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Posted

Received an acceptance email w no personalized letter attached. Is it really for me? Is there funding? Ahhhhh

WHAT ARE THEY DOING!!!!!! :(

Posted

I just declined my offer to Harris. I hope you have all received your admission decisions. Good luck to those who are planning on going to Harris in the fall and I hope those who got rejected have other plans in place with other graduate programs. For those on the waitlist, I hope you get off soon ;)

Posted

No news on my end either... have a feeling the released the acceptances last night...

Abogs, where are you attending next Fall?

Posted

Hey SkyDiver, I am going to Princeton (just couldn't resist the generous offer). I hope you hear back from Harris soon/have backup plans. Good luck!

No news on my end either... have a feeling the released the acceptances last night...

Abogs, where are you attending next Fall?

Posted

Abogs, Princeton's program is excellent and normally very well funded! Congrats! I did not apply there as my focus is different than what their program offers. In my case, I have been waitlisted at HKS and now waiting for Harris, which I will strongly consider IF admitted... Cheers!!

Hey SkyDiver, I am going to Princeton (just couldn't resist the generous offer). I hope you hear back from Harris soon/have backup plans. Good luck!

Posted

Someone posted an acceptance on the results page with today's date. I wonder it that was just a mistake or they indeed are sending emails over the weekend.

Posted

Hello folks. Congratulations on the admits, and my apologies for suggesting in a post yesterday that the (at the time sole) reported Harris admit might not be legitimate. They came unusually early this year, and not in accordance with past patterns of frequency (also, there are a lot of 'fake' posts on the results page).

The following is a post I offered last year in response to a question about Harris vs. Michigan-Ford. It outlines some of what I consider distinctive about Harris.

I seriously considered Heinz and Ford, but not SIPA (SIPA was not considered mainly because of its rather stingy funding policies). All are good programs, and I would suggest that the main considerations be fit and funding.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Harris.

Current Harris student here.

I faced the same choice last year, so I will enumerate what I see as the main differences between the two programs. I am reasonably familiar with Ford since I gave it a close look before choosing Harris, but inquiries regarding Ford are best directed toward current Ford students. That said, here are my basic impressions:

1. I think the emphasis on economics (and, more generally, "rational choice" models within the broader political economy sphere) is stronger at Harris. This comes, perhaps (but not necessarily), at the expense of other characteristics. Ford struck me as a school that tries to balance economic/quantitative training with a more traditional "public administration/management" curriculum. You can obtain some of the latter at Harris through course offerings in other departments (Business school and perhaps Social Service Administration), but you can also avoid it if you prefer. What you cannot avoid, however, are healthy doses of economics and statistics (2 quarters' worth apiece) and political economy (a 3-quarter sequence), all required.

2. The political economy sequence at Chicago is distinctive (I did not see a counterpart at any of the policy programs I looked at), and I think is a major strength of the program at Harris. If any students are interested in the particulars of this sequence, feel free to PM me. This sequence, in conjunction with the economic theory requirements, lays a strong conceptual foundation for the policy field courses.

3. The quarter system at Chicago versus the semester system at Michigan. The quarter system means that you take 18 courses over 2 years, instead of 12. Once the core requirements are met (7 courses worth), this gives an enormous amount of latitude to take other courses of interest throughout the university. Apart from the 7 core courses, you take a minimum of 5 courses at the Harris School and up to 6 courses in other departments (most frequently in the Law School, Business School, and economics and political science departments). To cite one example, several of my classmates are taking Gary Becker's course on Human Capital in the upcoming term (I am thinking about it).

I hope this is helpful. As noted above, please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

this is a nice post. Thanks!

Posted

Yes it is an excellent program. I wanted to study the Econ and public policy concentration of their program and funding was great too (full scholarship plus 22k living expenses per year). I hope you get some news from Harris or taken off the waitlist at Harvard :)

Abogs, Princeton's program is excellent and normally very well funded! Congrats! I did not apply there as my focus is different than what their program offers. In my case, I have been waitlisted at HKS and now waiting for Harris, which I will strongly consider IF admitted... Cheers!!

Posted

Didn't Delco suggest that applicants should e-mail her if they don't hear back by on Friday (yesterday) by 7pm Chicago time? Send her an e-mail.

This is maddening. I wonder if they will work this weekend.

Posted

Thanks a lot!! I wish you all the best at Princeton! I have heard it's a very intense program, so be prepared to work hard!!

Another question, if you don't mind... this funding offer you described was from Harris??? That sounds excellent although I am sure Princeton would have offered nothing far from those numbers.

