Harvard Kennedy MPP 2021

[haroldhar]

Does anyone know if HKS will hold in person classes for the MC/MPA Summer program this year or if the summer program will be held remotely?

[AnoIchi]

6 hours ago, Featherweight1910 said:

Agreed, and learning from a friend at HLS sometimes the Admissions folks peruse the various forums... they're likely already hip to our game.

Also this was a post the day before decisions were released last year. I'd bet it'd be the same answer:

https://hksadmissionblog.tumblr.com/post/612931272222867456/2020-application-reading-and-decision-process

Stay strong friends!

Last year, I did hear that Matt and co. would check GradCafe's HKS pages from time to time. They probably come with popcorn and soda.

[CAKHKS79]

3 hours ago, AnoIchi said:

Last year, I did hear that Matt and co. would check GradCafe's HKS pages from time to time. They probably come with popcorn and soda.

so you are in HKS MPP now ?

[Aveces]

5 hours ago, PotatoChips said:

Just wondering: Has anyone in the U.S. NOT received the HKS Magazine?

I live in Europe and haven’t received the magazine 

[polapp20]

On 3/9/2021 at 3:59 AM, InternationalStudent said:

Is there merit-based financial aid that they give out beyond the fellowships in the financial aid application? Like, if you didn't apply to any specific scholarships but submitted the financial aid app, are you still eligible for some financial aid?

Hey yes they do. Last year I received funding from them as a John F Kennedy Tuition award that wasn't linked to any specific scholarship or fellowship program.

[midcmpa21]

41 minutes ago, polapp20 said:

Hey yes they do. Last year I received funding from them as a John F Kennedy Tuition award that wasn't linked to any specific scholarship or fellowship program.

did it cover the whole tuition? I mean how generous it was?

 

[William_1982]

7 hours ago, haroldhar said:

Does anyone know if HKS will hold in person classes for the MC/MPA Summer program this year or if the summer program will be held remotely?

I don’t think they have announced the status of classes for the summer or fall yet. The trend (at least with undergraduate schools in the U.S.) seems to be moving toward in-person for the fall, FWIW. 

[Int.App]

Received my magazine today (I am an international student). Don't think I ticked any box and submitted quite late but also would not read anything into it!

[MBAngineer]

Just now, Int.App said:

Received my magazine today (I am an international student). Don't think I ticked any box and submitted quite late but also would not read anything into it!

Are you based in the US?

[Int.App]

4 minutes ago, MBAngineer said:

Are you based in the US?

I am based in Europe!

[Aveces]

4 hours ago, Aveces said:

I live in Europe and haven’t received the magazine 

Just received the magazine. Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that I ticked a box in the application saying something like "I'm interested to receive news on ...". So I wouldn't read too much into it

[AnoIchi]

6 hours ago, CAKHKS79 said:

so you are in HKS MPP now ?

I was selected to the cohort of 2020. Applied for a deferral and got into the 2021 cohort. I am awaiting the scholarship results.

[CAKHKS79]

41 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

I was selected to the cohort of 2020. Applied for a deferral and got into the 2021 cohort. I am awaiting the scholarship results.

what reason you gave for deferral ? and how swiftly HKS accepted it ?

[MPA2023]

1 hour ago, AnoIchi said:

I was selected to the cohort of 2020. Applied for a deferral and got into the 2021 cohort. I am awaiting the scholarship results.

I forgot people deferred b/c of COVID. Geez ... this year will probably be particularly competitive compared to past years. 1- more applicants than usual

2- fewer seats due to deferrals 

[William_1982]

7 minutes ago, MPA2023 said:

I forgot people deferred b/c of COVID. Geez ... this year will probably be particularly competitive compared to past years. 1- more applicants than usual

2- fewer seats due to deferrals 

Possible that many people applied thinking courses would still be online this fall, sparing them the cost and hassle of moving, and if HKS announces in-person classes they might pass. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but seems plausible. 

