2022 Results

[PolicyApplier]

On 2/24/2022 at 2:32 PM, policyapp2022 said:

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, MIP
Schools Applied To:  Berkeley Goldman (MPP), USC Price (MPP and MPA), UCLA Luskin (MPP), Stanford (MIP), UCSD GPS (MPP), UW Evans (MPA)
Schools Admitted To:  USC Price (MPP and MPA, 25% funding to both)
Schools Rejected From:  None
Still Waiting:  Berkeley Goldman (MPP), UCLA Luskin (MPP), Stanford (MIP), UCSD GPS (MPP), UW Evans (MPA)
Undergraduate Institution:  Ivy
Undergraduate GPA:   3.7-ish
Undergraduate Major:  History, Political Science 
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  Didn’t take
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  Will be 3 in May
Years of Work Experience:  3 full-time, also worked through college and high school 
Describe Relevant Work Experience:  Local Government, Federal Government, AmeriCorps, and Political Campaigns (focused on environmental advocacy theme throughout employment)
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Had 4 different base SOPs I tailored to the program and prompt. Included some personal information about academic and personal struggles, then focused on my goals and why I’m applying to the program. 
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Waived my rights and varied on recommender. Had 4 total recommenders that I switched between depending on the program requirements. 2 professors, 2 former supervisors. Professors would be very strong, and supervisors I’m honestly not sure. 
Other: Only applied to CA and WA schools for personal reasons/needing to be close to family through some tough medical issues. Applying this cycle to use the rest of my GI Bill benefits before I lose them. 

When did you hear from USC and when did you apply?

[IR Policy Nerd]

Current MPP student at HKS lurking - good luck everyone!!

While you are waiting, I highly recommend setting a limit for how much you check GradCafe everyday. I was obsessive about it last year, and it didn't serve me or my mental health. Make sure you are treating yourself to some decompression time because the application season is stressful and the decision season is stressful. The waiting season is the only one where you have nothing to do to help yourself, so try to get outside, read a novel, cook a meal, etc. Harder said than done, I know. I'm rooting for all of you though! 

I hope to see some of you at HKS next year or in the policy field one day! 

[RICDIN]

Any idea of the final decision notification date?

[PolicyApplier]

7 hours ago, RICDIN said:

Any idea of the final decision notification date?

I think most places will be getting to peeps by mid-way through this month. Stay strong.

[CrawfisherManofTheWest]

Has anyone heard back from the University of Maryland UMD 's MPP program?

[aspiringmpagrad]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPA
Schools Applied To:  Columbia SIPA(MPA-DP & MPA), NYU Wagner (MPA-PNP)
Schools Admitted To: Columbia (still waiting for funding info), NYU ($)
Schools Rejected From:  N/A
Still Waiting: N/A
Undergraduate Institution: Private Research University in New York City
Undergraduate GPA: 3.85/4
Undergraduate Major: Philosophy and Literature
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: 163 V, 150 Q, 4.0 AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3 during application period, 4 by May
Years of Work Experience: 3
Describe Relevant Work Experience: 6 months nonprofit work, 2 years in government (1 in small agency; 1 in presidential communications), recently in private sector in a high position
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Don't know how to judge this, but I did my best and I believe I did a good job in explaining my background and objectives, filling in certain gaps for my application and explaining why I chose the specific programs. I spent two to three months preparing my statements and applications for both and submitted early. 
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I submitted three for SIPA and two to NYU (due to a late submission from my other recommender). I believe they are solid at the very least, but I didn't read them. My thesis advisor and direct division chief in the presidential comms office submitted letters for both, and my lead in the smaller govt. agency submitted the additional one for SIPA.

Edited March 2, 2022 by aspiringmpagrad

[booknerd_101]

19 hours ago, CrawfisherManofTheWest said:

Has anyone heard back from the University of Maryland UMD 's MPP program?

Yes, I have. I was accepted with a graduate assistantship offer last week.

[CrawfisherManofTheWest]

6 minutes ago, booknerd_101 said:

Yes, I have. I was accepted with a graduate assistantship offer last week.

That's great to hear.

 

I applied before the initial deadline but my portal still says Under Program Review

 

I hope to hear back by March 15th. That is when I am going to need to start really considering my choices.

 

[booknerd_101]

42 minutes ago, CrawfisherManofTheWest said:

That's great to hear.