Did you happen to deny HKS' offer too?? :)

Yes it is an excellent program. I wanted to study the Econ and public policy concentration of their program and funding was great too (full scholarship plus 22k living expenses per year). I hope you get some news from Harris or taken off the waitlist at Harvard :)

Posted

Ignore this part... I just saw your previous post about this..

Blue Skies!

.. this funding offer you described was from Harris???

Posted

Didn't Delco suggest that applicants should e-mail her if they don't hear back by on Friday (yesterday) by 7pm Chicago time? Send her an e-mail.

I sent her an email last night at about 9:00pm (CST). It's now 10:00am (CST) on Saturday, March 26th, and I still have nothing in my inbox. I'm hoping they're working this weekend -- it is there *job* after all, and they've had several months to review apps.

Posted

Didn't Delco suggest that applicants should e-mail her if they don't hear back by on Friday (yesterday) by 7pm Chicago time? Send her an e-mail.

Def emailed her and no response.

Posted

I totally understand your frustration, but it is hard to judge why the process has been so ineffective without knowing what is going on in their end. It could be anything from their "strategy" to test the water on highly qualified candidates first to simply being understaffed... we can't know for sure, so I would avoid judging until further information.

I had the pleasure to meet Maggie personally in a grad school fair and she is a very nice person. She was also always very kind everytime I had to communicate with them about anything regarding my paperwork. Based on my interactions with her, I would still believe that they might have had some sort of internal issue to cause this delay. It's hard because our anxiety levels are just too high, but I am trying to remain calm to the extent it is possible...

I sent her an email last night at about 9:00pm (CST). It's now 10:00am (CST) on Saturday, March 26th, and I still have nothing in my inbox. I'm hoping they're working this weekend -- it is there *job* after all, and they've had several months to review apps.

Posted

I totally understand your frustration, but it is hard to judge why the process has been so ineffective without knowing what is going on in their end. It could be anything from their "strategy" to test the water on highly qualified candidates first to simply being understaffed... we can't know for sure, so I would avoid judging until further information.

I had the pleasure to meet Maggie personally in a grad school fair and she is a very nice person. She was also always very kind everytime I had to communicate with them about anything regarding my paperwork. Based on my interactions with her, I would still believe that they might have had some sort of internal issue to cause this delay. It's hard because our anxiety levels are just too high, but I am trying to remain calm to the extent it is possible...

I know I'm being unjustifiably harsh. I'm sure Maggie is a very competent and nice person. I also assume there's a legitimate reason for the delays. I'm just looking for an outlet for my frustration :)

Posted

Thanks SkyDiver, yes I heard the same as well about the program. Hopefully, I come out alive after the two years over there :P. Well, we have math camp before classes start...that will help me decide where I need to be before classes start in the Fall. Unfortunately, HKS did not show me any love :lol: I was given the denied verdict for the MPP program. I would not have been able to attend anyways if I did not get any funding!

Thanks a lot!! I wish you all the best at Princeton! I have heard it's a very intense program, so be prepared to work hard!!

Another question, if you don't mind... this funding offer you described was from Harris??? That sounds excellent although I am sure Princeton would have offered nothing far from those numbers.

Did you happen to deny HKS' offer too?? :)

Posted

I totally understand your frustration, but it is hard to judge why the process has been so ineffective without knowing what is going on in their end. It could be anything from their "strategy" to test the water on highly qualified candidates first to simply being understaffed... we can't know for sure, so I would avoid judging until further information.

I had the pleasure to meet Maggie personally in a grad school fair and she is a very nice person. She was also always very kind everytime I had to communicate with them about anything regarding my paperwork. Based on my interactions with her, I would still believe that they might have had some sort of internal issue to cause this delay. It's hard because our anxiety levels are just too high, but I am trying to remain calm to the extent it is possible...

I don't necessarily think its a problem that they are so late with decisions. My biggest problem is the lack of information they provided throughout this process. SIPA still had admissions decisions outstanding as of last week but their blog provided daily status reports and words of hope/encouragement during the process. I was in the last 10% of SIPA decisions but their constant updates kept my imagination from running crazy. I just wish Harris would have provided constant updates and more insight into their process. Also, they should just not have even given dates because it makes it worse when they can't stick to it :(

Posted

I agree 100% in this regard. Harris Admissions Officers should certainly learn from this experience and improve their process significantly next time.

But, for this cycle, ever since I read in her update that "this process may take several days but I assure you we are moving as quickly as humanly possible"... I felt that there is "something up" and no deadline provided would make me comfortable that it would have been met. I actually feel bad for Maggie putting her name on the line when most likely these issues are beyond her control...

I just wish Harris would have provided constant updates and more insight into their process. Also, they should just not have even given dates because it makes it worse when they can't stick to it :(

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