[MPPNYC]

2 minutes ago, William_1982 said:

Possible that many people applied thinking courses would still be online this fall, sparing them the cost and hassle of moving, and if HKS announces in-person classes they might pass. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but seems plausible. 

I am also hoping this, perhaps naively! Also, that international students might have thought they will have (and may actually have) a hard time getting a student visa to enter.  I have an Argentinian friend who was hoping to get an NYU LLM and the US embassy kept canceling his visa interview so he had to defer to next year.

No offense to our international friends on this chain; I hope you do not have a hard time with immigration issues if admitted! 

[Int.App]

35 minutes ago, MPA2023 said:

I forgot people deferred b/c of COVID. Geez ... this year will probably be particularly competitive compared to past years. 1- more applicants than usual

2- fewer seats due to deferrals 

I have been told by someone that the number of applicants this year is up by 20-30%

[MPA2023]

1 hour ago, William_1982 said:

Possible that many people applied thinking courses would still be online this fall, sparing them the cost and hassle of moving, and if HKS announces in-person classes they might pass. Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but seems plausible. 

This only helps people who are waitlisted lol. But, I agree with you 100%!

[MPA2023]

46 minutes ago, Int.App said:

I have been told by someone that the number of applicants this year is up by 20-30%

I wonder how many people are strong candidates vs people who just applied (with a weak application) on a whim b/c of COVID. 

[mpp_app2021]

50 minutes ago, Int.App said:

I have been told by someone that the number of applicants this year is up by 20-30%

Are you talking about HKS MPP specifically or in general?

[MPA2023]

26 minutes ago, mpp_app2021 said:

Are you talking about HKS MPP specifically or in general?

In general and then MPA specifically lol.

[AnoIchi]

4 hours ago, CAKHKS79 said:

what reason you gave for deferral ? and how swiftly HKS accepted it ?

Last year, HKS did the unprecedented and allowed unconditional deferrals. You guys should have seen the outrage among the selected students in the days leading to this decision. We had multiple zoom webinars (180-200) where we discussed stuff like tuition reduction (10/30/50%) and transparency w.r.t. how classes will be conducted, compensation for a lack on in-person experience etc. We filled out a bunch of google forms and submitted letters to HKS. 

As deferrals were unconditional, Harvard received a deluge of requests. So they announced the following: some will get a 1 year deferral and others will get a 2 year deferral. And the distribution was lopsided. I believe I am one of the few students who had been given a 1 year deferral( the last time I checked the sheet filled by admitted students, the split was 85%(2y) to 15%(1y). HKS proposed the deferral policy in early June and announced the result around mid July.

[William_1982]

Very helpful, thank you. Just to be clear - does “2 year deferral” mean your admission will be deferred until two years from when you were accepted (meaning fall ‘22)?

[InternationalStudent]

57 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

Last year, HKS did the unprecedented and allowed unconditional deferrals. You guys should have seen the outrage among the selected students in the days leading to this decision. We had multiple zoom webinars (180-200) where we discussed stuff like tuition reduction (10/30/50%) and transparency w.r.t. how classes will be conducted, compensation for a lack on in-person experience etc. We filled out a bunch of google forms and submitted letters to HKS. 

As deferrals were unconditional, Harvard received a deluge of requests. So they announced the following: some will get a 1 year deferral and others will get a 2 year deferral. And the distribution was lopsided. I believe I am one of the few students who had been given a 1 year deferral( the last time I checked the sheet filled by admitted students, the split was 85%(2y) to 15%(1y). HKS proposed the deferral policy in early June and announced the result around mid July.

This is super insightful, thanks! Weird that I've only seen concern about deferrals in the HKS thread... 

[AnoIchi]

53 minutes ago, William_1982 said:

Very helpful, thank you. Just to be clear - does “2 year deferral” mean your admission will be deferred until two years from when you were accepted (meaning fall ‘22)?

Yes, 2022-2024. People were devastated. I know a candidate who gave up on the offer.