Harvard Kennedy MPP 2021

[lmb_MPP]

Hi everyone! Is there anyone else out there doing the HKS Financial Aid Application who is absolutely flummoxed by the sheer number of optional fellowship essays there are? I'm also disappointed they don't share how much money each scholarship or fellowship is worth, so one could at least prioritize a little bit. Does anyone know of a resource where ballpark amounts for the scholarships are listed? 

[sup5505]

Hey folks, eagerly waiting for the next admissions blog post - its unusual for them to go so long without posting based on past years! I recently got into the MIT MBA program and HKS knows I've applied for the dual MBA/MPP. Should I email them as an FYI? 

Also, any thoughts on my chances? 1 YOE in consulting, 2.5 YOE at a nonprofit. GRE is 161V/160Q. Quant heavy - calc, econ, stats - undergrad. 

[GradSchoolGrad]

On 1/23/2021 at 8:01 PM, sup5505 said:

Hey folks, eagerly waiting for the next admissions blog post - its unusual for them to go so long without posting based on past years! I recently got into the MIT MBA program and HKS knows I've applied for the dual MBA/MPP. Should I email them as an FYI? 

Also, any thoughts on my chances? 1 YOE in consulting, 2.5 YOE at a nonprofit. GRE is 161V/160Q. Quant heavy - calc, econ, stats - undergrad. 

Given your years of experience, you are on the top layer of pretty good with the stats you provided. The issue for HKS is how competitive you are vs. people like you - this is where diversity of background/experience/policy area interest and etc. comes into play and you can't control it. This is assuming everything else is straight like recommendations + essays. 

[KRS2021]

On 12/16/2020 at 6:25 PM, Isi_e said:

ay I knowww?.. I had the hope that the growth of applications was  just speculation and it wouldn't be that bad... but it must have been huge for them to actually write it.  Now 0 hope and the anxiety rocketed to the moooon

Any ideas why there's such an influx of applications this year?

[GradSchoolGrad]

4 hours ago, KRS2021 said:

Any ideas why there's such an influx of applications this year?

COVID, Economy, and people have become more passionate about public policy with all the things going on 

[sup5505]

Do they usually go this long without posting any updates to their blog?! Any guesses on when they might post next? 

[AnoIchi]

Hello folks. I got selected to the HKS MPP class of 2020, but got a deferral to 2021 in light of the COVID uncertainty. One thing to be taken into consideration is that there will be people like me who have received the 2021 deferral (albeit not a high number given the majority of 2020 admits who requested for deferral have been moved to 2022). This will probably make the situation a little trickier for the current incoming batch.

Regarding the topic of fellowships, the CPL fellowships are very generous from what I inferred from last year's research. Most of them cover close to full tuition with some offering stipends on top of tuition (that could be a little different this year).They are very specific to the body of work you've done and will do. Not to be a party popper, but the fellowships are notoriously difficult to bag. (You should see the CPL fellows brochure. Yikes!)

@sup5505 Congrats on converting Sloan!!! It wouldn't hurt to email HKS and keep them in the loop. As for your profile, it is more about the qualitative aspects of your experience, more than just numbers. I think you have a strong application. Your GRE scores fall within their range and your quant heavy background should hold you in good stead. (Inside news suggests that HKS looks for at least a 160 on Quant. But that is not set in stone.)

About the posts this year, they do seem to be few and far between, especially compared to last year.

Don't worry, folks. You have done the real part. Try to relax (as if that's helpful!) and hope for the best! I hope to be classmates with a lot of you come fall 2021!

[izzywho]

On 1/30/2021 at 7:37 AM, AnoIchi said:

Hello folks. I got selected to the HKS MPP class of 2020, but got a deferral to 2021 in light of the COVID uncertainty. One thing to be taken into consideration is that there will be people like me who have received the 2021 deferral (albeit not a high number given the majority of 2020 admits who requested for deferral have been moved to 2022). This will probably make the situation a little trickier for the current incoming batch.

Regarding the topic of fellowships, the CPL fellowships are very generous from what I inferred from last year's research. Most of them cover close to full tuition with some offering stipends on top of tuition (that could be a little different this year).They are very specific to the body of work you've done and will do. Not to be a party popper, but the fellowships are notoriously difficult to bag. (You should see the CPL fellows brochure. Yikes!)

@sup5505 Congrats on converting Sloan!!! It wouldn't hurt to email HKS and keep them in the loop. As for your profile, it is more about the qualitative aspects of your experience, more than just numbers. I think you have a strong application. Your GRE scores fall within their range and your quant heavy background should hold you in good stead. (Inside news suggests that HKS looks for at least a 160 on Quant. But that is not set in stone.)

About the posts this year, they do seem to be few and far between, especially compared to last year.

Don't worry, folks. You have done the real part. Try to relax (as if that's helpful!) and hope for the best! I hope to be classmates with a lot of you come fall 2021!

Thanks for your insight. I'm curious as in why most of those who requested for deferral had been moved to 2022 instead of 2021? 

[AnoIchi]

3 minutes ago, izzywho said:

Thanks for your insight. I'm curious as in why most of those who requested for deferral had been moved to 2022 instead of 2021? 

