Harvard Kennedy MPP 2021

[AnoIchi]

18 minutes ago, nkrish21 said:

would you say those with a Princeton offer will most likely to get a HKS offer? I mean the odds that one who gets into the 20 (Princeton MPP) does not make it to the HKS 200 is pretty bleak right? Also Do you happen know of any who chose Princeton OVER HKS?

The answer will have some caveats. From what I have researched, Princeton is a lot into US domestic sector and Foreign Service sector. In terms of selectivity, a Princeton accept has a great chance at being an HKS accept. What is important is what have you applied for (as in your SOP, vision). These schools understand candidate profiles very well and sometimes intentionally reject candidates not because they aren't good enough, but that the candidate will probably choose the other program.

The Princeton MPP is the equivalent of the HKS MPA, since both target experienced professionals. HKS MPP is similar to the Princeton MPA program.

If both give full rides, I have heard people choosing HKS, because it's Harvard. This part has a lot of validity for international students and matters significantly. (Apparently, people outside of US are not as aware of Princeton as they should be; sad). Having said that, quite a number of people have gone for Princeton over HKS. Two reasons:

1. No full ride at Harvard. Princeton always gives.

2. Their interests align with Princeton much better than with Harvard.

Edited March 17, 2021 by AnoIchi

[AnoIchi]

3 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

The answer will have some caveats. From what I have researched, Princeton is a lot into US domestic sector and Foreign Service sector. In terms of selectivity, a Princeton accept has a great chance at being an HKS accept. What is important is what have you applied for (as in your SOP, vision). These schools understand candidate profiles very well and sometimes intentionally reject candidates not because they aren't good enough, but that the candidate will probably choose the other program.

The Princeton MPP is the equivalent of the HKS MPA, since both target experienced professionals. HKS MPP is similar to the Princeton MPA program.

If both give full rides, I have heard people choosing HKS, because it's Harvard. This part has a lot of validity for international students and matters significantly. (Apparently, people outside of US are not as aware of Princeton as they should be; sad). Having said that, quite a number of people have gone for Princeton over HKS. Two reasons:

1. No full ride at Harvard. Princeton always gives.

2. Their interests align with Princeton much better than with Harvard.

A few more pointers to consider while choosing between these two are:

1. Do you like an intimate class size? 1-on-1 with professors. Immersion perhaps at a greater level (Go for Princeton)

2. Do you want to take interdisciplinary courses and from other schools? (Harvard is amazing in this. HBS, HLS, HGSE, Cross courses from MIT and Fletcher as well) Princeton does not have graduate schools like law, business, education etc.

[nkrish21]

3 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

A few more pointers to consider while choosing between these two are:

1. Do you like an intimate class size? 1-on-1 with professors. Immersion perhaps at a greater level (Go for Princeton)

2. Do you want to take interdisciplinary courses and from other schools? (Harvard is amazing in this. HBS, HLS, HGSE, Cross courses from MIT and Fletcher as well) Princeton does not have graduate schools like law, business, education etc.

very very helpful. Thankyou!

[InternationalStudent]

13 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

The Princeton MPP is the equivalent of the HKS MPA, since both target experienced professionals. HKS MPP is similar to the Princeton MPA program.

This was such a huge source of confusion for me early on in the application cycle lol

[nkrish21]

11 minutes ago, InternationalStudent said:

This was such a huge source of confusion for me early on in the application cycle lol

you bet - I actually applied to the wrong program at Berkeley as a result of this confusion. LOL!!

[Snoo12345]

53 minutes ago, nkrish21 said:

would you say those with a Princeton offer will most likely to get a HKS offer? I mean the odds that one who gets into the 20 (Princeton MPP) does not make it to the HKS 200 is pretty bleak right? Also Do you happen know of any who chose Princeton OVER HKS?

Princeton is a 100% ride — living, tuition, everything! MOST would pick it over HKS.

[CAKHKS79]

1 hour ago, AnoIchi said:

I do believe that the deferrals will have an impact. I do not have an idea as to why the 2021 vs 2022 split was so uneven. 

I did not get any scholarships from HKS last year. Hence waiting for the scholarship results which come out right after the admission results. 

Thank you. last year what was the time difference[ in days] between admission decision and scholarship decision? if I recall what i read from blogs... the decision day was Thursday[ 19 th march 2020 ] . what was scholarship offering date? 

[Mpa-aspiration]

....so would love to get one application blog.  Just to say..."hey folks no stress..we are working on it..you will get your result this week or next week" just something...  it could be a 1 sentence.  "You will find out later this week"  id be happy with that vs end of May, which extends to 2 weeks from now.  Sorry needed to get this out of my system.

[StudentUSA]

20 hours 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.

Super helpful. Was the split the same for MPA-ID? That's where most internationals are. Have you heard anything about the ID program?

[AnoIchi]

2 minutes ago, Mpa-aspiration said:

....so would love to get one application blog.  Just to say..."hey folks no stress..we are working on it..you will get your result this week or next week" just something...  it could be a 1 sentence.  "You will find out later this week"  id be happy with that vs end of May, which extends to 2 weeks from now.  Sorry needed to get this out of my system.

To give you an idea of how HKS admissions blogs were last year. Check out the blogs leading to the decisions. (16th-19th March 2020 on the trot)

https://hksadmissionblog.tumblr.com/archive/2020/3

[Snoo12345]

1 hour ago, 2021mpamppwait said:

70% from my end for SIPA.. any thoughts on HKS?

That's FANTASTIC. But also likely means you stand a high chance of good aid at HKS.  
 