 

I applied before the initial deadline but my portal still says Under Program Review

 

I hope to hear back by March 15th. That is when I am going to need to start really considering my choices.

 

Thanks, I'm flattered by the offer but probably going to decline for a higher ranked school. Hope you hear back soon!

[waterweirdo]

On 2/8/2022 at 10:36 AM, waterweirdo said:

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): IR
Schools Applied To:  Johns Hopkins SAIS (MAIR), GW Elliot (IA), Denver Korbel (GES), American SIS (IAPA), Yale Jackson (MPP), Georgetown SFS (MSFS), Syracuse Maxwell (MAIR/MPA)
Schools Admitted To:  Johns Hopkins SAIS, GW Elliot, Denver Korbel, American SIS, Syracuse Maxwell
Schools Rejected From: Yale Jackson
Still Waiting: Georgetown SFS
Undergraduate Institution:  Large state school
Undergraduate GPA:   3.9
Undergraduate Major:  International Relations
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  n/a
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  3.5
Years of Work Experience:  3.5 (full-time)
Describe Relevant Work Experience: 

• Undergraduate: Summer internship in local government, research assistant, writing tutor
• Post-graduation: 2 years in local government/AmeriCorps, 1+ years teaching internationally

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  I think it is fairly strong. About 1/3 of the statement was tailored to each application (more for applications that allowed longer SOPs). I recieved feedback from my recommenders, a family friend who is a university professor, and trusted friends and family. I worked on it for about five months before I submitted my first application.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): I waived my right to read my letters. For most applications, I provided three references (two former professors) and a former supervisor. 
Other:

• Language: Intermediate-Advanced Hebrew, Intermediate Russian, very basic Mandarin 
• Techincal/Quantitative: GIS minor, 1 class in R, 3 classes in economics

 

[calpat33]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MIDP (GU), MGPS (UT), MIAPA (AU), MSc (LSE), MIGD (SP), MAIS (DA) - While they all have different names, all of these programs, except at LSE, deal with foreign policy analysis and the majority deal with international development. 
Schools Applied To:  Georgetown (McCourt), University of Texas (LBJ), American University (SIS), London School of Economics, Sciences Po, Diplomatische Akademie Wien
Schools Admitted To:  UT, AU, LSE
Schools Rejected From:  n/a
Still Waiting:  DA, SP, GU
Undergraduate Institution:  University of Texas
Undergraduate GPA:   3.88
Undergraduate Major:  International Relations and Global Studies (concentrations in Political Economy and European Studies)
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  155Q, 162V, 4.5AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  n/a
Years of Work Experience:  >1
Describe Relevant Work Experience:  two internships with non-profit NGOs, one in Austin and the other in San Francisco
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Fairly strong? I tried to answer the questions directly and spent a good amount of time writing/rewriting/editing before submitting. I mostly talked about how I became interested in IR, a lot about two independent research projects I've done (both regarding civil society networks), how that research related to the programs and my future career goals, and why diversity is important to the field and what I've done to try to promote it (this question was directly asked in almost every application). 
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  I didn't read them, but I think my letters of rec were pretty strong. One was written by the head of my department who is also currently overseeing my graduating thesis and the other two were written by political economy professors I've taken multiple times.
Other: certificate of proficiency in the German language, possibly unusual path to IR which may help me stand out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by calpat33

[dev0900]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MA, MSc, MIDP
Schools Applied To: GW Elliott, Johns Hopkins SAIS, American SIS, Georgetown McCourt, UC Berkeley, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, London School of Economics, Queen's University Belfast, University of Sussex, SOAS University of London (deferred '21 offer)
Schools Admitted To: GW Elliott (34k), Johns Hopkins SAIS (50k), American SIS (34k), Middlebury Institute of International Studies (18k), London School of Economics (0), Queen's University Belfast (4k), University of Sussex (0), SOAS University of London (4k, deferred '21 offer)
Schools Rejected From: None yet
Still Waiting: UC Berkeley, Georgetown McCourt
Undergraduate Institution: R1 state school
Undergraduate GPA:  3.9
Undergraduate Major: International Studies and Arabic
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: Didn't take it
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3
Years of Work Experience: 4
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Relevant federal government work experience, numerous internships and volunteer experience with regional studies centers, nonprofits
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Pretty strong I think, worked on it for a couple of years and had the help of a fellowship advisor since I applied for some national level fellowships which are a long process.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Pretty strong I think. Professors I have a good relationship with and my government supervisor for some schools.

