Harvard Kennedy MPP 2021

[William_1982]

10 minutes ago, StudentUSA said:

In case we reapply in the future, do we have to rewrite all essays? That was a lot. Or just updating our resume would be enough? 

Some of the essay prompts change from year to year, so you may not have a choice, but possible that some could be re-used. They also recommend changing at least one of your rec. letters, but you can re-use some if you want. 

[lesliserables]

2 hours ago, StudentUSA said:

So the magazine really didn't mean anything... Which program did you apply to? Could you share with us your background? 

Applied for the MPP, based in Toronto, Canada. Graduated from poli-sci from a mid-tier university however "ranking" of university doesn't matter as much because of our socialized education system, so all schools are generally on the same grade and an admissions officer in charge of reviewing Canadian candidates would know that.

2 years working for as a manager at an international affairs NGO/think tank, and a year working as an executive for my university student's union where I spearheaded the city's first transit U-Pass, meant to save students $80 million. A lot of extracurriculars on top, so I think I had a lot in the extracurricular/work/public service category + narrative. Strong LOR I believe, including one from a former ambassador and another from an HKS alumni. 

Academics were weaker: 3.3/4.3 but 3.6 in the last two years. Graduated this year though because I was completing school part-time while working full-time so maybe that played into it. No GRE submission due to a technical error on ETS' end when taking the test on the day prior to the deadline.

My partner also applied for the MPP, and got the magazine but was rejected.

 

[bruyeres]

14 hours ago, lesliserables said:

Hey I'm also based in Toronto and was eyeing many of the same schools as you. Wondering how you've gotten into public sector consulting at that salary band without a master's degree? Mind if I DM you?

Go for it! 

[bruyeres]

9 hours ago, Boolakanaka said:

Both Bain and Boston are starting recently minted undergrads with comp at about 90kplus.  Thus, within two-three years, six figures is an easy lift.

In my case, I'm at a large-ish but independently owned firm. The firm realized that undergrads are pretty much never ready for prime-time in consulting apart from behind the scenes analytical work, so they hire undergrads into internal/administrative roles where they cut their teeth and learn a ton about our clients and what consulting is actually like before they move you to one of the consulting practices. I spent about 1.5 years as a proposal writer responding to government RFPs and working with the consultants to sketch out what our approach would be should we win the work. After writing hundreds of proposals and detailing the specific steps we'd take on a project, the transition into actually doing the work was very smooth, and the firm got time to really get to know me before putting me in front of a client.

[lesliserables]

Thanks for sharing that's actually super helpful! I'm so skeptical of many organizations actually providing opportunities for moving up/salary increases, so this is re-assuring. I just see diagonal moves to other companies rewarded much more, so it's good to see some companies actually making an effort in this regard 

[nc922]

7 hours ago, StudentUSA said:

In case we reapply in the future, do we have to rewrite all essays? That was a lot. Or just updating our resume would be enough? 

I read somewhere that at minimum, a re-applicant should edit the essays to improve them (especially if their first application did not led to any funding or/and lead to waitlist). The essay prompts may also change. 
 

But I agree, especially for MPA-ID, the application process was gruelling in terms of the amount and length of essays required.

[Mpp2021]

Damn. I liked the magazine leading indicator theory - could have fit with Matt Clements leaving and the HKS Admissions process getting turned upside down in the process.

Also, is it just me or does the acceptance rate seem like it has drastically decreased from the 20% that was publicly stated in 2010? Sample on gradcafe is obviously not a great representation but I know a lot of people who got into the equivalent prestigious b-schools easily (rumoured to be 10-15% acceptance rates) this year whilst HKS acceptance now seems much more difficult. 

[sd9000]

4 hours ago, Mpp2021 said:

Damn. I liked the magazine leading indicator theory - could have fit with Matt Clements leaving and the HKS Admissions process getting turned upside down in the process.

Also, is it just me or does the acceptance rate seem like it has drastically decreased from the 20% that was publicly stated in 2010? Sample on gradcafe is obviously not a great representation but I know a lot of people who got into the equivalent prestigious b-schools easily (rumoured to be 10-15% acceptance rates) this year whilst HKS acceptance now seems much more difficult. 

In the admitted students event they had this week, one of the administrators said it was the most competitive year HKS had ever had. I think between the influx of applications due to COVID (lack of job opportunities, sudden ability to move, etc) and the deferrals from 2020 made this a really tough year. 

[StudentUSA]

3 hours ago, sd9000 said:

In the admitted students event they had this week, one of the administrators said it was the most competitive year HKS had ever had. I think between the influx of applications due to COVID (lack of job opportunities, sudden ability to move, etc) and the deferrals from 2020 made this a really tough year. 

Wooow which program?

[sd9000]

3 minutes ago, StudentUSA said:

Wooow which program?

They just said it generally to the whole group, but it sounds like it was hyper competitive across the board. 

