Any MDesS applicants heard from Harvard GSD?

[sandhilldesign]

Accepted into Harvard MDesS for this coming Fall in Technology. Looking forward to joining the GSD community.

[HCol]

Thx RealEstate101 - I was getting worried.

[hc4]

umm..i said i am trying to decide between MDESS RE and Columbia MSRED. Never said i got into both (I got into MDESS RE and Columbia will give out decisions on the 15th..really no reason to lie on this forum lol so not sure what "people" you're referring to. Not too sound over confident but i'm pretty sure i'll get into MSRED too given MDESS is a lot more selective. Most ppl i know who got accepted to both chose MDess over MSRED.

[hc4]

Mdess RE emails were sent out on the 5th which is when i got mine too..you can check this on the results section.

[realestate101]

HC4 Sorry about that. Maybe I'm just in denial. On the results section though there is only one reported acceptance to real estate and it says deciding between mdess and columbia- so I assume that was you. Other than that one, there is no real estate acceptance. Could be most people don't report on grad cafe- just thought since re was the largest concentration there would be more people. Regardless, congrats.

[hc4]

No problem. Best of luck! I did email them asking them to give me an early decision and this is the response I got on the 4th:

 

 

 

Thank you for your interest in the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

 

Decisions will be sent out soon. You will receive your decision via email and, if you are admitted, you would receive an admit packet in the mail.

 

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

 

Thank you,

 

 

The next day, I received my email and GSD grant info. Not sure if they sent me the email earlier because I emailed, but I highly doubt it. I suggest you email them or call them up. 

 

I believe the RE concentration is about 10 or so people? Any thoughts on the MDess/MSRED comparison? I've seen some people (on blogs and forums) call the MDess a "resume padding" degree implying it's not taken as seriously as other degrees within GSD or even when compared to the MSRED. This is naturally a little worrying? Any thoughts on that? 

[realestate101]

Hey-

Not sure what your goals are but I've spoken to a few people at real estate funds about these programs. They said that in general the msred degree is not looked upon as great. The mdess in particular is not a finance based program. That why you'll see many people who apply to msred programs won't even apply to harvard. They'll apply to mit, Cornell, USC, columbia as those are the ones with the best rep. This is the feel I'm getting by speaking to people. If your going for finance, I wouldn't go for gsd. If your going for design and development then I would do more research.

[aakel33]

Hey guys, new here! I was accepted to Harvard GSD Real Estate and Columbia MSRED... Having a hard time deciding between the two.. Amy advice? I know I don't want to end up in NYC after the program. Harvards program interests me in that it has more flexibility and you can take some courses at HBS, Kennedy, Harvard Lae and MIT..

[boeuf]

Congrats everyone! I'm also new to the forum. I was also accepted to the GSD MDesS RE and Columbia MSRED. I haven't received any fin aid packages in the mail yet. Did everyone receive theirs yet or decide on which program to attend? I'm trying to weight the pros and cons of each of the two programs. Any advice / input is appreciated!

[hc4]

hey, got my acceptance for columbia mired too (got accepted to the gsd mdess RE as well). having the same issue deciding between both programs, read through real-estate 101's comparison of both the programs but i spoke to some alumni of the harvard program and they said it prepares you as well as the msred plus the brand name will go a long way. i'm also not interested in living in nyc, but my only hesitation about the harvard mdess is that its in the design school and for some reason ppl usually think of USC, MIT, Columbia and Cornell when they think real estate masters. Any thoughts? has anyone spoken to any other students in terms of job prospects??

[jeha]

got in to both msred and mdes RE, and confused about where to go as well...waiting for my aid package for now. hc4 - did you get your grant info via email? i was told i would receive that in the packet in the mail.

[hc4]

no but i asked them to send me the scanned documents and got the grant info the next day. jeha have you decided which program or will it depend on the grant package?

[boeuf]

Has anyone decided to attend this program?

[hc4]

Still doing research on both programs and a little confused! @boeuf..what are your thoughts?

[hc4]

I'm leaning more towards the MDess though