I will offer my conjecture. One key data-point from the deferral demographics is that most of them are international students (makes perfect sense). So that's a rather homogeneous bunch HKS has on its hands. Then, there is a wise saying that a recession (can be extended to a pandemic now, I guess) is a good time to be a student. So, HKS must have anticipated a huge influx of applications for 2021. But the catch is that HKS had to decide on the distribution of deferrals (being so many) between '21 and '22 by July 2020. So they offered a pretty low number of 2021 deferrals (Note: mostly international students) to preserve the diversity and heterogeneity that HKS prides on, all the while having a manageable number of applicants and accepts. This way, they wouldn't have to resort to a drastic change in selection strategy.

Just my two cents. I would love to hear more views on this and would love to stand corrected.

Fun fact: We received a mail from HKS that some students had engaged in auctioning their 2021 seats to 2022 bidders. Needless to say, HKS wasn't thrilled.

[scholarloading]

Hi everyone,

This is just me unnecessarily worrying but I just realized all my HKS essays are double-spaced. Considering the fellowship essays are supposed to be single-spaced, I was wondering if I had accidentally missed spacing instructions for our application essays. Does anyone know if HKS prefers one over the other? 

Thanks!

[sup5505]

2 hours ago, scholarloading said:

Hi everyone,

This is just me unnecessarily worrying but I just realized all my HKS essays are double-spaced. Considering the fellowship essays are supposed to be single-spaced, I was wondering if I had accidentally missed spacing instructions for our application essays. Does anyone know if HKS prefers one over the other? 

Thanks!

HKS explicitly asked the MPP essays to be double spaced and in PDF form so you're fine! 

[InternationalStudent]

8 hours ago, sup5505 said:

HKS explicitly asked the MPP essays to be double spaced and in PDF form so you're fine! 

Wait what? Is this just for the MPP? I didn't see these instructions for the MPA/ID essays...

[Aveces]

18 hours ago, InternationalStudent said:

Wait what? Is this just for the MPP? I didn't see these instructions for the MPA/ID essays...

No worries. They didn't specifically ask for it for the MPA essays. I saved the instructions and it was nowhere mentioned

[sourskittles]

I got an email from an HKS Student Ambassador early this morning answering some questions I had about career services and volunteer opportunities. One line of the email included "I would recommend that you check-in and keep in touch with OCA when you come to HKS..." I'm likely reading too much into this, but did anyone else get a similar email?

[AnoIchi]

On 2/8/2021 at 12:52 AM, sourskittles said:

I got an email from an HKS Student Ambassador early this morning answering some questions I had about career services and volunteer opportunities. One line of the email included "I would recommend that you check-in and keep in touch with OCA when you come to HKS..." I'm likely reading too much into this, but did anyone else get a similar email?

I really hope you are reading the right thing! But, if I recall, HKS releases the results around Mid March. Last year, our result came out on 19th March. There is a legendary analysis of HKS result date based on a prediction model in last year's HKS thread. Did they declare a date for this year? It has always been mid March, as far as I know.

[sup5505]

I'm so confused about the total silence in the admissions blog. Seems unprecedented!! Really hope we get something from them soon on how the process is going and when we can expect decisions. The website has been updated to read "end of March" (for results). 

[GradSchoolGrad]

14 minutes ago, sup5505 said:

I'm so confused about the total silence in the admissions blog. Seems unprecedented!! Really hope we get something from them soon on how the process is going and when we can expect decisions. The website has been updated to read "end of March" (for results). 

Admissions has lives... like reading applications. 

I have seen the pain of admissions offices before. 

[mppaspiring]

Does anyone know when HKS typically contacts applicants for fellowship interviews? 

[lisbonb]

19 hours ago, mppaspiring said:

Does anyone know when HKS typically contacts applicants for fellowship interviews? 

Last year they notified applicants on February 24th. In this year's communication, I've seen them say that applicant Interview notifications will come out "end of February"

[sup5505]

Will one be considered for fellowships if they didn't apply for financial aid? Can they be solely merit based?

[EscapingBrexit]

9 hours ago, sup5505 said:

Will one be considered for fellowships if they didn't apply for financial aid? Can they be solely merit based?

I'm pretty sure that they said that you wouldn't be considered for scholarships or fellowships if you didn't complete the financial aid application. I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong. 

[sd9000]

I know they say on the HKS website (for the MPP at least) not to send updated transcripts to them unless they specifically ask for them. Should I be concerned at all that they have not asked me for my Fall 2020 transcripts? They were stellar so I have some selfish motivation to release them. 

This is for my undergraduate degree, although I am a somewhat older student (early 30s) with significant relevant work experience 

Edited February 19, 2021 by sd9000

[AnoIchi]

Are there any interviews for the Public Service Fellowships? I know there are for CPL, but  not sure about PSF. 

[InternationalStudent]

On 2/19/2021 at 8:40 AM, EscapingBrexit said:

I'm pretty sure that they said that you wouldn't be considered for scholarships or fellowships if you didn't complete the financial aid application. I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong. 

They sent multiple emails stating this. 

[Me213]

From HKS official page: “We will release admission and financial aid decisions in late March 2021”