[William_1982]

Any insight as to whether they are admitting a full class this year and next year, or are number of spots reduced due to deferrals? I read somewhere that Harvard undergrad is admitting full class size despite deferrals and will somehow deal with a few years of increased class sizes. 

[sd9000]

41 minutes ago, William_1982 said:

Any insight as to whether they are admitting a full class this year and next year, or are number of spots reduced due to deferrals? I read somewhere that Harvard undergrad is admitting full class size despite deferrals and will somehow deal with a few years of increased class sizes. 

No idea, but I imagine classes will still have a hybrid zoom option to them for at least the Fall semester which means they could up the class size. Although they are still limited by TAs...who knows. 

[StudentUSA]

1 hour ago, William_1982 said:

Any insight as to whether they are admitting a full class this year and next year, or are number of spots reduced due to deferrals? I read somewhere that Harvard undergrad is admitting full class size despite deferrals and will somehow deal with a few years of increased class sizes. 

I don't think they are increasing the class size at all just looking at the rejection rate. But hey guys, here is an important message. 

Let's have a petition for a class size increase. If this was a normal year we could have got in. The entire process at HKS is just grueling this year, and all the deferrals and the record number of applications made this year the most competitive ever. Let's email them, especially those rejected & waitlisted!

[StudentUSA]

1 hour ago, William_1982 said:

Any insight as to whether they are admitting a full class this year and next year, or are number of spots reduced due to deferrals? I read somewhere that Harvard undergrad is admitting full class size despite deferrals and will somehow deal with a few years of increased class sizes. 

If Harvard is doing it, shouldn't HKS be doing it as well to be consistent? And we might be more affected bc of higher %age of internationals

[William_1982]

6 minutes ago, StudentUSA said:

If Harvard is doing it, shouldn't HKS be doing it as well to be consistent? And we might be more affected bc of higher %age of internationals

Agreed, and especially considering that Harvard (undergrad) is presumably responsible for housing their students. 
 

That being said, I don’t think any of us know for sure whether HKS is admitting a full class over the next few years or not. I wonder if that’s something a person in Admissions would answer?

[StudentUSA]

11 minutes ago, William_1982 said:

Agreed, and especially considering that Harvard (undergrad) is presumably responsible for housing their students. 
 

That being said, I don’t think any of us know for sure whether HKS is admitting a full class over the next few years or not. I wonder if that’s something a person in Admissions would answer?

If they don't commit to admitting a full class, there will always be speculations about deferrals, which will further discourage good applicants. Not good for them

[CompGuy]

Do we have any idea what the acceptance rate was this year for MPP? I might be reading this incorrectly but it feels that more people were accepted this year than last (just judging by this thread/the grad cafe results page)

[columbia09]

12 hours ago, Mpp2021 said:

Damn. I liked the magazine leading indicator theory - could have fit with Matt Clements leaving and the HKS Admissions process getting turned upside down in the process.

Also, is it just me or does the acceptance rate seem like it has drastically decreased from the 20% that was publicly stated in 2010? Sample on gradcafe is obviously not a great representation but I know a lot of people who got into the equivalent prestigious b-schools easily (rumoured to be 10-15% acceptance rates) this year whilst HKS acceptance now seems much more difficult. 

What happened there ?

[columbia09]

12 hours ago, Mpp2021 said:

Damn. I liked the magazine leading indicator theory - could have fit with Matt Clements leaving and the HKS Admissions process getting turned upside down in the process.

Also, is it just me or does the acceptance rate seem like it has drastically decreased from the 20% that was publicly stated in 2010? Sample on gradcafe is obviously not a great representation but I know a lot of people who got into the equivalent prestigious b-schools easily (rumoured to be 10-15% acceptance rates) this year whilst HKS acceptance now seems much more difficult. 

What would those be ?

[Mpp2021]

2 hours ago, columbia09 said:

What would those be ?

I have friends who got into Wharton,  Stanford and MIT B-schools this year with good (but not amazing) applications and backgrounds. Didn’t seem like it was especially harder for them this year vs other years my company sent off ppl to b-school.

[Mpp2021]

3 hours ago, columbia09 said:

What happened there ?

I would like to know this too! Anyone have any intel on this??

[Mpa-aspiration]

Any admitted MC/MPA folks looking to decline their offer or defer for another opportunity.  Asking for a friend... lol

[StudentUSA]

Those who are negotiating deferrals, do they still allow students to defer this year? and I guess only by 2 years?

 

[auditorteladan]

Hi all, in order to ease the tension together, discuss the admission process, etc, I and some waitlisted applicants have create a whatsapp group for the waitlisted. For those who want to join please send the screenshot of your waitlist letter to +62 85640535957

Thank you

[Lina8625]

31 minutes ago, auditorteladan said:

Hi all, in order to ease the tension together, discuss the admission process, etc, I and some waitlisted applicants have create a whatsapp group for the waitlisted. For those who want to join please send the screenshot of your waitlist letter to +62 85640535957

Thank you

Hi, what a great idea! Is this for just MPP or other HKS programs too?