UChicago Harris Fall 2023 Applicants!

[IndominusTaco]

Hi friends,

I've been lurking around this forum for almost a year now but finally made an account now that application season is finally here. Harris is my top choice & dream school, I've been attending events/information sessions since March of this year. I figured I would start a thread here specifically for 2023 Harris applicants as we go down this admissions process together (MPP early action applicant here). Feel free to talk about your Harris application and/or any of the Harris events you've attended/plan to attend! Last week they hosted national climate advisor for the Biden Administration, Ali Zaidi for a conversation on climate change and environmental policy (which was super interesting).

 

As a reminder the Harris deadlines are as follows:

Early Action - October 4th 2022 (decisions late November)

Round 1 - December 1 2022 (decisions mid February)

Round 2 - January 28 2023 (decisions early March)

Round 3 - June 15 2023

 

Personally I'm fairly nervous for my decision; I know that I don't have a strong quant background, no GRE, or relevant work experience so I worked on other parts of my application this year (took Calc 1 at a community college, stepped up on volunteering), but honestly the Harris reputation sort of intimidates me. I don't have a perfect GPA or tons of academic awards and I went to a small state school for undergrad. But should Harris not work out for me, I do have my target schools and backup schools (UCSD, Denver Korbel, and UIC).

Anyone else have similar feelings/experiences? What round are you applying to and where does Harris stack up against your other choices?

[IndominusTaco]

(just bumping this thread to get above the sea of spam until a mod deletes them)

[Shinchan]

Hi @IndominusTaco, I am an applicant to the MSCAPP program, awaiting the EA decision to come out. They have mentioned on the website that the decision will be released by late November. Do you have any idea when exactly the decisions will be released?

[IndominusTaco]

On 11/17/2022 at 7:57 AM, Shinchan said:

Hi @IndominusTaco, I am an applicant to the MSCAPP program, awaiting the EA decision to come out. They have mentioned on the website that the decision will be released by late November. Do you have any idea when exactly the decisions will be released?

Maybe you already checked your email, but they just sent out an email earlier today saying that decisions will be released tonight at 7 PM Central time. I definitely wasn't prepared for that; judging from previous year threads, this is earlier than normal and (unless anyone else can correct me) no one got phone calls this year. As of posting this, in 30 minutes we'll know our fates!

 

Edit: waitlisted. I don't have a good feeling about it but we'll see I guess.

Edited November 20, 2022 by IndominusTaco

[Dublingrad]

Hi all. I was accepted to Harris' MPP program via phone call on 17/11 and then received the official letter along with award information on 19/11. Good luck with your applications!

Edited November 20, 2022 by Dublingrad

[Shinchan]

On 11/20/2022 at 6:00 AM, IndominusTaco said:

Maybe you already checked your email, but they just sent out an email earlier today saying that decisions will be released tonight at 7 PM Central time. I definitely wasn't prepared for that; judging from previous year threads, this is earlier than normal and (unless anyone else can correct me) no one got phone calls this year. As of posting this, in 30 minutes we'll know our fates!

 

Edit: waitlisted. I don't have a good feeling about it but we'll see I guess.

Hi @IndominusTaco, I was in a similar position last year. I had applied by the round 2 deadline in the last cycle and was waitlisted and eventually did not get through. I think in your case, what is helpful is that you have a lot of time till the final decisions are made sometime in June next year, I guess. In the interim, you can identify any potential weakness in your application and try to make up for it. In my case, I gave GRE and got a good quant score; I also enrolled in a credential program at Harris, which is also a good way to showcase your academic preparedness for full-time graduate study and interest in the program.  

 

[IndominusTaco]

4 hours ago, Shinchan said:

Hi @IndominusTaco, I was in a similar position last year. I had applied by the round 2 deadline in the last cycle and was waitlisted and eventually did not get through. I think in your case, what is helpful is that you have a lot of time till the final decisions are made sometime in June next year, I guess. In the interim, you can identify any potential weakness in your application and try to make up for it. In my case, I gave GRE and got a good quant score; I also enrolled in a credential program at Harris, which is also a good way to showcase your academic preparedness for full-time graduate study and interest in the program.  

 

I know my weaknesses, I spent this past year trying to strengthen my app but now I'm worried it might not be enough. I don't have a big quant background so I went back to take Calc 1, and I don't have relevant work experience so I started volunteering more in the area that I want to study. In the waitlist webinar they said that students might be waitlisted because of the GRE/GRE waiver, transcripts, or language requirements for international students. The only applicable reason I can think of for me would be the GRE waiver since I didn't take the GRE but took and passed Calc 1; but they also said they'll reach out and ask for more information if they need it (they might ask for a syllabus of the qualifying course). Apparently they also admit students off the waitlist from now all the way through August, but I'm not going to put all my eggs in one basket holding out hope for one school (I expect to decide on a school by late March or early April at the latest).