[calpat33]

23 hours ago, dev0900 said:

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MA, MSc, MIDP
Schools Applied To: GW Elliott, Johns Hopkins SAIS, American SIS, Georgetown McCourt, UC Berkeley, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, London School of Economics, Queen's University Belfast, University of Sussex, SOAS University of London (deferred '21 offer)
Schools Admitted To: GW Elliott (34k), Johns Hopkins SAIS (50k), American SIS (34k), Middlebury Institute of International Studies (18k), London School of Economics (0), Queen's University Belfast (4k), University of Sussex (0), SOAS University of London (4k, deferred '21 offer)
Schools Rejected From: None yet
Still Waiting: UC Berkeley, Georgetown McCourt
Undergraduate Institution: R1 state school
Undergraduate GPA:  3.9
Undergraduate Major: International Studies and Arabic
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores: Didn't take it
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 3
Years of Work Experience: 4
Describe Relevant Work Experience: Relevant federal government work experience, numerous internships and volunteer experience with regional studies centers, nonprofits
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Pretty strong I think, worked on it for a couple of years and had the help of a fellowship advisor since I applied for some national level fellowships which are a long process.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc): Pretty strong I think. Professors I have a good relationship with and my government supervisor for some schools.

Do you know if there's a group for admitted students at LSE? I haven't seen anything.

[dev0900]

40 minutes ago, calpat33 said:

Do you know if there's a group for admitted students at LSE? I haven't seen anything.

I just looked and found a group on Facebook, LSE Postgraduate Offer Holders 2022/2023. What's your program? Mine is Development Studies. 

[calpat33]

2 hours ago, dev0900 said:

I just looked and found a group on Facebook, LSE Postgraduate Offer Holders 2022/2023. What's your program? Mine is Development Studies. 

Political Sociology

[rchow]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MA, MsC
Schools Applied To:  LSE (MA + MSc), NYU (MA), Columbia (MA)
Schools Admitted To:  LSE (Waiting to hear about funding), NYU ($0)
Schools Rejected From:  N/A
Still Waiting:  Columbia
Undergraduate Institution:  Carleton University (Canada)
Undergraduate GPA:  We don't use GPA
Undergraduate Major:  Journalism
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  N/A
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  6
Years of Work Experience:  6
Describe Relevant Work Experience:  Internships both in Canada + U.S., multimedia contracts in radio/podcasting/digital, associate producer title, currently associate editor at a magazine.
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  I've been working on them for months and had them edited by trusted peers a couple times, so I think they're fairly strong.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  I didn't read them. I mixed professional and academic for NY schools and only academic for LSE. I imagine they were all strong, I did well in undergrad and was very involved, so my professors knew me well.
Other: I need money ?

[bartlebeedrill]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA (Princeton)
Schools Applied To: Michigan Ford, University of Chicago Harris, Georgetown McCourt, GWU, Princeton
Schools Admitted To:  Michigan Ford ($$$$), University of Chicago Harris ($$), Georgetown McCourt ($$), GWU ($)
Schools Rejected From:  Princeton MPA
Still Waiting:  N/A
Undergraduate Institution:  Top 25 U.S. University
Undergraduate GPA:   3.88
Undergraduate Major:  English & Economics
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  161 Quant / 167 Verbal / 5.5 AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  3.5 years at time of application
Years of Work Experience:  3.5 years full time + various internships/jobs throughout undergrad.

Describe Relevant Work Experience:  2.5 years doing education/policy research at a nonprofit research organization, where I do a lot of quantitative analysis. I was also a Fulbright ETA for 9 months.

If counting undergrad, I interned for one year at a nonprofit. Also TA’d and tutored for my school’s Econ department for 3 years.

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc.):  I think I had great content, but my writing process was…not the best. Most of the essays I wrote I scrambled to finish within a few days of the deadline, so I didn’t leave myself much time to seek out feedback. However, I think my narrative and points were solid. I wrote about how I had some experience in ed policy and quantitative analysis, but wanted to gain more fluency in advanced research methods and a better grounding of knowledge about the U.S. education system, so as to propose and lead projects in the future.

Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc.):  I assume these were good. My professional recommenders included two project leads at my job who are reasonably respected education researchers in their subfields. The more junior of the two is someone who I have done a lot of quantitative analysis under. Both have been strong mentors of mine, though in different ways. While I did not read their letters, I did receive some written feedback from them at work (close to when I was applying to programs) that was very positive. My academic recommender was an English professor who oversaw my senior thesis seminar and who has spoken highly of me in the past.
Other: At the time I was putting together applications I was also helping write and coordinate a lot of proposals at work, so I had a pretty good idea of how to put together a strong CV, and I was getting to be well practiced at talking myself up in an honest fashion. Additionally, there are factors in my experience and with one of my letter writers that I suspect appealed to the University of Michigan in particular, but I’d rather not add too many details here for privacy reasons.

 

 

 __

 

I am simply shocked

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by bartlebeedrill

[publicpolicy2022]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, MIP
Schools Applied To: HKS, Yale Jackson, Stanford MIP, Oxford Blavatnik, Columbia SIPA
Schools Admitted To:  Yale Jackson
Schools Rejected From:  Pending
Still Waiting:  HKS, Stanford, Oxford, Columbia
Undergraduate Institution:  Top 25 U.S. University
Undergraduate GPA:  4.5
Undergraduate Major:  Political Science & Economics
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  166 Quant / 166 Verbal / 5 AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  4 years at time of application
Years of Work Experience:  4 years full time

Describe Relevant Work Experience:  2.5 years at a think tank, 1.5 years strategy consulting 

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc.): Generally writing and essays are my biggest strength -- but had a personal setback that derailed my writing process quite a bit, so not sure how good the essays turned out. But I tried my best! Managed to take time off work to deal with the setback + focus on essays so that might have helped

Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc.): Largely should have been good -- two senior members of my firm and a professor from Columbia were kind enough to write my recs 
 

Edited March 12, 2022 by publicpolicy2022

[derekzahav]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): International Relations, Middle East/Arab Studies
Schools Applied To:  Johns Hopkins (MAIR), Georgetown (Arab Studies), George Washington (Middle East Studies), American University (CRS)
Schools Admitted To:  Georgetown ($0), George Washington, and American (each around $35k)
Schools Rejected From: JHU (I applied to the Italy campus for my first year. After I submitted my application, I got an email asking me to choose DC or IT for my first year.)
Still Waiting: None
Undergraduate Institution:  UW Seattle
Undergraduate GPA:   3.79
Undergraduate Major:  Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Linguistics
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  V:165 / Q:158 / W:5.0
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  10
Years of Work Experience:  10
Describe Relevant Work Experience: I taught English abroad for two years in the Middle East and one year in South America. After coming back to the states, I ended up working manual labor jobs for way too long.
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  In addition to answering the questions, I felt like I had to interpret my work history in a way that showed that I was still engaged with international affairs despite not working in the field. This didn't leave me with much room to work with. I started with AU's essays, which gave me the most words to work with. Then I whittled it down, adjusting things to accommodate the next shortest essay, repeating the process for each of the four schools.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  I didn't read them, but they probably weren't the greatest. I asked one professor who I had taken three classes with and had given me two 4.0s, but he never replied to any of my emails. Luckily, I was able to get a former TA to write a letter of rec for me. The other was from my boss at work.
Other: I filled my resume with anything and everything related to academics that I could think of. Zoom events, audiobooks on international affairs, even my basic abilities in French and Turkish (credit to Duolingo) all found their way onto my resume.

[Enkay]

On 3/12/2022 at 6:28 PM, publicpolicy2022 said:

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA, MIP
Schools Applied To: HKS, Yale Jackson, Stanford MIP, Oxford Blavatnik, Columbia SIPA
Schools Admitted To:  Yale Jackson
Schools Rejected From:  Pending
Still Waiting:  HKS, Stanford, Oxford, Columbia
Undergraduate Institution:  Top 25 U.S. University
Undergraduate GPA:  4.5
Undergraduate Major:  Political Science & Economics
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  166 Quant / 166 Verbal / 5 AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  4 years at time of application
Years of Work Experience:  4 years full time

Describe Relevant Work Experience:  2.5 years at a think tank, 1.5 years strategy consulting 

Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc.): Generally writing and essays are my biggest strength -- but had a personal setback that derailed my writing process quite a bit, so not sure how good the essays turned out. But I tried my best! Managed to take time off work to deal with the setback + focus on essays so that might have helped

Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc.): Largely should have been good -- two senior members of my firm and a professor from Columbia were kind enough to write my recs 
 

Hi, were you accepted to Stanford? I cannot seem to find anyone who was

[calpat33]

Is there anyone else who applied to/was accepted to Diplomatische Akademie Wien? If so I'd love to talk! I know it's a super small school, but I haven't seen anything about it and I'm having trouble with my decision lol

[gummywormfiend]

Made an account just to contribute to this thread, since the previous years' were so helpful to me.

