UCSD GPS 2021

[Ravine55]

Just now, Skipper18542 said:

Does this mean as in no scholarship or a full ride? I read what you posted a few times and I feel like it could mean either. 

I read the letter a few times and asked myself the same thing! I emailed them to confirm, but it refers to the award as a "fellowship" and requires me to be a Student Ambassador volunteer. It would be strange for them to send me an email telling me, a state resident, that I'm getting the in-state rate. 

[KatyaU]

3 minutes ago, Ravine55 said:

I read the letter a few times and asked myself the same thing! I emailed them to confirm, but it refers to the award as a "fellowship" and requires me to be a Student Ambassador volunteer. It would be strange for them to send me an email telling me, a state resident, that I'm getting the in-state rate. 

Seems like good news! Congratulations.....at least, we hear from them and they are working on the admission/award process now 

[Skipper18542]

5 minutes ago, Ravine55 said:

I read the letter a few times and asked myself the same thing! I emailed them to confirm, but it refers to the award as a "fellowship" and requires me to be a Student Ambassador volunteer. It would be strange for them to send me an email telling me, a state resident, that I'm getting the in-state rate. 

Wow damn. Congratulations then!! You must be so happy. I thought it was also weird for them to reiterate that same rate stuff, then again for my undergrad at Berkeley, that’s basically what they did so I figured UCSD might be pulling that old card too. Haha. Either way, congratulations. What other colleges are you considering? 

[Alex75008]

Hey! I haven't heard back from GPS since I applied (but like 10 days after the deadline). Do you think it is a bad sign? ? 

[Skipper18542]

1 minute ago, Alex75008 said:

Hey! I haven't heard back from GPS since I applied (but like 10 days after the deadline). Do you think it is a bad sign? ? 

You might want to consider emailing them just in case. It’s been a rough year for all of us and I can only imagine what admissions staff must be going through. They seem to be fairly responsive so it’s worth a try 

[KatyaU]

1 minute ago, Alex75008 said:

Hey! I haven't heard back from GPS since I applied (but like 10 days after the deadline). Do you think it is a bad sign? ? 

Have you found any status update in your Applicant portal? 

[Alex75008]

2 minutes ago, Skipper18542 said:

You might want to consider emailing them just in case. It’s been a rough year for all of us and I can only imagine what admissions staff must be going through. They seem to be fairly responsive so it’s worth a try 

Ok ahah! I'm gonna try it, thanks. 

1 minute ago, KatyaU said:

Have you found any status update in your Applicant portal? 

Not at all. It remains unchanged since January (with checklist details)..

[Ravine55]

32 minutes ago, Skipper18542 said:

Wow damn. Congratulations then!! You must be so happy. I thought it was also weird for them to reiterate that same rate stuff, then again for my undergrad at Berkeley, that’s basically what they did so I figured UCSD might be pulling that old card too. Haha. Either way, congratulations. What other colleges are you considering? 

Thanks so much! Right now it's between SAIS (would leave me with $31K in debt), GWU Elliott ($27K), and UCSD. All of them are great, and in terms of location/quality of life, UCSD wins by a mile. 

 

...am I crazy for considering anything other than GPS? 

[Skipper18542]

Just now, Ravine55 said:

Thanks so much! Right now it's between SAIS (would leave me with $31K in debt), GWU Elliott ($27K), and UCSD. All of them are great, and in terms of location/quality of life, UCSD wins by a mile. 

 

...am I crazy for considering anything other than GPS? 

Those are great schools and you should be more than proud to get into them. But in my humble opinion their name increase isn’t worth between $27,000-$31,000 in debt. Especially if you are a California resident and plan to stay in CA (I don’t know what your plans are exactly, just assuming) you can’t beat UCSD’s offer. Since you seem interested in international stuff GWU could be good for internships and the like, but it’s not worth the extra cash you have to shell out. I didn’t even apply to John’s Hopkins because I would not want to live in Baltimore (personal preference, you might think differently). But honestly the money is too good at UCSD. I’d take that if I was you. 

[KatyaU]

6 minutes ago, Ravine55 said:

Thanks so much! Right now it's between SAIS (would leave me with $31K in debt), GWU Elliott ($27K), and UCSD. All of them are great, and in terms of location/quality of life, UCSD wins by a mile. 

 

...am I crazy for considering anything other than GPS? 

Impressive! All schools are really good....however, GWU is in DC and you will find yourself in a “career lift” there.  The UCSD is more about environmental policies honestly, if you are looking for this experience and knowledge. Follow your interests! 

[Ravine55]

25 minutes ago, Skipper18542 said:

Those are great schools and you should be more than proud to get into them. But in my humble opinion their name increase isn’t worth between $27,000-$31,000 in debt. Especially if you are a California resident and plan to stay in CA (I don’t know what your plans are exactly, just assuming) you can’t beat UCSD’s offer. Since you seem interested in international stuff GWU could be good for internships and the like, but it’s not worth the extra cash you have to shell out. I didn’t even apply to John’s Hopkins because I would not want to live in Baltimore (personal preference, you might think differently). But honestly the money is too good at UCSD. I’d take that if I was you. 

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty debt averse, so I agree those numbers are not ideal. My career interests are DC-focused, but the GPS grads I know ended up finding DC jobs anyways, so I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be.

Luckily the JHU program isn't in Baltimore. It's in DC and Beijing (dual degree program), which is pretty special IMO. Still, UCSD is great and the money is hard to turn down. Thanks again, and I hope you get some good funding news soon!