 

Did you take the GRE after submitting your Harris application? If so, did you choose to take the GRE to boost your chances on your own or did they ask you to?

[Shinchan]

Yes, I did take GRE after applying. I did it on my own accord, basically throwing in the kitchen sink and hoping for the best, but it did not work out for me then. The feedback I received later was that I was late in applying for an international student, and also some tangential reference to my recommenders (having someone who can give a better account of my preparedness for graduate studies). I incorporated both of these suggestions by applying before the early action deadline and changing a couple of my recommenders in this application. I also enrolled in one of the credential programs to connect closely with the Harris community, and overall, the GRE score also helped strengthen my case with a strong quant score.

Also, applying to other schools is a good idea, as you have mentioned. Wish you the best, and hope that there is movement in the waitlist before Aug.

[nerwen]

Hi everyone

For those accepted to Harris, did you also apply to the Pearson fellowship by any chance? When do we get to hear back from them usually?

[Dublingrad]

@aatrip, I did not apply to the Pearson fellowship/any other named fellowships. My scholarship (I believe) was based purely on the contents of my regular application.

[nerwen]

@Dublingrad Yes I received some partial scholarship as well but it isn't enough to attend hence I was relying on pearson. And from what I am hearing from many people, taking a loan is not a good option. If I may ask, have you arranged/planned any external funding yet?

[Dublingrad]

@aatrip, fortunately my scholarship from Harris was enough to cover most everything, so if I decide to go with them, I don't think I'll need any additional external funding. Sorry I can't be more helpful!

[nerwen]

@DublingradOh no that's alright! But it's really great to hear you got the required funding from them. Only if you're comfortable sharing, how much scholarship did you receive? I am trying to understand the scope of negotiation, to get an idea of a reasonable range that I could ask them for if required later.

Also, which other schools have you applied to?

[Dublingrad]

@aatrip Sure, I received an offer of $55k/year from Harris. I also applied to Columbia SIPA (MPA and MPA-ESP), NYU Wagner, HKS, and Princeton SPIA.

[nerwen]

@DublingradAwesome! Thanks a lot! Even I have applied to those, barring NYU.

I hope you receive positive responses from all and get into your dream school. Wish you all the best!

[Marinap]

Hi! ..I am applying to the Harris MPP program , I just saw that the minimum score for each section of the IELTS is 7.0 and overall 7.0. I got 6.5 in one section but 7.5 overall. Does it affect my application? I don't have time to take the test again.

[NSu]

@Marinap AFAIK, I don't think it would significantly affect your chance of being admitted. However, in case you got admitted, you are sure to be asked to retake the test to meet the req. Anyway, should you considering to retake, their requirement for TOEFL is more forgiving than IELTS imo.

[nerwen]

@MarinapAdding to what Nsu said, I've also heard that while they may not negatively impact your admissions, they will probably ask you to take language classes or a bootcamp before you begin the programme.

[MPP_man]

First round candidate here. Has anyone heard back from admissions? I know this is about the time they released decisions last year.

Let me know and good luck to everyone. 

[nerwen]

To those admitted, have you taken the next steps they've mentioned on their admitted students website? I recall that in one of their info sessions, they had mentioned a slack channel for all admitted students but I haven't received any such invitation yet. If anyone knows more about this, would love to learn more about it.

[dltlskxx]

14 hours ago, MPP_man said:

First round candidate here. Has anyone heard back from admissions? I know this is about the time they released decisions last year.

Let me know and good luck to everyone. 

Not yet :( Round 1 applicant here. 

[MPP_man]

Just got accepted via phone call. They said official letters should come out soon. 

[breadloafer]

Accepted to MPP but waitlisted for my first choice MSCAPP:( Hoping to get some insights at the Webinar this Friday.

Also congratulations to everyone who makes it and best of luck to the rest of us!

[iwant2dopolicy]

Submitted during round 2. Following the thread for others who did the same. Undergrad marks weren’t great but have had a rocket ship career. Retook about 3 classes for better quant course marks so fingers crossed on FA23 matriculation.
 

How many weeks did it take for you round 1 folks? I know I should expect an early March response but the suspense does feel heavy at times ?

[PolicyAspirantA]

For me it took less than 7 weeks to get the decision... Applied to the Harris MPP program on the last day of round 1( 10th December) and received the acceptance mail on 31st January.

All the best with your application:D