The choice depends on what you are looking at university for and what is next for you. Both are top schools, with ample opportunity to make most of each.

[StudentUSA]

Does anyone have to make a decision before HKS' offer? If HKS' decisions come out too late, they will lose a lot of people with earlier decision timelines.

[sup5505]

4 minutes ago, Mpa-aspiration said:

....so would love to get one application blog.  Just to say..."hey folks no stress..we are working on it..you will get your result this week or next week" just something...  it could be a 1 sentence.  "You will find out later this week"  id be happy with that vs end of May, which extends to 2 weeks from now.  Sorry needed to get this out of my system.

Ugh same here. I'm not a fan of the uncertainty they have kept us in, and to go from blog post every 2 days in the past to absolutely nothing in 3 months this year is also a transition that could have been explained. Oh well, what to do now except wait...I really hope its at least next week vs. Monday the 30th

[AnoIchi]

1 minute ago, StudentUSA said:

Super helpful. Was the split the same for MPA-ID? That's where most internationals are. Have you heard anything about the ID program?

I would go on a limb and say that MPA/ID probably had the most deferrals for the exact reason you stated. (full of int'l students)

I hope you're applying for the JJ/WBGSP scholarship (Only available for MPA/ID among HKS programs). The grandfather/mother of all scholarships! I wish I could share the sheet for last year with you all. Have no idea where it is. (although might not be the legal thing to do)

[mppFall2021]

Got waitlisted at Harris. What are the odds I get into HKS? and or Wagner?

[StudentUSA]

1 minute ago, AnoIchi said:

I would go on a limb and say that MPA/ID probably had the most deferrals for the exact reason you stated. (full of int'l students)

I hope you're applying for the JJ/WBGSP scholarship (Only available for MPA/ID among HKS programs). The grandfather/mother of all scholarships! I wish I could share the sheet for last year with you all. Have no idea where it is. (although might not be the legal thing to do)

Fair enough. How's the split though? If it's 15/85 this year is still ok (and next year will be more problematic)

[AnoIchi]

34 minutes ago, Snoo12345 said:

Princeton is a 100% ride — living, tuition, everything! MOST would pick it over HKS.

The thing is that HKS has a bigger reach. The "brand", the kind of connections, and exposure are kind of unmatched (Check out the Institute Of Politics at HKS). But definitely not so better as to warrant a disregard a full ride from Princeton. But I have heard that Princeton is for certain profiles. HKS lets you go into an IGO or into a McKinsey as well. Basically, the entire spectrum. Therein lies the appeal to many candidates. Folks who still wanna explore the 2 years and do not want to be tied to one area.

[StudentUSA]

3 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

I would go on a limb and say that MPA/ID probably had the most deferrals for the exact reason you stated. (full of int'l students)

I hope you're applying for the JJ/WBGSP scholarship (Only available for MPA/ID among HKS programs). The grandfather/mother of all scholarships! I wish I could share the sheet for last year with you all. Have no idea where it is. (although might not be the legal thing to do)

nah im a us citizen so can't apply for WB

[AnoIchi]

Just now, StudentUSA said:

Fair enough. How's the split though? If it's 15/85 this year is still ok (and next year will be more problematic)

The 15/85 is what the sheet looked like when I had checked. I'm sure it has changed somewhat (def. sure that 2021 had fewer deferrals by some margin).

[InternationalStudent]

4 minutes ago, AnoIchi said:

I would go on a limb and say that MPA/ID probably had the most deferrals for the exact reason you stated. (full of int'l students)

As one of the very few people applying to the MPA/ID in this forum, this sucks. Hope it doesn't affect my chances too much...

[AnoIchi]

Just now, StudentUSA said:

nah im a us citizen so can't apply for WB

Oh damn. I should have paid more attention to your username! It's a habit telling people the amazing scholarships they should be applying to.

[AnoIchi]

Just now, InternationalStudent said:

As one of the very few people applying to the MPA/ID in this forum, this sucks. Hope it doesn't affect my chances too much...

Do you have a good GRE quant score? Did you have quant heavy stuff in your work ex/college curriculum? Did you work for a developmental org? If you have all these, you are very competitive. Of course, the SOP and LOR have to be kickass.

[AnoIchi]

25 minutes ago, CAKHKS79 said:

Thank you. last year what was the time difference[ in days] between admission decision and scholarship decision? if I recall what i read from blogs... the decision day was Thursday[ 19 th march 2020 ] . what was scholarship offering date? 

Don't exactly remember the scholarship date. Admissions result date was 19th March evening (Eastern time). Was probably right after.

[StudentUSA]

The guy in the info session mentioned that only two people will be reading each application, are they like rate each essay with a score then add them together? and I did disclose my political leanings (unwise), what if mine don't align with these two people? 

[InternationalStudent]

Just now, AnoIchi said:

Do you have a good GRE quant score? Did you have quant heavy stuff in your work ex/college curriculum? Did you work for a developmental org? If you have all these, you are very competitive. Of course, the SOP and LOR have to be kickass.

168 GRE Q score (169 V), did not work for a developmental org but did work in financial policy (through a third party org, not directly in a legislative body) and tried to angle it in that direction. Didn't do quant heavy stuff in college (still not sure if my political science background might affect me negatively) but afterwards did take multivariate calc, linear algebra, and real analysis (through Harvard Extension, not sure how they perceive that. Some say it's good some say it's worthless ?‍♂️ I personally thought the classes felt exactly like normal college classes, except online).

SOP is good, I think my policy analysis essay is very, very strong. Didn't get to read LORs but I don't have a reason to think they weren't strong.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow or next week...