18 minutes ago, KatyaU said:

Impressive! All schools are really good....however, GWU is in DC and you will find yourself in a “career lift” there.  The UCSD is more about environmental policies honestly, if you are looking for this experience and knowledge. Follow your interests! 

True, location is a big factor! GPS does have some awesome Asia-focused faculty and the quant curriculum is similar or better than JHU, so it's a tough choice. 

[2020applicant...]

6 minutes ago, Ravine55 said:

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty debt averse, so I agree those numbers are not ideal. My career interests are DC-focused, but the GPS grads I know ended up finding DC jobs anyways, so I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be.

Luckily the JHU program isn't in Baltimore. It's in DC and Beijing (dual degree program), which is pretty special IMO. Still, UCSD is great and the money is hard to turn down. Thanks again, and I hope you get some good funding news soon!

True, location is a big factor! GPS does have some awesome Asia-focused faculty and the quant curriculum is similar or better than JHU, so it's a tough choice. 

just out of curiosity - did you receive funding information via email or portal? Thanks, and congrats!

[Skipper18542]

3 minutes ago, Ravine55 said:

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty debt averse, so I agree those numbers are not ideal. My career interests are DC-focused, but the GPS grads I know ended up finding DC jobs anyways, so I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be.

Luckily the JHU program isn't in Baltimore. It's in DC and Beijing (dual degree program), which is pretty special IMO. Still, UCSD is great and the money is hard to turn down. Thanks again, and I hope you get some good funding news soon!

True, location is a big factor! GPS does have some awesome Asia-focused faculty and the quant curriculum is similar or better than JHU, so it's a tough choice. 

Whatever you decide on, congratulations. It seems you want to focus a lot in Asia and from what I have seen UCSD does have good programs when it comes to Asia. Either way, I think you definitely have done well and I wish you the best of luck on anything you decide to do! 

[Ravine55]

Just now, 2020applicant... said:

just out of curiosity - did you receive funding information via email or portal? Thanks, and congrats!

First by email, but it ended up in my promotions folder. It just directed me to the portal where there was an updated letter.

[2020applicant...]

6 minutes ago, Ravine55 said:

First by email, but it ended up in my promotions folder. It just directed me to the portal where there was an updated letter.

cool - thank you!

[2020GPS]

So far no update. Should I still await more? 

[hungrypanda]

2 hours ago, Ravine55 said:

I read the letter a few times and asked myself the same thing! I emailed them to confirm, but it refers to the award as a "fellowship" and requires me to be a Student Ambassador volunteer. It would be strange for them to send me an email telling me, a state resident, that I'm getting the in-state rate. 

Congrats to getting scholarship and also for being accepted to other awesome universities! If you don't mind sharing, can you please tell us a little bit about your background? Trying to figure out the type of backgrounds candidates have that get scholarships.

[Skipper18542]

1 hour ago, hungrypanda said:

Congrats to getting scholarship and also for being accepted to other awesome universities! If you don't mind sharing, can you please tell us a little bit about your background? Trying to figure out the type of backgrounds candidates have that get scholarships.

I think a lot of people get scholarships, it just happens that some schools are less generous than others plus I think there is the plus of being an in state resident. 

[Skipper18542]

1 hour ago, 2020GPS said:

So far no update. Should I still await more? 

I still have yet to hear back. I emailed them and haven’t heard anything. It’s past 5 pm here in the west coast so I don’t know if We will here anything until tomorrow. 

[Skipper18542]

Update on my end. I just heard back from UCSD for MPP grants. I got a full ride so I am incredibly happy!!

[EveningLeaves]

9 minutes ago, Skipper18542 said:

Update on my end. I just heard back from UCSD for MPP grants. I got a full ride so I am incredibly happy!!

How was it worded? Was it the same wording as Ravine's?

Also what time did you recieve it?

Congratulations!!! 

[Skipper18542]

Just now, EveningLeaves said:

How was it worded? Was it the same wording as Ravine's?

Also what time did you recieve it?

Congratulations!!! 

Thank you so much! They worded it as the UC system wide scholarship and it covers the amount of the tuition. I think Ravine got tuition and fees which mostly covers the extra healthcare cost included with it, but in the end it is practically the same thing. I am quite excited about it. I received it about an hour ago. I think that they might be a bit behind on the releases since they said that they would release yesterday but didn't. 

[Ravine55]

3 hours ago, hungrypanda said:

Congrats to getting scholarship and also for being accepted to other awesome universities! If you don't mind sharing, can you please tell us a little bit about your background? Trying to figure out the type of backgrounds candidates have that get scholarships.

Dm'd you.

[hungrypanda]

1 hour ago, Skipper18542 said:

Thank you so much! They worded it as the UC system wide scholarship and it covers the amount of the tuition. I think Ravine got tuition and fees which mostly covers the extra healthcare cost included with it, but in the end it is practically the same thing. I am quite excited about it. I received it about an hour ago. I think that they might be a bit behind on the releases since they said that they would release yesterday but didn't. 

Congrats! Do you mind sharing a little about your background? Does that mean both you and Ravine do not have to pay for tuition, health insurance and fees at all? 

[Skipper18542]

@hungrypanda

Bachelors Institution: UC Berkeley (graduating with honors) 

Programs Accepted for MPA/MPP: UCI, UCSD, UCLA, Cornell, UPenn, Georgetown, UChicago 

Programs Waitlisted: UVA, Duke

Programs Rejected: University of Michigan, Oxford 

Programs Still Pending: Brown 

I have professional experience from all 4 years of college having worked with different levels of government and the non-profit sector as well as having set up my own.