Environmental Management and Policy 2021

[Enviro27]

Does anyone know why Bren hasn’t released all decisions yet? 
 

Know from others on here silence doesn’t mean rejected but the waiting is horrible. 

[yeeeeeeee]

12 minutes ago, environcheeky said:

 

 

hey did either of you ever get any info regarding funding from Bren?

I didn't get any funding info

[tiaki]

1 hour ago, environcheeky said:

 

 

hey did either of you ever get any info regarding funding from Bren?

nope lol

[PulpNonfiction]

1 hour ago, Enviro27 said:

Does anyone know why Bren hasn’t released all decisions yet? 
 

Know from others on here silence doesn’t mean rejected but the waiting is horrible. 

Got really impatient so I emailed them yesterday asking for an application status update. I just received a generic reply stating "Thank you for your interest in the Bren school! Applications are still currently under review. All decisions will be communicated by March 26." It seems insane that they're still reviewing apps over 2 months after the submission deadline, but maybe they're really that slow. For reference, I applied on 1/5 late in the evening

[Enviro27]

7 minutes ago, PulpNonfiction said:

Got really impatient so I emailed them yesterday asking for an application status update. I just received a generic reply stating "Thank you for your interest in the Bren school! Applications are still currently under review. All decisions will be communicated by March 26." It seems insane that they're still reviewing apps over 2 months after the submission deadline, but maybe they're really that slow. For reference, I applied on 1/5 late in the evening

Thanks, yea it’s super weird. I applied 12/30 so and so far have seen no pattern on why ppl have heard or not 

[PulpNonfiction]

58 minutes ago, Enviro27 said:

Thanks, yea it’s super weird. I applied 12/30 so and so far have seen no pattern on why ppl have heard or not 

I just got my rejection letter! Oddly feeling relieved. I just wanted a dang decision already lol

[qrrcl]

10 hours ago, environcheeky said:

 

 

hey did either of you ever get any info regarding funding from Bren?

Hey! Yes, I received the Bren Admission letter after the email to check my portal and the Bren admission letter included funding.

[envirostudent21]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:02 AM, SustainabilityKM said:

Hello, great to e-meet you all.

I got admitted to Bren last week. No from Yale.

Submitted to Columbia recently as well as SEAS.

Anyone else applying to schools outside of the US? Im applying to U of Toronto and LSE.

Congrats on your acceptance ?I applied to NSEG at Oxford (haven't heard back yet) and the MPhil in Enviro Policy at Cambridge (waitlisted). I'm in at Columbia for the MPA-ESP so I'm just waiting to see if any other miracles happen...

[yeeeeeeee]

just got duke funding! 5k merit based yay

[coffeebean13]

4 hours ago, yeeeeeeee said:

just got duke funding! 5k merit based yay

nice. I'm assuming you got an email or did it just show up in your portal? 

[Yuzu123]

I got an email this morning with funding info from Duke as well! $5k merit and $5k need based 

[herewegoah]

Just declined my offer to YSE MEM program in favor of an Environmentally focused MPA degree with better funding elsewhere.  As someone who was admitted off a waitlist for undergrad, I feel everyone's pain and hope this offers some hope!  Best of luck to everyone this fall - everything will work out!

[chaparralcountry]

amazing, congratulations @herewegoah!! SPIA is certainly tough to pass up   

[Theconfusedsoul]

Hi all

I just received a mail from SEAS that I haven't met a minimum GPA requirement, after being accepted into the program earlier. Has anyone else that's been accepted into SEAS received something similar or is it just me? 

Does this typically happen? 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Theconfusedsoul

[coffeebean13]

12 hours ago, Theconfusedsoul said:

Hi all

I just received a mail from SEAS that I haven't met a minimum GPA requirement, after being accepted into the program earlier. Has anyone else that's been accepted into SEAS received something similar or is it just me? 

Does this typically happen? 

That sounds terrible. Sorry to hear that. I haven't heard of this before. Did they say "you haven't met the minimum GPA requirement, and therefore are no longer granting you admission"? My first question for them would be if there's a way to mitigate this. Like, depending on how far you are from the minimum, you can take a class over the summer (or defer for a year to take a few classes). Or, they can make an exception to only count classes in the last two years of undergrad (when people generally do better). If this is something that is barring you from getting admitted, I'd work with them to get creative on how you can get over it. 

[Theconfusedsoul]

14 minutes ago, coffeebean13 said:

That sounds terrible. Sorry to hear that. I haven't heard of this before. Did they say "you haven't met the minimum GPA requirement, and therefore are no longer granting you admission"? My first question for them would be if there's a way to mitigate this. Like, depending on how far you are from the minimum, you can take a class over the summer (or defer for a year to take a few classes). Or, they can make an exception to only count classes in the last two years of undergrad (when people generally do better). If this is something that is barring you from getting admitted, I'd work with them to get creative on how you can get over it. 

I haven't heard of such a scenario before either nor have my batchmates who have applied this year/previous years. Yes, it reads".. your application has not met the minimum GPA requirement of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies..". I am shocked as my gpa is >3 in the US grading systems (which I believe isn't so low?). 

