Was I to accepted American University or not?

[MPAGANG]

Hey all,

I applied to American University for a MPA and got an admission decision in November of last year. The admission decision reads "The Graduate Admission Committee of the School of Public Affairs (SPA) at American University has reviewed your application for admission to our Master of Public Administration for Fall 2022. While we see that you have strong potential as a candidate, we recommend that you join the program at this juncture as a non-degree student. This status will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your academic propensity in graduate level coursework. Students enrolled with non-degree status may take up to 12 credit hours per semester that can be transferred into the Master of Public Administration at program with solid academic performance (3.0 or above cumulative GPA) and progress. These criteria will also be applied in rendering full admission to the program for subsequent semesters. We trust that you will consider this invitation as our interest in having you in SPA coursework in the Fall 2022 class. We stand ready to offer you resources to be successful in your first semester with the intention of welcoming you to the SPA community as a fully admitted student very soon."

I talked to an advisor at AU and they said that I would be taking MPA courses with other students and that after achieving a 3.0 gpa at SPA I would be able to become a fully admitted student and my progress in the curriculum would carry over.

So I guess my question is...did I get accepted to the school or is this a polite rejection? Their website states that pretty much anyone can be a non-degree student. Additionally, if my other options for masters school don't pan out would this even be a smart thing to do? I would still be paying full price as a non-degree student and it just seems risky. Has anyone else gotten a letter like this? Would love to hear what y'all think.

[serpentstone]

This is not an acceptance. It sounds like there could be a real acceptance later on (probably in the next application cycle for 2023) but it will hinge on how well you do in those non-degree courses. Even then, your admission isn't guaranteed upon completion of those courses. "Our interest in having you in SPA coursework in the Fall 2022 class" this would be insulting to me. They are inviting you to sit in class beside accepted students while not actually being one of them.

There is also another major issue here. Non-degree students (we call them non-award seeking, or NOAWS) are usually completely cut off from receiving financial aid of any sort as they cannot be considered part- or full-time students.

If you have any acceptances from other schools, I would forget about American University and move on. If you believe you can stand out in the non-degree courses while also shouldering the cost, then you could consider it. But, unfortunately, this is not an acceptance.

Edited February 22, 2022 by serpentstone
typo

[MPAGANG]

On 2/22/2022 at 11:04 AM, serpentstone said:

This is not an acceptance. It sounds like there could be a real acceptance later on (probably in the next application cycle for 2023) but it will hinge on how well you do in those non-degree courses. Even then, your admission isn't guaranteed upon completion of those courses. "Our interest in having you in SPA coursework in the Fall 2022 class" this would be insulting to me. They are inviting you to sit in class beside accepted students while not actually being one of them.

There is also another major issue here. Non-degree students (we call them non-award seeking, or NOAWS) are usually completely cut off from receiving financial aid of any sort as they cannot be considered part- or full-time students.

If you have any acceptances from other schools, I would forget about American University and move on. If you believe you can stand out in the non-degree courses while also shouldering the cost, then you could consider it. But, unfortunately, this is not an acceptance.

Thanks for the answer. I have at least one other acceptance so I will probably go with one of those. Thanks again!