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA
Schools Applied To:  USC Price MPP, UT LBJ MPAff, Duke Sanford MPP, UMichigan Ford MPP, Princeton SPIA MPA
Schools Admitted To:  USC ($$$$), UT ($$$$ + stipend), Duke ($$$$), UMichigan ($$$$ + stipend)
Schools Waitlisted At: Princeton
Schools Rejected From:  N/A
Undergraduate Institution:  Top 20 university in the US
Undergraduate GPA:  3.8
Undergraduate Major:  Sociology
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  170 Q, 166 V, 5.0 AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  2
Years of Work Experience:  2 years of full time work experience, several related internships throughout college 
Describe Relevant Work Experience: A fairly unique case management position in direct services
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Pretty strong, I would say. One of my mentors has served on admissions committees and worked as a paid admissions consultant (albeit for law school) and he read through my written materials. I had a very consistent narrative about my personal and professional experience, as well as specific plans for a career in public service. 
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Didn't read them, but I imagine they were very strong. My academic recommendation came from a professor with whom I took 5 classes and worked as a TA/RA throughout college. My two professional recommendations were from senior-level supervisors who know me quite well. 
Other: Unless Princeton comes through, I'll be committing to Ford. Super excited to be graduating completely debt-free. 

[kleenex89]

Congrats! I’m trying to choose between UMich MPP vs Berkeley MPA mid-career and weighed almost to UMich too, do you know if there’s a big difference between a mid-career MPA vs full-time MPA?

[GradSchoolGrad]

19 hours ago, kleenex89 said:

Congrats! I’m trying to choose between UMich MPP vs Berkeley MPA mid-career and weighed almost to UMich too, do you know if there’s a big difference between a mid-career MPA vs full-time MPA?

Huge difference. Unless you have a deep resume (at least 7 years) and you don't need to pick up new technical skills to make a career change, you should do an MPP. The reality is that MPP programs are essentially dedicated for career pivoting. In Mid-Career MPAs, you take some interesting classes, maybe give you some quant essentials with some practical exercises at most, but you can really honestly add strong grasp of technical skills on your resume (unless you do a lot of additional individual study). So if you do a Mid-Career MPA, its pretty much on you to pivot based on your resume.

[housing.ed]

Program Applied To (MPA, MPP, IR, etc.): MPP, MPA
Schools Applied To:  NYU Wagner, Columbia SIPA, CUNY - Baruch, Princeton SPIA, USC Sol Price, UCLA Luskin, Cal Goldman, UT - Austin, CMU - Heinz
Schools Admitted To:  USC ($$$), UT ($$$$$), Wagner ($$$$$), Columbia ($$), CUNY (?), UCLA ($), Goldman (0), Heinz ($$$)
Schools Waitlisted At: N/A
Schools Rejected From:  Princeton
Undergraduate Institution:  Jesuit liberal arts college
Undergraduate GPA:  3.8
Undergraduate Major:  Finance
GRE Quantitative/Verbal/AW Scores:  164 Q, 170 V, 5.5 AW
Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable):  8
Years of Work Experience:  8
Describe Relevant Work Experience: 3 years in retail supply chain analytics; 5 years teaching in charter schools
Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc):  Proposed a career change to focus on housing, which is not ideal, but I framed it within my experience teaching in chronically underserved communities.
Strength of LOR's (be honest, describe the process, etc):  One prof from my teaching degree with whom I have a close relationship, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction with whom I'm also close, and VP from retail supply chain analytics job. I expect the first two to be strong. VP from retail supply chain analytics sent me what he wrote, and it does a good job of filling in any perceived gaps in my technical background
Other: Heading to Wagner - excited to stay in NYC. This forum is a great resource, but limit your time here!