I have asked them to revert back but they havent replied yet. Also thanks for the suggestion, I have asked them if there's a possible way to mitigate this 

What's even more weird is that my portal never got updated even when I had been receiving mails for admitted students till a day before. I would recommend all of the admitted students to check the same 

Really hoping there's a way out of this cause I had already made plans (quit my job etc) 

[EscapingBrexit]

31 minutes ago, Theconfusedsoul said:

I haven't heard of such a scenario before either nor have my batchmates who have applied this year/previous years. Yes, it reads".. your application has not met the minimum GPA requirement of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies..". I am shocked as my gpa is >3 in the US grading systems (which I believe isn't so low?). 

I have asked them to revert back but they havent replied yet. Also thanks for the suggestion, I have asked them if there's a possible way to mitigate this 

What's even more weird is that my portal never got updated even when I had been receiving mails for admitted students till a day before. I would recommend all of the admitted students to check the same 

Really hoping there's a way out of this cause I had already made plans (quit my job etc) 

This is just so awful and I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this! I I don't really have any advice but I just wanted to say good luck and I hope you make it to Ann Arbor one way or another. 

 

I had a similar experience with a MA/PhD acceptance to Michigan State years ago. I was accepted but then they said my UK 3-year degree didn't meet the requirements... I didn't attend for a few different reasons. 

[yeeeeeeee]

anyone who applied to Columbia MS in Sustainability Management - how long after did you hear back?

I only *officially* applied 2 weeks ago (was missing materials) but im anxious to hear back. I wonder how much of their class is filled early - it's weird that the admissions deadline is so late (in May???) but that they are doing rolling admissions the entire time up until then. Also, anyone who has heard back - is merit based aid a thing for this program?

[Yuzu123]

9 hours ago, yeeeeeeee said:

anyone who applied to Columbia MS in Sustainability Management - how long after did you hear back?

I only *officially* applied 2 weeks ago (was missing materials) but im anxious to hear back. I wonder how much of their class is filled early - it's weird that the admissions deadline is so late (in May???) but that they are doing rolling admissions the entire time up until then. Also, anyone who has heard back - is merit based aid a thing for this program?

I applied to Columbia M.S. in Sustainability Management for the spring term and heard back in 4 or so weeks. I got the impression that they review applications relatively quickly, and the admissions office is quite flexible.

I ended up deferring my admission to fall 2021, which was also easy to do. They don't offer any merit based aid because, as they said, "the program is available part-time, so students can work." They do have some funding opportunities such as Fellows programs, assistantships, and internships, but I'm pretty sure not everyone can get those. Still even if you do, most of the tuition cost falls on students. 

[yeeeeeeee]

btw - if anyone is curious, I heard from someone at YSE that they had over 1k applicants for 120 spots this year. crazy!

[nvenv]

Live updates from SEAS virtual visit day....

-1500 applications, class size around 250

-About half of the questions asked in the Zoom chat were about lack of funding...seems like everyones in the same boat. They didn't answer any funding/finaid questions, referring us to a workshop later in the day. 

Maybe it's normal, but I get the feeling a lot of this class (like this year's graduate applicants) is struggling to figure out funding and less willing to take out tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Maybe the pandemic? Or just this generation? I don't know but it's making me sad that grad school isn't more accessible. Especially in a field where most of us want to literally save this world.

Okay, sorry for the complaining/ranting...haha. Anyone else have thoughts?

[qwertympp]

And some of us STILL have not heard back! I applied at SEAS for Sustainable Systems and haven't heard a peep in weeks. I've got no clue what is going on. 

Edited March 19, 2021 by qwertympp

[tiaki]

3 hours ago, nvenv said:

Live updates from SEAS virtual visit day....

-1500 applications, class size around 250

-About half of the questions asked in the Zoom chat were about lack of funding...seems like everyones in the same boat. They didn't answer any funding/finaid questions, referring us to a workshop later in the day. 

Maybe it's normal, but I get the feeling a lot of this class (like this year's graduate applicants) is struggling to figure out funding and less willing to take out tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Maybe the pandemic? Or just this generation? I don't know but it's making me sad that grad school isn't more accessible. Especially in a field where most of us want to literally save this world.

Okay, sorry for the complaining/ranting...haha. Anyone else have thoughts?

I had to miss the morning sessions for SEAS today, so thank you for sharing!!

Funding has been a huge stress for me, as I received only a few thousand a year in work study from SEAS and nothing from Bren. It will probably end up being the biggest factor in deciding where I attend.

I'm in a WhatsApp group for Nicholas admitted students (if you're a Nicholas admit and want to join, link is in the FB group!) and we've all been stressed about funding, as they've been rolling that info out over the last 2ish weeks. I finally heard back a few days ago and it was nearly 20k in renewable merit funding, no need-based.

Edit: in Feb, I talked to NSOE staff about need-based funding and was told that a huge number of applicants applied for need-based aid, so that is another reason why people are receiving less that they may have in previous years.

Edited March 19, 2021 by tiaki

[yeeeeeeee]

There isn't any group chat for Bren admits right? the duke one is so helpful I wish there was one for UCSB!

[anxiouslyinlimbo]

Anyone considering SUMA? Would love to chat