know you're about to make a crucial life decision, I just wanted you to know that I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from flyers29 and will be taking out more than $100K in loans for school.

[simplethings]

simplethings, you'll see people on these message boards run the gamut on their position vis a vis taking out large amounts of debt for grad school. It completely depends on your specific situation and the expected return on your investment for you individually. Since I know you're about to make a crucial life decision, I just wanted you to know that I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from flyers29 and will be taking out more than $100K in loans for school.

Thanks! I appreciate the responses. I have yet to make a decision and have since spoken with a loan counselor.

Coakleym, the income based repayment plan for student loans is actually quite generous. For example, the monthly payment on a 150k loan for someone making 57-60k out of grad school is in the range of 500 a month. This coupled with the new loan forgiveness plan (public service careers) makes a graduate education semi affordable.

I am still grappling with the decision, but the last bit of info. is at the very least comforting

[matcha]

Keep in mind that graduate students do not qualify for financial aid. If you get any aid, it is from the department. Some schools are more willing to help than others. It might not have anything to do with your GPA, just the fact that a lot of Master's Programs are money makers for universities.